A huge number of fake and fabricated information circulated in some Indian media, relating to attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government amid a student-people uprising on August 5.
Some of the media and social media users are spreading fake images, videos, and information claiming that Bangladesh is witnessing massive attacks on religious minorities, mostly from the Hindu community.
Independent fact-checkers detected many of these contents as disinformation.聽
The Times of India published a report on August 6, quoting senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari, who claimed that Hindus were being slaughtered in various parts of Bangladesh and more than one crore refugees were likely to enter West Bengal soon.
Two days after Hasina鈥檚 fall, Indian media outlet Republic Bangla published a story titled 鈥楬indu Shunno Bangladesh Ashonka聽 (Apprehension of a Hindu-free Bangladesh)鈥� suggesting that Hindu homes were targeted to drive minorities out of Bangladesh.
A 50-minute documentary by Republic Bangla showed several households being attacked, with the network claiming that the dwellings belonged to Hindus and suggesting that the incidents were religiously motivated.
In a report, Turkish news agency Anadolu, however, said that its independent verification confirmed that at least one of the houses belonged to a Muslim and another to a Hindu politician affiliated with Hasina鈥檚 Awami League, and the attack happened due to the victim鈥檚 association with the former prime minister鈥檚 political party.
In another example of false and potentially provocative reporting, a video circulating on X claimed that an attack had taken place against the Hindu Navagraha Temple in Chattogram.
The news agency said that the footage actually depicted a fire at a nearby political office, not the temple. This misinformation was also propagated by Indian broadcaster Republic TV.
It confirmed that the temple remained intact.
Many of the videos containing misinformation were posted on X with hashtags like #AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus, which have gained traction following the recent events in Bangladesh.
A video posted on X on Aug. 7 showed the burning of a shop, allegedly Hindu-owned, with individuals attempting to salvage goods from the flames. According to X, the account that shared it was managed from India.
Indian media outlet Sudarshan News also reported on the footage, portraying it as an attack on Hindus. However, DismissLab, an independent fact-checking organisation based in Bangladesh, said that the video was not recent.
The original video depicts a fire from July in the eastern village of Maju Chowdhury Hat, where 15 shops were razed. This indicates that although the specific cause of the fire remained unknown, it happened before Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 resignation and was not the result of communal violence.
German-based DW reported that during recent protests in Bangladesh, old images of rape and violent attacks on Bangladeshi Hindus had resurfaced online.
It said that, like its neighbour India, Bangladesh has a history of religious tensions between its Hindu and Muslim communities.
In recent years, the Bangladeshi Hindu minority, which makes up eight per cent of the population, has been targeted by violent mobs several times.
However, many reports about the attacks on Hindu temples and communities by Bangladeshi protesters were not true.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) alleged that the house of famous Bangladeshi cricketer Liton Kumer Das had been set on fire, sharing a collage of two pictures as evidence.
In one image, a young man can be seen sitting next to a Hindu place of worship, and the other image shows a burning house.
More than a million users have seen the post. The collage was also shared by numerous other accounts with similar claims.
In a Facebook post, Liton confirmed the tweet as fake.
鈥楧o not believe in these rumours. I and my family are completely safe till now,鈥� he said.
A video of a woman had been circulated on social media claiming that she was abducted in Senbagh, Noakhali, on Thursday, portraying it as a communal attack.
However, the woman鈥檚 father told the media that this information was not true.
He said that the woman鈥檚 husband was trying to drag her away as she refused to stay with him, leading the villagers to resist her husband.
Amid the situation, West Bengal Police on Thursday, in a Facebook post, said that the way some local TV channels were reporting on the current situation in Bangladesh was clearly communally inflammatory and against the norms of the Press Council of India.
The police requested viewers to exercise their own judgement when viewing this type of coverage.
鈥楧on鈥檛 fall into the trap of one-sided, hateful, and misleading propaganda. Keep calm, keep the peace,鈥� it said.
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the Awami League offices in various districts, including Dhaka, the houses of Awami League leaders, and their business establishments were attacked.
There were also incidents of attacks on the minority communities in various districts, particularly on members of the Hindu community.