India Disinformation Aims to Sow Division in Bangladesh Following Ousting of Prime Minister

On August 5, the student-led protests in Bangladesh that first began in response to a preferential government job quota system and then evolved into a representation of anger toward the increasingly authoritarian government culminated in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country on a helicopter. In the days after Hasina’s ousting, India disinformation narratives misrepresenting or exaggerating widespread persecution of Hindus and other religious minorities skyrocketed. 

This type of India disinformation is not new to the South Asian region. A 15-year disinformation campaign referred to as the “Indian Chronicles” aimed to serve India interests by destabilizing Pakistan and amplifying pro-India interests, influencing international organizations through at least 750 fake news outlets across 119 countries. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report, India ranks highest for the risk of misinformation and disinformation due to the virality of online dangerous rhetoric and propaganda driven by high levels of polarization and media distrust. 

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In Bangladesh, with Hasina out of the country and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus sworn in as the interim government’s leader, pro-India accounts and media organizations seized the opportunity to create chaos in an apparent attempt to destabilize the transitional government by fueling a divide along religious lines.

Blackbird.AI’s Constellation Narrative Intelligence Platform analyzed thousands of social media posts after Hasina fled the country and an interim government was sworn in. Blackbird.AI analysts uncovered several disinformation narratives stemming from India State Supporters, leveraging misleading photos and videos and spreading content with hashtags to reach a broader audience and remain in circulation.

Pro-India Networks Propagate Disinformation Narratives

Blackbird.AI’s analysis found that disinformation narratives around exaggerated Hindu persecution in Bangladesh originated from India State Supporters on social media. These accounts are affiliated with India’s ruling party, the BJP, or are otherwise marked as supporters of pro-India nationalistic ideology. 

Since India Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014, the rise of Hindu nationalism in the country has contributed to a more polarizing media environment, marked by a crackdown on investigative reporting and harassment of journalists critical of Modi and the ruling party. The scale of violence reported by India news outlets that are considered to be mouthpieces for Modi is exaggerated and often misleading, driven by political agendas and historical biases rather than real reporting. Influenced by India’s current Hindu nationalist government, the media may have a bias toward exaggerating or perpetuating misleading claims of anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh.  

While there have been attacks on Hindu households, these attacks are directed at people affiliated with the former ruling Awami League party in Bangladesh rather than toward Hindus in general. For instance, one disinformation narrative claims that an elderly Hindu man was killed and hung, leveraging a video that depicts the body of a Muslim Awami League leader.

India’s BJP has strong official ties to Hasina’s ousted Awami League party, and one of the more prominent voices generating these disinformation narratives is Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, who grew up in India and completed his schooling there. Wazed has been spreading disinformation, such as suggesting Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) involvement in the uprising, asserting that protesters attacked police with guns that terror outfits and foreign powers must have provided, and alleging that India must act before anti-India forces gain more ground in Bangladesh now that the Awami League is not in power.

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Misleading Photos and Videos Amplify Disinformation Narratives

India disinformation narratives received additional amplification by leveraging graphic and inflammatory photos and videos and falsely claiming what they are depicting. Many of the images have been misrepresented, digitally manipulated, or taken out of context. Multiple viral photos and videos were shared on social media with misrepresented captions, intending to incite religious tensions with false claims. Below are some examples of pictures and videos that have been misrepresented or manipulated to further disinformation narratives, accompanied by links to Compass by Blackbird.AI context-checks:

False Narrative 1: Claimed an image showed a fire set at Hindu Bangladeshi cricketer Liton Das’s home 

Misrepresented Media: Image shows a fire at former Bangladeshi cricket captain and politician Mashrafe Mortaza’s house

False Narrative 2: Claimed a video showed arson of a Hindu temple. 

Misrepresented Media: Video shows a fire at Raj Prasad Restaurant and Resort in Satkhira, Bangladesh

False Narrative 3: Claimed visuals showed Hindu Bangladeshis attempting to flee to India

Misrepresented Media: Visuals are depicting reunions of separated relatives at the India-Bangladesh border in 2018

False Narrative 4: Claimed a video showed that Hindu women are being held captive

Misrepresented Media: Video shows students protesting against the ruling party’s student wing on July 17 at a university in Dhaka, Bangladesh 

False Narrative 5: Claimed a shop owned by a Hindu man was set on fire as part of targeted attacks against Hindus

Misrepresented Media: Video shows multiple shops affected by a July 11 fire reportedly caused by an electrical issue

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Hashtags and Repeated Phrases Perpetuate Disinformation Narratives

Pro-India accounts also used hashtags to perpetuate these disinformation narratives across social media easily. Popular hashtags included #SaveBangladeshiHindus, #HindusAreNotSafeInBangladesh, #AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus, #HindusUnderAttack, and #HinduGenocideInBangladesh. Specific inflammatory phrases were also employed as a tactic to boost these disinformation narratives, including referring to Muslim Bangladeshis as “terrorists” and “extremists” and asserting that “barbaric Islamic mobs” and “radical Islam” are inciting violence against Hindus. Some of these phrases are also being used by pro-India media outlets to propel disinformation narratives.

Blackbird.AI’s Constellation Narrative Intelligence Platform detected significant anomalous activity, referring to atypical patterns of content propagation, suggesting a coordinated effort by India State Supporters to amplify disinformation narratives around the anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh.

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The Way Forward

In the hours after Hasina’s ouster, Bangladeshi news sources reported violence against Hindus in at least 27 districts across the country and confirmed reports of looting and vandalism. Some Bangladeshi students and residents responded by making efforts to protect Hindu homes and temples. However, many assertions of anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh that were disseminated by pro-India accounts and media and perpetuated by misrepresented images and hashtag campaigns sparked disinformation narratives that were found to have been exaggerated or entirely fabricated. 

Though Hindus have faced persecution in Bangladesh over the years, especially in 1971 during the war of independence from Pakistan, it is crucial to evaluate the context in which these current claims stemming from pro-India actors are being made. Navigating these false claims can be challenging, but tools like Blackbird.AI’s Constellation Narrative Intelligence Platform and Compass by Blackbird.AI are here to help.

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