The Press Wing of Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser on Tuesday rejected a recent report by Indian newspaper The Hindu that claimed the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus has targeted 640 journalists over the past eight months.
In a post on its verified Facebook page, CA Press Wing Facts described the report — based on allegations by the Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) — as “a wildly misleading piece of disinformation.”
The Hindu report, published on World Press Freedom Day, cited RRAG to allege widespread targeting of journalists by the interim administration. The Press Wing, however, refuted the claim, stating: “It is entirely untrue that the interim government itself has targeted journalists.”
It added that many journalists facing legal challenges had previously been linked to the Awami League government, which was overthrown on August 5 last year.
Those cases, the statement said, were enabled by flaws in the justice system "deliberately created by the Awami League" and are now being addressed under the current administration.
The statement defended the interim leadership, noting that both Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and his Press Secretary, a former AFP bureau chief in Dhaka, have long been regarded as champions of press freedom.
It also accused RRAG, led by Suhas Chakma, of supporting the Awami League and of spreading disinformation, including inflated claims about communal violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in September 2024.
While Bangladeshi media reported four deaths across three incidents in Khagrachari and Rangamati, RRAG alleged nine fatalities, a figure later repeated by Chakma in an interview with News9.
The Human Rights Congress for Bangladeshi Minorities (HRCBM) later amplified that number to 67, based on RRAG’s assertions — claims the Press Wing said were debunked by DismisLab’s investigative report “From Four to a Hundred.”
The statement also criticised journalist Tasmiah Ahmed for citing RRAG’s figures in a Deutsche Welle article and accused her of previously branding student protestors as “terrorists.”
In March 2025, RRAG lodged an appeal with the United Nations, accusing the interim government of downplaying religiously motivated violence, while simultaneously targeting fact-checkers who challenged its claims.
“The interim government deplores the persecution of any group and is working, along with countless Bangladeshi citizens, to undo the legacy of the Awami League and to make Bangladesh a country in which all citizens can live and work in conditions of security and dignity,” the statement concluded.
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