State authorities in India’s West Bengal have tightened enforcement on undocumented migrants under the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, but a video of huge crowds shared on social media does not show people fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh. While hundreds of people have gathered at the India-Bangladesh border over fears of a crackdown, the clip in fact shows a major Islamic gathering in the state in January 2026 — months before the new state government took power.
“People wanting to return to Bangladesh march towards the Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal,” says the Hindi-language text above a Facebook video shared on May 28, 2026.
The video shows throngs of people walking near a flyover.
Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on June 2, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
The same video was also shared in similar Instagram, Threads and X posts.
“This is not enough, all the illegal immigrants from all over India should be deported from India,” reads a comment on one of the posts.
Another says: “Oh my god. West Bengal’s population has reduced by 50 percent.”
It circulated as hundreds of Bangladeshis gathered at the Hakimpur border crossing in India’s West Bengal state, police said, hoping to cross back as authorities tightened enforcement under the new BJP state government (archived link).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist BJP won state elections in early May, and promised to “detect, delete and deport” illegal migrants. India’s right-wing have long argued that illegal migration is a national security threat, and warned of changing demography in border states.
Authorities in West Bengal have ordered the establishment of “holding centres” for “apprehended foreigners”, including Bangladeshis and Rohingya, fuelling anxiety among the state’s roughly 35 million Muslims — many of whom share linguistic and cultural ties with neighbouring Bangladesh (archived link).
But the circulating video does not show crowds rushing to the Bangladesh border.
Islamic gathering
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to similar footage shared on Instagram months before the BJP assumed power in West Bengal and authorities tightened enforcement (archived link).
The January 5 post says “Puinan Istema”, and the video’s overlaid text reads “Hooghly Bishwa Istema 2026. Highway block 15 km”.
The post appears to be referring to the Biswa (World) Ijtema — one of the largest Islamic religious gatherings, which sees devotees congregate for prayers and sermons (archived link). The 2026 edition was held in Puinan, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (L) and the January 5 Instagram video
Sekh Ali, the user who uploaded the video, told AFP on June 2 it was filmed during the religious congregation.
He also said it was filmed adjacent to a highway, about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Puinan, with the clip matching Google Street View Imagery of the location (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and Google Street View imagery, with a corresponding element highlighted by AFP
The video was also shared by the Instagram account of Indian news portal KBN News and in other social media posts around the same time (archived here and here).
Local media reported that devotees from across India and from different countries had gathered for the congregation, which was last held in the state in 1992 (archived here and here).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims stemming from the West Bengal state elections.
