Press wing debunks The Hindu report on targeting journalists by govt

Chief Adviser's Press Wing today (6 May) binned a recent report of Indian newspaper The Hindu claiming the Prof Yunus-led Bangladesh government has targeted 640 journalists in eight months.

A recent report of Indian newspaper The Hindu published on the World Press Freedom Day claiming the Prof Yunus-led Bangladesh government has targeted 640 journalists in eight months is fake, it said in a Facebook post on its verified account - CA Press Wing Facts.

"Allegations by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) published in The Hindu, that Bangladesh's Interim Government has targeted 640 journalists, are a wildly misleading piece of disinformation," it said.

Since the Bangladeshis overthrew the brutal and corrupt regime of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, many journalists perceived to have been linked to the regime have come under pressure from various quarters.

Many have faced legal charges made possible by the flaws in the justice system deliberately created by the Awami League and now being corrected under the interim government, according to the statement.

"It is entirely untrue that the interim government itself has targeted journalists. On the contrary, the chief adviser, a Nobel Peace Laureate, and his press secretary, formerly an AFP bureau chief in Dhaka, among many others in the interim government, have been recognised for decades as champions of press freedom," it said.

The press wing claimed that the RRAG, led by Suhas Chakma, on the contrary, is known to support the Awami League and has frequently spread disinformation about Bangladesh since Hasina's overthrow by the people of Bangladesh on 5 August last.

RRAG played a central role in spreading inflated claims about the September 2024 violence in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts.

While credible Bangladeshi media confirmed four deaths in three incidents across Khagrachari and Rangamati, RRAG claimed nine indigenous people were killed - a figure unsupported by independent investigations.

"Suhas Chakma reiterated this claim in a News9 interview and pushed for diplomatic action, stating that Indian Chakma leaders urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reassess ties with Bangladesh," the statement noted.

The Human Rights Congress for Bangladeshi Minorities (HRCBM) later amplified the number of people killed to 67, based on RRAG's assertions-claims debunked by DismisLab's investigative report "From Four to a Hundred". Pro-Awami League journalist Tasmiah Ahmed cited them in her Deutsche Welle article criticising human rights under Professor Muhammad Yunus, just months after labelling student protestors as "terrorists".

In March 2025, RRAG appealed to the UN, accusing Prof Yunus of downplaying religiously motivated violence. Simultaneously, the group launched attacks on fact-checkers, undermining those who challenged its narratives.

"The interim government deplores persecution of members of any group and is working, along with countless Bangladeshi citizens, to undo the legacy of the Awami League and to make Bangladesh a country in which all citizens can live and work in conditions of security and dignity," the statement read.