Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata has condemned Indian journalist Subir Bhaumik’s disinformation campaign targeting Bangladesh and urged everyone concerned to ignore false information peddled by web portals run by or associated with him.
In a press release issued on Friday, the deputy high commission, without calling Bhaumik by name, said, “…these web portals, namely theeasternlink.com. nenow.in and lookeast.in, are operated by or under the auspices of a discredited Indian journalist.”
Subir Bhaumik acts as the editorial director of the Eastern Link and serves as a ‘mentor’ of the Look East portal, which is run by one of his close associates, SubhraKanti Gupta. The NE Now has published numerous articles by Bhaumik.
Recently, some of the articles—written by fake bylines—disparaging Bangladesh published by NE Now have appeared in the Eastern Link as well.
“Most notably, the said portals have run distorted and photoshopped image of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an attempt to hurt the existing friendly ties between Bangladesh and India,” reads the press release.
The Eastern Link has recently published a photoshopped image of Sheikh Hasina and Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister. The photo purportedly shows the prime minister in the office of Imran Khan, although she has never visited Pakistan since returning to power in 2009. The article accompanying the photo contained incendiary remarks about Bangladesh-India relations and suggested Hasina posed a ‘challenge’ to India.
The press release referred to Subir Bhaumik as “a discredited Indian journalist who has a prior track record of disseminating false information about Bangladesh,” and added that he published a baseless and debunked article suggesting a deadly coup and murder attempt against Sheikh Hasina.
In 2017, Subir Bhaumik wrote an article claiming a faction within Special Security Forces (SSF), tasked with VVIP security, attempted to topple the government. He even named one officer of the SSF who, he said, was killed in the deadly coup attempt. However, subsequent media inquiries found that the officer was not only alive but also active in the service. The Prime Minister’s office also released a public statement refuting the claim.
“In addition, these portals have published spurious and provocative articles about Bangladesh’s military and security forces, lacking any sense of journalistic integrity,” the release adds.
Recently, Subir Bhaumik and these portals have written about coup attempts and even possible divisions in the ranks of the military, citing anonymous sources.
