“Jornal Polígrafo, it seems to me that the subtitles in this video are manipulatedit will make sense to check it out.” The request appeared in a comment on a post by André Ventura on X/Twitter, on March 17, which has since been deleted. The Chega leader shared a video originating from a YouTube channel called “Invictus Portucale “, full of content of a xenophobic and racist nature.
This particular video portrayed a speech by the leader of the Bangladeshi community in Lisbon, translated into Portuguese through subtitles (from the original in Bengali, the official language of Bangladesh). Among several controversial considerations, the following excerpt stands out: “Those who found a new society, those who are here today, what did they do for this society? I didn’t do it for society. I did it to make those of my blood happy . I’m going to make my blood happy. I’m going to make this society a reality. And if people aren’t happy with that, I will destroy this society. I will make our society happy.”
Having said that, Ventura commented in the aforementioned tweet with the video in question: “Receive well is not tolerate those who say they want to destroy our society. Chega is right: we have to be careful with who we welcome into our homeland!”
This publication by Ventura ended up being turned offbut the video remains on YouTube and on multiple pages and shares on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social networks.
Is the translation in the subtitles reliable?
In response to Polygraph, an official source from the Bangladeshi Embassy in Portugal confirmed that the protagonist of the video is indeed Rana Taslim Uddin, leader of the Bangladeshi community in Lisbon. The speech was given in the city of Lisbon, in April 2023.
As for the translation, Jayanti Dutta, professor and researcher at the Center for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures (CLEPUL) at the University of Lisbon, explained to Polígrafo what was actually said by Rana Taslim Uddin in that intervention:
“Those who found a new society here, those who are present here today, ask me what I did for society. Brothers, I did it to make my God happy, not for society. If God becomes happy, he will bring a solution to the society and lead this society to the right path. If he is not happy, then he will destroy this society. That’s why we try to please God and at the same time build friendships with people in this society.”
It thus becomes clear that the protagonist of the video did not threaten to “destroy this society” that welcomed him. The idea he expressed is clearly different. The translation in the subtitles is wrong, thus spreading a falsehood.
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Polygraph Assessment:
Tags: Viral video shows leader Bangladeshi community Lisbon threatening destroy society welcomed
