Visuals of Ram Navami rally from Barasat are falsely shared as those of Bajrang Dal members arriving from Rajasthan to Bengal
Following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, in the first week of April, Muslims have been protesting against the newly enacted law across the country, including in West Bengal (here, here, and here). According to news reports (here, here), on 11 April 2025, these protests turned violent in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, resulting in Violence and riots. Reports (here, here, and here) indicate that three people lost their lives in the violence: two Hindus, Chandan Das and Hargobind Das, were killed in a mob attack, while a Muslim man died in police firing. According to reports, hundreds of people (mostly Hindus) affected by the violence in Murshidabad district crossed the Bhagirathi River. They sought refuge in the adjoining Malda district (here, here, and here). On 12 April 2025, the Calcutta High Court ordered the deployment of central forces to restore peace and order in the district (here).
Amid this unrest, a video (here, here and here) is going viral on social media showing a large night-time rally with saffron flags and slogans being chanted on the streets. It’s being claimed that the video shows a massive crowd of Bajrang Dal members who travelled from Rajasthan to West Bengal. Let’s find out the truth behind this video.
Claim: The video shows Bajrang Dal members from Rajasthan arriving in West Bengal in the wake of Waqf related protests.
Fact: The video is from a Ram Navami rally held in Barasat, West Bengal, on 06 April 2025. It has no connection to Bajrang Dal members travelling from outside the state. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the video, we conducted a reverse image search on Google using InVid keyframes. This led us to the same video posted on Instagram by Arup Biswas on 06 April 2025. The caption read: “The entire Barasat is witnessing an unprecedented… incomparable… thrilling moment today… The entire Barasat road is filled to the brim with one of the largest processions in Bengal on Ram Navami.” This confirms that the video is from a Ram Navami rally held in Barasat on 06 April 2025, five days before the Waqf-related violence in Murshidabad, which began on 11 April 2025.
To verify the Ram Navami incident, we conducted a keyword search that led us to several news reports (here, here and here) confirming that Ram Navami celebrations took place in multiple locations across West Bengal, including Barasat, on 06 April 2025, with permission from the Calcutta High Court and under police security. According to the reports, Bollywood actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty led a Ram Navami procession in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, joined by state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar. The rally, which passed through key areas of the town, drew large crowds. Both leaders emphasised Hindu pride and unity, with Majumdar highlighting the widespread participation in Ram Navami rallies across Bengal since 06 April 2025.
To verify the location, we closely examined the viral video and noticed a Royal Enfield showroom and a Canara Bank board visible in the frame. Based on this, we searched for Royal Enfield showrooms in Barasat on Google Maps and found that both the showroom and the Canara Bank are located in the same building. When we checked the Google Street View, the map which was slightly outdated, showed the Royal Enfield showroom still under construction, but the Canara bank board was visible. To further confirm the location, we compared a building on the opposite side with a nearby blue-coloured board. A side-by-side comparison of these elements confirmed that the video was indeed shot in Barasat, not Murshidabad.
Furthermore, the West Bengal Police Cyber Wing also debunked this claim on their X handle on 19 April, stating that the Ram Navami procession held in Barasat is being deliberately misrepresented on social media as a rally by Bajrang Dal members from Rajasthan to West Bengal. Previously, Factly had also debunked (here and here) similar claims made using different videos.
Further, we couldn’t find any reports confirming that Bajrang Dal organised a rally or was heading to West Bengal.
To sum up, visuals of Ram Navami rally from Barasat are falsely shared as those of Bajrang Dal members arriving from Rajasthan to Bengal.