Staff Correspondent

The Indian Express has published false reports as part of a well-organised propaganda campaign against Bangladesh and its interim government, Chief Adviser's Press Wing said.

"As part of a well-organised propaganda campaign, The Indian Express newspaper on Friday ran several stories based on the accounts of fugitive Bangladesh Awami League leaders who are all crime suspects and are accused of murders and massacres," it said.

The CA press wing said this in a statement posted on its verified Facebook page - CA Press Wing Facts - yesterday.

One such report is titled, "In hiding, Bangla Awami top brass connect with Hasina, wait for 'rule of law' to return" as it was full of false and misleading information without following the basic norms of journalism, the press wing claimed.

Quoting former Awami League MP Nahim Razzaq, The Indian Express reported that AL people are deprived of judicial rights and not getting bail.

Courts in Bangladesh are now functioning independently, which was evidenced by the fact that some of the former ministers of the Awami League regime, such as Saber Hossain Chowdhury and MA Mannan, were freed from jail as they were granted bail, the statement read.

The report quoted former AL MP and its Joint Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim as saying that they would be back home if the rule of law is re-established.

The interim government noted with regret that the rule of law was completely missing in Bangladesh during the rule of the Awami League between 2009 and mid-2024, which resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings, at least 3,000 cases of enforced disappearances, unabated corruption, and plunder of tens of billions of public money.

A white paper prepared by an independent group of experts documented this mind-boggling corruption.

"The misrule of the Awami League government culminated in the killings of over a thousand peaceful young protesters during the student-led July uprising, which forced the dictator, Sheikh Hasina, and her cronies, including the former MP quoted in the report, to flee the country," according to the statement.

The interim government of Bangladesh re-established the rule of law to ensure justice for every citizen of the country, including the victims of Awami League's misrule.

Quoting former Hasina's former minister AKM Mozammel Haque, The Indian Express reported that no attempt has been made to recover the thousands of small arms that were looted from the police stations in August, 2024.

The police headquarters has reported that of the 5,750 arms looted from police stations on August 5 and the next two days, when there was no government in the country, at least 4,358 arms were recovered, and efforts are underway to recover the rest.

The Indian Express did not seek the comment of any authorities from Bangladesh, which signaled its intent to carry out a propaganda campaign against the interim government of Bangladesh and the people of the country, the statement read.