Violence erupted across West Bengal after the BJP secured a historic victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, ending the long rule of All India Trinamool Congress. Poll results were declared on May 4. Reports say clashes, arson, political attacks and killings have occurred in several districts, with both BJP and TMC accusing each other of targeting workers. Hundreds have been arrested as security forces remain deployed in sensitive areas.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a mosque is on fire.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that a mosque in Kolkata was burned down after the BJP government came into power.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Kolkata mosque was set on fire under the leadership of Shubhendu.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from April and shows fire at Jamia Arabia Ashraful Uloom in Srinagar, Kashmir.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by a news website, NewsFlare, on April 10. The video was shared with a caption that read, “A fireman was injured after a massive fire broke out at Jamia Arabia Ashraful Uloom in Hyderpora area of Srinagar.” Since the BJP won the election on May 4, we can ascertain that the viral video is old.
We further found that the same video was also shared by another YouTube channel, The Earth News on April 10. The caption suggested that it shows a fireman injured as Massive Fire Enfulfs Darul Uloom in Hyderpora, Srinagar.
We found that the incident was also reported by NDTV on April 10.
The report stated that a fire broke out at Jamia Arabia Ashraful Uloom in Srinagar’s Hyderpora area on Friday, prompting a major firefighting operation. Fire tenders rushed to the spot as flames engulfed the upper floors of the seminary building.
Officials said efforts were underway to control the blaze, while the cause of the fire remained unknown. No casualties were initially reported, though later reports said a firefighter sustained minor injuries during the operation. We also found that the video has a screenshot of the viral video.
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.
