Cricketer-turned-politician’s home burnt in Bangladesh protests

KARACHI: Several Indian accounts on social media shared an image of a burning house and cricketer Liton Das, claiming that the Bangladeshi Hindu athlete’s home was torched during anti-government protests. However, the gutted residence actually belonged to Bangladeshi politician and former cricketer Mashrafe Mortaza.
The unrest in Bangladesh began in July 2024 in the form of protests against civil service job quotas and then escalated into wider calls for former prime minister Sheikh Hasi­­na to stand down. Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but was accused of rigging elections in Jan­u­a­­ry and then watched millions of pe­­ople take to the streets over the past month demanding she step down.
More than 400 people died as security forces sought to quell the unrest, but the protests grew and Hasina finally fled Bangladesh abo­ard a helicopter on August 5, 2024, as the military turned against her.
On August 5, 2024, an Indian account shared an image of a burning house with a picture of Bang­la­d­e­shi cricketer Das on social media pl­­a­tform X. The caption of the post said, “Bangladeshi Hindu cricketer Liton Das’ house has been set on fire.”
The post was viewed 1.4 million times. Another user, calling herself a “proud Indian” and “Dharmik” (righteous), shared the image as well with the caption: “He is Liton Das, a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is a national hero of Bangladesh. His house was set on fire by Islamists. This is the condition of an elite Hindu of Bangladesh. Just imagine the condition of common Hindus.”
The post was viewed close to 470,000 times.
A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, because it concerned violence against minorities amid the successful anti-government protests in Bangladesh that saw Hasina stepping down and also because many users pointed out in the comments to the viral posts that the house was not of Das.
A reverse image search conducted on the viral photograph of the burning house led to several articles from media outlets that reported the original incident, saying that the residence actually belonged to ex-Bangladeshi cricketer Mashrafe Mortaza.
Mortaza, the former cricket captain, turned politician in 2018 and served as the parliamentarian for the Narail-2 constituency. He is also a prominent figure in Hasina’s Awami League, having secured his parliamentary seat for the second consecutive term earlier in 2024.
The United News of Bangladesh’s article titled, ‘Mashrafe’s Narail home van­­dalised, torched’, said the incident occurred on August 5 when vandals burnt the lawmaker’s home.
Indian news outlets Firstpost and The Munsif Daily also reported on the development, both using the same image that was circulated online as being of Das’s house.
Therefore, the fact check determi­ned that the claim regarding the bu­­rning of Bangladeshi Hindu cricke­t­­er Liton Das’s house amid protests ag­­­ainst the government was misleading.
This fact check has been published in partnership with iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024