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19-08-2024
DHAKA: The videos are shocking: buildings burning, horrifying violence and women weeping as they plead for help.
They are, the people sharing them say, proof of a “Hindu genocide” happening in Bangladesh in the wake of the sudden fall of the country’s long-time leader, Sheikh Hasina.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the name Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist who has been criticized for making inflammatory posts during the UK riots has got involved, sharing videos along with dark warnings but we found that many of the videos and claims shared online are false.
Bangladesh has been in the headlines for weeks: student-led protests which left more than 400 dead culminated with the government falling and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing to India on 5 August.
Celebrations escalated into violent unrest, with rioters targeting members of her ruling Awami League party which is made up of both Hindu and Muslim members.
And while reports on the ground have found violence and looting impacted Hindu people and properties, far-right influencers in neighboring India shared false videos and information that gave a misleading view of the events.
They claimed to show communal violence against Hindus purportedly carried out by “Islamist radicals” with a violent agenda.
One viral post claimed to show a temple set on fire by “Islamists in Bangladesh”.
However, media has determined that this building, identified as the Navagraha Temple in Chittagong, was undamaged by the incident which actually occurred at a nearby Awami League party office.
Pictures obtained by media after the fire show debris of posters with Awami League members’ faces.
“On 5 August, there was an attack on the Awami League office premises behind the temple in the afternoon,” Swapan Das, a staff member at the temple, told media. “They took the furniture outside and set fire to it.”
Das added that although the temple was not attacked on the day, the situation remains tense and the temple has been shut with people guarding it round-the-clock.
This is far from the only story shared, most under the same hashtag, which has had nearly a million mentions since 4 August, according to social media monitoring tool Brandwatch. Accounts that were mostly geo-located to India drove the trend.
Other viral posts which have since been debunked include a claim that a Bangladeshi Hindu cricketer’s home had been burned down. Media has established the house in fact belongs to a Muslim MP from the Awami League.
Then there was the school that burned down, which the media visited, again, the reasons behind the attack appear to be political rather than religious.
All of these posts have been shared by multiple accounts, many of which support Hindu-nationalist values.
Inter-religious strains have been present in Bangladesh for many decades, says Professor Sayeed Al-Zaman, an expert in hate speech and disinformation in Bangladesh.
Following the hasty departure of Sheikh Hasina, matters have come to a head once again, “as Hindus felt insecure in the absence of the government and effective law and order”, says Prof Al-Zaman.
The false narratives have made the situation worse. “Fear-mongering by these influencers is inflaming the tension.”
Some of these posts falsely claiming that Hindus have been targeted by Muslims have been shared by accounts far removed from either Bangladesh or India. (Int’l News Desk)
