Fact Check: Old video falsely shared as Bangladeshi Hindus desperately waiting at border to enter India

Claim: The video shows Bangladeshi Hindus desperately waiting at the Indian border to escape the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh.

Fact: The claim is false. The video is from 2018 and shows the annual Milan Mela where friends and relatives from India and Bangladesh meet at the border to exchange sweets, gifts and pleasantries.

Hyderabad: A video showing a large crowd assembled on both sides of a barbed-wired fence is making rounds on social media. The accompanying claim suggests that, amid the internal turmoil in the country, Hindus in Bangladesh are in desperation to enter India to protect themselves.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “This video has surfaced on social media and it is being said that on the Bangladesh border which is adjacent to Assam, many Hindu families from Bangladesh are standing on the Indo-Bangladesh border to take refuge in India….” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

Another X user shared the video and wrote, “Visuals from India-Bangladesh border in Assam. Importance of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Government of India should immediately provide shelter & safety to the innocent Hindus of Bangladesh who suffered in such a situation under the CAA Act of India. (sic)” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is from the India-Bangladesh border, recorded in 2018 during an annual event called Milan Mela (Meeting Fair).

Upon conducting the reverse image search of the video’s keyframes, we found the same video posted by a YouTube channel in 2018. The channel stated that the video shows Milan Mela at the India-Bangladesh border on April 15, 2018.

Taking a cue from this, we ran keyword searches and found similar visuals of Milan Melas published on YouTube in 2015, 2019 and 2021. We also found a video report on Milan Mela published by a Bangladeshi media outlet Protidiner Bangladesh in 2022.

About Milan Mela

According to Amar Ujala, the BSF, in collaboration with the Border Guard Bangladesh, initiated the Milan Mela for those who cannot afford a visa or passport. This annual event is held on Baisakhi at the India-Bangladesh border, where the barbed wire fencing of both countries meets. During the fair, people from both nations come together to reconnect with their friends and relatives, standing four to five meters apart. They exchange sweets, gifts, and pleasantries across the border.

According to ETV Bharat, the fair was cancelled in 2023 due to concerns that the large crowd it attracts could disrupt law and order. In previous years, it was also cancelled due to the West Bengal Assembly Elections and the Covid-19 pandemic.

NewsMeter could not independently verify the date and location of the viral video. However, we conclude it has been on the Internet since 2018 and is unrelated to the current crisis in Bangladesh. Hence, the claim is false.

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