December 4, 2024
DHAKA – Dismislab yesterday found that a video being circulated on a verified X (formerly Twitter) account showed RT India, claiming an attack on Hindu temples in Bangladesh, is not authentic.
Upon verification, the Bangladeshi online verification and media research platform found that the video actually shows scenes from a religious festival in the Sultanpur area of Burdwan district, West Bengal, India.
The video, captioned “Attack on Hindu temples in Bangladesh – the footage claims that miscreants are smashing and destroying idols,” shows an attempt to decapitate an idol. This video has been reposted numerous times.
Dismislab found that the video was originally posted on Facebook on November 29, with a caption that includes the hashtag #SultanpurKaliMataNiranjan in Bangla. Based on this caption, Dismislab found that the video actually shows a scene of idol immersion from Sultanpur in Khondkosh, Burdwan district, West Bengal, India. This is part of a unique festival in Sultanpur where every 12 years, an idol of the goddess Kali is immersed. The 12-foot idol is gradually broken down and floated in a pond.
Dismislab said that additional footage of the ritual could be found on a page called Sultanpur Kiranmoyee Pathagar. The video of the idol in that post matches the video posted by RT India.
The fact-checking platform also debunked another video that was posted from an X account named “Baba Benaras”. The caption underneath the video, posted on December 2, read, “See how Hindu temples were vandalized 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.”
The video showed people vandalising a structure.
Dismislab found that this incident did not take place on December 1. The incident was from August 29 at the shrine of Ali Pagla, located near Bamanjani Bazaar in Mansurnagar Union, Kazipur Upazila, Sirajganj.
A video report on this attack was published by a YouTube channel named The Metro TV on the same day of the incident. The video was titled “Ali Pagla’s shrine in Kazipur, Sirajganj being destroyed” in Bangla.
The video from the Baba Benaras account matched the video from The Metro TV.