As Muslim-majority Bangladesh noticed a spate of reprisal assaults in opposition to its minority Hindu neighborhood, a video was shared on-line with a false declare that it exhibits the screening of a documentary within the nation in regards to the destruction of a centuries-old mosque in neighbouring India. A member of the political social gathering that hosted the occasion advised AFP it was truly held in India to mark 32 years because the mosque was destroyed.
“Massive screens are being put in in Bangladesh displaying the demolition of Babri Masjid to incite the Muslim neighborhood in direction of Hindus and trigger horrible bloodshed!” learn a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on December 18, 2024.
The submit included a four-minute, nine-second video which exhibits a crowd watching a documentary about Babri Masjid, a Sixteenth-century mosque that was destroyed by tens of hundreds of supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) and different Hindu teams in 1992 to pave the best way for a temple (archived link).
Screenshot of the false submit, taken on December 18, 2024
Spiritual relations have been turbulent in Bangladesh since a student-led revolution in August toppled autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to neighbouring India.
The video surfaced with comparable claims on Facebook and X after the thirty second anniversary of the Babri Masjid’s demolition on December 6.
Nonetheless, the screening seen within the false video truly happened in Mumbra, Maharashtra in western India.
Screening in India
A reverse picture search of keyframes on Google adopted by key phrase searches discovered the identical video revealed on the official YouTube account of the Maharashtra arm of the Social Democratic Get together of India (SDPI) on December 6 (archived link).
The SDPI is the political wing of the Standard Entrance of India, a gaggle that was banned in 2022 for alleged “terrorism” hyperlinks (archived link).
“Babri Masjid Timeline Exhibition | SDPI Mumbra at Darul Falah | A Journey By way of Historical past,” its title learn.
Under is a screenshot comparability of the video within the false posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI’s YouTube account (proper):
Screenshot comparability of the video within the false posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI’s YouTube account (proper):
SDPI flags — a pink and inexperienced banner with a star and the social gathering’s title — are additionally seen within the video.
Under is a comparability of the flag as seen within the clip (left) and at a rally in 2021 in AFP’s archives (proper) (archived link):
Comparability of the SDPI flag seen at the start of the video (left) and the identical banner seen at a rally in 2021 in AFP’s archives (proper)
Azhar Tamboli, a member of the Nationwide Working Committee of SDPI, confirmed to AFP that the video exhibits the documentary screening organised by SDPI in Mumbra.
“The Babri Masjid Timeline exhibition was organised for the general public close to Darul Falah Mosque positioned in Accord Naka within the Mumbra space of Thane, Maharashtra on 6 December, on the thirty second anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid,” he advised AFP on December 20, 2024.
Related movies taken from completely different angles had been shared by the SDPI on different social media websites similar to Instagram and X (archived hyperlink here and here).
Photographs on Google Street View present the screening happened in Mumbra, and the Darul Falah mosque may be seen within the background (archived link).
Under is a screenshot comparability between a scene from the footage (left) and a picture of the world on Google Avenue View (proper) with corresponding components highlighted by AFP:
Screenshot comparability between a scene from the footage (left) and a picture of the world on Google Avenue View (proper) with corresponding components highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked different misinformation linked to non secular relations in Bangladesh after Hasina’s ouster here and here.
