Claim
A screenshot of a fake quote attributed to Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is being shared on social media with communal claims. The viral quote reads, "I regret the continuing of massacre of Hindus & Buddhists in Bangladesh, but Bangladesh is an Islamic Nation and not Secular. Now, the Muslims are in majority here. Under the circumstances, if Hindus & Buddhists want to live safely, they should either convert to Islam or go to India."
Fact
BOOM had debunked the same quote in August, 2021, when it was being shared with the same false claim. We had found that the fake quote originated from a screenshot of a Facebook post from 2015 by a page called Khabar24x7.com. The page, which claims to be a news outlet, does not exist any more. Additionally, on doing a keyword search, we did not find any such statement made by Khaleda Zia that was reported by local or international media outlets. We had also spoken to Sayrul Kabir Khan, member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's press wing in August 2021, who denied any such statement by Zia during her tenure as a prime minister and otherwise.