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Baseless claim circulated regarding a BJP leader’s comment on returning Sheikh Hasina to India

Recently, a claim has been circulated on social media alleging that a purported BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader named Bharat said, “India is ready to return Sheikh Hasina, but only as the country’s Prime Minister.”

See the post circulated on Facebook with this claim here (Archive).

Additionally, a purported report was seen circulating on the free Blogspot domain site named ‘protibadnews76’ with the discussed claim. The purported report claimed, ‘A top BJP leader told the media that India is ready to return Sheikh Hasina, a subject which has come up for discussion. However, he clearly stated, “India will consider Sheikh Hasina only as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.”‘

See the purported report on the free Blogspot domain named ‘protibadnews76’ with this claim here (Archive).

Fact Check

The Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation found no reliable evidence to support the claim that any leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made the comment, ‘India is ready to return Sheikh Hasina, but only as the country’s Prime Minister.’ In fact, a fake post originating from a satire page was circulated as genuine news.

Observation of the posts circulated with this claim found a purported report circulated on a free Blogspot domain site named ‘protibadnews76’ supporting the claim. No specific publication date for the purported report was found. The purported report claimed, ‘A top BJP leader told the media that India is ready to return Sheikh Hasina, a subject which has come up for discussion. However, he clearly stated, “India will consider Sheikh Hasina only as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.”‘ However, a search with relevant keywords did not yield any evidence to support the discussed claim in mainstream media or reliable sources. Furthermore, although the purported report claimed to include video evidence of the statement, no video was attached to the report.

Subsequently, an investigation into the circulated photocards found the discussed photocard posted on a Facebook page named ‘Iqbal TV’ on November 22. However, the ‘Iqbal TV’ logo and the parody advertisement were removed from the circulated post containing the photocard.

Observation of the ‘Iqbal TV’ page’s bio reveals the statement: ‘The page is created for entertainment purposes. Please do not take any post seriously or as factual.’ (Translated) Furthermore, observing the page reveals many other satirical/baseless fake posts. This confirms that the discussed post was also created as satirical/baseless fake content.

It is worth noting that Bangladesh sent a second letter to India on November 21, again requesting the return of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July mass upsurge. Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain stated that this was the second request. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also sent a letter to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in December last year, requesting Hasina’s return, but no response was received. Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in a case of crimes against humanity on November 17.

Therefore, the information circulated, quoting a purported BJP leader with the claim ‘India is ready to return Sheikh Hasina, but only as the country’s Prime Minister,’ is false and fabricated.

Sources

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