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  • 2019-01-17 (xsd:date)
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  • No, this is not a video of Islamic terrorism in India (en)
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  • A video that has been viewed tens of thousands of times on Facebook purportedly shows Islamic terrorism in the eastern Indian state of Bengal. The claim is false and the footage actually shows a clash between two factions of a Muslim group in Bangladesh’s Tongi town in December 2018. The video has been shared by multiple Facebook accounts, including here where it has been viewed more than 46,000 times since it was published January 6, 2019. The post’s caption says: You can see the future of India. This is a small glimpse of Islamic terrorism in Bengal. After seeing, send ahead, so that people can be aware. Screenshot of misleading Facebook post A similar post was shared by other users on Facebook , Twitter and YouTube . The footage shows men, most in the white prayer caps worn by Muslims and kurta tunics popular in South Asia, engaged in fierce fighting using bamboo sticks. The men can be seen charging down a road in huge numbers. A reverse image search using keyframes taken from the video linked the footage to the ‘Bishwa Ijtema’ in Tongi, Bangladesh. Screenshot of the Google results Bishwa Ijtema is an annual congregation takes place in Tongi, Bangladesh. The incident occurred during the Jor Ijtema, a gathering organised ahead of two-phase annual Bishwa Ijtema, according to local media reports. Two rival Muslim factions clashed in Tongi during Jor Ijtema on December 1, 2018 over control of part of the festival ground, as reported here in the Daily Star. The news report mentions that the people broke into the Tongi Ijtema Maidan through the ‘Bata gate’. Using a keyword search and mapping data, AFP identified the Bata Gate next to the Tongi Ijtema Maidan and pinpointed the exact location . Screenshot of the Bata Gate near Ijtema Ground in Tongi Here is a screenshot of the location on instant street view alongside a screenshot of the misleading video. Screenshot of the street view photo with identifications Screenshot of the misleading post with identifications A number of distinguishing features can be seen in both the images. Location A, marked in both screenshots, depicts the same yellow structure with distinct black windows in a row. Location B, marked in the instant street view screenshot, shows the exact location from which the video was shot -- from a vantage point above the road, where onlookers viewed the violence through a barred window. AFP’s Dhaka bureau also examined the footage and said that Bengali language spoken in Bangladeshi dialect could clearly be heard on the video’s audio recording. AFP also found a news report from a local Bangla news channel ATN News who published video of the same Tongi incident on their verified YouTube channel. Reports on the December 1 Bangladesh incident were published in the BBC here and in other local media reports, for example here and here . (en)
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