A video of land dispute at Hindu temple in Bangladesh has been circulating on social media in India claiming it to be attack on minorities by 'Muslim Jihadists'.
However, the chief priest of the ISKCON temple at Netrokona's Muktarparha disproved the social media claims.
"It was not a communal attack at all rather the pictures are from an incident over a case of a property dispute between a family and the management of ISKCON," the priest told Bangla Tribune's local correspondent.
The incident has been shared with communal overtones in the backdrop of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The dispute took place on Jan 17 and about two weeks earlier, a Facebook group styled 'FM Hindu' shared the video. The accompanying Bangla caption translates to "Jihadi’s attacked the ISKCON Netrakona Muktarpara Temple in Bangladesh. Three devotees are seriously injured."
The same day, the video was tweeted by Chayan Chatterjee, the great-grandson of Bengali educationist Asutosh Mukherjee. Linking the video with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Chatterjee further wrote that Hindus in Bangladesh are unsafe. His tweet reads, “Radical group attacked ISKCON Netrokona Muktarpara Temple in Bangladesh. Three Krishna devotees are seriously injured. Just see how unsafe Hindus are in Bangladesh. Those who oppose #CAA and #NRC in India must answer.”
On Jan 23, one Abhijit Basak shared clippings from the same video with pictures of an injured monk on Twitter.
The tweet reads, “Attack on iskcon temple in BANGLADESH. Accordingly the terrorists were attacked by a communal slogan on Sri Sri Gaura Gopal Vigra Mandir of Netrakona Muktar Para. Hindus are not safe in Bangladesh.”
Abhijit Basak has stated in his profile that he is State IT Cell Convenor, BJYM, West Bengal. His tweet was retweeted by Twitter handle ‘Paschimbanga BJP.’
However, the management of ISKCON denied the communal narrative woven around this story and said that the incident was actually a property dispute between the management of ISKCON and a family who has been living inside the temple compound for three generations.
Some followers of ISKCON had donated lands to the Netrokona temple 'Gour Gopal Bigraha' which was occupied by the local residents, including both Hindus and Muslims.
The temple had occupied the land after winning a legal battle in 2015, but a family was encroaching upon their land and staying inside a room in the temple.
The temple authorities had purportedly objected when this family had started some construction and renovation work in that area which snowballed into a fight.
Indian news portal, The Quint got in touch with the management of ISKCON and the Netrokona police who disproved the claims made in Indian social media.
It spoke to the Joint Secretary of ISKCON temple Bangladesh and accessed a copy of the complaint filed by the management.
“There is no communal angle to this. Both, Hindus and Muslims, were involved in this incident,” said the ISKCON leader.
It also accessed a copy of the complaint filed by the the management of ISKCON Temple which detailed the incident and named the people against whom they filed a complaint.
The names mentioned in the report are: Shanta Sarkar, Chhaya Sarkar, Rupan Chauhan, Rajan Chauhan, Mohd Paras, Himel Miya, Sharif Ahwal, Biswa Sarkar, Tapas Sarkar, Ujjal Sarkar.
The Quint also reached Netrokona Additional Superintendent of Police who told it that the police had taken cognisance of the matter and taken action. However, no arrests have been made in the case.
He also added that as per their findings, the land (due to which the dispute erupted) didn’t even belong to ISKCON.
“We aren’t convinced with the papers that ISKCON has shown us but the Mayor of the area has also looked into the case and we are investigating the matter,” he said.
“The situation is under control and we are speaking with all parties,” he added.
Ahmedabad-based, AltNews also ran a fact check and found the claims made in social media to be fake.
"I have spoken with an eminent Netrokona-based journalist, who didn't want to be named and he too has confirmed it there was nothing communal about it rather it was a land dispute," Kolkata-based Nibedita Sen, who investigated it for AltNews, told Bangla Tribune.
"Netrokona is known for being one of the most peaceful places in Bangladesh," she said.
The case of a land dispute between a family and the management of an ISKCON temple in Bangladesh has been revived on social media. However, the incident has been shared with communal overtones in the backdrop of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.