Recently, a video of an elderly man being garlanded with shoes and scolded has spread on social media platform X. The video is being shared with the claim that in Bangladesh, a Hindu teacher who taught for 40 years was humiliated by Islamists.

See the posts shared on X making this claim: here, here, here, here.

Fact-check

Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the person seen in the video is not a Hindu teacher who taught in Bangladesh for 40 years. In reality, he is a retired community medical officer named Ahmad Ali. He is a follower of Islam.

In this regard, a report published on June 15 by Kaler Kantho was found. A similarity between the image used in the report and the video in question is noticeable. The report mentions that, on that day in Baliakandi, Rajbari, locals paraded a doctor around the market wearing a garland of shoes after he was beaten by a mob for allegedly making derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The accused person’s name is Ahmad Ali.

Another report by Dhaka Times quotes Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Jamal Uddin of Baliakandi Police Station stated that Ahmad Ali was detained by an angry crowd at noon at a tea stall in Beruli Bazaar on allegations of making offensive remarks about the Prophet (PBUH), and was then beaten by the mob.

According to a report by Bdnews24, Ahmad Ali is a resident of Tekati village in Nawabpur Union and a retired community medical officer of the local Union Sub-Health Complex.

According to the information in the aforementioned reports, the person in question is neither a teacher nor a follower of the Hindu religion. Rather, based on his name, it is confirmed that he is a Muslim.

Therefore, the video, circulated as depicting a Hindu teacher being humiliated by extremists in Bangladesh, actually shows retired community medical officer Ahmad Ali, a Muslim, being garlanded with shoes over allegations of insulting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which is misleading.

Sources