As Muslim-majority Bangladesh has seen a series of revenge attacks against its small Hindu community, a video has been shared online falsely claiming to show a screening of a documentary in the country about the destruction of mosques from centuries ago in nearby India. A member of the political party that held the event told AFP that it was 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 encourage the Muslim community to Hindus and cause terrible bloodshed!” read the Hindi language Facebook post shared on December 18, 2024.
The message included a four-minute, nine-second video showing people watching a documentary about the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque. destroy by tens of thousands of supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindu groups in 1992 to prepare the way for a temple (archive link).
A screenshot of the fake post, taken on December 18, 2024
Interfaith relations have been turbulent in Bangladesh since a student-led uprising in August ousted autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to neighboring India.
The video surfaced with similar claims Facebook and X after the 32nd anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition on 6 December.
However, the screening seen in the fake video did happen in Mumbra, Maharashtra in western India.
Screening in India
A background image search of keyframes on Google followed by keyword searches found the same video published on the official YouTube report of the Maharashtra branch of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on December 6 (archive link).
The SDPI is the political wing of the Popular Front of India, an organization that was prohibited in 2022 for alleged “terrorist” links (archive link).
“Babri Mosque Timeline Presentation | SDPI Mumbra at Darul Falah | A Journey Through History“, read his caption.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the fake posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI's YouTube account (right):
A screenshot comparison of the video in the fake posts (left) and the clip shared on SDPI's YouTube account (right):
SDPI flags – a red and green flag with a star and the party's name – can also be seen in the video.
Below is a comparison of the flag as seen in the clip (left) and at a rally in 2021 in AFP Archive (right) (archive link):
Comparison of the SDPI flag seen at the start of the video (left) with the same flag seen at a rally in 2021 in the AFP archives (right)
Azhar Tamboli, member of the National Working The SDPI Committee confirmed to AFP that the video shows the documentary screening organized by SDPI in Mumbra.
“A Babri Masjid timeline exhibition was organized for the public near the Darul Falah mosque located in Accord Naka in Mumbra district of Thane, Maharashtra on December 6, on 32 years since 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 like Instagram and X (archive link here and here).
Pictures on it Google Street View show that the screening took place in Mumbra, and the Darul Falah mosque can be seen in the background (archive link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between a scene from the film (left) and an image of the area on Google Street View (right) with corresponding elements identified by AFP:
Screenshot comparison of a scene from the film (left) and an image of the area on Google Street View (right) with corresponding elements identified by AFP
AFP has deleted other misinformation related to religious relations in Bangladesh after Hasina's ouster here and here.
