Importance Score: 85 / 100 🟢
Misinformation Spreads Online Amidst India Property Law Protests
Amidst intense demonstrations in India concerning legislation impacting the administration of Muslim-owned properties, social media platforms have become conduits for misleading information. An outdated video clip resurfaced, falsely alleging to depict Muslims attacking Hindus in West Bengal. However, news reports from 2024 confirm the footage actually portrays violence stemming from a land dispute in Rajasthan.
False Claims on Social Media
A Hindi-language Facebook post, circulated on April 13, 2025, falsely asserted that protests accompanied by arson targeted the Waqf board in Murshidabad, West Bengal. The post included a video segment showing men hurling stones at a group.
Waqf boards are entities that oversee properties donated as Muslim endowments.
The misleading post further alleged, “Three Hindus from the same family were brutally killed.”
It went on to draw a comparison, stating, “Bengal has become like Bangladesh, jihadists are breaking into homes of poor Hindus,” referencing the sensitive religious dynamics in neighboring Bangladesh and anxieties of persecution among religious minorities there.
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Screenshot of the misleading social media post, captured April 15, 2025
Video Misrepresents Rajasthan Land Dispute
Similar deceptive claims, utilizing the same video, proliferated across Facebook and X following deadly protests in West Bengal. These protests were triggered by the passage of a law aimed at reforming the management of affluent Muslim land-owning Waqf organizations.
The Hindu nationalist government in power argues the legislation will enhance transparency and accountability within Waqf boards.
Conversely, opposition voices have denounced the bill as a divisive “attack” on India’s Muslim minority, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to solidify support from its right-wing Hindu voter base.
Fact-Check Reveals Video’s True Origin
However, the circulating video is verifiably unrelated to the West Bengal protests or the Waqf board legislation.
A reverse image search on Google using key frames from the video identified that India Today news outlet had published the identical clip in a video report on April 9, 2024.
India Today’s report clarified that masked individuals attempted to forcibly enter a family’s residence in Rajasthan and pelted them with stones. Police suspected the violence was connected to a property dispute, and subsequently arrested two individuals in connection to the assault.
Comparison of screenshot: False post video (left) vs. India Today video (right)
Police Confirm No Communal Angle
Numerous other news sources also featured the video in their reports concerning the Rajasthan assault.
Kavendra Sagar, a senior Jaipur Police official, informed AFP on April 14, 2025, that all individuals involved in the Rajasthan incident were from the Hindu community and that “no communal aspect” was present.
He further stated, “The accused individuals were promptly apprehended and imprisoned.”