2023 protest video from Bangladesh circulates as recent communal attack in India
A video showing vehicles being vandalized and set afire at night on a street has recently circulated on social media in Bangladesh and India with conflicting claims. Some posts described it as a scene of attacks on Muslim homes and businesses in West Bengal, India. Other users claimed that the video shows Hindu homes and shops are being set on fire in India. However, Dismislab’s verification shows that the video is not from India. It is rather a scene from Subidbazar area in Sylhet district of Bangladesh during a torch procession and arson attack carried out during a blockade called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on November 26, 2023.
This 17-month old video has recently been widely shared on social media platforms like Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4), X (1, 2), Instagram (1, 2, 3), and YouTube (1, 2, 3), with captions claiming, “Hindutva terrorist groups have finally launched violent attacks targeting Muslims in West Bengal!” The footage shows several individuals vandalizing and setting fire to vehicles. On Facebook, this claim has been circulating since March 28, 2025. As of April 15, the video is still being shared with the same false narrative on Facebook (1, 2, 3).
The same video has also spread on Indian social media with a completely different claim. There, users falsely claimed that Muslims vandalized Hindu shops and set vehicles on fire in Mothabari in Malda district of West Bengal. Indian fact-checking outlet Fact Crescendo and news outlet Aaj Tak Bangla have published fact-check reports debunking this claim.
Our verification shows the footage is from an incident in Sylhet, Bangladesh, which occurred on November 26, 2023. That day, a group of people carried out vandalism and arson in Subidbazar area of the district during a blockade called by the BNP and its allies. A YouTube channel named “Sylhet2NewYork” posted a video the next day titled, “Rampage in Sylhet’s Subidbazar!! This happened just after Sunday evening!!” The clip being shared recently with false claims matches the scenes from the 6-second mark of that video. After the November 26, 2023, incident, Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo reported : “BNP leaders and activists held a torch procession in Sylhet in support of the blockade. During this time, several vehicles were vandalized and set on fire. The incident took place around 7 p.m. Sunday in the Subidbazar area of the city.”
This confirms that the video is not from West Bengal, India, and has no connection with the claims being made both by Bangladeshi and Indian social media users.
The same video was also circulated on January 7, 2024, claiming it as scenes of violence in Dhaka on the eve of Bangladesh’s 12th parliamentary election. At the time, Dismislab published a fact-check report debunking that claim.
