India’s West Bengal has a long history of election-related violence, but circulating footage of several men attacking another person is unrelated to the state’s upcoming poll. The clip was filmed in Uttar Pradesh state, and appeared in news reports in 2022 as protests raged against a new military recruitment scheme.
The video was shared on X on April 7, 2026.
The caption claims it shows Hindu men fighting back after being threatened by a supporter of West Bengal’s ruling party, apparently named “Nazrul Islam” to imply he is Muslim.
“A very positive change is being seen among Bengali Hindus. Nazrul Islam (TMC worker) was threatening Hindus in Murshidabad for votes,” it reads.
“But this time, Hindus stood strong. And he ran away with his tail between his legs.”
Screenshot of the false post, taken on April 14, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
The video was shared elsewhere on X and on Facebook as West Bengal — led by Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party — gears up for voting scheduled in two phases on April 23 and 29 (archived link).
Local media have repeatedly documented cases of poll-linked bloodshed in the battleground state, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has never governed (archived link).
India’s Union Home Ministry has announced it will deploy 480 companies of paramilitary forces ahead of the election.
The circulating clip, however, has been misrepresented.
Varanasi incident
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes surfaced an old version uploaded to X on July 17, 2022 by the Organiser Weekly magazine (archived link).
“Locals beat violent mob who tried to shut shops in Banaras,” reads the caption, using another name for Varanasi city in northern megastate Uttar Pradesh.
One hashtag included in the post says “Agnipath” — referring to a scheme announced at the time to induct young adults into the armed forces (archived link).
Violent protests raged in several cities across the country in response to the announcement, a major departure from the past, as enlistment had long been seen as a pathway to a lifetime job (archived link).
Only a quarter of the new recruits will be offered permanent positions in the army at the end of the programme, missing out on entitlements enjoyed by existing personnel, including pensions.
Local news outlet NBT UP-Uttarakhand also published the video as part of a report about the protests (archived link).
AFP reached out to Organiser Weekly and NBT UP-Uttarakhand for comment about the source of the clip, but responses were not forthcoming.
Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the video posted by Organiser Weekly
AFP was able to confirm the video was filmed in Uttar Pradesh — not in West Bengal as posts falsely claimed — by comparing it with Google Maps street view of the same street in Varanasi (archived link).
Elements such as a distinctive red wall advertisement and a large tree are both visible in the video and on the online mapping tool.
Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and Google Maps, with similarities highlighted by AFP
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the West Bengal state election here and here.
