The Deceptive Claim
Amidst recent unrest and a Section 144 curfew in Khagrachhari, a video was circulated on social media, falsely claiming that ethnic minority groups had set fire to the Khagrachhari Model Mosque.
Fact-Checking VerdictThe claim is categorically FALSE. The video is not from Khagrachhari; it is footage from an arson attack on a resort in Dinajpur.
The Irrefutable Evidence
1. UNB's Footage Was Misappropriated
- The video being used to spread the inflammatory claim prominently features the logo of United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
- UNB's Original Report: By tracing the footage back to UNB's own archives (on platforms like YouTube and Facebook), it was confirmed that the video depicts a completely separate incident: an attack by the Touhidi Janota on the 'Jibon Mohol' park resort in Dinajpur city on August 28 of a previous year.
- The Truth of the Video: The footage shows the resort's structures on fire after the attack, proving it has zero connection to Khagrachhari or its Model Mosque. The disseminators of the fake news essentially misrepresented UNB's own reporting to spread a lie.
2. Local Journalist Confirms the Reality on the Ground
- To definitively check the status of the mosque, fact-checker Bangla Fact contacted Khokon Bikash Tripura Jack, the Khagrachhari District Correspondent for the Daily Protidiner Bangladesh.
- The local journalist confirmed, without ambiguity, that the viral information was false, stating: "The information that the Khagrachhari Model Mosque was set on fire is false."
The claim of an arson attack on the Khagrachhari Model Mosque is vicious misinformation designed to incite communal tension. The video used to promote this lie is a piece of evidence from a different attack in Dinajpur, as confirmed by UNB's original report. We urge all users to immediately stop sharing this manipulative and dangerous content.
Here are the source links:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wftx3JhZFn4
https://www.facebook.com/reel/24649929244644736
https://youtu.be/TtclAMZDB98?si=2bxFwZvJVr4-u3bE
