Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Bangladeshi Muslims vandalise a Hindu temple.
Fact
Video dates back to August 2024, shows a Sufi shrine being vandalised in Bangladesh.
Several social media users are circulating a 1-minute video, claiming it shows hundreds of Bangladeshi Muslims vandalising a Hindu temple amid reports of a rise in violent attacks against minorities in Bangladesh. “See how Hindu temples were vandalised and Hindu devotees were beaten up in different cities of Bangladesh yesterday. But the whole world is silent on the massacre of Hindus in Bangladesh,” read one such post.
The archived version of a viral post can be seen here, which has clocked 171.2K views so far.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed that some users pointed out that it was an old video of a Sufi shrine being vandalised, which raised our doubts.
We next ran a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to the same video uploaded on Facebook, dated August 29, 2024, stating that it was the Hazrat Ali Pagla shrine in Kazipur, Sirajganj district of Bangladesh. Similar videos can be seen here and here, confirming it was from at least three months ago.
We then came across this Dhaka-based Maasranga News report on Youtube, dated September 9, 2024, on the vandalism of Sufi shrines across the country.
Screengrabs of the viral video (left) and the news report (right).
A comparison of excerpts from the report (right) with the viral video (left) confirmed that it was the same incident. Similar Bangla news reports can be seen here and here.
“Several people in the area said that Imam Golam Rabbani and his men vandalised the shrine of Ali Pagla in Mansurnagar Union of the upazila on August 29 in front of Jama Masjid in the house of Shalgram Tamizuddin in Kazipur, Sirajganj,” read a Kalbela news report, dated August 31, 2024.
Newschecker came across several write-ups from August-September, stating that Bangladesh was witnessing a disturbing rise in religious extremism as Wahhabi-inspired extremists increasingly targeted minority Hindu temples and Sunni Sufi shrines
“In Sirajganj, two shrines were attacked within one week. The most recent attack occurred on September 3, targeting the shrine of Ismail Pagla in Haripur village. A few days earlier, on August 29, the shrine of Hazrat Ali Pagla in the Kazipur sub-district was also vandalised. Video clips of these attacks quickly went viral on social media, showing the attackers using hammers and sticks to break the walls and roofs of the shrines. Local sources claim that Ghulam Rabbani, the imam of the Shalgram Jama Masjid, led the assault on these religious sites,” read an Awaz The Voice report, dated September 10, 2024.
A September 15, 2024 Times of India report on the attacks on Sufi shrines in Bangladesh can be seen here. Similar reports acknowledging attacks by miscreants on at least 25 Sufi shrines can be seen here and here. “On August 29, 2024, the shrine of Ali Pagla, located next to the Bamanjani Bazar in the Charanchal Mansurnagar Union of Kazipur Upazila in Sirajganj District, was vandalised,” read a South Asia Intelligence Review write-up, dated October 7, 2024.
Also Read: Did Andhra Pradesh Govt Abolish Waqf Board? No, State Dissolved Existing Panel To Form A New One
Conclusion
Old video of a Sufi shrine being vandalised in Bangladesh falsely shared as an attack on Hindu temple.
Result: False
Source
Facebook video, August 29, 2024
Maasranga News report, Youtube, September 9, 2024
Kalbela news report, August 31, 2024
Awaz The Voice report, September 10, 2024
Times of India report, September 15, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
