How we can tackle the rising anti-Bangladesh narratives from India

Immediately after having his allegation of Bangladeshi Hindu pilgrims being deterred from travelling to India debunked by CA Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, India Today's Gaurav Sawant remarked that India had played a role in Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, but Bangladesh itself now "seems to be becoming another Pakistan". 

A visibly frustrated Alam replied, "You are flooded with industrial-scale misinformation." 

The interview began with the presenter claiming that a "shocking persecution of Hindus" was occurring in Bangladesh and that "in fact, this Yunus-government insider actually denies Hindu hate", setting the tone that such persecution was a fact, and questioning how the Yunus government could dare to deny it. Then, Sawant goes on to say that journalist Munni Saha was harassed in Dhaka because of her Hindu identity. 

Whether Gaurav is misinformed or he deliberately promotes this is up for debate. 

But the fact remains that Indian media have launched a concerted campaign against Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, and it seems unlikely that they will let up any time soon. 

Amid the discussions in Dhaka about how to face these relentless anti-Bangladeshi narratives coming out of India, Shafiqul Alam recently said at an event that Indian media seems to have made up their mind, and talking to them is like talking to a wall. 

In another NDTV interview, if you looked carefully, when they were talking about the violence surrounding Chinmoy Krishna Das' arrest, they were actually showing footage of Awami League members mercilessly beating female students for joining protests against Sheikh Hasina during the July Uprising.

The misinformation and disinformation that have spread on Indian social media have been debunked by most fact-checking groups and international media, including the BBC, but it has already spread wide and far — even among Indian politicians. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently asked the Indian government to send a UN peacekeeping mission to Bangladesh. 

Just ignoring the issue is unlikely to work for Dhaka. While the press secretary lauds the Bangladeshi journalists who appear on Indian television and defend our country's image, some of these interviews have ended badly in the face of incessant grandstanding by the Indian hosts. 

So, what is the appropriate way to face this situation? 

Shafquat Rabbee, a Bangladeshi-American geopolitical columnist, has launched a crowd-funded campaign to establish an English language news channel in Bangladesh with the goal of debunking misinformation.

"It is hard to fathom why any responsible geostrategist in India's South Block would direct the barrage of misinformation raining down via the Internet on Bangladesh since the ouster of despot Hasina. We simply cannot see what benefit this could possibly bring for India, besides creating more resentment among ordinary Bangladeshis," Shafquat said. 

He added that Hasina's regime left Bangladesh after syphoning $16 billion per year for 15 years. That could play a role in amplification of misinformation via India and other channels. 

"It is also possible that Indian media is simply a victim of the fact that they only nurtured relationships with just one political party, which is now feeding them misinformation. No matter what the cause, many Bangladeshis are now hurt seeing continuous, remorseless distribution of disinformation from Indian media, even when fact-checkers debunk those," he added. 

SM Suza Uddin, a central member of Jatiya Nagorik Committee and an independent journalist, said that Bangladesh should initiate a bilateral, open dialogue with Indian media owners and policymakers. 

"This platform should be dedicated to collaboratively establishing factual accuracy and mitigating the spread of false reports," he said. "Invite liberal citizens from both countries to share their perspectives. These firsthand accounts can offer valuable insights and counter the influence of biased narratives."

Suza advised that the government actively disseminate accurate information to television and media outlets, engage with international media and reputable outlets, continue efforts to share factual information with these platforms and communicate directly with Meta and urge them to conduct a fact-finding mission. 

In fact, Miranda Sissons, Meta's director for human rights policy, met Chief Adviser Yunus on Sunday when the latter asked Meta to address the disinformation campaign against Bangladesh.

Professor Farhana Sultana of Syracuse University has been fact-checking the disinformation spread by Indian accounts on social media. 

"The relentless falsified, misattributed, and AI-generated material has been spread globally to poison the impression of post-revolution Bangladesh," she said. 

"Bangladesh is countering this massive orchestrated disinformation warfare by debunking it and filing complaints. This is necessary, but I believe Bangladesh also needs a more coordinated aggressive media presence to tell our story, to present facts, and share information," Professor Sultana said. 

However, she admitted that few countries can match the massive IT troll farms in India and its "state-sponsored disinformation warfare", but Sultana also highlighted that the Bangladesh government can coordinate support from governmental, non-governmental and citizen groups to create a stronger presence of Bangladesh in international media and social media. 

"We have positive messages to share, of our unity, growth, rebuilding of democracy and more. No one should fall for the propaganda against Bangladesh without fact-checking. Ask us, we exist. And we are no one's colony," she added. 

Journalist Faisal Mahmud, who has been recently posted as Press Minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, said the disinformation campaign being deliberately propagated by Indian media about Bangladesh is so blatantly false and absurd that it has almost turned into a spectacle. 

"However, the real concern is that a significant portion of the Indian population believes this narrative, and Bangladesh doesn't want to foster hostility among the general Indian public. A sustained, well-crafted, and fact-based counter-narrative must be developed to counter the disinformation spread by these Indian media outlets. This effort should span across all platforms — both audiovisual and written," Mahmud said. 

"For instance, social media influencers like Rafsan the Chotobhai and Nadir on the Go, who are proficient in English and have large social media following across the subcontinent, could be enlisted to deliver these counter-narratives to the Indian audience," he added.