Old Video of Vandalisation in Switzerland Falsely Shared as Situation in Bengal
The video is from 2018 when hooligans vandalised cars in Basel, Switzerland after a football match.
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A video showing a group of people attacking and vandalising cars is being shared on social media with the claim that it shows the situation in West Bengal.
The claim also communalises the incident, stating that Muslims are behind the attack, adding, in eight Indian states, Muslims are in majority and that "India must beware."
The claim is being shared in the backdrop of the Birbhum violence where eight people were charred to death in Bogtui village of West Bengal on 21 March, in retaliation of the death of Trinamool Congress (TMC) panchayat deputy chief of Barshal village, Bhadu Sheikh.
However, we found that the video is from Switzerland when a fight took place in Basel, Switzerland, following a football match in 2018.
Further, the claim that Muslims are in majority in eight Indian states is also incorrect. According to the 2011 Census of India, the only state with Muslim majority is Jammu and Kashmir, along with Lakshadweep which is a Union Territory (UT).
CLAIM
The video is being shared with the claim in Hindi that reads, "बंगाल में हालात एकदम पाकिस्तान जैसे बने हुए हैं और ये जो गाड़ियोंके शीशे तोड़ रहे हैं वो मुल्ले हैं क्यूं कि इनको सड़क पर बैठ कर रोजे खोलने हैं,एसा पूरे देश में होने में देर नहीं है . 70वर्षो में हिन्दू 8 राज्यों में अल्पसंख्यक होगये किसी को पता भी नहीं चला अब सोचना पड़ेगा नहीं तो."
(Translation: The situation in West Bengal remains exactly like Pakistan. Those breaking the car windows are Muslims, and this incident can take place in the whole of India. In the last 70 years, Hindus have become a minority in eight states, and no one even came to know about it. We need to think about this, else this is going to have consequences.)
WHAT WE FOUND
With the help of InVid, a video verification tool, we extracted several keyframes from the video and conducted a reverse image search on some of them.
A Yandex reverse image search led us to the same video on YouTube posted in 2018.
The video was posted on 30 May 2018.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
Taking a cue from here, we conducted a Google keyword search and found a video posted on Twitter on the handle of 'Channel 4 News,' a United Kingdom (UK)-based news channel, from 31 March 2018.
The caption read, "No, this viral video doesn't show Muslims attacking cars in Britain. They're football hooligans in Switzerland."
The video read that the incident is from Switzerland when fighting broke out after a match between Basel and Lucerne.
We then looked for news reports and searched with keywords in English and German.
A report in a news website called 'Blick' from 20 May 2018 read that a brawl took place after the FCB match in Basel residential area.
The story was published on 20 May 2018.
(Source: Blick/Screenshot)
INCIDENT FROM 2018 IN SWITZERLAND
According to a news report by 20 Minuten, a Switzerland-based newspaper, translated from German to English, from 22 May 2018, the brawl took place between two football supporters near St. Jakob stadium in Basel.
Around 30 people from Basel, who were wearing white protective suits and were painting bridge pillars were attacked by a mob of around 60 people. They also attacked cars at Lehenmattstrasse in Basel.
Two Germans were arrested in connection with the case and 14 people were interrogated, it read.
We also found a video on YouTube posted in a channel called 'Hooligans TV' from 21 May 2018.
The title read, "Fight in Switzerland: Basel vs. Zürich & Karlsruhe.19.05.2018"
Clearly, an old video from Basel in Switzerland is being shared falsely claiming to be from West Bengal.
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