Clash Among Students Of Three Different Colleges In Bangladesh Going Viral With Misleading Communal Claims.

Recently a video of a mob holding sticks attacking others went viral on social media. The video is claimed to be from Bangladesh. Social media users are claiming that the Hindus of Bangladesh are being tortured like this. Sharing the video on Facebook, a user wrote, “Genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh 🇧🇩 is an eye opener for the Hindus of India 🇮🇳 and rest of world 🌎

Don’t abandon your brothers and sisters in Bangladesh who the facing the wrath of Islamists since the ouster of Hasina”

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

The same video has been sent to our 24X7 Factline number 9049054770 with the same claim.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the video had been shared with misleading communal claims. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

At the end of the viral video, a few social media links of “bdnews24” were given. Moreover, the building’s name in the viral video can be seen clearly. It was written as “DR. MAHBUBUR RAHMAN MOLLAH COLLEGE”. 

Taking these clues, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to the bdnews24 YouTube channel, where the viral video was uploaded on 25 November 2024. 

The description of the video read, “ঢাকার মাহবুবুর রহমান মোল্লা কলেজের শিক্ষার্থীদের সঙ্গে সরকারি শহীদ সোহরাওয়ার্দী কলেজ ও কবি নজরুল সরকারি কলেজের শিক্ষার্থীদের সংঘর্ষের পর লুটপাট চলে মোল্লা কলেজে।”; the translation of the text reads, “After clashes of students from Dhaka’s Mahbubur Rahman Molla College with the students of Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul Government College, looting broke out at Molla College.”

Moving forward, we found a news report published in “Prothom Alo” on 25 November 2024. The report read, “…On Sunday, Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College students carried out extensive vandalism and looting at Dhaka National Medical College and Shaheed Suhrawardy College campuses. Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College students claimed a student named Avijit Hawlader died due to wrong treatment at Dhaka National Medical College earlier.

Witnesses said Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College came under attack in retaliation for yesterday’s attacks…”

Please read here. Archived Link.

A report published in the Daily Sun read, “A planned retaliation dubbed “Mega Monday” by the students of two government colleges turned Demra and Jatrabari areas of the capital into a battleground on Monday, leaving over 100 people injured.

Students of Govt Kabi Nazrul College and Govt Shaheed Suhrawardy College clashed with their counterparts from Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College at Demra to avenge Sunday’s attacks on their colleges labelled “Super Sunday”.

The mayhem led to widespread vandalism of Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College and the suspension of traffic on the highway, spreading panic among city dwellers.

The injured were admitted to different hospitals and clinics.

In the meantime, the authorities announced the closure of the two government colleges.

Although it was announced earlier on social media that an attack would be carried out on Mollah College, the security forces failed to prevent it, raising questions about their sincerity.

The situation aggravated so much so that six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the area to help the law enforcers prevent further untoward incidents and maintain law and order.

In a statement, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said they did not apply additional force on the attackers so that the incident could not take a different direction…”

Please read here. Archived Link.

A video report from CNN Bangla TV can be seen below.

Similar reports can be read here and here.

This makes it clear that the viral video has no communal aspect.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is misleading. The viral video doesn’t show violence against the Hindus in Bangladesh. The video shows a clash among the students of three different colleges in Dhaka.