Setting the Record Straight: Propaganda and Reality in Post-Uprising Bangladesh

Special Report :

In recent weeks, Indian media have portrayed the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh as an attack on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the Hindu community.

However, this narrative is misleading and needs to be addressed at the outset. Chinmoy Das is no longer associated with ISKCON.

According to Hrishikesh Gauranga Das, a senior ISKCON official in Dhaka, Chinmoy Das was expelled from the organization earlier this year on disciplinary grounds.

Despite this clarification, Indian media continue to falsely associate his arrest with an alleged assault on ISKCON and the broader Hindu minority in Bangladesh.

“With utter dismay, we note that the arrest of Chinmoy Das has been misconstrued by some speakers, although he was actually arrested on specific charges.

The matter is being dealt with by our court of law,” stated Tareq Md Ariful Islam, Bangladesh’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Offices in Geneva, during the 17th session of the Forum on Minorities Issues on November 28-29.

His statement highlights the importance of addressing such issues through legal processes and factual discourse.

Indian media have reported alarming claims of widespread persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, including temple burnings, killings, and a mass exodus to India. These stories suggest a deteriorating situation for minorities since the August 5, 2024, student-led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina. However, such claims are inconsistent with ground realities and official records.

One glaring contradiction is the complete absence of live coverage of the alleged violence. Despite Indian media’s claims of ongoing attacks, no credible or real-time footage has emerged to substantiate these reports.

Instead, social media platforms like YouTube and other outlets feature outdated, repurposed, or completely out-of-context videos, being presented as evidence to support the fabricated narrative. This lack of verifiable content raises serious questions about the authenticity of the alleged incidents.

Adding to this, Indian media has recently made a sensationalized issue of Pakistani cargo ships arriving in Bangladesh, despite this being a decades-old and routine occurrence.

The attempt to stir controversy over trade relations with Pakistan ignores historical context and international norms. The world does not punish Germans today for the atrocities committed during World War II under Adolf Hitler. Similarly, Bangladesh’s contemporary relationship with Pakistan cannot be dictated by the actions of an unelected Pakistani regime in 1971.

Through its aggressive portrayal of Bangladesh as an anti-Hindu state, Indian media and the BJP fail to address the worsening persecution of Muslims within India itself. Attempts to keep the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent divided by inflaming anti-Bangladesh rhetoric cannot obscure the larger reality: even after accounting for all Muslims in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, Muslims remain a minority in the Indian subcontinent. The BJP’s divisive narrative cannot perpetuate this persecution indefinitely.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, formerly affiliated with ISKCON and a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested on November 25, 2024, at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while en route to Chattogram for a rally. Following his arrest, Das was denied bail and sent to jail, sparking protests from his supporters. Demonstrations in Chattogram turned violent, resulting in the death of Saiful Islam Alif, a 32-year-old Muslim lawyer and member of the Chattogram District Bar Association.

Indian media have seized on this arrest, framing it as a crackdown on Hindu religious leaders and ISKCON itself, despite ISKCON’s own clarification that Das is no longer associated with the organization. This deliberate misinformation serves to sensationalize the incident and perpetuate a false narrative of minority persecution.

Sheikh Hasina’s tenure as Bangladesh’s prime minister has been marked not only by allegations of corruption and human rights violations but also by accusations of serving as a strategic tool for India’s ruling BJP. Victims of Hasina’s oppressive regime and opposition politicians have branded her as the “cash cow” of the BJP, reflecting deep resentment over her perceived alignment with Indian interests.

The BJP, along with its supporting media, appears to struggle with the reality that Hasina’s return to power is virtually impossible after the student-led uprising and the killing of over 1,000 students during the crackdown on protests.

This level of state violence has made her political rehabilitation untenable in the eyes of the Bangladeshi public. The narrative of Hindu persecution being pushed by Indian media seems to be an attempt to divert attention from this political failure and Hasina’s diminishing influence.

Adding to Hasina’s declining value is the financial fallout from her regime. For over eight months, Bangladesh has failed to make payments to power plants owned by Adani and Ambani that supply electricity to its national grid. This inability to honor financial commitments to key Indian conglomerates raises significant questions about what strategic or economic value Sheikh Hasina now holds for India or any other nation.

With Bangladesh facing internal upheaval and its economy strained, Hasina’s perceived role as a reliable partner for India has greatly diminished.

Amid this propaganda-driven narrative, a recent report by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), based on an investigation led by its chair Debapriya Bhattacharya, sheds light on the stark realities of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year-long grip on power. According to the report, a staggering USD 232 billion was siphoned out of the country during her regime, a figure that underscores the systemic corruption and kleptocracy that marked her tenure.

This era was further characterized by forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and widespread violations of human rights, as documented by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and other international organizations.

Contrary to Indian media portrayals, the situation in Bangladesh remains stable. Hindu leaders and community members have repeatedly refuted claims of widespread violence or discrimination. They acknowledge isolated incidents but emphasize that these do not represent systemic issues. The focus on Chinmoy Das’s arrest, while notable, does not align with broader realities on the ground.

The absence of real-time evidence further underscores the dubious nature of the claims. Outdated and out-of-context videos do little to validate the narrative being pushed, exposing the fabrication at its core. Furthermore, major international media outlets, which typically highlight communal tensions or human rights violations, have not reported on the alleged atrocities. This silence suggests either a lack of evidence or a discrepancy between the media narrative and the actual situation in Bangladesh.

The desperate nature of the recent activities of Indian media seriously raise an important question: Are BJP and its aligned media financial beneficiaries of the recently ousted kleptocracy of Bangladesh.