Key claim: A viral video purported to show a mosque near Kolkata Airport being demolished by Hindu extremists following the BJP's 2026 West Bengal victory. Verification: AFP traced the footage to Bangladesh, where it shows a mob vandalising the house of a man accused of raping and killing a child. Context: The Bankra (Gouripur Jame) mosque relocation debate — tied to airport safety concerns — is real, but the viral clip is unrelated and misattributed.
Viral Clip of 'Mosque Demolition' Near Kolkata Airport Is From Bangladesh, Not India
Screenshot of the false post captured on September 25, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
A viral video claiming that a 136‑year‑old mosque near Kolkata Airport had been demolished by Hindu mobs is misattributed. AFP verification shows the footage was filmed in Bangladesh and depicts villagers vandalising the home of a man accused of rape and murder — not the Bankra (Gouripur Jame) mosque in India.
Screenshot comparison of the building in the falsely shared video (L) and the mosque as seen in ANI video
What the Posts Claimed
Social media posts, including a Hindi caption shared on Facebook on Sept. 22, 2026, alleged: “The 136‑year‑old Gauri Jama Masjid near Kolkata Airport was demolished by Hindu extremists using a bulldozer.” The clip circulating online shows two men with sledgehammers attempting to break down a blue wall, and some comments on the posts promoted anti‑Muslim rhetoric and called for clearing alleged encroachments near the airport.
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and similar footage uploaded by a Bangladesh-based media outlet
What AFP Verified
AFP conducted reverse image and video searches using keyframes from the viral clip and located a longer video uploaded on Sept. 19, 2026 to the Facebook page of a Bangladesh news outlet. The Bengali caption of that longer clip described the footage as villagers vandalising the house of an accused in a child murder case in Pabna.
Local police in Bangladesh, including officer‑in‑charge Md Tariqul Islam, told AFP that the damaged property belonged to one of two suspects accused of raping and killing a 10‑year‑old girl. The officer said suspects had been detained and remanded to custody.
AFP compared screenshots from the viral clip with the Bangladesh footage and confirmed they show the same incident. By contrast, footage of the Bankra (Gouripur Jame) mosque published by Indian news agency ANI in July 2026 does not match the building in the viral video.
Background: Mosque Relocation Debate in West Bengal
The video spread amid renewed debate over relocating the historic Gouripur Jame Masjid (also called the Bankra mosque) after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the West Bengal state election in May 2026 — the party's first electoral victory in the state. Authorities have argued the mosque’s location, roughly 165 metres (541 feet) north of Kolkata airport’s secondary runway, creates safety and operational concerns, an issue that has been contested for decades.
Why This Matters
The misattributed clip amplified communal tensions by falsely linking violent vandalism in Bangladesh to events in India. Cross‑border misrepresentations like this can inflame local reactions and spread misinformation during politically sensitive moments. AFP has previously debunked similar cases where footage from Bangladesh was presented as if it were filmed in India.
Bottom line: The viral video does not show a mosque near Kolkata Airport being torn down. It was filmed in Bangladesh and documents mob damage to the home of an accused individual in a criminal case.
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