Fake Quote Attributed To Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia Revived
A member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's press wing confirmed to BOOM that Zia didn't make any such statement.
Claim
A screenshot of a fake communal quote attributed to Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is doing rounds on social media. The quote reads Khaleda Zia as saying, "I regret the continuing of massacre of Hindus & Buddhists in Bangladesh, but Bangladesh is an Islamic Nation and not Secular. Now, the Muslims are in majority here. Under the circumstances, if Hindus & Buddhists want to live safely, they should either convert to Islam or go to India." The screenshot appears to be from a Facebook post by one Khabar 24x7.com page.
Fact
BOOM had debunked the same quote in August, 2021, when it was viral with a similar narrative. We found that the fake quote originated from a screenshot of a Facebook post from 2015 by a page called Khabar24x7.com. The page, which claims to be a news outlet, does not exist any more. According to Domain Big Data, the domain named khabar24x7.com was created in 2014 and was last hosted on Wix.com. Additionally, on doing a keyword search, we did not find any similar statement made by Khaleda Zia that was reported in local or international media. We also spoked to Sayrul Kabir Khan, member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's press wing in August 2021, who denied any such statement by Zia during her tenure as a prime minister and otherwise.
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