False Claim About Army Being Deployed To Protect Hindus in Bangladesh Goes Viral

The army personnel spoke about a gunfire mishap and not anything about Hindu minorities.

Fact-Check: The claim is false. Nowhere in the video has the person said that the army was deployed for this purpose.

(Source: The Quint) 

With the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina resigning and fleeing the country, a video showing an army personnel speaking in Bangla is being shared on social media platforms.

• Along with him, another person’s voice can be heard too.

The claim: Those sharing the video wrote that the Bangladesh Army had deployed soldiers to protect people belonging to the Hindu community in the country.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 517.2K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• We translated the exact quote into English and nowhere has the army personnel spoken about being deployed to protect Hindu minorities.

• The army personnel spoke about a gun misfire and the person filming it asked how many Indian army/police personnel were inside.

What we found: We translated the exact quote from Bangla to English. Below is the conversation heard in the viral video:

Soldier - Listen, there could be a misfire. A misfire can happen even while unloading the bullet. You saw nothing happened inside, it’s clear it was a misfire.

Videographer - How many Indian police are there inside?

Soldier - I can’t say.

Videographer - Approximately?

Soldier - You have to give us some time. I will go in and discuss with everyone and give you answers.

• In the comments section of the post, a user commented on a paraphrased version of the translation too.

An archive of the post can be found here.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

• No reports of the army deploying forces for the protection of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh have emerged at the time of writing this report.

What happened in the video?: We spoke to a journalist in Bangladesh who confirmed that the army had not been deployed anywhere for a separate community. The police were being attacked in various police stations and the army was rescuing them.

• Additionally at this time, the army has to convince the people not to attack. This video was one such case.

The Quint was unable to independently verify the origin and location of the video.

Conclusion: The video is being shared to make a false claim about Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.

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