This story uses screenshots and not actual tweets in view of the graphic nature of the video being fact-checked.
The political unrest that erupted in Bangladesh following the student protests over reservation descended into a disturbing path marked by escalating violence. In the wake of this turmoil, Sheikh Hasina was compelled to step down from her position as Prime Minister and flee the country on August 5. This was followed by several incidents of attacks on the minority Hindu community. Against this backdrop, numerous videos and images related to the violence began circulating widely on Indian social media platforms.
One such video shows a girl being beaten up and harassed by a mob. The clip has been widely shared with the claim that the girl is a Hindu and that she was being targeted and harassed by individuals from the Muslim community. The footage reveals women dressed in burqas and men wearing caps that are commonly associated with the Muslim community.
Ashwini Shrivastava, a Right-wing social media user, tweeted the video with similar claims. At the time this article being written, the video has received more than 9 Lakh views. (Archived link)
Lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay also tweeted this video and wrote that the biggest enemies of Hindus were converted Hindus. (Archived link)
Many more X users have posted this video with the same claim.
Click to view slideshow.This video has also been uploaded on YouTube with the same claim. (Link 1, Link 2)
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
Alt News observed that Shohanur Rahman, a fact-checker from Bangladesh-based outlet ‘Rumor Scanner’, had replied to Ashwini Srivastava’s tweet. Commenting on the alleged incident, he clarified that the woman seen in the video was not a Hindu as claimed, but a member of the Muslim community. Alt News, respecting the sensitivity of the situation, has chosen not to disclose the name of the victim in this report. The incident in question occurred on August 7 in the Tanker Par area of the Brahmanbaria district. The woman is reportedly a worker of the Mahila Chhatra League, a student wing of Sheikh Hasina’s political party, the Awami League. It appears that her association with this organisation was the reason she was targeted by the mob.
Based on this information, we performed a keyword search in Bengali on Facebook, which led us to a 6:48 second long related video. In one of the frames from this footage, we identified the words ‘Loknath Tank, B Baria’ inscribed on a wall. The caption of this Facebook post also corroborated this location, mentioning ‘Brahmanbaria Tank’ and ‘Chhatra League leader.’
It is important for readers to note that in both this longer Facebook video and the shorter viral video, a girl dressed in a black salwar suit with a red dupatta can be seen standing beside the victim. This individual appears prominently in both videos.
While investigating, Alt News found two Facebook videos of this incident. (Link 1, Link 2) After carefully analysing both videos, we observed a pink purse that was present in both. In the first video, the victim is seen clutching this pink purse. In the second video, the girl wearing the black suit and red dupatta is shown retrieving documents and other items from this pink purse.
In this second Facebook video, the girl wearing the black suit takes out the victim’s ID card and shows it to the camera, which is from the Upazila Parishad elections. After seeing this ID card, it becomes clear that the victim girl is a Muslim. Below is a Google-translated version of the ID card which is in Bengali.
Click to view slideshow.To sum it up, a woman seen being harassed by a mob in this viral video is actually not a Hindu, but a Muslim. She was attacked due to her association with the Awami League.
Alt News debunked two similar false claims in the recent past where attacks on student leaders of Awami League in educational institutions were passed as targeted attack on Hindus. (1, 2)
The post Bangladesh: Yet another video of assault on Awami League youth leader viral in India with a communal spin appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Kinjal.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.