Claim: 900 people died during the recent quota movement.
Fact: the number is a hoax and the images and videos are from different incidents unrelated to the quota movement.
On Facebook, a few posts (1, 2 & 3) have been making rounds, claiming that the quota movement’s death toll has exceeded 900. The post cites Prothom Alo, a respected daily newspaper in Bangladesh, as its source. See the ss of the posts below:
Newschecker-Bangladesh has verified this claim and found it to be false.
Fact check/Verification
To check the veracity of the alleged death toll related to the “Quota Movement,” we conducted several reverse image searches. The results led us to two distinct videos unrelated to the recent countrywide “Quota Movement” protests.
While searching for the source of the viral video (2) the reverse image searches revealed that the video has compiled two different clips in the same frame and claimed them to be from the ‘Quota Movement.’ However, it was found that the first clip sliding over the top of the video frame is from Gaza, Palestine on several ‘X,’ formerly Twitter,(1, 2) and Instagram handles (1.2) and Facebook. All these images are dated back to May 2024.
An @AJEnglish correspondent Hamda Salhut wrote on her official ‘X’ (Twitter) handle with this image that the funeral scene was from Rafah after Israel Bombarded the area.
The second clip of the same video is from the Gayebana Janajah performed in memory of the killed students in the ‘Quota Movement’ during the early days of the protest. Till that day the number of killed students was only 6 as per the reports. See reports here- Jamuna TV & Channel24.
During the verification process of another viral image claiming a similar death toll in the Quota Protest, a reverse image search uncovered that this widely circulated image actually depicts a separate incident in Indonesia.
Through our investigation, we found a report on Bali Tribune dated October 2022. Tracking down the report on Bali Tribune we learned that on October 30th of that year, a traditional festival named “Calonarang” was held at the Ketut Maria Art Building in Tabanan, Bali. A total of 108 college students participated in the festival. The picture is from that event.
On July 25th, the Prothom Alo website published a report revealing an alarming death toll of 202 associated with the quota movement. The breakdown of fatalities highlighted that Tuesday, July 16th, saw six deaths, followed by a staggering 41 fatalities on Thursday, July 18th. Friday recorded the highest number of deaths at 84, while Saturday had 38, Sunday 21, Monday 5, Tuesday 3, and yesterday 4. It is important to note that the deaths on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday tragically occurred while individuals were undergoing treatment.
In addition to Prothom Alo’s report, The Daily Campus reported a death toll of 201, while Germany’s dw.com and Turkey’s aa.com websites both confirmed 201 fatalities resulting from the quota movement. It is noteworthy that no media outlet has claimed the death toll exceeded 900.
Conclusion
Therefore, the claim that 900 students died in the recent Quota Movement protest is a hoax. The viral images and videos are from Indonesia and Rafah, Palestine.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Newschecker’s analysis.
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