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Ever since Bangladesh's longest-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted, the unrest in the country is being used to spread misinformation and communal hate in India.
It is true that there have been reports of several houses and shops belonging to Hindus being attacked in Bangladesh. One Hindu man was reportedly beaten to death in Bangladesh's southern Bagerhat district.
Meanwhile, house of musician Rahul Ananda, along with homes of some local Ahmadis, a minority sect, were also torched by a mob, as per a local daily, AFP reported.
However, there have also been instances of misinformation being spread about the attacks. What's also shocking is the manner in which the unrest in Bangladesh is being used to incite violence in India.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Maharashtra's Kankavli, Nitesh Rane had put out a provocative post on X (formerly Twitter), urging people to "identify and kill."
In response to Rane's now-deleted post, another X user posted an incendiary message urging people to "kill Muslims and eradicate them from Earth."
How Incidents Are Being Given a Communal Spin
Hindus account for nearly 8 percent of Bangladesh's 17 crore population, and a large section of this community is said to have traditionally backed Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.
Old videos and photos are being circulated again with new captions, edited posts on X by Bangladeshis are being circulated.
Shohanur Rahman, a fact-checker from Bangladesh stated that even though most incidents are politically motivated, they're being given a communal spin to fan anti-Muslim sentiments.
Both, Hindus and Muslims are victims. But they cherry-pick and highlight the politically motivated attacks as communal. When the victim is Hindu, all incidents are widely propagated as communal persecution, which will increase anti-Muslim hatred in India.Shohanur Rahman to The Quint
Let's look at some of these posts. Accounts such '@SonofBharat7,' '@randomsena' and '@MrSinha_' have been posting more misinformation laced with anti-Muslim statements.
Deepak Sharma who runs 'SonofBharat7' posted about an old and unrelated rape video, claiming it to be a recent incident from Bangladesh.
But Sharma wrote that the rape was done by 140 Muslims who shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' urinated on her body as per 'Islamic jihad' and inserted rocks and stones in her private parts. "Hungry for body, Islamic animals."
Turns out that it was a 2021 incident from Bengaluru, in which a Bangladeshi woman was gang-raped but was it was re-shared with a communal spin.
But this incident was still shared widely, including a retweet by lawyer J Sai Deepak.
So far, no cases of rape have been found. The claims of rape on X are rumors. There have been reports of several incidents of temples being set on fire. However, it has been found that many of these incidents were later proven to be false. Nevertheless, a few number of attacks on temples have occurred.Shohanur Rahman to The Quint
Another handle by the username of 'VoiceofHindu71,' posted screenshots from a message on Telegram alleging that Jamat-e-Islami wrote, "Make the best friends of your known Hindus, after that make them religious by showing wrong references to Sanatan Dharma.."
However, The Quint went through the same telegram group and found no such message. The message we found on their official telegram was inquiring into the safety of people belonging to different religions and their places of worship.
'Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus' posted claims of inflammatory messages by Jamat-e-Islami on Telegram.
(Photo: X)
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Handles such as Random Sena have also contributed in sharing misinformation with a communal twist, such as this post below.
While incidents of Muslims or Christians 'guarding temples' in Bangladesh shouldn't be extrapolated to paper over incidents of violence against minorities, Random Sena, much like other accounts have given a communal spin to these incidents.
Rahman stated that due to the collapse in the law and order situation, there has been arson, looting of several houses belonging to Awami League leaders. "Opportunistic groups are trying to loot and create chaos, attacking Hindu homes and businesses," he added.
Sudarshan news posted a video on X with the caption "Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. In Laxmipur, the shop of a Hindu shopkeeper, Rajan Chandra, has been burnt to ashes."
But this also turned out to be fake. The Quint's fact-checking team WebQoof also reported that it is an old video where a fire incident had occurred on 11 July due to an electrical short circuit and most of the shop owners were Muslim. The incident is unrelated to the current crisis in Bangladesh.
Rahman said that there was a rumour circulating on social media that 80,000 Indians were employed in the Bangladesh Police. There were also rumors about the presence of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) in Bangladesh and even Indian personnel in the Bangladesh Army.
This is what perhaps, also aggravated the situation and the absence of civil administration has led to increased anarchy.
Meanwhile, Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council have also noted in a statement that houses of minorities were vandalised and looted in at least 97 places on Monday and Tuesday.
However, several student leaders and organisations have also been reported to have provided security to some religious places.
Regarding such events, West Bengal police had also requested the public "not to fall victim to one-sided narratives and misinformation."
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