In the wake of the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following a mass movement led by students, several Indian media outlets began reporting attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh within hours of her departure from the country.
Their reports claimed that various “Islamist forces” were attacking the Hindu minority community.
Various Indian media outlets and social media platforms started circulating misleading videos, images, and news.
Mirror Now, a YouTube channel owned by the Times Group, released a video titled, “Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh? Genocide and Killings by an Agitated Mob.” The video depicted scenes of violence and the burning of four houses, two of which belonged to Muslims.
Al Jazeera reported that the title of the video was completely misleading. No genocide occurred during the events shown in the video. Among the four houses mentioned as being set on fire, one belonged to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s independence movement. The video also made other claims without any evidence, such as “24 people were burned alive by an agitated mob” and “the attacks targeted minorities.” Independent verification by Al Jazeera found that on August 5, the day Sheikh Hasina left the country, two Hindus were killed. One was a police officer, and the other was an Awami League worker. The Hindu minority in Bangladesh has traditionally supported the Awami League, which is generally considered a secular party compared to other opposition parties, though it also includes Islamist factions in its coalition.
Some media outlets further claimed that “over 10 million refugees from Bangladesh will soon enter West Bengal.”
The Times of India published a report quoting senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, making similar claims.
ANI, a news agency close to the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quoted an Indian student leader as saying that the mass movement in the neighboring country was “a conspiracy orchestrated by the enemies of Bangladesh.”
The Times of India went further, stating that “Jamaat-e-Islami organized the movement to topple the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh.”
Regarding the coverage of these incidents by Indian media, Bangladeshi political analyst Zahedur Rahman told Al Jazeera that these reports were presented with an “Islamophobic lens.” He said, “The students’ movement eventually turned into a mass movement, with people from all walks of life in Bangladesh spontaneously joining it. But Indian media are interpreting the whole situation through their Islamophobic lens.”
Claims of ISI and Religious Affiliations
After Sheikh Hasina’s departure on Monday, some Indian media outlets reported the event by suggesting that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had incited the protests in Bangladesh. They claimed that ISI wanted the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its political ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, to come to power and turn the country into an Islamic state.
Some media outlets even advised the Indian government to be prepared for a potential refugee crisis, claiming that Hindus would be driven out of Bangladesh.
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, the diplomatic editor of The Economic Times, posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Jamaat-e-Islami’s involvement in Bangladesh’s politics is not good for either the country or India. Recently, Jamaat has been encouraging terrorism at the border…”
The Gujarat-based television station Channel TV9 referred to the mass protests in Bangladesh as a “coup.” They claimed on X, where they have over a million followers, “Was ISI behind this coup in Bangladesh? Was Jamaat-e-Islami behind the violent attacks?”
What Really Happened
Al Jazeera reported that the way Indian media covered the protests in Bangladesh conflicted with reports published by local media in Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi media reported that on the night of Sheikh Hasina’s departure, incidents of attacks and looting occurred in about 20 districts out of the country’s 64 districts, targeting Hindu homes.
Al Jazeera correspondents contacted residents of several of these districts and found that the attacks and looting were motivated not by religious identity, but by political affiliations.
Mustafizur Rahman Hiru, a resident of Narsingdi district in Bangladesh, told Al Jazeera that two Hindu homes in their village were attacked. The owners of these homes were local leaders of the Awami League.
Mustafizur, a rental car driver, added, “People were angry because these Hindu leaders harassed other local residents while the Awami League was in power. Now, after Hasina’s fall, they are facing retaliation.”
After Sheikh Hasina’s fall, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who resides in the United States, has given interviews to several Indian media outlets, spreading what Mustafizur believes are rumors. Joy has been making claims, without evidence, that Hindus are being attacked and that ISI is behind it. Mustafizur said, “Indian media are picking this up and spreading Joy’s false claims.”
In the Bangladeshi district of Jessore, near the Indian border, the warehouse and home of a man named Babul Saha were attacked. He is known to have won elections in that area with the Awami League’s ticket.
Abdur Rob Haider, a resident of Jessore, told Al Jazeera that no Hindu homes were attacked if they were not involved in Awami League politics.