The videos are shocking: burning buildings, horrific violence and crying women begging for help.

They are – say the people who share them – evidence of a “genocide against Hindus” that took place in Bangladesh after the sudden overthrow of the country’s long-time ruler, Sheikh Hasina.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the name Tommy Robinson – a British far-right activist who was criticised for his inflammatory posts during the UK riots – has chimed in, sharing videos and dire warnings.

However, we have found that many of the videos and claims shared online are false.

Bangladesh has been making headlines for weeks: student protests with over 400 deaths culminated in the overthrow of the government and the flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India on August 5.

The celebrations escalated into violent unrest, with rioters targeting members of their ruling Awami League party, which is made up of both Hindus and Muslims.

And while reports from the region showed that Hindus were victims of violence and looting and their property was being compromised, far-right influencers in neighboring India were spreading false videos and information that painted a misleading picture of events.

They claimed they were exposing communal violence against Hindus, allegedly perpetrated by “Islamist radicals” with violent intentions.

A viral post claimed to show a temple set on fire by “Islamists in Bangladesh.”

However, BBC Verify found that this building, which is the Navagraha Temple in Chittagong, was undamaged in the incident, which actually took place at a nearby Awami League party office.

Pictures obtained by the BBC after the fire show debris from posters bearing the faces of Awami League members.

“On August 5, there was an attack on the Awami League office premises behind the temple in the afternoon,” Swapan Das, a temple worker, told BBC Verify. “They took the furniture outside and set it on fire.”

Mr Das added that although the temple was not attacked that day, the situation remained tense and the temple was closed and under round-the-clock security.

This is far from the only story that was shared. Most were shared under the same hashtag, which has been mentioned nearly a million times since August 4, according to social media monitoring tool Brandwatch. The trend was driven by accounts mostly based in India.

Other viral posts that have since been debunked include a claim that the house of a Hindu Bangladeshi cricketer was burnt down. BBC Verify has found that the house actually belongs to a Muslim Awami League MP.

Then there was the school that burned down and the BBC visited. Here too, the reasons for the attack seem to be more political than religious.

All of these posts were shared by multiple accounts, many of which support Hindu nationalist values.

Interreligious tensions have existed in Bangladesh for many decades, says Professor Sayeed Al-Zaman, an expert on hate speech and disinformation in Bangladesh.

After the hasty departure of Sheikh Hasina, the situation escalated again, “as Hindus felt insecure without a government and without effective public order,” says Professor Al-Zaman.

The false narratives have made the situation worse. “The scaremongering of these influencers is fueling tensions.”

Some of these posts, falsely claiming that Hindus have been victims of attacks by Muslims, have been shared by accounts far away from Bangladesh or India.

Tommy Robinson, who has been criticised for posting inflammatory messages about the violent riots against Muslims and immigrants across the UK, has shared unverified videos from Bangladesh where he says “a genocide against Hindus” is taking place.

We investigated a video he shared that shows a woman pleading for her husband’s life as their home is attacked. The post falsely claims the property is being targeted by “Islamists.” The original video was shared on August 6, a day after the attack on the property.

However, when the BBC investigated the story behind the video, a different picture emerged.

A group of local students who helped the woman defend her property told us the dispute was about a different matter entirely. They shared with the BBC photos and videos of the cleanup, which show the property as it appears in the original video. The Hindu temple on the property is intact.

“The conflict is about land ownership. A case was initiated a long time ago,” a student told us. A case about land ownership has been pending in the local courts for almost six months.

We spoke to other people on the ground who told us that the attack was not religiously motivated and that the perpetrators were both Hindus and Muslims. They also reported that other Hindu families and temples in the area were not affected.

Tommy Robinson did not respond to our request for comment.

It has proven difficult to find out exactly what has happened in Bangladesh in recent weeks.

There have been numerous actual incidents and attacks throughout the country, but the motives are difficult to determine: religious or political.

The two are closely intertwined: One Hindu resident explained that the minority is largely seen as supporters of Sheikh Hasina’s secular Awami League party.

AFP Bangladesh fact-checker Qadaruddin Shishir told the BBC there had been attacks on Hindu property.

But, he said, “right-wing Indian accounts are spreading these politically motivated attacks as religiously motivated attacks.”

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a non-profit organization that protects the human rights of minorities, reported the deaths of five Hindus, two of whom are known to be members of the Awami League.

The AFP estimates that more than 50 leading members of the Muslim Awami League were killed.

As false claims of attacks on Hindus circulated online, some Muslim protesters decided to guard Hindu temples.

“It is our responsibility to protect them,” said Moinul, who stood guard outside a temple in Hatharazi outside Chittagong last week.

Viral social media posts are trying to “stir up conflict between Hindus and Muslims,” ​​Moinul said. “But we are not falling for it.”

Choton Banik, a local Hindu who visited the temple, asked them to continue their efforts “at this critical time.”

“I hope that we will continue to live together in this independent Bangladesh in the future,” he said.

Additional reporting by Kumar Malhotra and Josh Cheetham