Burned cows image shared with false communal claim on social media
A photo has been circulating on social media claiming that followers of Dr. Muhammad Yunus set fire in Nilphamari, resulting in the death of a Hindu man’s cow. However, verification reveals that the photo is two months old and that the owner of the burned cowshed is not Hindu.
A post on social media platform X (1, 2, 3, 4) shared the image with the caption, “In Nilphamari, the followers of Yunus have inhumanely set fire to an Hindu man cattle shed, burning the helpless cows to death.” Similar posts have also been found on Facebook (1, 2) and Instagram. The image shows several dead burned cows lying on the ground.
The same photo was also circulated in December last year. Based on a post from X, Indian news outlet ANM News published a report titled, “Big Breaking: Mother cows set on fire alive in Bangladesh—viral image shocks viewers.” The report used the image to support claims of persecution against the Hindu community.
To verify the source of the image, a reverse image and keyword search led to multiple reports from local news outlets. A report published by The Janata News on December 9, 2024, was titled, “Cows and goats burned to ashes in a barn fire in Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria.” The image in question was found in this report. According to the report, “In Baluati village of Krishnanagar, Nabinagar Upazila, a fire broke out in a cattle shed, burning six cows and one goat to ashes. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday (December 9) in the cowshed of Md. Bedan Miah. Md. Bedan Miah is the son of Dewan Ali from Baluyati village.” Several other news outlets (1, 2, 3) also covered the incident, all confirming that the burned cattle belonged to Md. Bedan Miah. Later, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of the Nabinagar Upazila provided him with financial aid and corrugated iron sheets for reconstruction (1, 2).
Thus, the victim of the cattle-burning incident was not a Hindu farmer, and the incident had no connection to communal violence.
To be noted, a similar claim was circulated in December 2024, alleging that Islamists had set fire to Hindu-owned shops in Madhaiya Bazar, Chandina, Cumilla. However, a fact-check report by Dismislab revealed that the fire incident in Madhaiya Bazar was also unrelated to communal violence.
