Video shows clashes in Nepal, not violence in India's West Bengal

Published on April 28, 2025 at 10:09
3 min read
By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India

After deadly protests in India's West Bengal state in April 2025 over legislation to change how Muslim-owned properties are managed, a video was shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed local police being pelted with stones. The video was in fact filmed a month earlier in Nepal, and shows pro-monarchy protesters clashing with security forces.

"It feels pitiful to see the condition of Bengal police, they cannot even fire bullets on the rioters," reads the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook video shared on April 13, 2025.

Referring to West Bengal's chief minister, the caption continues: "The fear of Mamata Banerjee is so great they will endure brickbats but will not do anything, this is too much!"

The clip shows policemen using shields to protect themselves from people lobbing stones at them.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on April 21, 2025

The video circulated after deadly protests erupted in West Bengal over the passage of a bill amending how Muslim-owned properties are managed (archived link).

According to the ruling Hindu nationalist government, the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 will boost transparency around land management by holding accountable powerful Waqf boards, which control properties gifted by Muslim charitable endowments.

The opposition, however, has called the bill a polarising “attack” on India’s Muslim minority. They accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to win favour with its right-wing Hindu base.

The footage was also shared alongside similar claims on Facebook, X and Instagram.

But the clip was not filmed in West Bengal.

Nepal demonstration

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a similar clip shared on Facebook on March 28 (archived link).

Both the falsely shared video and the March 28 clip appear to show police shielding themselves against people throwing stones and bricks while braced against shuttered shops and a brick wall.

"This is how the police were attacked in Tinkune today," reads its Nepali-language caption, referring to an area in Nepal's capital Kathmandu.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the Facebook clip from March 2025 (right), with similarities highlighted by AFP

Moreover, a logo seen in the falsely shared video matches the logo of a restaurant in Kathmandu, as seen in a Google Maps photo (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the shops highlighted in the false video (left) and on Google Maps

A journalist and a protester were killed during protests in Kathmandu on March 28 to demand the restoration of the monarchy (archived link).

The Himalayan nation adopted a federal and republican political system in 2008 after parliament abolished the monarchy, as part of a peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war responsible for more than 16,000 deaths.

Police said officers fired rubber bullets and live rounds into the air, after using tear gas and water cannons against the crowds. Some demonstrators pelted stones at police, an AFP photographer saw.

AFP has debunked other false claims related to the Waqf reforms.

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