Fact Check: Old video of protests in Bangladesh passed off as recent one

New Delhi, Aug 09: There were massive protests and demonstrations across the country after Bangladesh hiked fuel prices. Amidst this a video of violent protests and vandalism began doing the rounds on the social media.

Many on the social media shared the video claiming that people came out on the streets in Bangladesh and showed their anger against the fuel price hike.

"Bangladesh. Protests and hard clashes have erupted in several cities after the government decided to increase petrol prices by 51 per cent and diesel by 42 per cent effective from midnight. Huge lines are reported at petrol stations all over Bangladesh," a user with a verified handle said on Twitter.

Many news outlets too have used these visuals in their recent news reports on the Bangladesh crisis.

OneIndia has learnt that this is not a recent video and dates back to 2013. There was a protest in Bangladesh and it had nothing to do with the recent issue. We found a video from May 6 2013 uploaded by United Kingdom based news outlet, Channel 4. "Bangladesh riots: Islamist hardliners fight with police", read the caption.

The New York Times too published this story with the headline 'Anti-blasphemy protests in Bangladesh turn violent.' In the protest nearly 22 people lost their lives. Three security officers were beaten to death while a dozen other people were killed, including protesters who were shot by the police.

A report in the CNN said that activists of the radical Islamic Organisation Hefazat-e-Islam blocked all roads leading to Dhaka. Their demands included the anti-blasphemy statue.

Hence it can be concluded that the video being shared of the violent protest has nothing to do with the protests relating to the fuel price hike. The video is an old one and was uploaded in the year 2013.