Photo: CA Press Wing Fact's Facebook

DHAKA, June 30, 2025 (BSS) - Chief Adviser's Press Wing has binned a recent video claiming that an elderly Hindu man was publicly humiliated in Bangladesh by radical Islamists, saying it false and misleading.

"A video recently went viral on social media platforms, falsely claiming that an elderly Hindu man in Bangladesh was publicly humiliated by being forced to wear a garland of shoes by radical Islamists," the press wing said in a statement posted on its verified Facebook page - CA Press Wing Facts - on Sunday night. 

According to the captions circulating with the video, the man was a Hindu schoolteacher who had served in education for 40 years and was allegedly assaulted by Islamist extremists. 

The claim has been widely shared by numerous X accounts, framing the incident as a case of religious persecution against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, the statement said. 

However, investigation reveals that the claims are entirely inaccurate, the press wing said. 

Reverse image searches and keyword-based verification led to credible reports in mainstream Bangladeshi media outlets such as Kaler Kantho, Dhaka Times, and bdnews24.com, which provide clear context of the incident, it said.

The man shown in the video is not a Hindu teacher with decades of service. He is Ahmad Ali, a Muslim and a community medical officer from Tekati village in Baliakandi upazila, Rajbari district, the press wing claimed.

A report published on June 15 by Kaler Kantho stated that Ahmad Ali was physically assaulted and paraded through a local market with a garland of shoes after being accused of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Rajbari's Baliakandi area.

Dhaka Times reported that the alleged remarks were made at a tea shop in Beruli Bazar, where a mob reacted violently in response.

According to bdnews24.com, Ahmad Ali had served as a community medical officer at the Nawabpur Union Sub-Health Complex prior to retirement. 

The combined information from these reliable sources confirms that the man was not a Hindu, not a teacher, and that the incident was not a targeted attack against a religious minority, but rather stemmed from allegations of blasphemy.

"While the video is genuine, the narrative surrounding it is entirely false and misleading. This was not an act of religious persecution against the Hindu community, but a localised incident driven by accusations of religious defamation - later distorted online to falsely portray communal violence," the statement read.