Charity video from Bangladesh falsely shared as 'Hindu monk forced to convert to Islam'

"A Hindu monk has been converted to Islam by cutting his dreadlocks in Bangladesh. There is still time, what more can happen, if we don't shed blood now then nothing will happen," read the Hindi-language X post shared on December 13, 2024.

"Raise your voice for Bangladeshi Hindus," the post continued. It also included a hashtag that read "Bangladesh Hindu Genocide". 

The 55-second video shows a group of people forcibly shaving off a man's matted hair and beard and giving him a bath.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 19, 2024

The same footage was also shared alongside similar claims here and here. 

Religious relations have been turbulent in Bangladesh after Hasina's ouster, with a string of reprisals on Hindus -- seen by some as having backed her regime (archived link).

The posts surfaced after widespread unrest in late November following the arrest of outspoken Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari.

The monk, a spokesman of a newly-formed Hindu group, had been leading protests calling for the protection of the religious minority that accounts for around eight percent of the population. He was arrested on charges connected to disrespecting the national flag during a rally.

His supporters clashed with security forces after he was denied bail and subsequent protests led to the killing of a lawyer.

But the video is unrelated to the religious conflict in Bangladesh -- the person who uploaded the original video said the man was a Muslim who had needed help.

'Humanitarian act'

A reverse image search on Google found a longer version of the video uploaded by a Facebook page called "Mahbub Creation 4" on October 26, 2024 (archived link). 

The video's Bangla-language caption reads "After 15 years, he cut his hair and took a bath" and includes the hashtag "Save Humanity". 

Below is the screenshot comparison of the false post video (left) and the Facebook video (right);  

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Screenshot comparison of the false post video (left) and the Facebook video (right)

Mehboob Afridi, a Bangladesh-based content creator who manages the Facebook page,  regularly uploads videos on his Facebook page saying he helps people on the streets. 

In a Facebook live stream on December 9, Afridi rejected the false claims circulating in India about the video and said the man was Muslim.  

"The video shows a mentally unstable person. This video helped us to find his family who are Muslim," Afridi said in Bengali.

"How can they (India-based social media users) capitalize on a humanitarian act to slander another country?"

Afridi told AFP his "service is dedicated to helping helpless individuals in need, especially those abandoned on the streets, regardless of their religion or background".

"We focus solely on those in need and help without discrimination," he said.

AFP has fact-checked a series of misinformation about religious conflict since the former Bangladesh prime minister's ouster here, here and here. 

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