This footage was filmed during riots in Delhi in 2020

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 10, 2021 at 06:57
3 min read
By AFP India

Video footage from an investigation by BBC News is circulating in social media posts that claim it shows violence against Muslims in the Indian state of Tripura in October. The claim is false; the report was filmed during riots in the Indian capital Delhi in 2020.

The video was shared here on Twitter on November 2.

The Hindi-language tweet reads: "#Tripura The media that panders to the government did not say anything about the riots, but the BBC has exposed everything."

The video shows part of a BBC report that appears to show police officers beating and throwing stones at Muslims.

Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on November 5, 2021

The post circulated after attacks on Muslim targets by right-wing Hindu groups in northeastern Tripura state in October.

At least four mosques were vandalised, while shops and homes owned by Muslims were ransacked on the sidelines of a rally for the nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad group.

The attacks were in apparent revenge for deadly violence against Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country.

The video purporting to show violence in Tripura has been shared alongside a similar claim on Twitter here and here; and on Facebook here and here.

However, the claim is false.

A reverse image search and keyword searches found the same video shared on Twitter by BBC India on March 3, 2020.

According to the tweet, the footage was part of a BBC investigation into anti-Muslim violence in Delhi in February 2020, which left more than 50 people dead.

The report can be seen at the 0:31 mark of the news programme.

The BBC has found Delhi police acted along Hindu rioters during a wave of attack on Muslims last week. Police in the capital are coming under increasing pressure as allegations of complicity in the clashes emerge. An investigation by @yogital, @shaluyadavbbc & @NickWoolley1234 pic.twitter.com/i6oSmpkP1r
— BBC News India (@BBCIndia) March 3, 2020

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the video in news programme shared in the BBC India tweet (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the video in the BBC India tweet (right)

Other misleading posts alleging the footage is from Tripura share clips from different parts of the same BBC video.

The original investigation was also shared on Twitter on August 28, 2020, by BBC journalist Yogita Limaye, who worked on the report.

Her tweet mentions a report by Amnesty India about the role of the police in the Delhi violence and links back to the original BBC report from March 2020.

A BBC India representative told AFP on November 3 that the video report shared in misleading posts was filmed in Delhi in 2020.

AFP has previously debunked various false claims about anti-Muslim violence in Tripura, including here, here and here.

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