Information has been circulating on the social media platform Facebook claiming that on August 7, four temples and several houses of the Hindu community in Shiali village of Rupsa upazila in Khulna were vandalized, set on fire, and looted. The posts claim that the attack on the Hindu community occurred because they were chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Ram” in front of a mosque while taking a dead body to the cremation ground.
See such posts circulated on Facebook here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Fact-Check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation found that the communal attack in Shiali village of Rupsa upazila in Khulna did not happen on the recent August 7. A Facebook post made at the time of the communal attack in Shiali village on August 7, 2021, is being copied and circulated with the claim that it is a recent event.
An investigation into the claim, using keyword searches, led to a post made on August 7, 2021, on the Facebook account of an individual named Goutam Halder Pranto.
A review of the post shows that the first two paragraphs of the recently circulated posts claiming an attack on the Hindu community in Khulna are an exact match with the first two paragraphs of the said post. Both posts mention the attack taking place in Shiali village of Rupsa upazila in Khulna. However, Goutam Halder Pranto’s 2021 post provided the numbers of the then UNO, police officials, and the upazila chairman for more details about the attack. The post also included several pictures of the damage caused by the attack, which match the images used in the posts claiming a recent attack. Additionally, Goutam Halder Pranto mentioned in his post that he was the then central executive committee’s publicity secretary for the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajot. However, a review of his profile shows that he is currently the executive president of the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Jubo Mahajot.
Subsequently, based on the information obtained, a keyword search led to a report published in the mainstream media outlet Samakal about the communal attack in Shiali village of Rupsa upazila in Khulna on August 7, 2021.
The report states that on the night of August 6 of that year, some female devotees were going from a temple towards the Shiali cremation ground, chanting kirtan. There was a mosque on the way. The imam of the mosque forbade the women from chanting kirtan, which led to a brief argument between them. Although a meeting was scheduled at the police station the next day to resolve the issue, on the afternoon of August 7, more than a hundred youths attacked Shiali village with machetes, cleavers, and axes. This resulted in extensive damage to four temples, several shops, and a few houses of the Hindu community.
Therefore, the incident of a communal attack that occurred in Shiali village of Rupsa upazila in Khulna in 2021 is being circulated with the claim that it is a recent event, which is misleading.
Sources
- Goutam Halder Pranto Facebook Post
- Samakal Website: Miscreants attack in Khulna, 4 temples and houses vandalized
- Rumor Scanner’s Analysis
