A 1.54-minute-long viral video showing a group of men in skull caps, armed with sticks and metal poles is being widely shared by several Indian Right-wing handles. They claim the video depicts a Muslim mob attacking the properties of Hindus in Bangladesh.
In the video, the group can be seen walking through what appears to be fields and sounds of shots being fired can be heard too.
X user @MeghUpdates, who has been found sharing misinformation several times in the past, shared the clip alongside two other videos on November 28 with the following caption: “Radical mob attacked a village in Murshidpur in Sherpur District, Bangladesh. Hindu homes, crops destroyed. Livestock looted. One person has been killed. Even Sufi shrine of unorthodox islamic sect looted and vandalised.” The tweet has received over 3.66 lakh views and has been retweeted over 6,500 times. (Archive)
Radical mob attacked a village in Murshidpur in Sherpur District, Bangladesh.
Hindu homes, crops destroyed. Livestock looted. One person has been killed. Even Sufi shrine of unorthodox islamic sect looted and vandalised. pic.twitter.com/Ta7iHrwMu7
— Megh Updates
(@MeghUpdates) November 28, 2024
Right-wing propaganda outlet Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) also tweeted the video with a caption that said: “Pray for Bangladeshi Hindus
#AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus”. (Archive)
Pray for Bangladeshi Hindus
— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) November 28, 2024
The video seems to be among a string of similarly viral clips from Bangladesh after erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August. Since then, the country has witnessed several targeted attacks against minorities including Hindus and several videos have—over the past few months—gone viral as cases of attacks against Hindu minorities there. Alt News has debunked several such (false) claims (Examples 1, 2, 3).
Even after the formation of the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, there’s hardly been a let up in cases of violence and viral claims suggesting the same. Alt News has documented several such cases in a detailed report.
The viral video in question was shared by many claiming that it depicted an attack on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh by Muslims.
Click to view slideshow.
So, what’s at play here?
We ran a keyword search and found a news report by Dhaka Tribune from November 27 titled “7 held over attack on Sherpur’s Murshidpur Darbar Sharif”. The report said it was an incident of vandalism and looting that took place the previous day. Note that the this is the same location as the one mentioned in the viral claims. Darbar Sharif is a religious establishment in the Lachhmanpur area of Bangladesh’s Sherpur district. Sources at Darbar Sharif told Alt News that the attack was allegedly orchestrated by local madrasa teachers and residents who were concerned about “anti-Islamic practices” being conducted there. Thirteen people were injured in the incident.
Another report from The Daily Star, an English daily in Bangladesh, corroborates the details. This report also has an image, which helps identify the location from the viral video. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
From the above context, it is clear that neither of the parties in the above incident is from the Hindu community. Hence, there is no communal angle to the matter.
We also found the same video posted by several users on Facebook with captions that say that a mob was headed towards Murshidpur Darbar Sharif.
Further, upon checking the Google Maps images of the Lachhmanpur area where the incident is said to have happened, we could confirm that the viral clip was indeed filmed near the Darbar Sharif, which had been vandalised. Additionally, the two other videos shared by @MeghUpdates also showed similarities to this area. Below is a comparison of screengrabs from all three videos and the Google Maps images.
Click to view slideshow.Therefore, the claim that the viral video depicts a Muslim mob vandalising Hindu homes and destroying crops is false.
The post No, a Muslim mob in Bangladesh’s Sherpur district did not attack Hindu homes appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.
Oishani Bhattacharya | Radio Free (2024-12-02T13:19:35+00:00) No, a Muslim mob in Bangladesh’s Sherpur district did not attack Hindu homes. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/12/02/no-a-muslim-mob-in-bangladeshs-sherpur-district-did-not-attack-hindu-homes/
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