Recently, a video depicting a violent clash has been circulated on social media, with claims stating, "Hindus in Bangladesh are in grave danger." As of the time this report was published, the video had been viewed over 300,000 times and had received reactions from more than 4,000 separate accounts.

Fact-Check

An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team has revealed that the circulated video does not depict violence against Hindus or any conflict involving them. In reality, the footage has no connection to the Hindu community. Instead, it shows a clash between two factions of the Tablighi Jamaat at the Bishwa Ijtema gathering, which has been misrepresented to support the false claim.

Further analysis of the posts promoting this claim found no detailed information or credible evidence supporting the assertion. A reverse image search of multiple keyframes from the video led to a report published on Kaler Kantho's YouTube channel on December 12, 2024, titled, "Tension Between Two Groups Before Ijtema Begins; Two Tablighi Members Hospitalized."

A comparison between the initial scenes of the viral video and this report revealed significant similarities. The thumbnail of the YouTube video explicitly stated, "Attack on Saad Followers' Vehicle | Road Blockade by Zubair Followers."

A subsequent search for relevant keywords led to a Prothom Alo report published on December 13, which detailed that the conflict arose from disagreements between two factions of the Tablighi Jamaat over the use of the Ijtema grounds. According to local sources, Zubair’s followers held a five-day Jor Ijtema at the site from November 29 to December 3. Later, Saad’s followers announced their plan to hold a similar gathering from December 20. However, Zubair’s followers opposed this and declared they would not allow Saad’s faction to use the Ijtema grounds.

On December 12, news of Saad’s followers entering the Ijtema grounds spread, prompting Zubair’s followers to stage a protest and block the highway near Station Road around 1 PM. During this demonstration, a vehicle belonging to Saad’s followers was vandalized, and two of their members were injured. Several other media reports also confirmed the conflict between these two factions of the Tablighi Jamaat.

Thus, the viral video does not depict violence against Hindus, nor does it show any Hindu community members being attacked. The claim that the footage represents a Hindu-Muslim conflict is entirely false, as the incident was an internal clash between two groups of Tablighi Jamaat during the Bishwa Ijtema.

Original News Source: https://rumorscanner.com/fact-check/ijtema-video-claimed-as-hindu-torture-in-bangladesh/136418