Inimical Forces Launch Anti-India Campaign Amid Bangladesh Turmoil 

Amid the recent turmoil in Bangladesh, there have been reports of false information being circulated in social media to incite anti-India sentiments among the people.

Hundreds of anti-India accounts have been found spreading false information about India in Bangladesh to incite Bangladeshis against Indians

Fake news on temple vandalism and killings

Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure from the country, different stakeholders working to bring back stability to turbulence- hit Bangladesh. Amid the violent protests erupted in the country, anti-India fake information and narratives are widely circulated to instigate hate on Indians. The posts alleged India’s hand on temple vandalism and killings.

According to India Today’s open source intelligence team found thousands of posts on X ( Formerly Twitter), falsely accusing the Indian Intelligence agency research and Analysis wing of committing violence in Bangladesh. 

Many accounts participated in the campaign on social media calling for #BoycottIndia. Some of the accounts were found to be handled by Pakistanis.

Orchestrated Campaign 

According to a NDTV report, Suvrokamal Dutta, an International Conservative Political Expert based in India, described this as malicious propaganda orchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI), supported by armed force and media, to fuel anti-India scorn in Bangladesh and turn the nation into another Pakistan.

As per the D-Intent Data, a fact-checking group, also denounced the fake narratives and posted on X, “FACT: a video of an airport where uniformed men can be seen is being shared with a misleading claim that those are the Indian army at the Bangladesh airport. The fact is that they are Bangladesh’s Airport Armed Police Battalion.”

It said that the protagonists intend to spread fake news targeting the Indian Army to set a narrative about the ongoing violence in Bangladesh.

Coordinated Online Campaign 

According to India Today’s analysis ,1600 users published more than 22000 posts carrying the keyword “Indian RAW” within a period of 24 hours. Over 10,500 posts were sent out between 1 am to 3 am on Tuesday, August 6. 

Operators propelled the hashtag #Indian_Raw_attack_Dhaka and pushed around 11,000 X posts in a fair one hour finishing at 4 pm.

In the past, members of this online campaign have promoted radical Islamic values, derided Indians with disdainful names and references, and campaigned for Palestinians’ rights.

Situation in Bangladesh So Far

The protest started in June as an anti-quota movement have been continuing for two months.  On 5th August things took a significant turn Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. The army is now in charge of the neighbouring country and has formed an “ interim government” announced by Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman.