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Was This Hindu Minority Leader In Bangladesh Assaulted For Not Attending Iftar Party? No, Claim Is Misleading!
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 6 May 2022 10:57 AM GMT
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As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
Major Surendra Poonia shared this post and claimed that Jitendra Kanti Guha was attacked on the basis of religion and because he refused to be a part of a Iftar Party. The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim.
A photo showing a severely assaulted man has gone viral across social media. The photo is going viral in the context of misinformation spreading across social media aiming to spread communal tension.
Claim:
The viral photo shows a man tied to a tree who is severely injured and bleeding. It is being claimed that Jitendra Kanti Guha, a Hindu leader in Chittagong, Bangladesh was attacked by a local Awami League leader Mohammed Jasim after Guha refused to participate in an 'Iftar party'.
Rashmi Samant, the former president of the Oxford University Students' Union who was removed from her position, shared the image with a caption that reads: "In the photo below is Jitendra Kanti Guha, who is a Hindu and a local leader from Chittagong who was attacked in a barbaric fashion by local Awami League leader Mohammed Jasim for refusing to be a part of 'Iftar Party'. #HinduHumanRights".
[Trigger Warning: The Logical Indian has not embedded the image due to its graphic nature.]
The viral photo was also shared with a similar caption by Maj. Surendra Poonia. The caption claimed that Jitendra Kanti Guha was attacked on the basis of religion and because he refused to be a part of an Iftar Party.
The Logical Indian also received several messages on our WhatsApp fact check no. +91-6364000343 requesting to fact check the claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be misleading. The attack happened due to personal and political enmity.
We conducted a keyword search with the relevant keywords from the viral post and came across this article by Republic World. The article stated that the incident took place in Bangladesh's South Chittagong on Friday, April 29 over an invitation to an Iftar party. The victim was identified as Jitendra Kanti Guha, the vice-president of Chittagong South of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad. The report identifies him as a former president of the local Awami League.
We referred to the report which is referenced in the Republic World article. This article by United News of India gave more details about the incident. The incident took place on April 29 in front of the Gauchia Community Centre at Brahmanghata in Haidgaon at noon.
Guha was present at the location on the occasion of an Iftar mehfil and discussion that was organised by the Haidgaon Union Awami League at the Gauchia Community Centre. However, the chairman of the local Union Parishad, BM Jasim was not invited to the Iftar mahfil. The report stated that the lack of invitation enraged Jasim. He along with up to 40 followers attacked the venue. The victim, Guha was tied to a tree and assaulted by the mob. The reasons for the assault are given in the report as well:
This report by The Daily Star confirmed the details of the incident. This report quoted AKM Samsujjaman Chowdhury, president of Awami League's Patiya Upazila unit, saying that Jasim's supporters attacked Jiten after Jummah prayer for not inviting Jasim to the iftar mahfil.
We conducted a keyword search on Facebook and came across a post by Subrata Dey, who states himself as a nephew of Jitendra Guha. The post reiterated the details of the incident stating that the committee of Awami League's Patiya Upazila unit had organised the iftar mehfil but had not invited Jasim to the event.
Conclusion:
The caption claimed that Jitendra Kanti Guha was attacked on the basis of religion and because he refused to be a part of the Iftar Party.
In actuality, Jitendra Kanti Guha was not attacked for refusing to attend an Iftar party in Chittagong, Bangladesh. As per media reports and his nephew's statement, a rival political leader, Mohammed Jasim orchestrated the attack on Guha due to personal and political enmity. There is no indication of a communal angle in the case.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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