FACT CHECK: Zee news bulletin talks of Hindus killed in Myanmar, not Kolkata
A bulletin of Zee News is viral on Facebook. Users said the channel has reported that 1000 Hindus have disappeared from a small village in West Bengal and Rohingya Muslims have killed 45 of them.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 16 July 2021 1:49 PM GMT
HYDERABAD: A bulletin of Zee News is viral on Facebook. Users said the channel has reported that 1000 Hindus have disappeared from a small village in West Bengal and Rohingya Muslims have killed 45 of them.
"A total of one thousand Hindus, including men, women, small children, and elders, have disappeared from a small village in West Bengal, 45 bodies have been recovered. #Rohingya Muslims killed Hindus. Hear the news of zee news," reads the claim.
Original: "श्चिम बंगाल के एक छोटे गांव से आदमी-औरत, छोटे बच्चे तथा बड़े मिला कर कुल एक हजार हिन्दू गायब हो गए हैं , 45 शव बरामद किए गए हैं । #रोहिंग्या मुसलमानों ने हिंदूओं का कत्ल कर दिया । जी न्यूज की खबर सुने".
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FACT CHECK:
The claim is false.
Zee News bulletin does not say Rohingya Muslims are killing Hindus in West Bengal.
In the viral clip anchor Sudhir Chaudhary mentions the area as Rakhine, which is located in Myanmar. Using this hint, NewsMeter searched with appropriate keywords and found the full video uploaded by Zee News on 27 September 2017. The video address the issue on hundreds of Muslims protesting for killings in Myanmar's Rakhine. The viral clip can be heard from 02:59 minutes where the anchor talks of Hindus being killed in Rakhine. The title of the video reads 'DNA analyses on Hindus mass murder in Myanmar's Rakhine state'.
According to BBC News and Business Standard, an Amnesty International investigation concluded: "Members of a Rohingya militant group allegedly massacred as many as 99 people, including women and children, in Hindu villages in Myanmar's Rakhine state in 2017".
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) committed "serious human rights abuses... including unlawful killings and abductions", said the report. This incident took place in August 2017 when ARSA attacked and killed 99 Hindu civilians in Maungdaw township in Myanmar. ARSA, however, denied its involvement, said the BBC report.
As per an AFP report published in The Hindu in September 2017, Myanmar's Army found a mass grave containing the bodies of 28 Hindus including women and children, in Rakhine State. They blamed Rohingya militants for the massacre.
The viral bulletin by Zee News is linked to the 2017 massacre of Hindu civilians in Rakhine, Myanmar. Thus, it is clear that this incident did not take place in West Bengal.
The claim is false.
