Hijab Row: Old Video From Bangladesh Peddled With Misleading Claim

An old video showing Bangladeshi police catch a man trying to smuggle alcohol under a burqa, has been widely shared on Indian social media amid a raging protests over the hijab at educational institutions in Karnataka.

Campuses in parts of Karnataka have been tense and have seen protests over restrictions on wearing the hijab in classrooms. The protest has sparked counter protests by saffron-scarf wearing Hindu students. The video from Bangladesh has been revived against this backdrop.

Also Read: How Right-Wing Group Hindu Jagarana Vedike Mobilised Students With Saffron Attire

The 45-second long viral clip shows the man disguised as a pregnant woman in a burqa and is doing rounds a Hindi claim which says, 'Understand why hijab and burqa are necessary, the witness is also involved???? This is also supported by terrorists."

The clip has also been overlaid with a Hindi song.

(Original Caption In Hindi: हिजाब और बुरका क्यो जरूरी समझो साक्षी भी शामिल ????? ये भी आतंकी समर्थित हे।)

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Fact Check

BOOM was able to identify that the uniform worn by the police officials seen in the video which matches the blue official attire of the Bangladesh police department.

We then performed a search using keywords, 'Man wearing a burqa posed as a woman in Bangladesh' and found several videos and news reports from the same incident happened in March, 2021.

A YouTube channel named Smile Tv Bangla published a video report on March 10, 2021 about the incident. The video was titled as, "Man disguised as pregnant woman arrested during drug trafficking, send to custody."

(Original Headline in Bangla: ছেলে অন্তঃসত্ত্বা সেজে মাদক পাচার কালে পুলিশের অভিযানে আটক ‍দুই কারবারি, কারাগারে প্রেরণ).

A local new outlet named Raozan News also reported the same incident.

Cplustv Bangla, another Bangaldeshi news outlet, reported the incident in detail and stated that the man was disguised in a burqa as a pregnant woman to avoid detection while smuggling alcohol. According to the report, the man was arrested with another woman from the Chittagong-Raozan area. The report states that the two accused were caught by police on March 9, 2021 acting on a tip off from informants and alcohol hidden inside a saline pouch was seized from them.

Alcohol sale and consumption is restricted and regulated in Bangladesh.

The Cplustv Bangla report also published a photo of the man and the woman arrested. This picture matches with the person seen in the viral video.

Bangaldeshi media Prothom Alo identified the accused as Muhammad Sagar (20) and Amena Begam (19). The report quoted, Abdulla Al Harun, Officer In-charge of Raozan Police station saying, "Both said they are pregnant while they were caught in check post. The on duty officials suspected one of their voices and upon a search realised that it was a man in the burqa, disguised as a woman."

BOOM debunked the video on September 2021 with inputs from BOOM Bangladesh when it was viral with another false and communal claim.

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