Claim Debunked by Minister
Fake Quote Attributed to Home Minister
- Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed denied making the claimed legal-action statement
- He actually said the public would judge those calling BNP an extortionist party
- The disputed graphic was circulated through social media, including Rumeen Farhana’s verified account
A social media graphic claiming that Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said legal action would be taken against anyone calling the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) an “extortionist party” has been debunked by the minister himself.
On Tuesday (October 6), a post published on Salahuddin Ahmed’s verified Facebook page under the caption “Rumor | Stay Alert” said a fake photocard carrying a statement attributed to him was circulating on social media.
The post said the minister had confirmed that he “did not make such a comment anywhere” and urged people not to be misled by false information, rumors or propaganda.
The disputed photocard
The graphic claimed that Salahuddin Ahmed had said: “Legal action will be taken if anyone calls BNP an extortionist party.”
The graphic was also posted from the verified Facebook account of Rumeen Farhana, a member of parliament from Brahmanbaria-2. In the accompanying caption, she questioned whether a political party could be described as an extortionist party when, according to her wording, 99.99 percent of its members were allegedly involved in extortion.
A fact-check report traced the disputed graphic to a social media post and reported that it had been created in the style of a Jamuna Television news graphic.
What did the minister actually say?
The misinformation appears particularly misleading because Salahuddin Ahmed did make a related statement on September 30, but his actual wording was substantially different.
On September 30, after a law-and-order coordination meeting at the Secretariat ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations, the Home Minister responded to questions from journalists about allegations of extortion involving BNP.
Multiple news reports carried the same core statement: he said that if anyone had made remarks deliberately describing BNP as an extortionist party, the public would judge such statements.
He also criticized what he described as sweeping accusations against the government and deliberate allegations against BNP.
Therefore, there is credible evidence for the statement that “the public will judge” such remarks. There is, however, no credible evidence supporting the separate claim that he said “legal action will be taken” against anyone using the description.
Instead, the minister's own verified Facebook page explicitly rejected that claim on October 6.
Background to the September 30 remarks
The minister's September 30 comments came amid controversy surrounding an alleged attack, vandalism and looting at a Newgini Properties housing project near the ECB Chattar area in Dhaka.
Content creator Salman Muqtadir had alleged in a social media livestream that money was demanded from him in the name of a political party and that the alleged refusal was followed by an attack and vandalism.
However, when he later spoke to journalists, Muqtadir said that nobody had directly demanded money from him. Reports also said the authorities were following a preliminary verification process before formally proceeding with the case.
It was in this context that Salahuddin Ahmed said people would judge anyone who made sweeping accusations against the government or deliberately labeled BNP as an extortionist organization.
Fact-check verdict
Claim: Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said, “Legal action will be taken if anyone calls BNP an extortionist party.”
Verdict: False.
The minister's verified Facebook page identified the circulating graphic as fake and said he had not made such a comment anywhere.
Verified fact: On September 30, Salahuddin Ahmed did say that the public would judge anyone who deliberately described BNP as an extortionist party. Multiple independent news reports published that statement.
The key misinformation therefore appears to be a distortion of the original statement—replacing the phrase “the public will judge” with “legal action will be taken.”
Verification at a glance
| Claim | Finding |
|---|---|
| The Home Minister said legal action would be taken | False |
| The disputed graphic circulated on social media | True |
| The graphic was posted from Rumeen Farhana’s verified account | Reported |
| The minister discussed allegations of BNP being an extortionist party on September 30 | True |
| He said the public would judge such remarks | True |
| He warned about the fake quote on October 6 | True |
Editorial fact-check note: The false verdict is based not only on the minister's direct denial but also on a comparison between the disputed quote and his documented September 30 remarks. The evidence supports treating the “legal action” quotation as fabricated, while the “public will judge” statement is supported by multiple reports.
//DBTech/FBPS/FCT/ MSI//
