Fact-checking body Rumor Scanner debunked some pictures claiming that Bangladeshi women and men are being given military training in the border area to build resistance against India.
"The information on military training of Bangladeshi women and men to build resistance against India in the border areas is completely false," the fact checking organisation said in its report published on its website on Tuesday.
In an investigation, Rumor Scanner found that the pictures of the basic training of the Dhaka Metropolitan City Defense Team (TDP) organized at the headquarters of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Party in the capital are being circulated with that aforementioned claim.
In the investigation regarding the claim, a report aired on the YouTube channel of electronic media Jamuna Television on January 19 was found through reverse image search.
A review of the report shows that the pictures aired in the discussed claim are exactly as the same as the footage from several places in the said report. So it can be assumed that the pictures have been collected from the said report through screenshots.
The report also reveals that the video is of the basic training of the `Town Defense Party-TDP` of the Ansar and Village Defense Force. The training began on the day the report was published. 250 young people from Dhaka city participated in the training.
Later, based on the information, a keyword search was conducted on the website of the Daily Ajker Patrika, which found a report titled `Inauguration of the Basic Training Course of TDP at the Ansar Headquarters on January 21`.
The report reveals that the Youth Festival-2025 is being celebrated across the country with the theme `Come change the country, change the world`. In continuation of this, the basic training of the Town Defense Party (TDP) of Dhaka city began at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Force.
The main objective and goal of this training is to bring the youth under one umbrella by providing them with integrated and practical ideas on human security, community alert mechanism, volunteerism and dealing with unexpected disasters in urban areas where a total of 256 men and women from Khilgaon, Mirpur, Bhatara and Lalbagh police stations of Dhaka metropolis will be provided with basic training.
Later, through keyword search, a post of the inauguration of the said training programme was found on the Facebook page of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP on January 19 where several pictures of the training and the inauguration ceremony of that day can also be seen.
In addition, by reviewing the said page, a post was also found on January 24.
The post was made in the context of the Indian media Aaj Tak Bangla spreading pictures of the said training that it was a picture of providing `jihadi training` in Bangladesh.
The post states that since the establishment of the force, the basic training program of the Village Defense Party (VDP) and the City Defense Group (TDP) has been conducted in every upazila of the country to transform the strength of the country`s youth into public resources. In continuation of this, on January 19, 2025, this 10 (ten) day training program began in every upazila across the country. The post also protested against the Indian media`s claim of `jihadi training` and `training of extremists`.
According to the website of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defense Force, the Village Defense Party (VDP) and the City Defense Group (TDP) were formed in 1976 and 1980, respectively. Later, these two organizations merged with the Ansar Force and started playing a role as an integrated force in the country`s security system. Training programs are organized regularly every year to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the members.
Two posts of TDP training in 2023 and 2024 were also found on Facebook in open source searches. In addition, no information was found in the media or any other reliable source through keyword searches to find out whether any training program started to build resistance against India in the border areas of Bangladesh.
Moreover, no reliable source was found to have any restrictions on the participation of Hindus in this training.
Therefore, the information which claimed that Bangladeshi women and men are being provided military training to build resistance against India in the border areas is completely false.
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