After the ouster of the Awami League (AL) regime, a variety of disinformation campaigns about the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh began in the international media. These campaigns have been carried out by well-known media outlets mostly in India and on social-reality platforms. This includes portraying past acts of violence or fires as being relatively recent, representing arson attacks on the Awami League’s headquarters as the burning of temples, and framing attacks on Awami League leaders as attacks on all Hindus.
According to the Bangladeshi fact-checking non-governmental organization Rumour Scanner, at least thirteen pieces of Bangladesh-specific content were published by 48 Indian media outlets from 12 August 2024 to 5 December 2024. These publications spread falsehoods. According to the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), India ranks highest in terms of disinformation and deceit in the populace. Even when opposing evidence is presented, exposure to fallacies leads to an unbelievably high tendency to endorse the fallacies. It becomes glaringly apparent that the gap is enormous. The alarming growth of disinformation ahead of the 2024 general elections has further exacerbated India’s political, religious, and social problems and fragmentation. Considering the extensive reach of Indian media resources, it has the potential to circulate disinformation, which could impact Bangladesh adversely.
However, not only misinformation and disinformation campaigns are being devised, but Indian media is engaged in a propaganda effort against the interim government as well and a narrative-building effort against Bangladesh is also in play. Prominent Indian media and journalists are twisting the reality and vilifying Bangladesh as a hostile country.
According to the Global Investigative Journalism Network, India ranks highest in terms of disinformation and deceit.
Bangladesh and India share a historic relationship dating back to our independence. The relations between the two countries should not be sullied over a regime change or subsequent amplified narrative. With its misinformation and deception, the media could jeopardize the harmonious relationship between these two nations. The violence against minority groups in Bangladesh, instead of starting the blue after AL’s ouster, has had many factors try to explain the spikes; from land grabbing, local power struggle, better preservation of new political control, religious content on Facebook, and more.
While the Indian Hindutva parties that persecute and attack the minority community in their state, have shown outrage over the allegations. Besides, the swaggering ruling of India is not able to tolerate the decline of its influence on Bangladesh, therefore they are using sectarianism and communal violence to gain favour from the South Asian people to become a political hegemony of South Asia.
To draw light away from the political failures of the Awami League, the Indian media ramped up its coverage after the ouster of the Awami League, sending false narratives about attacks on minorities to keep the public focus away from the truth. Indian media has not reported to its own that the disorder that ensued, because of friction prevailed in a police force that was simultaneously dysfunctional and investigative, hobbled all week long, led to the indiscriminate attacks on pro-Awami League kleptocrats.
The present Yunus Interim government and the upper authorities of Bangladesh are at the threshold of the new essentialities. On December 2, 2024, the Bangladesh consulate in Agartala, Tripura, was attacked by an ultra-right-wing organization called “Hindu Sangarsh Samiti”, further escalating political tensions between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary, Md. Jashim Uddin had a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Dhaka as part of a high-level delegation to discuss re-establishing diplomatic ties and deter any incidents.
In this context, it is clear that the propaganda and disinformation campaign going on against Bangladesh is malicious for the country’s national security as well as it can malign its image. Hence, it is compulsory to counter these nefarious efforts. Countering propaganda and combating the hegemonic Indian influence in the media of Bangladesh will require a multi-pronged effort.
To this end, first, we should create a stronger ‘media task force’ that can deliver accurate information in real-time, updates, and fact-checking material. A significant limitation is Bangladesh’s inability to develop media in English, which could be critical for engaging with the international community. With a global news media apparition, it has the potential to serve as a new force for Bangladesh that could be at par with Al-Jazeera, The Guardian, The Council on Foreign Relations, and perhaps even the BBC in rendering the media authenticity of Bangladesh on international fairs. The responsibility should be distributed between the Ministry of State Affairs, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Maltreatment of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh is often aggressively described by Indian English news standards in contrast to Palki Sharma’s Firstpost and NDTV, and among YouTube analysts, like a kind of propaganda. Bangladesh may invite foreign journalists to visit and see the ground reality for an accurate reflection of the state of affairs in Bangladesh.
Likewise, the government must set aside sufficient funding and resources for fact-checkers, who will be able to fact-check material quickly. To effectively combat Indian propaganda, Bangladeshi policymakers need to recognize the fact that many leading international media houses have Indians within their employ, giving them an advantage. Should the Bangladesh government draw in hundreds of journalists and professors skilled in the country who live abroad and would work to strengthen its media presence? In the other case, Bangladesh’s global image could face a disaster.
Bangladesh’s chief legal adviser, Asif Nazrul, said in a media interview that spreading false information was a bid to interfere in the country’s internal affairs. The interim administration has urged local media outlets to provide credible information to the international community This demonstrates the nation’s ability to unite in times of crisis. Consequently, more firm commitment to the protection of national pride and a deeper level of public trust have also developed. The intellectual minds consisting of civil society members, distinguished research fellows, academicians, and popular political and foreign policy analysts can form a conglomeration to counter the Indian propaganda, providing valid information in real-time, displaying all facts and evidence to prove Bangladesh’s efficiency as a country to protect minority rights and put a tough competition ahead of India. Nevertheless, it can be quite a complicated task as Indian media networks have already gone global unlike ours. Yet, as per the reports of the World Economic Survey, India has been ranked in the top position for spreading fake news and propaganda. This also gives Bangladesh an upper hand to prove its authenticity to counter Indian propaganda.
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Dhaka.