Amid the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh (here, here), visuals showing a panicked and helpless child sitting alone amid the rubble are being widely shared across social media platforms claiming that the visuals show a helpless Hindu child in Bangladesh, where Hindus are being attacked by Muslims (here, here, here, and here). In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals showing the appalling state of a Hindu child in Bangladesh amidst the ongoing 2024 unrest in Bangladesh.
Fact: These visuals of a child sitting alone in a dire state are from Gaza. The same viral video was uploaded by Al Jazeera on their official X (formerly Twitter) account on 14 July 2024. According to reports, the visuals show the child sitting alone in the aftermath of an Israeli attack on the UNRWA school in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza in July 2024. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Bangladesh has been witnessing deadly protests that began in June 2024 as an anti-quota movement. Recently, these mass protests have evolved into a major anti-government uprising. The situation escalated when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Protesters forcefully entered her official residence in Dhaka, looting and vandalizing the premises (here, here).
Reports indicate that mobs have attacked the homes and businesses of minorities, particularly Hindus, looting their valuables (here). There are also reports of Hindu homes and temples being vandalized and set on fire (here). According to recent reports, hundreds of people protested in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, on 09 August 2024, and later in other parts of the country, against violence targeting the minority Hindu community since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled on 05 August 2024 (here, here, & here).
Upon carefully observing the viral video, we noticed that it has the Al Jazeera logo in the top left corner and the location ‘Nuseirat Camp – Gaza’ mentioned in Arabic in the top right corner. From this, it is clear that the viral visuals are related to Gaza.
Subsequently, a reverse image search on the viral visual led us to the same video uploaded by Al Jazeera on their official X (formerly Twitter) account on 14 July 2024. The caption associated with the video indicates that the visuals of the child are from Gaza. The post reads: “Fear and panic of a child sitting alone after an Israeli bombardment targeted a shelter for displaced people in the #Abu_Urayban school affiliated with UNRWA in the Nuseirat camp” (translated from Arabic to English). The viral photo was also featured in a Facebook post by Al Jazeera Mubasher dated 14 July 2024.
Further search led us to a video on YouTube uploaded by CBS News on 20 July 2024, featuring the same child and stating that the visuals are from Gaza. The video is titled ‘Video Captures Aftermath of Israeli Airstrike in Gaza.’ Additionally, an Instagram page named ‘Humanitarian Relief’ uploaded a video featuring the same child on 14 July 2024, with a caption indicating that it shows the aftermath of an Israeli bombing of the UNRWA school in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza, where civilians had sought shelter. We also found an article on an Arabic website about the ‘daily massacres of the occupation in the Gaza Strip,’ featuring the same child. From all this, it is evident that the viral visuals depict a child from Gaza.
To sum up, Visuals from Gaza are being shared as if they show the dire condition of a Hindu child in Bangladesh amid the recent 2024 unrest in Bangladesh.
