Old Video of Bangladeshi Cleric's Hateful Speech Linked to 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

A video showing a Muslim cleric using a megaphone and delivering a controversial speech against Hindus is going viral on social media.

Users are linking the video to Congress and claiming that the party aims at "inviting Hindus to join Islam".

(Archives similar to the claims can be seen here and here. We also receive a query about this video on our WhatsApp tipline.)

What's the truth?: This video dates back to 2021 and is from Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

• The video shows Dr Syed Irshad Ahmed Al Bukhari, an Islamic scholar making this speech.

• He was seen responding to an offensive remark made by Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati against Prophet Muhammad.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the viral video on Google and came across a post on X (formerly Twitter).

• This was shared on 6 May 2021 and the caption stated that this video was from Bangladesh.

We then performed a relevant keyword search on Google using 'Bangladesh protest, Rasool, Narsinghanand Saraswati' and this led us to a longer version on YouTube from 30 April 2021.

• This was shared by Dr Syed Irshad Ahmad Al Bukhari, who is seen speaking in the video.

• According to his Facebook page, he is an International Islamic Scholar.

More about what he says: The title stated, " Dr Syed Irshad Bukhari gave Mubahila Challenge to Vile Narsinghanand Saraswati from Bangladesh".

• He further mentions that all of the people seen in the video are protesting against the controversial comments made by Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati against Prophet Muhammad and Islam religion.

• The viral video starts at 1:35 timestamp in the original video.

• Several parts from the original video have been clipped to share it with misleading context.

• Bukhari also targets Narsinghanand and challenges him to convert to Islam.

• He also mentions that he never speaks against Hinduism or Hindus and that should be reciprocated by Narsinghanand.

We have reached out to Bukhari for more context and the story would be updated once we receive a response.

This video went viral in 2023 also where it was being falsely linked to the hijab controversy in Karnataka, you can read Team Hindi's WebQoof story here.

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