Navigating the sea of misinformation on communal violence

If you go on X (formerly known as Twitter) and type in #Bangladesh in the search tab, you will be bombarded with a slew of mis/disinformation about Hindu attacks in Bangladesh. The claims are as serious as "extermination," "mass genocide, mass killings" and "mass rape" of Hindu women in Bangladesh. 

Not just on X, but other social media platforms and right-wing media in India seem to be on a mission to raise 'awareness' and draw condemnation for "Hindu attacks in Bangladesh" and calls for the world to unite to save the Hindus. 

This explosive reaction comes on the heels of Hasina's ousting on 5 August, which led to violence, including attacks on Hindu temples and communities. 

From 5 to 10 August, attacks on Hindu communities have been reported in Bangladesh from districts including Faridpur, Munshiganj, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Shariatpur, Barishal, Bogura and Sathkhira. And the majority of these attacks, according to a TBS report, occurred on 5 August. 

According to a BBC Bangla report, two organisations in Bangladesh called Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad claimed on Saturday that 205 attacks on minority people have occurred in 52 districts of the country since the fall of Sheikh Hasina.

The report also said, "However, in all these cases, it was not possible to verify impartially whether the attack was due to religious identity, or the attack was a part of anger against those close to the government."

So why is the disproportionate response stemming from India and reportedly from within Bangladesh as well? And is information being distorted to, perhaps, serve an agenda?

The ground reality vs mis/disinformation 

The way India social media uses footages and videos from Bangladesh to substantiate their exaggerated and detrimental claims is a curious tactic. 

The two most recent examples are: Video footage from Gopalganj, Bangladesh was shared on X claiming that Hindus are under attack by the Bangladesh army. Yes, there was a flare-up in Gopalganj, the army responded – but it had nothing to do with Hindus or targeting of Hindus. 

Another was the spread of the inflated size of the Shahbagh protests which happened on 10 August. Some accounts claimed Shahbagh saw more than 100,000 people gather. This is not true, because an estimated 1,000 people attended the demonstration — which many saw as a united front to call attention to the Hindu attacks, and rightfully so. 

Another example is what Radharamn Das (verified account on X), Vice President & Spokesperson ISKCON (a religious organisation)  with a following of more than 57,000 wrote on 10 August: "A sea of 700,000 Hindus (just Hindus: not iskconite or Shaivites, nor Shakta, but ONLY HINDUS) took to the streets of #Chittagong, Bangladesh, today, demanding safety and equal rights as citizens of #Bangladesh." 

However, 3 August still holds the record for mass demonstration in Chittagong city when more than 100,000 people gathered in solidarity with the student protestors. 

Aljazeera published a video story on 9 August debunking some of the rumours and misinformation. There are several noteworthy takeaways. 

It included how right-wing Indian accounts alleged mass targeting of Hindu women by circulating footage of a girl in distress hand-tied, sitting with a taped mouth. Some accounts also claimed mass rape. However, the girl in the video footage is a university student in Bangladesh performing a silent protest against student suicide in March this year. 

It included Indian news channels also alleging mass killings of Hindus by "Islamist forces" along with footage of violence; meanwhile, news articles alleged Bangladesh's protests were influenced by Pakistani and Chinese intelligence trying to turn it into an Islamic state. 

It included Indian media agencies telling the government to prepare for a mass influx of Hindus from Bangladesh. 

It also included how on 5 August, Awami League offices and houses were burned by mobs. The torched houses included both Muslim and Hindu Awami League members. However, Indian media chose to give the news a "communal colour" and assert that Hindus are exclusively being targeted. 

Reportedly, the Indian government has set up a special committee to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and Indians living here, among other initiatives.

Professor Suman Rahman, head of 'Fact Watch,' an independent fact-checking initiative approved by the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh or ULAB, said, "There have indeed been incidents where Hindu homes have been attacked. But in almost all cases those people are people associated with Awami League," he told BBC Bangla. 

On 11 August, BBC Bangla fact-checkers confirmed in their report that most of the fake posts circulating on social media claiming "massive persecution" of Hindus in Bangladesh were posted by various Indian accounts. "But such rumours were also spread from inside Bangladesh through social media."

The TBS report, cited earlier, also said that on 9 August, locals in Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj detained two individuals who were reportedly throwing explosives in front of a temple, an act allegedly ordered by a local Awami League leader.

One of the detained individuals claimed they attacked based on Malkhanagar Union Awami League General Secretary Masud Khan's directive. Masud Khan has since denied these allegations.

Additionally, a curious pattern is that almost always they (social media accounts) say "Hindus" are under attack, or in some cases, "Hindus in Bangladesh" face grave danger – as though these Bangladeshi citizens are in fact stateless. 

Under the same breath, this is also not to say that all of India's media resorts to its strong bias against Bangladesh without Awami League. 

For instance, popular Indian Youtuber Akash Banarjee, (TheDeshBhakt) did a piece to debunk some of the fake news spread by the Indian news outlets, YouTubers, X accounts and BJP's IT cell regarding the attack on the minority in Bangladesh — but given the ferocious spread of mis/disinformation and lies by the right-wing Indian media, Akash and his likes are clearly a minority.  

Trifecta: Awami League, Bangladeshi Hindus and India

Now, for a hypothetical moment, let's say the Indian media is correct. Then it becomes imperative to ask why all of Bangladesh poses a threat to the Hindu minority group almost suddenly post 5 August. 

Were Hindus entirely protected under Hasina's 16-year-long regime? Were all state-sanctioned kidnappings, torture and murders of individuals who dared to critique the AL regime exclusively Muslims? 

Did the Chhatra League spare Hindus from their attacks and terrorism in the last 16 years, let alone since 16 July this year? 

On 9 December 2012, 24-year-old Bishwajit Das was beaten and lynched in broad daylight by the BCL. Likely, that the murderers did not know of his religious identity? 

The surge of this India media's disinformation campaign seem to imply that Bangladeshi Hindus' safety and protection entirely depended on Sheikh Hasina's regime, and her collapse  left this minority group in the lurches. 

In this hour, we must tell the Indian media – unequivocally and in strongest condemnation of their hollow journalistic practice – that Bangladesh's Hindus are as much citizens of the country as the majority of Muslims. 

At this juncture, it is imperative to ask where was India's outrage when students were killed by the government starting in mid-July? Did "Bangladesh" get as much or nearly half as much media coverage then? 

Indian media outlets like Republic TV, Zee News, News 18 India, NDTV and many others decidedly ignored the death and devastation caused by Hasina-led government (including Bangladesh Chhatra League). The killings of hundreds of students and more than 9,000 arrests (many say which were arbitrary) were all but ignored in India's media coverage of Bangladesh's student uprising. 

Moreover, in many cases, Indian journalists mislabeled the protesters as radical Islamists and hoodlums. 

The mob violence, the likes of which started on 5 August after Hasina's ousting, had nothing to do with the student protestors — to date, there has been no evidence suggesting otherwise. But India's media peddling inflammatory disinformation chose to ignore this.  

Secondly, all this news media and social media in India make a glaring omission. How the people — locals, imams and students aged between 15-25 – stayed awake at night and stood guard to protect Hindu temples and other minority groups in the early hours of Tuesday (6 August), just hours after Hasina's ousting. 

In all this, Sajeed Wazed's wide media coverage in Indian media poses another problem. The narrative and disinformation that certain India news media is peddling seem to be based on Joy's statements.

The ground reality wildly differs from Indian media and the Indian government's statements in response to the minority attacks in Bangladesh. And, unfortunately, the repercussions of these lies are already being felt inside India.  

The Wire India reported how a Hindutva mob attacked Muslims in shanties near a railway station in Ghaziabad, India on 9 August to avenge anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh. 

Water not fuel

To that end, Bangladesh is not void of communal violence. We have a long history of it, generally perpetuated by politically-motivated groups and it must be addressed. 

The last widespread communal violence to have occurred in Bangladesh was in October 2021 stemming from false allegations that the Holy Quran was deliberately kept inside a Hindu temple by Hindu locals. 

But it is imperative to understand that the fresh wave of minority group attacks since 5 August is more based on political affiliation, even personal rivalries, than religious identity, according to a TBS report. 

In the wake of Hasina's ousting and a foundational change in the country born out of bloodshed, now is the time for caution, unity and steadfastness. 

Communal violence will only add fuel to the chaos as the country readjusts to new challenges to repair and reform. India's media will do well to appreciate the vulnerability of Bangladesh's current state of affairs and not add more woes to a people on the road to recovery.