Old Fire Incident at Buddhist Temple in Bangladesh Falsely Shared as Recent Violence

On social media, an image of Lord Buddha’s statue has gone viral in which the statue can be seen in a damaged state after an incident of arson in a temple. Another statue is also seen in this picture. Social media users are sharing it linking it to the recent incidents in Bangladesh.

On Sep 20, 2024, a user named ‘Jitendra Pratap Singh’ shared this image and wrote: “Now Muslim mobs and Bangladesh army have started oppressing Hindus as well as other minorities This morning they set fire to the famous Buddhist monastery of Rangmati And 12 Buddhist monks living in this Buddhist monastery were burnt alive”.

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Additionally, other users also shared this image and made similar claims. The link can be seen here, here, and here.

Fact Check

During the investigation, DFRAC found a media report by the Hindu Post carrying the same image of Lord Buddha’s statue. The report was published on 10 Jan 2024 with the headline: “Bangladesh: Unknown miscreants set ablaze a Buddhist temple in Chattagram”

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Furthermore, we also found a similar post on Facebook page of ‘International Buddhist TV’ dated  10 Jan 2024, According to this post, the incident took place on January 6, 2024.

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Conclusion

It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral image of Lord Buddha’s statue has been misleadingly shared on X. The image dates back to 10 Jan 2024.