A 34-second video of a man vandalising idols of deities in what appears to be a Durga Puja pandal is viral on social media. The man, dressed in a blue shirt, repeatedly hits the idols of the Hindu deities with a rod before walking away. Several social media users have claimed the incident occurred during Durga Puja in Bangladesh.
X (formerly Twitter) user Baba Banaras (@RealBababanaras), who peddles misinformation regularly, tweeted the video on October 7, 2024. The tweet said, “A radical Islamist named Mohammad Zubair Siddiqui attacked the Jayapara Durga Temple in Dohar Upazila of Dhaka. After the attack on the temple, the madrasa extremist also threatened to kill all Hindus. #SaveBangladeshiHindus”. (Archive)
A radical Islamist named Mohammad Zubair Siddiqui attacked the Jayapara Durga Temple in Dohar Upazila of Dhaka. After the attack on the temple, the madrasa extremist also threatened to kill all Hindus. #SaveBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/j2DbmKJpvO
— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) October 7, 2024
Another X user, Jitendra Pratap Singh (@jpsin1), tweeted the same 34-second video on October 9, 2024, and wrote, “Atrocities on Hindus, massacre of Hindus and destruction of Hindu temples continue in Bangladesh. A jihadist named Md Siddiqui threatened to k!ll Hindus after breaking a Durga idol in a temple in Dhaka. Why you all are still silent ?” (Archive)
Atrocities on Hindus, massacre of Hindus and destruction of Hindu temples continue in Bangladesh.
A jihadist named Md Siddiqui threatened to k!ll Hindus after breaking a Durga idol in a temple in Dhaka.
Why you all are still silent ?@UN @narendramodi @POTUS @JJansaSDS… pic.twitter.com/0qJhCECUxq
— 🇮🇳Jitendra pratap singh🇮🇳 (@jpsin1) October 9, 2024
Readers should note that Jitendra Pratap Singh has been caught sharing communal disinformation several times in the past. He is followed on X by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
X handle (@Akhand_Bharat_S), too, shared the video. In a tweet on October 6, the user said, “A terrorist named MD Siddique attacked the Jaipara Durga temple in Dhaka’s Dohar Upazila. The Madrasah extremist threatened to slaughter all Hindus after the temple attack. Attack on Durga Puja #BanNonHinduInNavratri Jai Maa Durga”. (Archive)
A terrorist named MD Siddique attacked the Jaipara Durga temple in Dhaka’s Dohar Upazila.
The Madrasah extremist threatened to slaughter all Hindus after the temple attack.
Attack on Durga Puja#BanNonHinduInNavratri
Jai Maa Durga pic.twitter.com/kQmJE16e48— अखण्ड भारत संकल्प (@Akhand_Bharat_S) October 6, 2024
It is interesting to note that the video was tweeted by some X users, including Baba Banaras, in August 2024 as well, which suggests that the video does not show a recent incident.
Fact Check
After breaking the video into keyframes, we ran a reverse image search with a few of them. This led us to a Facebook post from June 22, 2023, by Suman Saha. Here, we found a longer version of the viral video.
The Facebook post says that the incident was from Dakshin Joypara Daspara Ekta Jubo Sangha Sarbajanin Durga Mandir, in Dohar Upazila of Dhaka. According to witnesses, the man desecrating the idol was Md Siddique. The incident took place at around 4:30 pm on Thursday (June 22, 2023). Siddique vandalized six idols with an iron rod while shouting provocative slogans. Locals held apprehended Siddique and handed him over to police.
We found another Facebook post from June 22, 2023, by Rajib Kar Raju where a video of the destroyed Durga idol could be seen. The video also contained a few words from the president of Dakshin Joypara Daspara Ekta Jubo Sangha Sarbajanin Durga Mandir, Nitai Karmakar. He also identifies the perpetrator as Siddiqui, son of Abdur Rahman.
A relevant keyword search led us to a news report from June 24, 2023, by Ekusher Kantha. The report said “According to local and police sources, a drug addict named Siddique entered the Durga Mandir of Dakshin Joypara Daspara Ekta Jubo Sangh, adjacent to the hostel of Joypara Government School, around 5:30 pm on Thursday (June 22, 2023). He broke the arms, legs, and heads of the idols of the temple, including that of the deity Durga, with a rod. The local mob chased Siddique (18) and beat him up. After receiving the news, Doha police arrested Siddique.”
In the article, it is mentioned that Siddique is a known drug addict who was released from rehab just a few days before the incident.
We found another news article from June 23, 2023, by The Daily Amar Somoy which narrated the same events.
To sum up, the viral video showing a man desecrating idols of Hindu deities, including that of Devi Durga, is from June 2023. The incident took place in a temple in Dohar Upazila in Bangladesh’s Dhaka district. The perpetrator, a drug-addict named 18-year-old Md Siddique, was arrested. The video is not from the recently concluded Durga Puja.
Ankita Mahalanobish is an intern at Alt News.
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