Dear Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
Dhaka
Using news media as a tool to gain political advantage is a tactic often employed by different countries and governments including India in international politics against other countries. Indian media, which is becoming more politicized, familial and corporatized and increasingly becoming a tool for realizing certain vested interests to spread divisive propaganda, hatred, and disinformation, is carrying out propaganda against Bangladesh with the reporting that is increasingly aligned with the political ideologies, leading to concerns for the latter. The media propaganda of India probably aims at advancing the national political narrative of it against Bangladesh.
Since the fall of the pro-India Awami League government, India has been consistently engaging in disinformation campaigns against Bangladesh with its mainstream and social media, frequently generating fake news to tarnish its international image and attacking the interim government to exert pressure. According to a study by the fact-checking organization Rumor Scanner, approximately 72 percent of the social media accounts spreading misleading information about Bangladesh are based in India. These false news stories primarily focus on minority and religious issues — including Hindu issues — with the intention of promoting that Bangladesh has turned out to be radical. Beyond this, different Indian media outlets have focused on discrediting Bangladesh on many grounds and its various policies, misrepresenting the student movement and distorting the realities of border conflicts and fence construction.
While the interim government of Bangladesh has been struggling to stabilize the country after the July-August mass uprisings and restore the rule of law, different Indian media are using inflammatory language to portray Bangladesh that overthrew the Hasina-led government in 2024, which ruled for around fifteen years since 2009, as a failed state utterly plunged into chaos. Pertinently saying, although there is no direct evidence indicating that the government of India is behind the propaganda campaign against Bangladesh, the Indian regulatory bodies’ reluctance to act and their inaction in the face of clear evidence presented by multiple fact-checking organizations raise significant suspicions about the geopolitical motives behind India’s stance and media campaigns.
Various strategic interests and other reasons are probably playing a role behind the disinformation campaigns of India against Bangladesh. Since the fall of the Hasina government, India’s various strategic interests in Bangladesh have been shaken, facing threats and uncertainties. To regain political influence and control over Bangladesh’s political landscape, India has probably opted for the familiar and effective “cycle of disinformation” strategy, where rumors are manufactured to trigger more rumors. Many Indian media including “godi media,” aligned with the strategic goals of the Indian government, that domestically inflame nationalist sentiments, trapping people in a cycle of one-sided, hateful, and misleading propaganda are carrying out propaganda against Bangladesh.
But the “disinformation strategy,” which harms others without benefiting oneself, neither serves the well-being of the people of India, which overlooks Bangladesh’s status as an important economic and geostrategic partner, and Bangladesh nor aligns with India’s long-term regional interests. Undoubtedly, during this critical period of the national reconstruction of Bangladesh, allowing disinformation to spread unchecked will not contribute to social stability at all. Consequently, the interim government of Bangladesh should include the propaganda issue in its negotiation agenda and use various diplomatic channels to urge the Indian government to regulate the primary disseminators of false news and online rumors against Bangladesh — effectively.
Additionally, the interim government should establish a specialized committee or forum to create an efficient fact-checking mechanism, accelerate the fight against fake news, and expose the various misinformation campaigns by Indian media against Bangladesh. In necessary cases, Bangladesh can also actively seek the involvement of international media to disseminate the truth. Minimizing misunderstandings both domestically and internationally can be helpful in making a more democratic and prosperous Bangladesh, along with a friendly country.
Nazifa Jannat
Syracuse University
New York, the United States
Email: merellemio81@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER: The views/opinions expressed are those of the LTE authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Magazine or its editorial team.
