Video of assault in Bihar falsely linked to unrest in Bangladesh

(Trigger Warning: The viral video contains expletives and visuals of violence. Reader discretion is advised.)

What’s being claimed?

A video of a man beating six men with a stick has been shared online with the claim that Muslims are beating Hindus in Bangladesh. In the video, the man speaking in Hindi scolds the men and can be heard telling them, “You go to masjids…how did you (abuses) come into the Hindu community… tell me… how did you make fun of our religion? Who gave you such courage?”

The video was shared on Facebook with the claim, “Hindus at Bagaledesh…See how Hindus are attacked in Bangladesh...Think if any of the media here showed this (sic).” An archive of similar posts can be found here and here. 

Screenshot of the video shared online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video shows Muslim men beaten by Bajrang Dal activists in Bihar, India, not in Bangladesh.

Here are the facts

The man in the video spoke Hindi, indicating that the video may not be from Bangladesh, where most speak Bengali. A reverse image search led us to the same video in a report published by Hindi news channel Aaj Tak on July 27, 2022. The report states that the video captured members of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal beating six individuals in Kadamghat, Hajipur, located in Bihar. The report states that members of the Bajrang Dal confronted six people, dressed as ‘sadhus’ (seers), collecting alms outside a temple and began to thrash them when they found out that the men were Muslims.  

The Quint published a screenshot from the now-viral video in a 2022 report stating that six men were beaten because the Bajrang Dal objected to them dressing as seers and traveling with bulls dressed up as the deity Nandi (known as the ‘vaahan’ or vehicle of the Hindu god Shiva). The report adds that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the Bajrang Dal workers at the local police station, and they were later released on a bond. 

ABP Bihar posted the video (archived here) on July 26, 2022, with the caption “Hajipur: This is how the Muslims roaming around in the guise of sadhus were exposed, and then....” At the timestamp of 1:55 seconds, one of the six men claims that they belong to the Muslim community.

Further, ETV Bharat reports that the man who was beating the six men with a stick was identified as Aryan Singh, the Vaishali District President of Bajrang Dal. 

The evidence proves that the viral video is from India, not Bangladesh.

The unrest in Bangladesh 

• Bangladesh is currently being governed by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and exit following weeks of protests by students against a controversial job quota policy.

• As reports of attacks on minority groups in Bangladesh have emerged, the interim government has vowed to put an end to the violence against Hindus and other minority groups. According to an Indian Express report, there have been around 200 incidents of attacks on members of the Hindu community in 52 districts. 

• So far, more than 450 people have been killed amid Bangladesh protests that started in June. 

The verdict

A 2022 video from Bihar, India, showing Muslim men being beaten by Bajrang Dal members for "dressing up as seers" shared to claim that it shows the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh. 

Logically Facts has been actively debunking misinformation around Bangladesh violence. You can read our fact-checks here.