Bangladesh accuses India of 'double standards' on protection of minorities

PTI Dhaka: Bangladesh on Friday claimed India followed "double standards" on protection of minority communities and accused the neighbouring country's media of conducting an "industrial scale misinformation campaign" against Dhaka. Amid a row over the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges, Bangladesh interim government's Law Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul in a Facebook post said India's unwarranted concern for Bangladesh continues. “In India, numerous incidents of brutality on minority Muslim community is going on. But they don't have any remorse or embarrassment (over those incidents).

This double standard of India is condemnable and objectionable,” Nazrul wrote. Citing a survey by Voice of America Bangla, Nazrul wrote: "The majority of Bangladeshis (64.1%) believe that the interim government has been able to provide better security to the country's minority communities compared to the previous Awami League government." Meanwhile, Bangladesh interim government of Muhammad Yunus urged the country's journalists to counter “misinformation” in Indian media with “truth”. Chief Adviser Yunus's Press Se c r e t a ry S h a f i q u l Alam said, “We must tell our stories our way else they (Indian media) will set our narrative according to their liking.” Alam, a former journalist, said in a Facebook post that several Bangladeshi journalists now realised it was time to confront an "industrial scale misinformation campaign" coming from some Indian media outlets and their social media platforms.

He said Indians should know that smart people also live on its eastern border and a few months back these people ousted a "brutal dictatorship" in one of the “finest revolutions” in human history. Alam said some may think Indians are smarter people. "But believe me if you are empowered by truth, no misinformation campaign can stop you". His comments came as a group of students staged a demonstration at the Dhaka University campus.