Recent social media posts have circulated an image claiming that a Pakistani flag was waved in Bangladesh following the dramatic ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. However, this claim is false. The image in question shows protesters waving the Pakistani flag on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City during a pro-Palestinian protest in October 2023.
The misleading posts shared widely on platforms such as X and Facebook, incorrectly suggested that the flag was displayed in Bangladesh, marking a significant and symbolic gesture. One such post, which received over 35,000 views, included a caption in Urdu that read: “The most favorable picture came out. For the first time since 1971, Dhaka raised the flag of Pakistan over Bangladesh.”
The photo shows a group of masked individuals holding Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Palestinian flags atop a steel structure. It was shared on August 5, 2024, coinciding with Sheikh Hasina’s resignation amid protests in Bangladesh. These protests erupted over a controversial quota scheme and call for Hasina’s resignation, but there is no connection between this image and the events in Bangladesh.
Reverse image and keyword searches reveal that the original photo was taken during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in New York City. A video posted on October 29, 2023, on the verified YouTube channel LLN NYC shows the same group of protesters waving these flags on the Brooklyn Bridge.
