Muslims Migrant Workers Branded as ‘Bangladeshi’, 'Revenge Attacks’ in Delhi, UP, Odisha

Bangladesh was plunged into an unprecedented crisis on August 5 with the ouster of erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following months of violent student protest. Looting and attacks were reported on leaders associated with the Awami League, the party of Hasina, as well as on their homes, shops, and businesses. Additionally, there have been numerous reports of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. At the same time, various old and unrelated photos and videos have gone viral on social media in India as attacks on Hindus in the neighbouring country. These have been debunked by Alt News. Several Right-wing social media users have been using these false claims to target the minority Muslim community in India.

Politicians have also played an active role in exacerbating the situation. For example, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane posted a tweet on August 5, asking if Hindus were being attacked in Bangladesh, why should Indians spare a single Bangladeshi in their country. He added that they would hunt down and kill every Bangladeshi living in India. Rane deleted the tweet after it had sparked a controversy. However, this is not the first time that he has made such an inflammatory statement. In January of this year, during the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha procession in Mira Road, Mumbai, when communal tensions broke out, Nitesh Rane made a similar incendiary statement, threatening to hunt down individuals.

The impact of inflammatory social media posts and fake news has been significant, leading to targeted attacks on the minority Muslim community in India. Criminals, motivated by a desire to avenge the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, have been attacking people living in slums in various parts of the country, branding them as Bangladeshis. Several Hindu organisations have been directly involved in these attacks, and the accused are closely associated with the ruling BJP. In many places, Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal and other residents of slums have been harassed and attacked under the suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

Shastri Park, New Delhi

On August 8, a group of Hindu extremists attacked garbage collectors in the darkness of night, accusing them of being Bangladeshis, and beat them up with sticks and rods. In a video that went viral, the attackers could be heard saying that these snakes were thriving here while their Hindu sisters and daughters were being raped in Bangladesh. Cow-vigilante and Hindu Raksha Dal member Daksh Chaudhary could be clearly identified in this video. He posted this video on his social media account with the caption, “We will not allow them to stay in this country anymore; if the government cannot remove them, we will.”

After attacking people living in slums branding them as Bangladeshis, Chaudhary released another video stating that he had no regrets over his actions. He made an open call, stating that they had started the process and that the youth and various organizations of India knew what needed to be done. He declared that no Bangladeshi Rohingya Muslims would remain in this country and though the government may be powerless, they were not.

Taking cognisance of the video of the attack on garbage collectors by Daksh Chaudhary and his associates, Delhi Police registered a case in the matter. However, no arrests had been made so far. It is worth noting that Chaudhary has several cases registered against him in different police stations. In February year, he entered a mosque in Sahibabad wearing shoes and pushed the Muslims present there, warning them against praying there. He also threatened to kill them if they tried to go to the mosque’s roof. He was later arrested by the police for hurting religious sentiments and disturbing the peace. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chaudhary and his associates had attacked Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar and abused voters in Ayodhya (Faizabad) when the BJP lost the election there.

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

On August 7, Pinky Chaudhary, the president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, released a video threatening that if Hindus were being persecuted in Bangladesh, Bangladeshis would be treated the same way in India. They would be killed and driven out. In another video, Pinky Chaudhary gave a 24-hour ultimatum. He stated that the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh had to stop and that areas in which Bangladeshis were living in India were on the radar of the Hindu Raksha Dal.

On August 9, Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters attacked people living in shanties, branded them as Bangladeshis, and vandalised and set fire to the slums. Several Right-wing users shared the video of this incident in solidarity with the attackers, claiming that the people living there were Bangladeshis. Ashok Srivastava, editor of India’s state-run news channel Doordarshan, also defended Pinky Chaudhary on Twitter, stating that Hindus in India were distressed and angry, and it was possible that Pinky Chaudhary was unable to control his emotions.

After the video had gone viral, Ghaziabad Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters and subsequently arrested him. In a statement to the media, police clarified that based on the facts that emerged during the investigation, the people who were beaten up for being Bangladeshis were actually Indian citizens from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Eyewitnesses to the incident reported that people were asked about their religion before being attacked. A child present at the scene said that Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters asked whether they were Muslim or Hindu. As soon as someone identified as Muslim, they started beating them up.

On August 10, Pinky Chaudhary released another video claiming that they had done what they had claimed and called on all Hindus to kill Bangladeshis and drive them out of India.

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Satyam Pandit, associated with the Hindu Veer Sena, issued a warning to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis to leave the country within 24 to 72 hours. He threatened that if they did not comply, every worker of the Hindu Veer Sena would cut their beards, pull out their hair, and bury them in Bangladesh.

The Uttar Pradesh Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Satyam Pandit, arresting him on August 12.

Odisha

According to a report published on The Times of India’s website, several videos had surfaced on social media showing attacks on Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal in the districts of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Sambalpur of Odisha, in which they were branded as Bangladeshis. Local people demanded proof of their Indian citizenship. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee contacted her Odisha counterpart Mohan Charan Manjhi, urging him to intervene following reports of the attacks on Bengali-speaking workers.

According to a report by The Indian Express, several workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Odisha’s ruling party BJP, surrounded 34 individuals at a construction site in Sambalpur district on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals and handed them over to the police. After investigation, police officials stated that they were not from Bangladesh, but from the Murshidabad area of West Bengal, after which they were released.

Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh

On August 11, a Hindu organisation held a rally against the atrocities committed against Hindus in Bangladesh. In the video of this rally, one can clearly hear calls for taking up arms to protect Hindus. The video also shows intense sloganeering against Muslims, with offensive comments made against Islam.

After the video went viral, the local Muslim community lodged a complaint with the police, following which the person seen in the video, Devraj, apologised to the Muslim community in a video, stating that the words were not directed at Indian Muslims. However, there is currently no update on the police’s response in this case.