Viral AI Image Falsely Claims Tarique Rahman's Family Dinner
A photo claiming to show Fatema Begum—longtime household aide and close companion of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia—dining with the family of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has gone viral on social media. However, an investigation has confirmed that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
A reverse image search reveals that the image was first posted on January 2 by a Facebook page named “12 Maya Binodon.” Although the original image contained an AI-generated label in one corner, the text was cropped out in later versions, and many users continued to share the image as if it were real. Several posts praised Tarique Rahman, claiming he had shown generosity and even acknowledged Fatema Begum as a sister by sharing a family meal with her. Notably, even some responsible individuals were seen sharing the image with such claims.
As of 7:00 pm on Saturday, January 3, the post had received nearly 85,000 reactions and had been shared by more than 9,200 Facebook accounts. Subsequently, multiple YouTube channels also published videos making similar claims.
Closer observation of the image reveals several inconsistencies. First, the food is served in steel plates in an “Indian thali/bowl” style, which is more commonly associated with Indian dining settings. Second, the attire of the individuals appears mismatched for a single occasion—ranging from office IDs with coats to formal shawls and blazers. A comparison with previously published photos of Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman, and their daughter Zaima Rahman in a report by bdnews24.com shows similarities in clothing, suggesting image manipulation.
After the image went viral, the same Facebook page published two more AI-generated images on the same day, featuring the same individuals in identical outfits.
Multiple AI-detection tools, including Hive Moderation and Deepfake-o-Meter, were used to verify the image. Hive Moderation indicated a 72.2 percent probability that the image was AI-generated, while Deepfake-o-Meter suggested an AI-generation likelihood ranging from 84 percent to as high as 98 percent.
Another viral image showing Tarique Rahman placing his hand on Fatema Begum’s head in prayer was also found to be fake. Hive Moderation assessed this image as 97.2 percent AI-generated. Videos uploaded to YouTube using this image—claiming that Tarique Rahman formally recognized Fatema Begum as his sister—were also confirmed to be false. No such news has been reported by mainstream media.
These findings clearly indicate that the circulated images were created or manipulated using artificial intelligence. In other words, the claim that Fatema Begum shared a real dining-table moment with Tarique Rahman’s family is false.
DBTech/IH/EK/OR
