Old Video Of Islamic Congregation in West Bengal Falsely Shared As Muslim Exodus From Nepal

Even as Nepal witnessed a communal violence after a dispute over loud music and religious flags during a Hindu procession in Sunsari district, a video allegedly showing ‘Muslim people leaving Nepal in droves amid anti-Muslim protests’ is going viral on popular social media platforms. Those sharing the video have also claimed that the Muslim people are heading towards Bhutan from Nepal after anti-Muslim protest in Nepal.

The video has been shared in Hindi, English and Nepali languages and has gained widespread attention and confusion in the wake of communal tensions in Nepal in the last week of July.  Three people were killed in the tensions that spread to four Terai districts, prompting the government to mobilise Nepal Army personnel to contain the situation.

One Instagram account named BharatInsight posted the video with the text laid on it reading “Large number of Muslims seen leaving Nepal and moving towards Bhutan due to anti-Muslim protest. Things changed as Nepal’s Hindus have been turning against Muslims and making them leave the country. Things have changed as Nepal’s Hindus have been turning against Muslims and making them leave the country.”

The post has also noted that there is no independent confirmation from credible news organisations or official authorities verifying a large-scale movement of people across the Nepal-Bhutan border.”

A verified X account named FalconUpdateHQ has shared the video with the caption reading “Large number of Muslims seen leaving Nepal amid anti-Muslim protests.”

Another Facebook account named Gyan Veer has posted a video showing Muslim people carrying their belongings and moving ahead. Hindi caption of the video posted on August 4, 2026 reads, “Muslims are are fleeing towards Bhutan from Nepal. A few days back a Hindu pilgrim was killed a few days back after which Nepal’s Hindus were incited and they are striving to make the country free of Muslim. Perhaps they will be successful.”  

Likewise, a TikTok user @mahakal.sanki.92 posted the video with a different claim indicating that the Muslim crowd is coming towards Nepal. The video caption reads, “How will the Nepal government and Nepal Army stop them?”

The video posted on August 3 has garnered 10.1k likes, 2137 users have shared it and 412 people have commented until the last count. 

Newschecker investigation found the claim to be false.

Fact Check /Verification

To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker began splitting the video into several key frames and running reverse searches them. However, the searches only led to the videos claiming to show Muslim people heading to Bhutan or leaving Nepal after anti-Muslim protest in the country.

We then closely observed the video frames and analysed the video, and noticed that the people seen in the video do not seem to be sad or leaving a place forcefully. The people walking in the video smiling and flashing v signs indicate that the people are heading for some celebrations.

By observing the video, we noticed a few things: there are only men in the video and people wearing Islamic cap; people are carrying their belongings; temporary towers for sound systems were placed in the open space; high-tension electricity transmission towers; people in the video do not seem somber or sad. 

Analysis of the reverse searches on key-frames from the viral video gave us a clue that the bamboo poles are used for installing sound systems during a religious gathering known as Ijtema in Islamic community. We also observed that the Ijtema are organised in Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

Further, we noticed a bag carried by a person with Bangla text reading (Tithi) written on it. Taking a clue from the bag, we narrowed down our search for Itjema in the Bangla speaking region—Bangladesh and West Bangal state of India.

Viralal video is from Biswa Ijetma 2026

Based on our findings so far, we searched for information regarding Ijetma held in Bangla speaking region and found that a four-day ‘Biswa Ijtema 2026’ was held from January 2-5 in Puinan, Dadpur of Hoogly district, West Bengal. The religious gathering was attended by hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims from various places.

We then focused our searches on World Ijtema 2026 Puinan and found a video, dated January 5, 2026, on the YouTube channel named Usama& studio. On checking the video titled ‘Biswa Ijtema 2026 Puinan, Hooghly West Bengal, India’, we found some noticeable similarities in the background including the trees, high tension pole and bamboo towers.

We checked over 200 videos and found another video, dated 3 January 2026, posted on the YouTube channel named M IRFAN collection’s whose frame bore close resemblance to a frame from the viral video. We found that a high tension pole, trees and bamboo tower in the viral video closely matched the frame of the video titled ‘Biswa Ijtema 2026 Puinan, Dadpur, Hooghly‘.

Likewise, we found another video, dated 6 January 2026, posted on the YouTube channel named RK Vlogs carrying footage matching the viral video.

We also found a video, dated 9 January 2026, posted on a Facebook account named MD Ilyas Ansari, matching the pole, tree and bamboo tower, seen in the viral video. The video title also reads ‘Word Ijtema 2026 West Bengal Hooghly puinan’.

However, we could not find the original video.  

Nepali Muslims have not been chased to Bhutan

We reached out to Home Ministry spokesperson Ananda Kafle through phone to enquire about the claim regarding exodus of Nepali Muslims towards Bhutan. He made it clear to Newschecker that there is no such report of Muslim people leaving Nepal after the recent communal violence.

Conclusion

No, Muslim people have not left Nepal after recent communal tensions that broke out after a dispute in Sunsari district. The viral video allegedly showing exodus of Muslim people from Nepal towards Bhutan is actually from “Biswa Ijetma 2026′ organised in Puinan, Hooglay district of West Bengal state of India. Old video from Muslim religious congregation in West Bengal shared as a recent video from Nepal.

Sources
BBC Nepali, 31 July 2026
Rising Nepal Daily.com, 30 July 2026
Aljazeera.com , 31 Jul 2026
News24 Online , 5 Jan 2026
Usama&sk studio/YouTube, 5 Jan 2026
Anam Home Appliance/YouTube, 1 Dec 2025
Rakibul Vlog/YouTube, 8 Jan 2026
Sk Farhad/YouTube, 24 Dec 2025
RK Vlogs/YouTube, 6 Jan 2026
Direct contact with Nepal Home Ministry Spokesperson