Fact Check: Israeli Airstrike Video in Gaza Misrepresented As Footage Of Hindu Child Victim in Bangladesh

New Delhi (Vishvas News). Amid the political turmoil and violence in Bangladesh, a video clip featuring an injured child is circulating on social media, with claims that it depicts a Hindu family affected by the violence there, where the child has been badly injured.

Vishvas News investigated the claim and found it to be fake. The viral video is from an incident involving Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

What is viral?

Social media user ‘Sachin Singh Tomar’ has shared a disturbing video with the caption, “This is a Bangladeshi Hindu child who has been thrown out of his house and his mother can be heard wailing inside. Tomar alleges that she is being raped and potentially murdered. If this child had been on the streets of Gaza, he would have been on the cover page of the world media today but unfortunately, it’s been happening in India, also called Akhand Bharat since 712 AD. To avoid this barbarism, Jauhar and Sati Pratha came into practice. What today’s so-called intellectuals, influenced by their Western and leftist mentors, label as vices in Hindu society were, in reality, significant efforts to save their identity and self-respect. Unfortunately, today Hindus are living in a state of ignorance, unaware of their past and unconcerned about their future. They are preoccupied with accumulating material resources, with their shops decorated and efforts focused on customer satisfaction, while they are being made to forget even the remnants they remember. Will they even recall Muhammad Ghori, Ghazni, Alauddin, and Aurangzeb, let alone the struggles in Kashmir, Kerala, and Bengal? They do not even remember Delhi where just 4-5 years ago Hindus were chased on the streets and killed and around 65 people lost their lives.

A society whose thoughts and memories are suppressed will inevitably destroy itself. (Please note, the term ‘Hindu’ here includes Jains, Buddhists, Vedics, Shaivas, Vaishnavas and Sikhs.)” Written by respected Nitin ji.

Many other users on different social media platforms have shared this video with the same claim.

Investigation

Upon conducting a reverse image search of the key frames from the viral video, we found the same video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of ‘CBS News’, confirming its authenticity.

During our investigation, we found this post on the Facebook profile of Aljazeera Mubasher Channel, shared on July 14, 2024. Which identified the location as Al-Nusairat camp in Gaza.

We also found this video on the Instagram profile of the same channel, which was shared in the same context on July 14, 2024.

Our investigation reveals that the viral video is not related to Bangladesh. It is noteworthy that during the violent protests against the quota system in Bangladesh, Hindu minorities, along with political opponents, were targeted amidst political uncertainty. Reports indicated that Hindus were killed, and their businesses, homes and temples were also attacked. However, the viral video is not related to this violence.

Meanwhile, a new government has been established in Bangladesh, with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus taking oath as the chief advisor of the interim government. Yunus has condemned the violence against minorities in Bangladesh as disgusting.

According to news reports, the United Nations has also condemned the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed strong opposition to any attack or incitement to violence based on racial grounds.

We reached out to Bangladeshi fact checker Tausif Akba, who confirmed that no such incident has occurred in Bangladesh.

For more fact-check reports of other viral claims related to Bangladesh, you can visit the website of Vishvas News. Earlier, another viral video falsely claimed the presence of the Indian Army at Bangladesh airport, which our investigation debunked.