Bangladesh scuffle picture misrepresented as Myanmar unrest
- Published on January 28, 2025 at 09:42
- 4 min read
- By Eyamin SAJID, AFP Thailand, AFP Bangladesh
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Warning: graphic picture
"In Maungdaw, massive forces of ARSA invaded and occupied the neighbourhoods where AA rebels and AA supporters live," read part of a Facebook post on January 16, 2025, using the initials for the rebel groups Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Arakan Army.
The post included a photo showing people beaten with sticks on a street.
Content warning
The Rakhine conflict is one element of the bloody chaos that has engulfed Myanmar since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government in a 2021 coup, sparking a widespread armed uprising.
The AA is engaged in a fierce fight with the military and other rival armed groups for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swaths of territory.
In December 2024, the AA claimed control over the last junta base near Maungdaw town. A few weeks later, it accused the ARSA of ambushing a civilian passenger vehicle in the town (archived links here and here).
AFP has not been able to independently confirm the information.
Similar Facebook posts also shared the photo, falsely claiming it shows ARSA fighters attacking the AA in Maungdaw. Burmese fact-checking organisation Think Before You Trust earlier debunked the claim (archived link).
Comments to the posts indicate people believed the photo was from Myanmar.
"I feel pity towards the AA," one commented. Another said: "It's sad since they are of the same ethnic group, but it's a reprisal towards those who want to murder Burmese people."
Bangladesh protest
But a reverse image search on Google found the photo published in a report by Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo on January 18, 2025 (archived link).
"An attack took place during programmes of two groups on the NCTB building premises in the capital on 15 January, 2025," read the caption to the picture, credited to photojournalist Suvra Kanti Das (archived links here and here).
According to the report, two groups called "Students for Sovereignty" and "Aggrieved Indigenous Students and People" engaged in a fight over the decision of the education department to remove an illustration that contained the label "indigenous" from a textbook.
Content warning
Photojournalist Das told AFP on January 20 that he took the photo in front of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) building in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.
"It shows a brawl between two groups of protesters," he said.
He also shared a high-resolution of the photo which clearly showed national flags of Bangladesh on the upper-left corner (archived link).
Google Maps street imagery confirms the photo was taken in front of the NCTB in Dhaka (archived link).
Content warning
AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation related to the unrest in Myanmar.
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