Recently, Bangladesh has been facing a surge in violence following the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. A distressing video has been widely shared on social media, depicting a violent group brutally killing an individual. The claim accompanying the video suggests that the victim was a member of the Hindu community in Bangladesh. However, D-Intent Data’s investigation has revealed that the victim was actually a Muslim politician affiliated with the Awami League, dispelling the false information circulating on social media.
The Video disseminated with communal claims
Several users, influencers, propagandists and media personalities have circulated the sensitive video and made communal claims.
Sharing the video on X (Formerly Twitter) fake news peddler and propagandist account Mr Sinha wrote, “Very disturbing visuals received via dm from Bangladesh.
An old Hindu man is lynched and hanged on a statue. Islamists were seen raising AIIah-Hu-Akbar slogans around him… The world must see this…. The real face of Islamists.” Later, he deleted the post.
Salwan Momika who is known for his anti-Muslim stance has also shared the video and wrote, Hindus are being subjected to genocide in Bangladesh. Heartbreaking – An elderly Hindu man was hanged from a statue by Muslim terrorists in Bangladesh. Muslims were seen raising slogans of “Allahu Akbar” around him…
Another propaganda account @AzatAlsalim has also shared the video and wrote, “Don’t close your eyes on Hindu Genocide! Disturbing: Bangladesh: An old Hindu man is lynched and hanged on a statue. Islamists were seen raising AIIah-Hu-Akbar slogans around him..”
Self-proclaimed OSINT and propagandist account @RealBababanaras has also disseminated the video and wrote, Heartbreaking. An old Hindu man is lynched and hanged on a statue by terrorists of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. Islamists were seen raising AIIah-Hu-Akbar slogans around him…
Several other users, influencers and propagandists have also disseminated the same video and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here. @SonOfBharat7, @ajaychauhan41, @AmyMek, @Mitsuhaa00, @gbensouss,
The truth about the viral video, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the sensitive video came to our notice, we conducted research and analysis of the video and found that the video doesn’t depict the killing of a Hindu individual in the ongoing violence in Bangladesh. In fact, the individual in the video belonged to the Muslim community.
To verify the claims made by the users on social media. We conducted research of relevant keywords on Google which led us to media reports regarding the incident.
According to the media reports(1, 2), Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila Awami League General Secretary Shahidul Islam Hiran and his driver Akter Hossain were hacked and burnt to death. After the killing, the body of the deer was hanged in Piara Chattar in the heart of the city. As per the report, the agitators went to vandalize the house of Shahidul Islam Hiran, located in the stadium neighbourhood of the city. At that time, Hiran fired a licensed firearm at the agitators. Several people were injured, the agitators later set fire to his house and hacked and injured his private driver Akhtar. Subsequently, Akhtar was taken to Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. The entire incident has nothing to do with Hindu individuals.
However, there are multiple unconfirmed reports of attacks on the minority communities in Bangladesh but this particular video has nothing to do with religious hate crimes.
Hence, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the viral video doesn’t show brutality against Hindu individuals as claimed by users and influencers.
Intent
Social media users, influencers and propagandists are circulating sensitive videos from Bangladesh unrest with misleading claims to set their narrative over the violence.
Conclusion
Claim – A Hindu individual was brutally killed and his body was hanged publicly.
Fact– The video shows a political worker named Shahidul Islam Hiran belonging to the Awami League was killed by the protestors.
