Old video from West Bengal shared as Bangladeshi Hindus gathering at Assam border

What is the claim?

A video that shows people standing behind barbed wires at what appears to be a border is being widely circulated on social media with a claim that Bangladeshi Hindus gathered near the Indian border in Assam to seek refuge in India following  the political turmoil in Bangladesh. 

Several users shared the video on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, with one user on X writing in Hindi, “This video has surfaced on social media and it is being said that on the Bangladesh border, which is adjacent to Assam, many Hindu families from Bangladesh are standing on the Indo-Bangladesh border to take refuge in India.” Archived versions of such videos can be found here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the social media posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. We could trace the video back to June 2018. As per our research, it was filmed at the Indo-Bangladesh border along the East Indian state of West Bengal during an annual event called Milan Mela. 

How did we find the truth?

We conducted a reverse image search on several keyframes of the viral video and found a 30-second version published on YouTube by a channel named YOUR FRIENDS (archived here) on June 5, 2018. The title of the video suggested that it was from the India-Bangladesh border, filmed during the Milan Mela on April 15, 2018. 

Every year, on the first day of the Bengali month of Boishakh, which falls either on April 14 or April 15, people from both India and Bangladesh gather at the border to meet and celebrate. This annual event, known as Milan Mela, takes place across the border areas in West Bengal. 

The publication date of the video clarifies that it is unrelated to the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh. 

A screenshot of the original video published in 2018. (Source: YouTube/Modified by Logically Facts)

We also found several images of previous years’ Milan Melas where people can be seen standing in front of the barbed fences on both sides of the border, similar to the scene in the viral video.

Comparison between the viral video and an image from the Milan Mela. (Source: ETV Bharat/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

On scouring through YOUR FRIENDS’ YouTube channel, we found that one Goutam Biswas runs it. 

Logically Facts reached out to Biswas, who said, “I captured the video in 2018 and the claim linked to the video is false. It was taken during the last Milan Mela in our area that happened in 2018. It’s been six years since then, and the Milan Mela has been stopped. The video was captured near Siripur village in Uttar Dinajpur.” 

According to news reports, the annual Milan Mela was canceled in 2023 for the fourth consecutive year, due to law and order and national security concerns. In previous years, it had reportedly been canceled over Assembly elections in the state as well as concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What do the other videos on the channel show? 

We went through several other videos on the channel and found a video (archived here) published on April 16, 2018. We spotted a government vehicle at the 1:17 timestamp and the number plate indicated that it belonged to the Government of West Bengal, Block Development Office (BDO) of Goalpokhar 1 block, in the Uttar Dinajpur district. We noticed that the car number is WB59B 0240, indicating that the car is registered in the state of Bengal. 

The Regional Transport Office (RTO) of Uttar Dinajpur uses the RTO codes WB59 for vehicle number plates.

A screenshot from one of the YouTube videos captured in 2018. (Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

While the video is not the same, it appears to be similar and as per the caption was shot during the Milan Mela.

The Bangladesh political crisis

• Bangladesh began seeing widespread protests in June 2024 against the government's job quota policy, which reserves 30 percent of positions for the families of veterans from the 1971 War of Independence. 

• Following the widespread protests, on July 21, the Supreme Court partially repealed the job quota policy, mandating that 93 percent of government jobs be based on merit. However, protests against the Awami League and then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continued.

• As of August 6, reports state that the death toll in the anti-government protests has risen to 440, with an additional 100 deaths reported after Hasina fled the country.

• On August 5, Hasina resigned and fled the country. She is reportedly in India.

• Meanwhile, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed to lead Bangladesh's interim government, a decision made at a key meeting chaired by President Mohammed Shahabuddin. 

The verdict

An old video from West Bengal is being falsely shared as Bangladesh Hindus gathering around the Indian border in Assam seeking refuge amid the political turmoil. We could trace the video back to June 2018 and as per the videographer it was shot during the Milan Mela.