Created By: BOOM
Co-Published By: LokmatTimes.com
A video showing an attack on a Sufi shrine in Bangladesh has gone viral, with false claims suggesting it depicts an attack on a Hindu temple in West Bengal, India. However, after conducting a thorough fact-check, BOOM has confirmed that the video is from Dinajpur district in Bangladesh and has no connection to India. The incident in the video took place in February 2025, when an extremist Islamist group, Towhidi Janata, attacked the Rahim Shah Baba Bhandari Shrine in Ghoraghat Upazila during the organization of an Urs event.
Urs is a religious observance commemorating the death anniversary of a Sufi saint. The viral video shows an angry mob using sticks to vandalize the shrine and setting fire to part of the pandal, where the Urs was to be held. The video, shared with overlaid Hindi text, falsely claims, “Look, Hindus, see what is happening in Hindu temples in Bengal. You still want to maintain brotherhood?”
BOOM conducted further research by searching for related keywords in Bengali and found a longer version of the same video on a Bangladeshi Facebook page, which explicitly mentioned the incident as being from the Rahim Baba shrine in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. Additionally, a live stream of the attack, posted by a Bangladeshi user, was found from February 28, 2025.
A search for news coverage of the event led to a report by the Bangladeshi media outlet Prothom Alo, which detailed the attack. According to their coverage, the Towhidi Janata group held a procession on February 28, 2025, under the banner of the Sirate Mustaqim Parishad. They vandalized the shrine and set it on fire, protesting an upcoming Urs event scheduled from March 2-4. The group had falsely claimed that the event was a front for "drug consumption, music, and obscene activities." Towhidi Janata is an extremist Islamic group in Bangladesh known for its involvement in violent incidents.
Additional coverage was provided by Kalbela News on March 1, 2024, featuring visuals similar to those seen in the viral video. BOOM Bangladesh also contacted Mohammad Nazmul Haque, the officer-in-charge of the Ghoraghat police station, for confirmation. Haque verified that the video shows an attack on the Rahim Shah Baba Bhandari shrine in Ghoraghat, Bangladesh, and clarified that the incident had no connection to any Hindu or communal issues.
In conclusion, the viral video is a misrepresentation, and the attack depicted occurred in Bangladesh, not India, with no link to Hindu temples or communal violence.
This story was originally published by BOOM republished by LokmatTimes.com as part of the Shakti Collective.