Staff Correspondent: The Bangladesh government has rejected a report of Qatar-based television network Al Jazeera titled "All the Prime Minister's Men" as fabricated, motivated and politically motivated smear campaign.
The country's foreign ministry said in a statement. Earlier on Monday (February 1), Al Jazeera published the report.
The statement, posted on the Foreign Ministry's verified Facebook page on Tuesday (February 2nd) morning, said the Bangladeshi government had learned of a false and defamatory report on Al Jazeera's "All the Prime Minister's Men". This is a fabricated and purposeful misleading series, which is clearly politically backed propaganda in collusion of notorious individuals with the extremist organization Jamaat-e-Islami. The organization has been opposing the progressive and secular policy of the People's Republic of Bangladesh since its establishment as an independent state in 1971.
The report did not mention Jamaat's role in the killing of millions of Bengalis and the rape of 200,000 women in the 1971 war of liberation. Its chief commentator, David Bergman, was convicted by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal of challenging the official death toll in the war of liberation.
It is noteworthy that the main 'source' of Al Jazeera's allegations is an alleged international criminal, whom Al Jazeera itself claims to be a 'psychopath'. There is not even a shred of evidence of collusion between the Prime Minister and other government agencies in Bangladesh. It is very irresponsible for an international news channel to draw a conclusion based on the words of a mentally unstable person.
"It is not surprising that the report coincides with anti-Bangladesh propaganda through a number of convicted fugitives and condemned individuals under the auspices of Jamaat-e-Islami," the foreign ministry statement read. The group has repeatedly conspired with international extremist groups and the media, particularly with Al Jazeera.
'The Bangladesh government is rejecting this desperate propaganda instigated by extremists and their allies in London and elsewhere. It is unfortunate that Al Jazeera has turned itself into an instrument of malicious political design by the propagandists aimed at destabilizing the secular democratic government of Bangladesh,” the statement said.
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