Newspaper rejects imposter report on Bangladesh politician 'secret meeting' with Indian PM

"Jamaat chief's secret meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What do you understand?" read a Bengali-language Facebook post from September 16.

Bangladesh's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami was seen as staunchly anti-Indian but its leader Shafiqur Rahman said in August he wanted warmer relations with the country's Hindu-majority neighbour (archived link). 

The party re-emerged after now ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina fled the country after weeks of student-led protests forced her from power (archived link). 

Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim leader following Hasina's ouster and is eventually expected to announce fresh elections to hand over power to an elected leader.

The Facebook post, shared in a group with more than 17,000 followers, appears to show an article in Indian newspaper Anandabazar Patrika about Rahman meeting Modi in New Delhi.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on September 16

"There is a need for an elected government to take charge to overcome the national crisis," the purported article reads.

"The chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Dr Shafiqur Rahman sought help from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He came to New Delhi last night after performing umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) and met Modi through his assistant secretary."

The edited image spread in similar Facebook posts here and here which claimed it showed a "secret meeting" between the two politicians.

'Morphed' photo

Anandabazar Patrika's political editor said the newspaper did not publish the article shown in Facebook posts. 

"The image is completely fabricated. The news item on the right-hand side has been superimposed on the original page. The picture is also morphed," Sandipan Chakraborty told AFP on September 23. 

The e-paper edition of the September 15 issue published on Anandabazar Patrika's website shows a different lead story about protests over the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in India (archived link).

The article mentioned neither Modi nor Rahman.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the edited newspaper front page (left) and the original (right) with similarities highlighted by AFP: 

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Screenshot comparison of the edited newspaper front page (left) and the original (right) with similarities highlighted by AFP

The picture on the edited front page combines two separate images of Modi and Rahman.

The original photo of Modi, which was posted on his verified Facebook page on September 8, 2023, showed him standing beside Sheikh Hasina (archived link).

Bangladeshi media reported  that the pair held a bilateral meeting at the Indian prime minister's residence (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison between the picture used in fabricated news report (left) and the photo from Modi's Facebook page (right)

Meanwhile, Rahman's photo in the fabricated report appears to be his headshot from his party's website, which was superimposed onto another picture of Modi (archived here and here). 

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Screenshot comparison between the altered image of Rahman used in the fabricated report (left) and the photos of  of Modi and Rahman's headshot (right)

A reverse image search of the building in the background of the edited photo identifies it as the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian president's official residence in New Delhi (archived link).  

AFP found no official reports about a recent meeting between Modi and Rahman, as of October 2.