Recently, claims regarding Tulip Siddiq, a minister of the UK's Labour Party and the daughter of Sheikh Rehana—sister of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—have gone viral on social media. Posts on Facebook allege that Tulip was removed from her role at the UK's anti-corruption office. These claims have also been echoed in headlines and graphic cards shared by several media outlets. However, fact-checking reveals these claims are false.Reports from British media indicate that opposition MPs have called for Tulip Siddiq’s removal. However, no credible outlet has reported her actual dismissal to date.

Several Facebook posts featuring graphic cards with Tulip Siddiq's photo claim: "Removed from British anti-corruption office." Some posts share similar allegations in text form. Notably, Bangladesh's verified media outlet Ekushey Television shared a graphic card with the same claim on its Facebook page and published an online report with a matching headline. These graphic cards have since been reshared by individual users and repurposed in YouTube videos. Daily Inqilab and other online portals have also published reports with similar headlines.

Fact-checking agency DismissLab investigated these claims using relevant keywords. They found that while many reports centered on calls for her removal, none confirmed that she was actually dismissed. British news outlet Daily Mail cited allegations that opposition MPs urged Tulip's removal from her anti-corruption-related position due to accusations of assisting family members in embezzling £4 billion from Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. This appeal reportedly stemmed from allegations that Tulip facilitated the misappropriation of funds, prompting MPs to call for her withdrawal from the UK’s Financial Sanctions Implementation office.

However, Daily Mail and other British media did not state that Tulip Siddiq had been removed. On the contrary, they only reported the opposition's demands for action. In contrast, some Bangladeshi media and social media posts presented the claim as confirmed news, which is inaccurate.For instance, while Daily Inqilab and Ekushey Television’s headlines and graphic cards assert her removal, their detailed reports reference the Daily Mail’s report, which discusses only the opposition's demands.

It is worth mentioning that on August 5, following the fall of the Awami League government, allegations of financial embezzlement were leveled against Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Tulip Siddiq, and other family members. Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began investigating claims of embezzlement related to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. Allegations also surfaced in the High Court, accusing Tulip of facilitating the misappropriation of £10 billion. Reportedly, this involved a 2013 agreement signed at the Kremlin by Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Tulip Siddiq present.Both Tulip Siddiq and her party members have denied these allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated.

Original News Link: https://dismislab.com/factcheck/politics/tulip-siddiq/