Indian idol immersion video falsified as Bangladesh temple attack: Fact Watch
Fact checking body 'Fact Watch' has found that an Indian media falsified a video containing immersion of Goddess Kali in West Bengal state of the neighbouring country as an attack on a Bangladesh temple The fact checking organisation marked the viral video post as false that was shared from the X handle of the Indian media outlet RT India claiming that it was an attack on the temple of Goddess Kali in Bangladesh.
The Fact Watch has a strong proof that it was actually a video with immersion of Goddess Kali in West Bengal state of India. To confirm the real identity of the viral video, the independent fact-checking entity affiliated to the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and managed by the Center for Critical and Qualitative Studies (CQS) conducted a search using its various key frames.
In the search, it found a video similar to the viral video uploaded on December 3, 2024, from a Facebook account named Binod Ghosh, said a report published on the Fact Watch website on Sunday. The caption of that video states, "In the centuries-old Kali Puja of Sultanpur village in East Burdwan, West Bengal, India, according to ancient custom, every 12 years, the village priests first break the little fingers of the 13-foot-long Kali idol, and then the rest of the idol is broken by people from all walks of life in the village and the broken parts are immersed one by one".
"After the immersion, a new idol is built and the idol is worshipped for the next 11 years," it said. According to this source, the Fact Watch team also found some other visuals of this religious event by searching with some relevant keywords. There, it is also seen that a large number of people are celebrating and participating in it.
Later, a report published in the daily Statesman cited similar details and said that the tradition is over 600 years old. Initially, the Kamar community (similar to Karmakar caste of Bengal) in the village practiced this puja and they later handed over the responsibility to the Mondol family.
On the other hand, comparing the visuals of the Kali temple from Google Street View with the Facebook videos, it is also confirmed that the temple is located in Sultanpur, West Bengal, India, and not in Bangladesh. Moreover, no reliable evidence was found to support the claim that 'any Hindu devotee present there was killed'.
But, the viral video is being shared claiming that the incident took place in Bangladesh by adding a false communal atmosphere, the fact check body found. It said, "Therefore, considering everything, FactWatch has marked the viral posts as false".
