[🇧🇩] Disinformation/Misinformation about Bangladesh in National/International Media

[Saif]

Chief Adviser’s press wing debunks Ananda Bazar Patrika’s report on Bangladesh army

Indian media is employing techniques of what has become known as hybrid warfare to support the country’s long-time proxy, Sheikh Hasina, and to attempt to discredit the people and institutions of Bangladesh that in July and August brought her despotic rule to an end, according to the statement

en.prothomalo.com

Chief Adviser’s press wing debunks Ananda Bazar Patrika’s report on Bangladesh army
BSS
Dhaka
Updated: 31 Jan 2025, 18: 50

Indian media outlet Ananda Bazar carried a report on Bangladesh Army Facebook account CA Press Wing Facts

The Chief Adviser’s Press Wing has said the news story of Indian media outlet, Ananda Bazar, carried targeting Bangladesh Army on Thursday is a false one.

“Its (Anandabazar) story about the Bangladesh army has no more basis in reality than a Bollywood romcom,” the press wing said in a statement posted on its verified Facebook account - CA Press Wing Facts - on Friday.

Indian media is employing techniques of what has become known as hybrid warfare to support the country’s long-time proxy, Sheikh Hasina, and to attempt to discredit the people and institutions of Bangladesh that in July and August brought her despotic rule to an end, according to the statement.

Indian media outlet Ananda Bazar Ptrika has taken down the report from its online portal. However, the report is available in its epaper on page 7 Screengrab of Ananda Bazar Patrika website taken around 5:07 pm on 31 January 2025

Hybrid war uses information operations - known as disinformation - to divide its targets both internally and from its natural friends and allies.

A disinformation operation typically begins with an entirely fabricated story, with no evidence and views attributed to unnamed people, planted in a friendly or pliable media outlet.

“If it is sufficiently juicy, the made-up story will be picked up by other media and gain apparent credibility as it spreads.

“Eventually, people who are interested in what’s going on in the world but too busy to delve into the details may come to believe the story that began as nothing more than a glimmer in a propagandist’s eye,” the statement read.

Heading of the report with a thumbnail photo is still available in the international section of Ananda Bazar Patrika. The screengrab is taken around 5:07 pm on 31 January 2025

The disinformation operation has succeeded entirely when people who believe the malign fiction are moved to act against the propagandist’s adversary.

In this case, the press wing said, the adversary is the people of Bangladesh and their desire to govern the affairs of their own sovereign country; the willing mouthpiece is Ananda Bazar.

It said Ananda Bazar’s story on the Bangladesh army has no basis in reality but is a Bollywood romcom.

“You must choose whether to practice journalism, based on collecting evidence of what is actually happening in the world, or to propagate malign fictions as part of a campaign to undermine the sovereignty and dignity of a friendly neighbour,” the statement said.​

 

[Saif]

CA Press Wing debunks Indian weekly's report

A news item on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus' meeting with president of Open Society Foundations Alex Soros, carried by Indian weekly The Organiser, is false, CA Press Wing said today.

en.prothomalo.com

CA Press Wing debunks Indian weekly's report
BSS
Dhaka
Published: 30 Jan 2025, 21: 48

A news item on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus' meeting with president of Open Society Foundations Alex Soros, carried by Indian weekly The Organiser, is false, CA Press Wing said today.

"The Organiser weekly in India has launched another salvo in the ongoing campaign of many Indian nationalists to discredit Bangladesh's interim government and to pave the way for India's proxy, Sheikh Hasina, to resume her despotic rule over Bangladesh," the press wing said in a statement posted on its verified Facebook account - CA Press Wing Facts.

The Organiser's latest canard is that the meeting between Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus and Alex Soros, president of the Open Society Foundations, constituted a challenge to US President Donald Trump.

The interim government has complete confidence that President Trump and his team will see through this transparent effort to create friction between Bangladesh and the United States.

According to the statement, the US Department of State and its embassy in Dhaka are well aware that Prof Yunus meets with a wide variety of people, from senior government officials to leaders in business and civil society organisations, including those who are critical of Bangladesh itself.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the United States and Bangladesh's other friends and allies to combat efforts to manipulate the Trump administration and to create divisions between countries through purely invented propaganda," the statement read.​

 

[Saif]

CA press wing terms Indian Express reports well-organised anti-Bangladesh propaganda

The Indian Express has published false reports as part of a well-organised propaganda campaign against Bangladesh and its interim government, Chief Adviser's Press Wing said.

en.prothomalo.com

CA press wing terms Indian Express reports well-organised anti-Bangladesh propaganda
BSS
Dhaka
Published: 26 Jan 2025, 17: 18

The Indian Express has published false reports as part of a well-organised propaganda campaign against Bangladesh and its interim government, Chief Adviser's Press Wing said.

"As part of a well-organised propaganda campaign, The Indian Express newspaper on Friday ran several stories based on the accounts of fugitive Bangladesh Awami League leaders who are all crime suspects and are accused of murders and massacres," it said.

The CA press wing said this in a statement posted on its verified Facebook page - CA Press Wing Facts -Saturday.

One such report is titled, "In hiding, Bangla Awami top brass connect with Hasina, wait for 'rule of law' to return" as it was full of false and misleading information without following the basic norms of journalism, the press wing claimed.

Quoting former Awami League MP Nahim Razzaq, The Indian Express reported that AL people are deprived of judicial rights and not getting bail.

Courts in Bangladesh are now functioning independently, which was evidenced by the fact that some of the former ministers of the Awami League regime, such as Saber Hossain Chowdhury and MA Mannan, were freed from jail as they were granted bail, the statement read.

The report quoted former AL MP and its Joint Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim as saying that they would be back home if the rule of law is re-established.

The interim government noted with regret that the rule of law was completely missing in Bangladesh during the rule of the Awami League between 2009 and mid-2024, which resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings, at least 3,000 cases of enforced disappearances, unabated corruption, and plunder of tens of billions of public money.

A white paper prepared by an independent group of experts documented this mind-boggling corruption.

"The misrule of the Awami League government culminated in the killings of over a thousand peaceful young protesters during the student-led July uprising, which forced the dictator, Sheikh Hasina, and her cronies, including the former MP quoted in the report, to flee the country," according to the statement.

The interim government of Bangladesh re-established the rule of law to ensure justice for every citizen of the country, including the victims of Awami League's misrule.

Quoting former Hasina's former minister AKM Mozammel Haque, The Indian Express reported that no attempt has been made to recover the thousands of small arms that were looted from the police stations in August, 2024.

The police headquarters has reported that of the 5,750 arms looted from police stations on 5 August and the next two days, when there was no government in the country, at least 4,358 arms were recovered, and efforts are underway to recover the rest.

The Indian Express did not seek the comment of any authorities from Bangladesh, which signaled its intent to carry out a propaganda campaign against the interim government of Bangladesh and the people of the country, the statement read.​

 

[Saif]

Govt rejects claims of communal violence, calls for responsible reporting

The interim government has expressed concern over what it calls "misleading propaganda" portraying routine crimes-such as thefts, muggings, and personal disputes-as communal violence, said Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam. Responding to a claim by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Ch

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Govt rejects claims of communal violence, calls for responsible reporting
UNB
Published :
Feb 03, 2025 21:59
Updated :
Feb 03, 2025 21:59

The interim government has expressed concern over what it calls "misleading propaganda" portraying routine crimes-such as thefts, muggings, and personal disputes-as communal violence, said Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.

Responding to a claim by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council that 23 people were killed in communal violence over the past four and a half months, Alam rejected the allegations, stating that the government does not support any form of violence.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy on Monday, he urged all sides to be more responsible, warning that such misinformation could destabilise communal harmony in the country.

The Unity Council, in a press conference last Thursday, claimed that 23 people had been victims of communal violence since the mass uprising.

Taking the claim seriously, the Prof Muhammad Yunus-led government instructed the police to investigate each case and report on the causes and legal actions taken.

Police investigations confirmed details of 22 out of the 23 reported incidents. However, they found no evidence linking them to communal violence. According to police findings:

​

• Seven cases were related to theft and robbery.​
• Four stemmed from personal and family disputes.​
• Three involved rape, excessive drinking, or fights over sarcastic remarks.​
• Two were accidental deaths.​
• Two resulted from business enmity.​
• One stemmed from a conflict between locals.​
• One was a land dispute.​
• One case remains unspecified.​

Besides, one case involved a man who succumbed to injuries from an incident in January last year and died in December. The cause of one suicide and another death is yet to be determined, but neither is linked to communal violence.

So far, 47 people have been arrested in connection with these incidents, and investigations are ongoing. Of them, 17 have given confessional statements under Section 144, Alam said.​

 

[Saif]

AL spreading propaganda against Yunus, Indian media involved: Press secy

Chief adviser's press secretary Shafiqul Alam has said the Awami League, hich was ousted in the July mass uprising, is spreading propaganda against the interim government's chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. He also said that millions of dollars are being spent to portray Professor Yunus...

en.prothomalo.com

AL spreading propaganda against Yunus, Indian media involved: Press secy
Staff Correspondent
Dhaka
Published: 08 Feb 2025, 16: 54

Chief adviser's press secretary Shafiqul Alam delivers a speech at a book launching event titled "Graffiti of Rebellion: The 24th Mass Uprising" at the National Press Club in the capital on Saturday afternoon. Dipu Malakar

Chief adviser's press secretary Shafiqul Alam has said Awami League, which was ousted in the July mass uprising, is spreading propaganda against the interim government's chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

He also said that millions of dollars are being spent to portray Professor Yunus as a "terrorist leader." Indian media is also involved in this campaign.

Shafiqul Alam made these remarks during a book launching event titled "Graffiti of Rebellion: The 24th People's Uprising" at the National Press Club in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

The book, written by GM Rajib Hossain, a journalist from the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), was launched in the presence of Shafiqul Alam as a special guest.

He said that the Awami League and the fallen autocrat, the "mother of corruption and enforced disappearances", are trying to challenge Bangladesh’s narrative. They claim that 3,000 police officers were killed, and they are portraying Professor Yunus as the leader of terrorists on their websites.

“This is a well-planned campaign of disinformation. Indian media is also involved. Hasina’s oligarchs are spending millions of dollars,” Shafiqul Alam remarked. He added that they are attempting to convince the world that what happened in Bangladesh was not a mass uprising, but a grand conspiracy.

The press secretary of the chief adviser alleged that attempts had been made to change Bangladesh’s history.

He pointed out that no research or writing on the 1974 famine had been published in the 15 years of the Awami League’s rule. He mentioned the mysterious death of Aftab Ahmed, who had taken pictures in Basanti, and no investigation had been conducted into it.

He noted that 30,000 people were killed by the Rakkhi Bahini (Auxiliary Force). He accused the government of trying to erase history and impose a new one, using the weapon of historical distortion to suppress people.

Shafiqul Alam also mentioned his family experience, saying that his brother had to stand in line in front of a ration shop for days and nights.

People would come to their house asking for rice starch, and he himself had eaten rice starch. Yet, for the past 15 and a half years, it has been claimed that Sheikh Mujib’s rule was glorious.

He stated that Sheikh Hasina and her people have laundered $234 billion from Bangladesh, and more than 3,000 people have been forcibly disappeared. He also mentioned that in July and August, 2,000 people were killed. During Hasina's tenure, there were the Shapla Chattar killings and horrific murders following the verdict of Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee.

Shafiqul Alam noted that Professor Yunus had called for calm and said, “Our job is to highlight the horrors of the last 15 years through research. We will hold seminars at every campus, and we will write on every wall the injustices that have been committed so that the fallen autocrats and their associates do not return to Bangladesh. This is something we must do.”

He further stated, “Those who think that the revolution happened in the 21 days of July-August, they are mistaken. The fight had been going on for 15 years before that. We will need to struggle for another 15 years. We will pause for a moment, but they will try to rise again. We must ensure that does not happen.”

The chief guest at the event was BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. The event was chaired by Hassan Hafiz, the president of the National Press Club. Journalists Kader Gani Chowdhury, Syed Abdal Ahmed, and others also spoke at the event.​