Following an outbreak of ethnic violence in eastern Bangladesh in September, a video has been viewed millions of times in social media posts that falsely claimed it shows minority women blocking army vehicles in the country. But the video predates the recent unrest in Bangladesh, and Indian media say it shows women from the Meitei ethnic group in India’s Manipur state protesting arrests by the army there.
“The Bangladesh army is doing the right job. I am surprised by their (the women’s) courage. I thought they would not move. Later, I see they are running away before the vehicles start moving,” read a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on September 24, 2024.
The nearly two-minute clip included in the post, which racked up over six million views, shows women lying on a road blocking an army convoy.
The video surfaced online following reports on September 20, 2024, of clashes between tribal groups and Bengali-speaking communities in the Chittagong Hill Tract region of eastern Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi military said troops opened fire after being shot at by a tribal group during ethnic violence in the remote border region, with authorities and witnesses saying at least four people were killed (archived link).
The video was shared alongside similar false claims here and here on Facebook.
But the video predates the recent violence in eastern Bangladesh.
India army convoy
A Google reverse image search of a keyframe from the video found the footage published on X on April 30, 2024 — five months before the violence in Bangladesh — and watermarked “ISTV News”, a Manipur-based television station.
A search using “ISTV News” found a video posted to the ISTV Live YouTube channel, linked to the ISTV News website. The video’s 6.34 to 7.57 mark corresponds to the footage shared in the false posts (archived link).
A keyword search found a report published by India Today on May 1, 2024 about a group of Meitei women who blocked Indian army vehicles in Manipur the day earlier to protest against the detention of 11 armed men (archived link).
An ethnic conflict broke out in Manipur in May 2023 between the predominantly Hindu Meitei ethnic majority and the state’s mainly Christian Kuki community, that has since killed at least 200 people.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the video in the false posts (left) and the one from ISTV News (right):
Moreover, at the 1:35 mark of the video in the false posts, a logo could be seen on one of the vehicles. A military official serving in Manipur told AFP the logo belongs to the Indian Army’s 57th Mountain Division.
The official shared a news report from Indian media organisation ANI News about an event organised by the army in Manipur, which shows a banner containing the same logo (archived link).
Below is a screenshot of the army logo seen in the video (left) and the corresponding one from the ANI News report (right):
AFP has previously debunked multiple claims about the unrest in Manipur state here and here.
