A video of a clash between Hindus and Muslims in Bangladesh's Feni is being shared with a false communal claim that it shows Muslims staging protests against Kali puja celebrations in Kolkata.
BOOM found that the video shows an incident from Bangladesh's Feni city, in the Chittagong division.
The caption with the video reads , "Hundreds of Muslims shouting to stop Poojas at Kali Matha Mandir in Kolkata, once poojas conducted by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. They (so-called peace lovers) want to close the Mandir. What is happening in our own country? Where are we? People of India to awake soon."
The video is viral against a background of violence that followed after a copy of the Quran was found at a Durga Puja pandal in Comilla district last week. The incident resulted in widespread communal violence and clashes across the country.
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Fact Check
BOOM analysed the viral video and was able to ascertain that a person recording the video was speaking in a Bangladeshi accent. The person can be heard saying in Bengali, "Those who are clapping, they are all Hindus. On the other side, there are Muslims who came out of the mosque after offering namaz. Then, they faced this problem. Police is present in between."
Taking a cue from this, we did a keyword search in Bangla and found a longer and clearer version of the video. The video was uploaded on a Bangladeshi YouTube channel JazaKallah Media on October 16, 2021. The title with the video in Bengali translates to, "After the prayers in Feni, there was a fight between Muslims and Hindus and see what the police did.."
(Original Title in Bengali: ফেনীতে নামাজের পর মুসলমান ও হিন্দুদের মধ্যে কঠিন মারা-মারি এবং পুলিশ কি করলো দেখুন..)
We found a clearer version of the video and closely observing that, noticed a donation box mentioning "Boro Masjid" in Bengali written on it. A mosque like structure can also seen in the video.
The screenshots can be seen below.
A search on Google maps for mosques located at Feni led us to an image showing the same structure as visible in the viral video. We also noticed a donation box and the building next to/adjacent to it.
BOOM also found several news articles published on October 17, 2021 reporting about the clash. According to a report published on Bangladesh's Prothom Alo on October 17, 2021, "The district puja celebration council yesterday evening started a human chain programme in front of a Kali temple on Trunk road. Some people who had come out from Boro Masjid (Feni Central Jame Mosque) after the prayers had a clash with the human chain members."
The police lathicharged the groups to take control of the situation. A police officer was also injured due to the clash. The Daily Star article further states more than 15 people were injured in the clashes. The clashes began after a protest march was disrupted by some youngsters in the area. Read more here and here.
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(Additional Reporting: Shoeb Abdallah, BOOM Bangladesh)