Video of a Public Fight From Bangladesh Given a False Communal Spin

The incident took place in the Comilla district of Bangladesh, and the girls converted to Islam at their own will.

A video from Bangladesh showing an argument between two girls dressed in what looks like a burqa and another woman in a salwar suit is going viral on social media.

What is the claim?: Those sharing the video have claimed that the two girls converted to Islam because of "Love Jihad" – a conspiracy theory propagated by the right-wing Hindutva groups that claims Muslim men lure Hindu women with love, marriage or sexual advances to convert them to Islam.

• Users added that when the girls' parents came to rescue them, they refused to recognise them.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.) We received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline.

Is it true?: While it is true that the girls did convert to Islam from Hinduism, the claim is misleading.

• This video is from the Comilla district of Bangladesh and shows two girls who voluntarily converted to Islam.

• The lawyer of the girls told us that there is no involvement of a Muslim man or a romantic angle in this case.

How did we find out? Using relevant keywords, we came across a Facebook post about the incident by one Mostafa Masod. The user posted a long caption in Bengali, which loosely translated to saying that the girls converted to Islam willingly and were not coerced.

• We also found another post on Facebook about the incident by one Adv M Hossen Asif, who was reportedly the lawyer of the said girls. He posted a video testimony of the girls which translated to the same as Facebook user Masod's post.

• The post also read that on 29 October the two girls embraced Islam as their religion and stated this in front of a court in Comilla, Bangladesh.

• The lawyer's post read that after this, the viral video in question spread false information about the girls.

• He also denied there being the involvement of any Muslim man.

Why did the girls embrace Islam?: In the video posted by the lawyer, the girls talk about why they converted from Hinduism to Islam.

• "We were attracted to Islam since childhood," said the girls in the video.

• They said that they lived and grew up around Muslim families in their neighbourhood and were attracted to the concept of 'purdah' (veil) and 'namaz.'

• Additionally, they mentioned that in Hinduism there are multiple gods and goddesses, while Islam believes in the worship of a single god Allah which inspired them to change their religion of their own will.

What did the police say:

• The Quint accessed the Comilla police's general diary (GD) entry about the incident, which stated Jui Saha and Sithy Rani Saha, both 19 years old, from Comilla District, disappeared from their house. Their father filed a complaint on 23 May.

• After the police took them to the police station they said they converted to Islam and refused to go home as a result, the police sent them to the custody of court.

Conclusion: It is clear that the video has been given a false communal spin. There is no proof to show that the girls were "coerced" into converting to Islam by their Muslim partners.

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