On June 5 of last year, the High Court annulled the quota system, declaring the 2018 government notification invalid, which triggered widespread reactions among students and the general public. By July, protests intensified across the country over this issue, and within just two months, on August 5, the government fell. This mass movement later became known as the "July Revolution."

Recently, an audio recording of a phone conversation between Dr. Mamun Ahmed, the current Pro-Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, and Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the BNP, has surfaced on the internet. It is being claimed that this conversation was related to directives for the July movement.

Fact-check

An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team has revealed that the widely circulated phone conversation between Tarique Rahman and Dr. Mamun Ahmed regarding the quota reform movement is not from 2024 but from 2018.

Upon examining the phone call, a report titled "What Tarique Rahman Told a DU Professor About the Quota System" was found on Jago News 24, published on April 12, 2018. The report states that during the quota movement in 2018, Tarique Rahman discussed the quota system over the phone with Dhaka University professor Mamun Ahmed. Professor Mamun Ahmed himself confirmed this conversation to an online news portal, saying, "I spoke with Tarique Rahman on Tuesday (April 10, 2018) evening."

Additionally, the full transcript of this phone conversation was included in the report, which matches the recently circulated recording. The same audio was also uploaded on April 12, 2018, by a YouTube channel named Bangla Voice24, and it bears identical content to the one currently being discussed. On the same day, Jamuna TV’s website published a report featuring comments from BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain regarding the phone conversation. He stated, "If the party's acting chairman advises a like-minded academic to support the movement, there is nothing wrong with that."

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also commented on the matter, saying, "As the acting chairman, Tarique Rahman can call a member of the party’s advisory council to support a legitimate movement. This phone conversation is a normal occurrence." This indicates that the discussed phone call is linked to the first phase of the quota reform movement, which began in January 2018.

Therefore, the phone conversation between Dr. Mamun Ahmed and Tarique Rahman regarding the 2018 quota movement is now being misrepresented as part of the July 2024 movement, which is misleading.

Original News Source: https://rumorscanner.com/fact-check/tareq-rahman-old-phone-call/136917