Lighthouse Journalism found a video being widely shared on social media platforms. It was claimed along with the post claimed the video features Bangladeshi citizens leaving after the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) won the West Bengal elections.
During the investigation we found that the video predates the elections and was shot in January. It shows people attending the World Ijtema in Hooghly’s Punian.
Claim:
X user Major Surendra Poonia shared the video on his profile with misleading claim.
Other users are also sharing the same video with similar claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video. We found that Instagram user Sekh Ali had shared the same video on January 5. The caption of the video said: Punian Istema. The text on the video said: Hooghly Bishwa Istema 2026. Highway Block 15 km.
The Hooghly Ijtema (West Bengal Biswa Ijtema) was held from January 2 to January 5, 2026. The event took place at Puinan village in Dadpur, Hooghly District, West Bengal.
We also found several videos of this event.
We also found news reports about the same.
The report said: After a long 32 years, the World Ijtema, i.e. the special Islamic conference, has been organized in Bengal. Earlier, the world’s largest Ijtema was held in Bankra, Howrah. After 32 years, this World Ijtema has been organized in Puinan village under the Dhanekhali assembly constituency of Hooghly. The Ijtema is being held in an area of about 60 square kilometers in Hooghly. The World Ijtema, which started on January 2, will continue till January 4. Lakhs of people from the Muslim community have come to join the religious conference. People from the Muslim community have come from different districts, states, and even different countries to join the Ijtema.
News reports. Thousands of Muslims started arriving at the Ijtema ground on Friday morning. Many pilgrims from different districts of the state, as well as from different parts of the country and abroad, have come to join this Ijtema.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said, West Bengal is a haven of religious harmony. People of all religions practice their respective religions freely here. Our main goal is to maintain peace and harmony.
Conclusion: An old video of the World Ijtema, a special Islamic conference, is being shared as a recent event showing Bangladeshi nationals leaving West Bengal after the BJP win. Viral claim is misleading.
