Dhubri, Assam: A video circulating on social media claiming to show Bangladeshis fleeing Assam is false, according to local sources. The clip actually shows Muslims traveling to the North East Ijtema, a three-day religious assembly held in Dhubri district.
The video, widely shared on Facebook and X with Hindi text claiming “Bangladeshis are leaving for their homeland,” led to confusion amid strained India-Bangladesh relations. The footage shows a large group walking along a road, but the person who filmed it, Assam-based content creator Sofikul Alam, confirmed it depicts pilgrims heading to the Ijtema on December 21, 2025.
Alam said, “I filmed this video when lakhs of Muslims were heading to the Dhubri Ijtema religious gathering. It has nothing to do with Bangladesh.” The North East Ijtema drew hundreds of thousands of devotees from Assam, West Bengal, and Meghalaya, and concluded with a mass prayer for global peace.
The video emerged at a time of tension between New Delhi and Dhaka, following the killing of popular Bangladeshi student leader Sharif Osman Hadi and other incidents that heightened mistrust. Despite this context, the clip’s claims of a mass exodus from Assam are untrue.
Authorities and fact-checkers have repeatedly warned against the circulation of misleading content linking Muslims in India to migration claims. Similar false narratives about migrant movements from Assam to Bangladesh have been debunked in the past.
The incident highlights the risks of social media misinformation, particularly when shared amid sensitive communal and diplomatic situations.
