The Press Institute of Bangladesh’s (PIB) fact-checking and media research team, BanglaFact, has identified a misleading attempt to circulate a video from India and misrepresent it as an incident that occurred in Bangladesh. BanglaFact stated that the video, which shows prayers being offered near a temple, is not from Bangladesh but from India. The video, widely shared on social media platform Facebook, claimed that Muslims in Bangladesh were offering prayers inside a Hindu temple.
However, the incident did not take place in Bangladesh. It was filmed at the Lat Bhairav Temple premises in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The video was originally circulated there as a scene of Hindu-Muslim communal harmony. A reverse image search revealed still images of the video on the Indian news-based X account (formerly Twitter) “UP News.” The caption of the post, published on September 27, clearly stated that the scene was of a Ramlila performance on one side and Muslims offering Namaz (prayer) on the other side in Varanasi, India.
The BanglaFact investigation team confirmed that a report published on September 26 on the Indian news website “Amar Ujala” also contained the same information. Furthermore, information from various news-based websites and X accounts in India indicates that both Hindus and Muslims participate annually in the Lat Bhairav Temple premises (chabutra or platform) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, as a symbol of communal harmony and coexistence. On one side, the dramatic performance of Ramlila is staged, while the Muslim community offers prayers on the other side.
The BanglaFact investigation team has identified the widely discussed claim of prayer being offered in a temple in Bangladesh as false.
