Fact Check: Muslims set fire to Hindu farmer crops in Bangladesh? Here's the truth

A Threads user shared the video and wrote: “Now in Bangladesh, Muslim people are destroying the crops grown in Hindu fields by burning them by pouring petrol on them. And they are telling Hindus to leave their farms and houses and go from Bangladesh to India. (sic)”

Similar claims can be seen here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows a Muslim farmer, Nasim Mia, crying over his burnt crops in Pierpur village, Kushtia, Bangladesh.

A reverse image search led to a YouTube video published by Channel 24 on December 5, 2024, titled: ‘Miscreants set fire to the ripe paddy on a farmer’s one and a half bigha of land, Kushtia.’

The visuals from the viral video match the content at the 0:25-minute mark in the Channel 24 clip. According to the Bangla video report, the farmer grieving in the viral video was identified as Nasim Mia at the 0:33-minute mark.

The video stated that the incident took place in Lakshmipur field, Pierpur village, Kushtia Sadar upazila, where Nasim Mia had leased three bighas of land for paddy cultivation. At 0:11, Nasim can be heard saying: “I have planted rice with great difficulty. I bought and planted many rice seedlings.” (Translated from Bangla).

We found additional details about the incident in a report by Kalbela published on December 6, 2024, titled: ‘The farmer’s dream comes to an end.’

The report stated that unidentified persons set Nasim’s fields on fire on the night of December 4, 2024. Bottles of petrol were found at the scene.

As per the report, the incident took place at Lakshmipur field in Piarpur village, which is Nasim Mia’s native village The report cited Sufi Mohammad Rafiquzzaman, deputy director of the Kushtia Department of Agricultural Extension, who expressed sadness over the incident and mentioned that efforts would be made to see if any assistance could be provided to the affected farming family.

The report included a photo of a farmer sitting helplessly with his head in his hands, captioned: ‘A farmer sits with his head in his hands after his crops were set on fire. Photo: Kalbela.’

A report by Channel 24 on their website confirmed the incident and the farmer’s name.

The report mentioned that the Kushtia Model Police Station officer-in-charge, Md. Shehabur Rahman Sihab, confirmed that legal action would be taken if a formal complaint was lodged.

Interestingly, incidents of paddy field fires are not new to this region. A report by Jago News 24, published on December 10, 2022, described a similar event in Kushtia, where a farmer named Rezaul Islam lost his crops to miscreants.

According to the report, he said, “Setting fire to rice piles has become a custom in this village. Incidents of setting fire to rice piles occur every year. I demand exemplary punishment for those involved.”

Furthermore, no reports have been found indicating that the issue has affected Hindus on religious or communal grounds.

Therefore, the claim that Muslims in Bangladesh are burning Hindu fields and forcing them to migrate is false. The incident involved a Muslim farmer, Nasim Mia, whose fields were burned by unidentified persons. No evidence suggests any religious or communal motives behind the act.