Since Sheikh Hasina’s departure from Bangladesh in August 2024, the propaganda news portal The Wire has consistently minimized the issue of violence against Hindus in the neighboring country. Through a series of reports, op-eds, and interviews, The Wire has downplayed the severity of targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities, framing them as politically motivated rather than driven by religious tensions. While acknowledging the attacks, the publication often redirected the focus to alleged misinformation by Indian right-wing groups and broader political narratives. This analysis examines 10 reports, interviews, and op-eds published by The Wire since August 2024, highlighting its efforts to downplay the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
Hindus protest in Bangladesh for their security, image via AFP
On 21st December, The Wire published a report quoting the Bangladeshi government’s official response to the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) statement in the Lok Sabha. The MEA had reported 2,200 incidents of violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh in 2024. In contrast, the Bangladeshi press wing, as quoted by The Wire, claimed there were only 138 incidents of violence between January and November 2024, citing figures from Ain O Salish Kendra, a Bangladeshi human rights organization.
The report further noted that the figures presented by the MEA closely aligned with those from the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad, which had recorded 2,010 incidents of violence in just 16 days between 4th August and 20th August. In downplaying the attacks, the report quoted the press wing as stating that between 5th and 8th August, there was no government in Bangladesh, indirectly attempting to avoid responsibility—a stance that The Wire echoed. It remains unclear on what grounds the Bangladeshi government and The Wire dismissed the statistics provided by the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad.
In an op-ed published on 12th December, Partha S. Ghosh, writing for The Wire, notably downplayed the attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. He dismissed concerns about the deteriorating communal situation, framing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s accusations of genocide against Hindus as “politically motivated” and “exaggerated” to align with her Indian hosts.
Ghosh acknowledged the influence of pro-Islamic forces in Bangladeshi politics but minimized the gravity of the violence. He questioned the authenticity of reports on the attacks, attributing them to “fake news” or “Hindutva propaganda.” Furthermore, he likened the communal situation in Bangladesh to that in India, shifting the focus from the violence against minorities in Bangladesh to criticizing the BJP-led Indian government. He wrote, “When the BJP, which has been ruling India for ten long years with its avowedly anti-Muslim politics, tends to shed tears for the minorities in a neighbouring country it sounds rather ironical.” In doing so, he deflected attention from the core issue and downplayed the suffering of the victims.
Even in routine reports, The Wire downplayed the situation in Bangladesh, portraying daily life as “normal” while accusing the BJP of circulating videos of “violence” against minorities in India. In a report published on 10th December about declining trade between Bangladesh and India at Petrapole in West Bengal, The Wire quoted a trader from Bongaon, Tapan Saha, who claimed that “everyday life in Dhaka seemed normal” to him, expressing confusion over the videos of unrest shared by the BJP on social media that were absent from Bangladeshi media.
In a report published on December 5, The Wire appeared to downplay violence against Hindus in Bangladesh by amplifying the narrative of interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus and other Bangladeshi officials. The report emphasized Yunus’s allegations that claims of attacks on minorities were “exaggerated” and part of a “fabricated narrative” propagated by India and other global powers.
It also highlighted Yunus’s assertion that Durga Puja was celebrated “peacefully” despite anticipated tensions, dismissing Indian concerns as baseless. The Wire subtly shifted focus from the hardships faced by minorities to Bangladesh’s grievances over incidents like the Agartala protest. Notably, the Indian government had already condemned both the protest and the alleged attack on the Bangladeshi consulate in Agartala.
On December 3rd, The Wire released a report referencing Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who alleged that "anti-Bangladesh sentiment" has been stirred in India. The report, citing Rahman's post on X, quoted him saying, “Since the fall of autocrat Sheikh Hasina, there is an increase of inflammatory media commentary and political rhetoric against Bangladesh coming from certain Indian quarters. There is now an echo chamber filled with misinformation, fuelling persistent anti-Bangladesh sentiment.”
Rahman, who currently resides in the United Kingdom in forced exile, is the principal perpetrator and mastermind behind the terrorist grenade attack on the Awami League’s political rally on 21st August 2004. After fleeing to London in 2008, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the attack in 2018. However, on 1st December, the Bangladesh Supreme Court overturned the lower courts' rulings regarding the 2004 attack.
Ironically, despite Rahman accusing India of harboring anti-Bangladesh sentiments, he called for a boycott of Indian products. In early 2024, he led a campaign against India, primarily through social media platforms, using the hashtag #IndiaOut.
On 29th November, during an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Zafar Sobhan, editor of the Dhaka Tribune, downplayed the severity of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, asserting that the situation had "far improved" compared to previous months.
When discussing the arrest of ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, Sobhan criticized the sedition charges as “out of line, unwarranted, and unwise,” yet shifted focus to blaming Indian politicians and media for allegedly exaggerating the treatment of Hindus in Bangladesh. He referenced Bangladesh’s transition following the removal of Sheikh Hasina and echoed interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus’s dismissal of reports on Hindu persecution as "propaganda," subtly minimizing the targeted violence against minorities. The Wire's report on the interview noted Sobhan’s statement, "Our neighbour, our friend, our ally needs to understand that Bangladesh is a country in transition, and after the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina ‘autocracy,’ there will be a period of uncertainty and instability, but importantly, it’s being brought under control."
In an alleged fact-checking report published by Prothom Alo and featured on The Wire on 19th August, the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh were downplayed, citing a study from Rumor Scanner. The report accused Indian media outlets and individuals of spreading communal misinformation. It scrutinized social media posts that allegedly misrepresented incidents in Bangladesh as attacks on Hindus, yet failed to sufficiently address multiple incidents of violence or the suffering of the Hindu victims.
By focusing predominantly on debunking misinformation from Indian sources, the report diverted attention from the real concerns about the targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. The report even accused OpIndia of spreading misinformation, while minimizing the extensive reporting done by the portal on the attacks on Hindus following Sheikh Hasina’s departure.
In a report published by The Wire on 18th August, which mentioned Bangladesh’s claims that reports of attacks on its Hindu minorities were "exaggerated," the historical data tells a different story. While The Wire referenced a so-called fact-checker to challenge Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments about the declining Hindu population in Bangladesh, official Bangladeshi data reveals a significant decline in the minority population.
The "Percentage Distribution of Population by Religious Communities" data shows a drop from 33% in 1901 to 10.5% in 1991, with the 2022 census confirming a further decrease to just 7.95%. During the distribution of citizenship certificates to Hindu refugees in Gujarat under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), HM Shah highlighted the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, attributing the population decline to forced conversions and systemic discrimination.
In an op-ed by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee published in The Wire on 17th August, the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are downplayed by framing the violence as political rather than religious. Bhattacharjee echoes interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus’s rhetoric, suggesting that Hindus calling for special safeguards were "compartmentalising their demands" and detracting from a nationalistic "humanist aspiration."
The op-ed acknowledges the violence but mischaracterizes it as a form of political retribution associated with the Awami League, rather than as targeted religious persecution. It further claims that Indian right-wing groups are trivializing the suffering of Bangladeshi Hindus by allegedly inflating their distress to incite hostility towards Indian Muslims. The author also draws a comparison between the banned Islamist organization, Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, and the RSS in India. He wrote, “Just as the RSS says there are no minorities in India, the Jamaat’s ‘emir’ says no one is a minority in Bangladesh as everyone is equal before the law.” The op-ed, by focusing on critiques of Indian narratives and promoting a universalist framework, significantly downplayed the severity of the attacks and the unique vulnerabilities faced by Hindus in Bangladesh.
In an op-ed published in The Wire on August 15th, Ram Puniyani minimized the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, framing them as politically motivated rather than religiously targeted. While acknowledging that Hindus were indeed attacked, he emphasized narratives of pluralism and democratic progress in Bangladesh.
Puniyani suggested that figures like Yunus and student groups were "protecting" Hindu temples, while simultaneously criticizing the Indian response. He accused right-wing groups and media of spreading misinformation, fueling Islamophobia in India, and perpetuating divisive rhetoric.
His focus on "Indian propaganda" and linking the violence to broader political unrest served to downplay the gravity of the targeted attacks on Hindus. Instead of addressing the root causes of minority persecution in Bangladesh, he shifted the narrative towards communal tensions in India.
The Wire continued to highlight claims of exaggerated reports and Indian propaganda, steering attention away from the growing persecution of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. Despite the historical decline in the Hindu population in Bangladesh, The Wire relied on a report from another biased outlet rather than verifying the statistics independently. Throughout its coverage, the publication seemed more focused on criticizing India's response than holding Bangladesh’s interim government accountable.
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