Far-right spreads false claims about Muslim attacks in Bangladesh

The clips are shocking: structures burning, horrifying murder and ladies weeping as they plead for support.

They are- the people sharing them claim- evidence of a” Hindu murder” happening in Bangladesh in the midst of the abrupt drop of the country’s long-time head, Sheikh Hasina.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a British far-right advocate who has been criticized for making aggressive posts during the UK riots, has joined the movement and has shared videos with gloomy warnings.

However, we discovered that many of the website claims and videos are misleading.

Bangladesh has been in the news for weeks as a result of student-led protests that resulted in the state being overthrown and Sheikh Hasina escaping to India on August 5.

During the events, rioters allegedly targeted users of her ruling Awami League, a group that includes both Hindu and Muslim users.

And while reports on the ground have revealed that Hindu people and properties were the subject of plundering and violence, far-right influencers in neighboring India have also shared misleading videos and information that give a misleading picture of the events.

They asserted that” Islamic radicals” with a violent objective committed communal violence against Hindus.

A church was set on fire by” Jihadists in Bangladesh,” according to one popular post.

However, according to BBC Verify, the Navagraha Temple in Chittagong was unharmed by the affair, which actually took place at a local Awami League celebration office.

Images taken by the BBC after the flames show dust of posters with Awami League members ‘ eyes on.

” On 5 August, there was an attack on the Awami League business premises behind the church in the evening”, Swapan Das, a team representative at the church, told BBC Verify. They” set the equipment on fire inside.”

Mr. Das continued, noting that the church was never attacked on the day, but that it has been shut down because of the tenseness of the condition.

This is far from the only account shared, most under the same tag, which has had nearly a million mentions since 4 August, according to social media monitoring device Brandwatch. The pattern was fueled by transactions that were primarily geolocated to India.

Another popular articles that have since been refuted include the claim that a Bangladeshi Hindu cricket player’s house had been burned over. According to BBC Verify, the home actually belongs to an Awami League Muslim MP.

Then there was the class that burned over, which the BBC visited. Suddenly, the reasons behind the assault appear to be social rather than spiritual.

All of these articles have been shared by several accounts, many of which help Hindu-nationalist values.

Inter-religious strains have been current in Bangladesh for several years, says Professor Sayeed Al-Zaman, an analyst in hate speech and propaganda in Bangladesh.

After Sheikh Hasina’s swift departure, things have reached a head again,” as Hindus felt uncomfortable in the lack of the government and efficient law and order,” says Prof. Al-Zaman.

The situation has onlygotten worse thanks to the false stories. ” Fear-mongering by these bloggers is inflaming the stress”.

Some of these messages falsely claim that Muslims have targeted Hindus, and they have been shared by accounts that are far away in India or Bangladesh.

Tommy Robinson has been sharing unconfirmed videos from Bangladesh where he claims it is” a genocide on Hindus,” where he has been accused of posting aggressive messages about the violent protests against Muslims and refugees across the UK.

We have looked into one of his videos. It shows a female pleading for her father’s living as her house is attacked. The article falsely asserts that” Islamists” are pursuing the house. The classic picture was shared on 6 August, onde day after the house had been attacked.

But, when the BBC investigated the history behind the picture, a unique tale emerged.

A group of neighborhood students who had aided the woman in defending her home informed us that the dispute involved a subject completely unique. The house is shown in the original film thanks to photos and videos that were shared with the BBC. The property’s Hindu church is undamaged.

” The dispute involves property ownership. A student informed us that a circumstance had been filed a long time ago. For almost six decades, there has been a case involving the land’s rights.

We’ve spoken with other residents of the area who have confirmed that the assault was not motivated by religion and that there were a mix of Hindu and Muslim demonstrators. Additionally, they claimed that no other nearby Hindu individuals or churches had been harmed.

Tommy Robinson did not respond to our request for comment.

It has been challenging to determine exactly what has happened in Bangladesh over the past few months.

There have been numerous actual situations and attacks across the nation, but the motives are difficult to pin down: politics or religion.

One Hindu native explained how the majority are generally seen as followers of Sheikh Hasina’s liberal Awami League group.

AFP fact-checker for Bangladesh, Qadaruddin Shishir, told the BBC that there have been problems on Hindu-owned components.

But, he said, “right-wing American transactions are spreading these politically motivated problems as spiritual people”.

Five Hindu people were reported killed by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a non-profit established to advance majority animal rights. Two have been chosen as people of the Awami League.

More than 50 Muslim Awami League officials have been killed, according to the AFP report.

Some Muslim demonstrators decided to protect Hindu temples after false allegations about strikes on Hindus went viral online.

” It’s our responsibility to protect them”, said Moinul, who stood watch last week in front of a church in Hatharazi, outside of Chittagong.

According to Moinul, violent social media posts were intended to “incite fight between Hindus and Muslims.” ” But we are not falling for it,” he said.

Choton Banik, a prominent Hindu who worshipped at the church in the area, requested that they carry on their efforts “at this crucial day.”

He said,” I hope that we will continue to coexist in this independent Bangladesh in the future.”

Josh Cheetham and Kumar Malhotra contributed to the monitoring.