A video has gone viral on social media with the claim that Hindu women in Bangladesh are treated with disrespect for not wearing the burqa during the holy month of Ramadan.
In the clip, a bus conductor can be seen requesting a woman to get off the bus. The woman and the bus conductor then get into a verbal altercation. It can be surmised from his words that he is commanding the woman to get off, stating that they would not permit an unveiled woman onto their bus during the holy month of Ramadan. Some moments later, the bus driver also gets involved and asks the woman to get off, citing the same reason.
Many social media users, including @jpsin1 and @ajaychauhan41 have shared this clip on X (formerly Twitter) with the claim that a Hindu woman not wearing a burqa was not allowed to travel by bus during the holy month of Ramadan in Bangladesh. (Archives 1, 2)
The viral clip was also shared widely on Facebook with the same claim, pointing to the speculation that minority communities in Bangladesh are treated poorly for their religious faith.
Fact Check
On inspecting the viral video, we noticed that the passengers in the bus were entertained rather than perplexed by the quarrel between the woman and the bus conductor. This led us to believe that the video might have been scripted.
On running a relevant keyword search on Facebook, we came across this video, uploaded by a channel named Carton Show.
The scripted video, 6 minutes and 26 seconds in duration, ends with the actor who plays the bus conductor addressing the audience, and asking them to be vigilant about women; demanding that men ensure that women in their family stay veiled, that is, wear the burqa when going out in public.
In their page bio, the channel, Carton Show, identifies itself as a ‘video creator.’
On investigating further, we were able to find the same actors (playing the bus conductor and the woman) in other videos, where they play other characters. Thus, it is evident that the viral clip is actually a segment from a scripted video.
To conclude, a scripted video is viral with the false claim that a Hindu woman was barred from entering a bus in Bangladesh because she was not wearing the burqa during the holy month of Ramadan.
Prantik Ali is an intern at Alt News.
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