Fact Check: Muslims vandalise Hindu temple in Bangladesh? False, it’s a Sufi shrine
A video of a mob vandalising a religious place in Bangladesh has gone viral
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 3 Dec 2024 2:33 PM GMT
Claim: The video shows Muslims attacking a Hindu temple in Bangladesh.
Fact: The claim is false. The video shows a mob vandalising a Sufi shrine in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, in August 2024.
Hyderabad: Reports have surfaced recently about extremist groups in Bangladesh attacking Hindu temples and assaulting minority community members in Chittagong. These incidents have reportedly forced many Hindus to flee their homes for safer shelters. Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August 2024, a series of incidents involving the desecration and damage to Hindu temples and deities have been reported, fuelling fears among the Hindu minority community in Bangladesh.
Amid this tense backdrop, a video claiming to show Muslims attacking a Hindu temple in Bangladesh has gone viral on social media.
The one-minute-long clip shows a large crowd of people vandalising a building using sticks and rods. Some of the individuals in the video are seen wearing Islamic religious attire such as skull caps and kanduras. The video was shared by an X user with the caption: “1000s of Sunni Bangladeshis breaking Hindu Temples. While Hindus lining up at Decathlon, Zara, etc., to buy Made in Bangladesh items. #BoycottBangladesh.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video does not show an attack on a Hindu temple but shows the vandalism of a Sufi shrine in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, in August 2024.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to a YouTube upload, dated August 29, 2024.
The video was titled ‘Mubarak Holy Shrine of Hazrat Baba Ali Pagla (RA) vandalised. Mansoor Nagar, Kazipur, Sirajganj’ (translated from Bangla). It shows a similar scene of a shrine being vandalised.
The visuals in the YouTube video are similar to the viral footage, confirming that the two are related. Here’s a comparison of the frames from the YouTube video and the viral clip.
The video’s description hinted that the incident occurred at Ward No 9, Dakshin Kumaria Bari, Mansoor Nagar, Kazipur, Sirajganj.
The information we found so far led us to a local report from Bangladesh. Kalerkantho reported the incident on August 31, 2024, titled: ‘The imam of the mosque was sacked due to the vandalism of the shrine’. (Translated from Bangla)
According to the report, the shrine of Hazrat Baba Ali Pagla (RA) was vandalised on the night of August 29, 2024, by hundreds of people led by Imam Ghulam Rabbani. The group used hammers, spades and sticks to destroy the shrine near Bamanjani Bazar in Sirajganj. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers even climbed atop the shrine and stomped on it. Following the incident, Imam Ghulam Rabbani was removed from his position at the mosque by local villagers on August 31, 2024.
Another report by Amader Channel, published on September 1, 2024, confirmed the details.
The report stated that villagers expelled the imam who led the attack on the shrine. It also included screenshots from the viral video. According to the report, the Kazipur Police Station officer-in-charge, Shahidul Islam, stated that while they were aware of the incident, no formal complaints had been lodged for the police to take action. However, legal action would be taken if complaints were received.
This is not the first instance of videos being circulated with false claims about attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. Similar misleading claims have been debunked by NewsMeter on several occasions. The reports can be seen here and here.
Hence, the viral video claiming to show Muslims attacking a Hindu temple in Bangladesh is false. The footage is from an incident in August 2024, where a group vandalised a Sufi shrine in Sirajganj, Bangladesh.
