Humayun Kabir, a suspended TMC MLA in Murshidabad in West Bengal, announced on December 6 plans to build a mosque named ‘Babri Masjid’ and lay its foundation, sparking political backlash, legal scrutiny and local objections from the landowner.
The move has escalated tensions, with parties accusing him of seeking communal polarisation.
In the above context, a video is widely being shared on social media in which people are seen protesting on the street while the police are seen dispersing the crowd using tear gas.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that it shows people protesting in West Bengal against Humayun Kabir’s statement.
A social media user shared the video with a satirical caption that reads, “Babri Masjid will be built in Bengal”
SouthCheck found that the claim is misleading. The viral video is old and from Bangladesh.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by an Instagram user on November 11. Since the controversial remark about Babri Masjid was made on December 6, we can ascertain that the viral video is not related to it.
We further found that the screenshot of the video was also shared by the Facebook page Daily Bonik Barta on November 8.
The caption associated with the video reads, “Police have obstructed assistant teachers of primary agitating towards Shahbagh with three phases demanding salary in 10th grade. The situation gets heated when the protesters try to cross the barricades. At this time, sound grenades and water cannons are thrown, and their umbrellas are broken. Photographer Kazi Salahuddin Raju clicked from the spot.”
Using the information we gathered so far, we searched with relevant keywords and found that the incident was reported by the Daily Times of Bangladesh on November 17.
According to the report, a primary-school teacher in Dhaka, Fatema Akter, died after losing consciousness when police fired a sound grenade to disperse a teachers’ protest on November 8. She passed away at a hospital eight days later, on November 16. The protest had aimed to press demands, including a pay-grade upgrade.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
