As Muslim-majority Bangladesh saw a spate of reprisal attacks against its minority Hindu community, a video was shared online with a false claim that it shows the screening of a documentary in the country about the destruction of a centuries-old mosque in neighbouring India. A member of the political party that hosted the event told AFP it was actually held in India to mark 32 years since the mosque was destroyed.
“Big screens are being installed in Bangladesh showing the demolition of Babri Masjid to incite the Muslim community towards Hindus and cause terrible bloodshed!” read a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on December 18, 2024.
The post included a four-minute, nine-second video which shows a crowd watching a documentary about Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque that was destroyed by tens of thousands of supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindu groups in 1992 to pave the way for a temple (archived link).
Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 18, 2024
Religious 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 similar claims on Facebook and X after the 32nd anniversary of the Babri Masjid’s demolition on December 6.
However, the screening seen in the false video actually took place in Mumbra, Maharashtra in western India.
Screening in India
A reverse image search of keyframes on Google followed by keyword searches found the same video published on the official YouTube account of the Maharashtra arm of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on December 6 (archived link).
The SDPI is the political wing of the Popular Front of India, a group that was banned in 2022 for alleged “terrorism” links (archived link).
“Babri Masjid Timeline Exhibition | SDPI Mumbra at Darul Falah | A Journey Through History,” its title read.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI’s YouTube account (right):
Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI’s YouTube account (right):
SDPI flags — a red and green banner with a star and the party’s name — are also visible in the video.
Below is a comparison of the flag as seen in the clip (left) and at a rally in 2021 in AFP’s archives (right) (archived link):
Comparison of the SDPI flag seen at the beginning of the video (left) and the same banner seen at a rally in 2021 in AFP’s archives (right)
Azhar Tamboli, a member of the National Working Committee of SDPI, confirmed to AFP that the video shows the documentary screening organised by SDPI in Mumbra.
“The Babri Masjid Timeline exhibition was organised for the public near Darul Falah Mosque located in Accord Naka in the Mumbra area of Thane, Maharashtra on 6 December, on the 32nd anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid,” he told AFP on December 20, 2024.
Similar videos taken from different angles were shared by the SDPI on other social media sites such as Instagram and X (archived link here and here).
Images on Google Street View show the screening took place in Mumbra, and the Darul Falah mosque can be seen in the background (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between a scene from the footage (left) and an image of the area on Google Street View (right) with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:
Screenshot comparison between a scene from the footage (left) and an image of the area on Google Street View (right) with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked other misinformation linked to religious relations in Bangladesh after Hasina’s ouster here and here.
