Old videos falsely linked to student council elections in Bangladesh

Published on September 25, 2025 at 05:37
3 min read
By Rasheek MUJIB, AFP Bangladesh

As top universities in Bangladesh held the first student body elections after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster, social media posts circulated videos with false claims they showed a brawl and a police crackdown at one of the votes. In fact the clips predate the polls.

"At this moment, Shibir and Chhatra Dal are engaged in a clash by boycotting voting at Jahangirnagar University," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared September 11, 2025, referring to two of the country's rival student organisations. "Many casualties have been reported on both sides. Bangladesh is on the path to civil war."

The 52-second clip shows a scuffle as bystanders film the incident on mobile phones, and has spread elsewhere on Facebook.

Some posts shared a different clip on September 12, falsely claiming it was filmed as a police operation was underway at the campus in response to a "face off" between the two rival student groups.

The claim also circulated elsewhere on Facebook and Instagram.

Screenshots of the false Facebook posts taken September 17, 2025, with red Xs added by AFP

Student council elections were held for the first time at two of Bangladesh's major public universities -- Dhaka and Jahangirnagar -- after student-led protests ousted Hasina in August 2024 (archived here and here).

Student politics has long shaped Bangladesh's history and many candidates at the polls played key roles in the August uprising (archived here and here).

Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the South Asian nation's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, scored major wins in both elections.

Local media reported there have been allegations of vote-rigging at the Jahangirnagar University student union election, but AFP cannot find credible reports of clashes related to the poll (archived link).

Both false clips also predate the election.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found the scene in the first false clip can be seen at the 22:25 mark of a livestream that local outlet NTV News published on February 26 (archived link).

The video is titled "New anti-discrimination student movement organisation debuts live from Madhur Canteen" -- a famous eatery on the Dhaka University campus (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false post (L) and uploaded on YouTube

Clashes broke out on the day as some students protested their exclusion from top positions at a new student body formed after Hasina was ousted, according to local media reports (archived here and here).

Arches and doorways seen in the false video also match those of the Madhur Canteen seen on Google Maps Street View (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false clip (L) and image of Madhur Canteen on Google Maps, with the same elements highlighted by AFP

A reverse image search found the Bangladesh Nationalist Party shared a longer version of the second false video on its official Facebook page on July 16, 2024 (archived link).

"Police opened fire at Jahangirnagar University late at night," reads part of the Bengali-language caption with the post.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and the Facebook post from 2024

Local media outlet Dhaka Post reported that protesting students at Jahangirnagar University were attacked by members of Chhatra League -- the student wing of Hainsa's political party the Awami League -- early on July 16, 2024 (archived link).

More than a hundred students and four journalists were injured, including a reporter for local outlet Dainik Bangla, Abdur Rahman Khan Sarjil.

He told AFP on September 23 that the video was filmed during the attack as police took position on the side of the road.

AFP has previously debunked misinformation around student council elections in Bangladesh here and here.

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