Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam today (December 7) said the minority issue in Bangladesh was unfairly portrayed in international media and influential nations' top parliamentary hearings, urging secular newspapers and international rights groups to open probes into the alleged religious violence cases.
 
"When the Netra News debunked the Bangladesh Hindu Buddha Christian Unity Council's report on the attacks on the Hindu community in the post-revolution days, I expected the group to make a statement," he said in a statement posted on his verified Facebook account. 
 
"After all, they were challenged by a top investigative website, which built its reputation by covering some of the biggest corruption and human rights violation stories in Bangladesh," he added.
 
The press secretary said the Netra News report showed almost all nine Hindu deaths, who the minority council claimed to have been killed in communal hatred-related violence, were connected to other reasons such as political, personal and other causes. 
 
"Our expectations were that the unity council would respond to the Netra News report, for it raises serious questions about the way the council collects and files reports on violence against minorities in Bangladesh," he said.
 
He also said the unity council also made a similar controversial report on the attacks of minorities in Bangladesh in July this year. 
 
"It said in the 2023-24 financial year, beginning on July 1, 2023, at least 45 people of minority faiths - mostly Hindus - were killed in the country. Again, Bangladeshi newspapers carried the story in their front and back pages. And not a single media outlet challenged the report despite there being serious questions about the veracity of Unity's claims," Alam said.
 
BDST: 1647 HRS, DEC 06, 2024
MN/SMS