53 prominent people, including scholars, journalists, and artists, condemned today the anti-Bangladesh campaign by a segment of Indian media outlets that are genuinely working for the country’s right-wing extremist ruling party, the BJP.
“We are concerned about the ongoing propaganda campaign against Bangladesh run by the Godi media, media outlets that serve the interests of the right-wing extremist ruling party of India—the BJP,” they said in a statement.
Through the July uprising, the people of Bangladesh got freedom from autocratic rule and economic plundering that was led by Sheikh Hasina’s Mujibist Awami League and backed by the Indian establishments.
“The student-led mass uprising against Hasina’s India-backed autocracy once again showed us the power of diversity in Bangladesh as people from all ethnicities, religions, and social and political persuasions came together and fought back forcing Hasina to flee,” they said.
“They (Indian media) are now inventing false stories of crackdowns on religious minorities in Bangladesh,” they stated, adding that Indian Godi media outlets are launching an unprecedented disinformation campaign now that the Indian government is harbouring the overthrown homicidal tyrant.
They claimed that the Indian media has been spreading false information on minority rights and bogus news about Bangladesh.
“As a nation—that suffered from an almost two-decade-long dictatorship — we are trying to restore democracy and chart our course forward for national reconstruction, we have to remain united to fight back against this fake news and disinformation campaign,” they said.
India is one of the biggest producers of false information worldwide, and as Bangladesh attempts to forge its own independent path away from the dominance of the Indian establishment, this heinous propaganda industry is now disseminating false information about minority rights in Bangladesh.
They claimed that in addition to eroding public confidence in Bangladesh’s democratic institutions, the pernicious propaganda campaign propagated by Indian media outlets also exacerbates public polarisation and obstructs crucial democratic decision-making and national regeneration.
“We call on our fellow Bangladeshis, home and abroad, Bangladeshi, and regional and global media outlets to play critical roles in addressing the ongoing anti-Bangladesh propaganda campaign and help our country secure its journey to establish democratic institutions,” they said.
The signatories are photographer Shahidul Alam, Jahangirnagar University Professor Dr. Mostofa Nazmul Mansur, song writer and activist Latiful Islam Shibli, writer Professor Suman Rahman, economist and author Zia Hassan, political analyst and The Mirror Asia Editor Dr. Maruf Mallick, Independent University Professor Bokhtiar Ahmed, poet & fiction writer Kajal Shaahnewaz, Dr. Hasan Ashraf of Jahangirnagar University, writer Ahmad Mostofa Kamal, Independent Anthropologist Sayema Khatun, Jahangirnagar University Professor Swadhin Sen, lecturer at the DW Academy Dr Saimum Parvez, researcher and writer on Ecology and Diversity Pavel Partha, cultural activist Bithi Ghosh, researcher Mahbub Sumon,
Writer and translator Omar Tarek Chowdhury, artist and author Debashish Chakrabarty, Rajshahi University A Al Mamun, Rajshahi University Professor Susmita Chakraborty, University of Chittagong Associate Professor Dr. Moshreka Aditi Huq, Ar Raji of Chittagong University, Publisher of Adarsha Mahabub Rahman, writer and activist Tuhin Khan, poet and journalist Michhil Khandaker, journalist Ismail Hossain, poet and public intellectual Nahid Hasan, writer Gazi Tanzia, journalist Kazi Jesin, poet and writer Mridul Mahbub, poet and rights activist Ferdous Ara Rumee, Rajshahi university professor Dr. Md. Habib zakaria,
Journalist Shahtub Siddique Anik, poet and critique Imrul Hasan, writer and journalist Shahnaz Munni, writer Salah Uddin Shuvro, entrepreneur Mishael Aziz, Co-Executive Director of Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI) Syed Muntasir Ridwan, writer and activist Parvej Alam, writer and journalist Arif Rahman, filmmaker and writer Mohammad Romel, writer Kamrul Ahsan, fiction writer and translator Zia Hashan, poet Altaf Shahnewaz, academic and researcher Sharat Chowdhury, poet Bayezid Bostami, filmmaker Parthib Rashed, actor, director and playwright Deepak Kumar Goswami, teacher and translator G H Habib, writer and activists Abul Kalam Al Azad, Jamuna TV political editor Alamgir Swapan, writer and activist Sarwar Tusher and journalist Ehasan Mahmud.
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