Advocate B. Balakrishnan, Vice President of BJP Kerala, recently shared a video on Facebook claiming it depicted violence in Murshidabad, West Bengal, amid protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act. However, fact-checks have revealed that the footage is actually from Sherpur district in Bangladesh, reported the Maktoob Media.
The video shows a group of armed men walking through a rural area, and was misleadingly captioned to suggest that Hindus were being forced to flee Muslim-majority areas in Bengal. In reality, the video relates to a November 26, 2024 incident in Sherpur, where a Sunni mob attacked the Murshidpur Darbar Sharif, a Shia shrine.
The clip has been misused across social media platforms in India to falsely portray Indian Muslims as perpetrators of violence against Hindus. Websites such as Alt News have already debunked the claim, confirming the incident’s location and context.
This is not an isolated case. BJP has come under sharp criticism for allegedly spreading misinformation during the recent unrest in Murshidabad. TMC MP Saket Gokhale accused Union Minister and BJP West Bengal President Sukanta Majumdar of sharing unrelated violent images and falsely claiming they were from Bengal. Gokhale accused the BJP of inciting communal tensions ahead of the upcoming elections.
“You deleted your tweet after being caught. Why haven’t you apologized for attempting to ignite riots through fake news?” Gokhale asked, calling the tactic part of a “toolkit” aimed at justifying the deployment of Central Forces in Bengal.
He further questioned the national media’s silence on the issue and demanded accountability from the Union Minister. Meanwhile, Kolkata Police has reportedly filed a case against the handler of the BJP West Bengal’s X account for spreading fake news.
