Fact Check: Video showing protesters bathing in swimming pool is not related to Bangladesh PM’s palace, it is from Sri Lanka
At least 300 people, including policemen, have died during the renewed anti-government protests in Bangladesh that began on August 2, 2024. Similar protests occurred last month after the Bangladesh High Court reinstated a quota system for government jobs, including a 30% reservation for families of veterans from the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. This overturned a 2018 decision by Hasina's government to abolish the quota. However, the Supreme Court suspended the High Court's order after the government appealed, setting a date of August 7 to hear the government's challenge. The demonstrations escalated when Sheikh Hasina refused to meet the students' demands, citing ongoing court proceedings and even termed them ‘Razakars’.
The Cabinet Committee on Security met at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence on August 5, 2024, evening amid the turmoil in neighboring Bangladesh, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. Fearing her security amid the massive protests over job quota, she left the country.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In this situation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace in the wake of the ongoing unrest and the change of guard in Bangladesh.
She stated that the West Bengal government would support the decision taken by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. "I appeal to the people of Bengal to maintain peace. Do not pay attention to any rumors. This is a matter between two countries, and we will support whatever decision the central government takes," said CM Mamata Banerjee.
Hours after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country amid violent anti-government protests, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced that the military would form a caretaker government to restore peace and order in the country. Following Sheikh Hasina's resignation, thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family, vandalizing and looting the interiors.
Social media was awash with pictures and videos of the violence in Bangladesh. Various posts show people looting sarees, dustbins, fish, and even garments from Sheikh Hasina’s residence.
In a post, protesters are seen creating a tense situation in Sheikh Hasina’s bedroom and eating biryani on her dining table.
In this backdrop, a video is in circulation on social media showing a large number of people taking an unprofessional bath in a swimming pool. Social media users shared the video relating it to the Bangladesh protests and captioned it, “protesters enjoying in Sheikh Hasina's swimming pool.”
Fact Check: We found the claim is false. The viral video is not from Bangladesh, it is actually from Sri Lanka during the crisis in the country in 2022.
We found the viral video overplayed with text Srilanka crises.
When we searched Srilanka Crises, we found on July 9, 2022, BBC published an article with the video.
In the article, BBC mentioned :“This footage shows demonstrators taking a swim in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's pool. Demonstrators have been demanding his resignation after months of protests over Sri Lanka's economic crisis”.
When we searched 'Demonstrators taking a swim in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's pool', on July 9, 2022, The Independent uploaded a video on their official YouTube channel with the title “Sri Lankan protesters swim in president’s pool after storming official residence”.
In the description, The Independent mentioned: “Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo stormed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence this morning during an anti-governmental march. The island of 22 million is suffering under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging the country into the worst financial turmoil in seven decades”.
NDTV published an article with the headline “Protesters were seen swimming in the pool and cooking in the kitchen after they barged into Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence amid worsening public anger over an unprecedented economic crisis".
As per the Sky News “Sri Lanka protesters break into president's home and use the swimming pool”
Hence, we found the claim is false. The viral video is not related to the recent violence in Bangladesh. The video is actually from Sri Lanka, during crisis in 2022.