Amid the coup in Bangladesh that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, there were many allegations of persecution of Hindus in the country. Following the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges, these allegations came to the forefront once again.
Now, a video allegedly showing a Kali temple being vandalised by Muslims in Bangladesh is making the rounds on social media. The clip shows two men trying to take an idol’s head off as a crowd surrounds it. Another headless idol can be seen by its side.
Sharing the clip on X, one person wrote, “Yesterday in Bangladesh, Muslims attacked Kalibari i.e. Kali temple and destroyed the idols of Mother Kali and all the Hindu gods and goddesses. And the Hindu devotees present inside the temple were beaten. More than 20 Hindu devotees are badly injured. But the whole world is silent on the massacre of Hindus in Bangladesh.” Its archive can be seen here.
India Today Fact Check found that the video is neither from Bangladesh nor does it show a temple being vandalised. This video is from a Kali Pooja that takes place every 12 years in the Sultanpur Kali temple in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhman district.
Our Probe
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a Facebook post from November 29 which contained the same clip. According to this post, the video is from a “Sultanpur Kali Mata Niranjan”. The location of the video said it’s from Khandaghosh, a village in the Purba Bardhman district of West Bengal. An Instagram post from November 30 also featured the viral clip and called it the 12-year tradition of “Kalimata Niranjan” in Sultanpur.
A subsequent keyword search led us to a Facebook post from November 26 on a page called the Sultanpur Kiranamayi Pathagraha, a library situated in Sultanpur in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhman district. The caption in Bangla said these videos were from a Goddess Kali prayer which takes place once every 12 years. It also mentioned that this programme was organised by Sultanpur Kiranamayi Pathagraha.
The Facebook post has several videos of prayers being offered in the same temple. A comparison can be seen below.
We then contacted Devashish, a member of the Sultanpur library. He told India Today Fact Check that the video was from the same temple in Sultanpur. He also refuted the viral claims and mentioned that this was a religious ritual.
Devashish explained: “On November 26, 2024, all goddess Kali devotees gathered in Sultanpur Kali temple for Kali Mata Niranjan. We performed prayer in front of the idol of Goddess Kali, which is 13 feet tall. The idol’s height and weight prevent it from being taken for the visarjan (immersion). Hence, we immerse the idol in parts. The viral video shows the moment after the prayer when devotees take body parts of the goddess for immersion.” Devashish also stated that there was no communal angle in the viral clip.
We saw several Facebook videos, which showed devotees holding the head and various body parts of goddess Kali’s idol and taking them for the immersion ritual. The crowd seen in these videos can be seen dancing and celebrating as well.
We could also locate the temple on Google Maps. A comparison of the Sultanpur Kali Temple’s images on Google Maps and videos from the prayer day can be seen below. It also corroborates the fact that the temple is not in Bangladesh but in West Bengal.
We also reached out to Khandagosh police sub-inspector Rakesh Roushan, who said this is a years-old tradition that devotees perform while praying to Goddess Kali. He said, “The priest first takes the head of the idol and immerses it into the pond. Then the devotees take various body parts, carry out a procession in celebration, and immerse them.” Roushan also refuted the viral claims about the video being from Bangladesh or any communal angle attached to it.
On November 30, various news reports mentioned at least three attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh following the arrest of ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das. But the viral clip does not show any such attack.
source : india today