Video shows Bangladeshi politician crying at campaign rally, not after losing election

"After losing the election, Momtaz cried in public," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on January 9, 2024.

It features a one-minute 30-second video of Momtaz Begum wiping her tears as she delivers an emotional speech.

The popular folk singer and former parliament member -- who hails from Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League -- failed to secure a seat in parliament in Bangladesh's January 7 general election (archived links here and here).

The elections delivered Hasina's party three-quarters of seats in parliament, with the turnout a meagre 41.8 percent, just over half the figure in the previous vote in 2018.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has seen its ranks diminished by mass arrests, called a general strike and, along with dozens of others, refused to participate in the election.

Exiled BNP leader Tarique Rahman branded the elections a "sham" designed to cement Hasina's rule, while a senior party leader told reporters in Dhaka the government was "illegitimate".

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Screenshot of the misleading post, taken January 29, 2024

A similar claim that Momtaz Begum cried after she lost also surfaced in at least 40 Facebook posts, including here and here.

But the video shared in these posts actually predates the announcement of poll results.

Campaign clip

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found a longer version of the video shared on Facebook on January 5, two days before the elections.

The post's Bengali caption reads: "Momtaz cried while seeking votes."

As in the clip that had been misleadingly shared, the longer video shows Momtaz getting emotional as she discussed her late parents.

But at the 17-minute four-second mark of the longer video, she asks for the public's support in the upcoming vote, clearly indicating the video was taken during a campaign event.

Speaking from the podium, she says in Bengali: "Today, I'm not seeking just your votes. Instead, I want you to tell your relatives today and tomorrow to vote for me. Work for me til January 7, I will work for you for the remaining five years."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video misleadingly shared online (left) and the campaign footage shared on Facebook (right) with the dates highlighted by AFP:

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Responding to the misleading claim, Momtaz told AFP: "I was addressing a crowd near my village home, where most of the audience was from my relatives and well known. I got emotional while remembering my late parents."

Keyword searches found no reports she cried in public after losing the vote.

AFP has debunked misinformation swirling around Bangladesh's general elections here, here, here, here and here.