Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, accused the defeated Awami League and sections of the Indian media of spreading false information to discredit Prof Muhammad Yunus.

Speaking at an event in Dhaka on Saturday, Shafiqul claimed that "crores of money" were being spent to brand Yunus as a militant leader, with the Awami League and Indian media allegedly working together in this effort.

Shafiqul criticized ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for promoting this narrative, saying that Hasina’s supporters were behind a campaign aimed at portraying the events in Bangladesh not as a mass uprising but as part of a conspiracy. 

He further noted that the history of Bangladesh had been tampered with, with no books published on the 1974 famine during the past 15 years under the Awami League’s rule.

Shafiqul also referenced the death of prominent photojournalist Aftab Ahmed, who captured an iconic image of the famine's impact, and lamented that his mysterious death had never been properly investigated. 

He concluded by highlighting the role of the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini in the deaths of around 30,000 people in 1972 and accused the Awami League of erasing critical history from Bangladesh’s past.

BDST: 1831 HRS, FEB 08, 2025
MN/SMS