A 37-second clip depicting smoke billowing out of some makeshift shops engulfed in flames is viral on social media. In the video, some individuals are seen trying to salvage some articles and rushing to take them out of the reach of the fire. Social media users claim that the clip is from Bangladesh’s Laximpur and shows a shop owned by a Hindu named Rajan Chandra set afire in an act of arson by ‘Islamists’.
Bangladesh was plunged into an unprecedented crisis with erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ousted on August 5 after a month-long nationwide student protest. An interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is expected to be sworn in on August 8.
Propaganda outlet Sudarshan News, which often shares and amplifies misinformation, posted the above-mentioned video on August 7 with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as: “Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh… In Laxmipur, the shop of a Hindu shopkeeper, Rajan Chandra, has been burnt to ashes… Rajan Chandra and his family are in agony and wailing as their shop, their only source of livelihood, burns to ashes…” The tweet has received more than 50,000 views and has been retweeted over 1,200 times. (Archive)
बांग्लादेश में हिंदुओं पर हमले…
लक्ष्मीपुर में हिंदू दुकानदार राजन चंद्रा की दुकान को जलाकर राख कर दिया गया है…
राजन चंद्रा और उनका परिवार तड़प रहा है, बिलख रहा है और उनकी रोटी का एकमात्र साधन उनकी दुकान धू-धूकर जल रही है…#bangladeshnews #dhaka #BangladeshCrisis… pic.twitter.com/qNwN1nTC0O
— Sudarshan News (@SudarshanNewsTV) August 7, 2024
Another X page called Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus 🇧🇩 (@VoiceofHindu71) also shared the same video with the claim that the shop on fire belonged to a Bangladeshi Hindu named Rajan Chandra. The tweet has received over 1.63 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 4,600 times. (Archive)
Shop of a Hindu owner (Rajan Chandra) in Lakshmipur.#SaveBangladeshiHindus #AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus #HinduAreNotSafeInBangladesh #HinduGenocideInBangladesh pic.twitter.com/UeLOVVnbjM
— Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus 🇧🇩 (@VoiceofHindu71) August 7, 2024
Several other users such as @SaffronSunanda, @visegrad24, @ManishKasyapsob, @RealBababanaras, shared the viral video with the same claim, amplifying it further.
Click to view slideshow.News outlet ETV Bharat also carried the viral video in their report with the same claim.
Fact Check
To verify this claim we ran a relevant keyword search in Bengali which led us to several news reports from July that covered a fire in Lakshmipur that had burnt down around 15 shops. We came across a news report by Bangladesh Bulletin from July 11, 2024, titled: “15 shops were gutted by fire at Majuchaudhuri market in Lakshmipur” which carried an image with visuals similar to those in the viral video. Lakhsmipur is a district in Chittagong division of Bangladesh.
Below is a comparison:
This proves that the incident had taken place before the anti-government protests in Bangladesh turned violent on July 16.
As per the news report, locals noticed the fire in the Moju Chowdhury Hat after the Fajr prayers (Islamic prayers offered in the early morning) were over. The report also quoted Abdul Mannan, the assistant deputy director of Lakshmipur fire service, saying that they had received a call about the fire at 6:20 am. Since the area had several garment shops the flames spread quickly. The report did not mention anything about the cause of the fire.
Another news report by Shomoy Sangbad said that the fire department initially believed the cause of the fire was an electrical short-circuit. The report also mentioned the names and nature of the shops damaged in the fire — Abdul Mannan Motor Parts, Rakib Tyres, Sourav Store, Gas Cylinders, Electronics, etc.
Further, we ran a relevant keyword search (both in English and Bangla) with the name ‘Rajan Chandra’ to check if there were any news reports about the individual’s shop being burnt but we could not find anything.
Therefore, from the above findings, it is clear that the viral video is not related to the ongoing protests in Bangladesh. Nor does it show one particular Hindu-owned shop set afire.
The post Bangladesh: Video of July 11 fire in Lakshmipur village market peddled as attack on Hindus appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.
Oishani Bhattacharya | Radio Free (2024-08-07T14:55:57+00:00) Bangladesh: Video of July 11 fire in Lakshmipur village market peddled as attack on Hindus. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/08/07/bangladesh-video-of-july-11-fire-in-lakshmipur-village-market-peddled-as-attack-on-hindus/
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