'Peddling False Narratives': India Calls For Action Against Chinese Vloggers Passing Dhaka As Delhi

India has called for action against several Chinese vloggers reportedly livestreaming from poor Dhaka neighbourhoods and falsely presenting the footage as scenes from New Delhi. The foreign ministry has slammed the Chinese narrative, saying that "peddling of false narratives" only undermines the credibility of those undertaking such actions and those behind them.

"We have seen media reports in this regard. Such efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate," the foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, responding to a question at his regular media briefing.

"Insofar as efforts by foreign elements to portray parts of Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of the actors involved and those behind them in such an exercise," he added.

Jaiswal said India has urged authorities concerned to take appropriate action against them. 

The Case

Recently, Bangladeshi media reported that around 150 Chinese nationals have been operating across Dhaka's poor neighbourhoods for months, passing off the footage as scenes from India and making derogatory remarks about living conditions in New Delhi.

An investigation by Prothom Alo found that Chinese nationals have been filming the narrow lanes of Dhaka's Tekpara and Uttara neighbourhoods and livestreaming the footage on Chinese social media platforms, seemingly as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign.

These vloggers are even entering people's homes and recording videos, while claiming they are broadcasting from New Delhi, even though they are physically present in Dhaka, the report said.

One Chinese woman identified as 'Mianmian', who claimed to be from China's Sichuan province, livestreamed from beside a canal in Uttara Sector 12 of Dhaka on November 1. She reportedly presented the area to her online audience as New Delhi and described the residential buildings and surrounding areas as dirty, underdeveloped, and unhygienic.

"This is New Delhi. Their homes are extremely dirty. There isn't even a fan inside the tin-roofed houses. This place is quite underdeveloped, dirty and unhygienic, and the law-and-order situation is poor," leading Bangladeshi daily 'Prothom Alo' quoted her as saying.

In another instance, a Chinese national was seen live streaming from tea stalls in the Tekpara locality of Dhaka, making the offensive remarks that the tea consumed by locals was made using "cow urine".

"Look, they are drinking tea. Do you know what kind of tea this is? This is cow urine tea. They drink cow urine tea," Prothom Alo quoted him as saying.

The footage also contained derogatory comments on the residents' lifestyles, with repeated references to poor hygiene, lack of sanitation, and substandard living conditions.

The misleading portrayal has raised concerns about deliberately distorting geographical locations and using deceptive online content to create negative perceptions of India among international audiences and points to a coordinated anti-India campaign.

The incident underscored the growing threat posed by misinformation and manipulated content on social media, where sensationalised posts can spread widely before their authenticity is established.

(With Inputs from PTI and IANS)