Islamophobic and Alarmist: Analyzing the Coverage of the Bangladesh Crisis by Indian Media Outlets

 Indian Media Links Chinese and Pakistani Intelligence to Bangladesh Protests, Exaggerates Scale of Attacks on Hindus

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Shortly after Sheikh Hasina's ousting following a student-led uprising, certain Indian media outlets began reporting that Hindu minorities in Bangladesh were being targeted by "Islamist forces." Misleading articles and videos quickly spread across Indian media and social media platforms.

A video on The Times Group-owned Mirror Now’s YouTube channel, titled "Attack on Hindus in Bangladesh? Mass Murders, Killings by Mob," features footage of violence and arson targeting four houses, two of which are identified as belonging to Muslims. The video’s title is misleading, as no mass murders were reported in the incident. Local reports indicate that one of the damaged houses belonged to Bangladesh's freedom icon, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The video also makes unsubstantiated claims, like “24 burnt alive by mob” and “Minorities at the centre of attacks”.

Al Jazeera has independently verified that only two Hindus have been killed since Hasina’s ouster on Monday – one police officer and one activist with Hasina’s Awami League party.

Al Jazeera has independently confirmed that since Sheikh Hasina’s removal on Monday, only two individuals have been killed: a police officer and an activist from Hasina’s Awami League party. Hindus, who make up about 8 percent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people, have historically been strong supporters of the Awami League, which is generally seen as secular, in contrast to the opposition coalition that includes an Islamist party.

Many news reports on attacks against Hindus include exaggerated claims, such as the assertion in a Times of India article that "more than one crore [10 million] refugees are likely to enter West Bengal soon." This claim was attributed to Suvendu Adhikari, a senior leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The ANI news agency, which is often associated with Modi’s government, quoted an Indian student leader who claimed that the mass uprising in Bangladesh was "orchestrated by the enemies of Bangladesh."

An even more bizarre article from the Times of India claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, was responsible for "bringing down Sheikh Hasina's government in Bangladesh."

Political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman stated that Indian media have covered the situation with an “Islamophobic” perspective.

"The student movement that sparked the mass uprising, involving people from all walks of life, is widely recognized as a popular movement here in Bangladesh. However, Indian media have been interpreting the entire situation through an Islamophobic lens," he told Al Jazeera.

ISI and Religious Claims

As Sheikh Hasina fled the country on Monday, Indian media reports alleged that the protests in Bangladesh were being manipulated by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a Pakistani spy agency. These reports claimed the ISI aimed to transform Bangladesh into an Islamic state with support from political parties such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.

Certain media outlets went further, urging the Indian government to brace for a possible refugee crisis, speculating that Hindus might be forced to leave Bangladesh.

Speculation linking the popular movement in Bangladesh to the ISI and Chinese interests was a recurring theme in social media posts by certain commentators and media outlets.

Dipanjan R. Chaudhury, the diplomatic affairs editor of The Economic Times, posted on X: “Jamaat-e-Islami's role in Bangladeshi politics is concerning for both Bangladesh and India. Jamaat’s history of supporting cross-border terrorism... is well-documented.”

The television channel TV9 Gujarati, which has one million followers on X, described the uprising as a “coup” and questioned on the platform: “Is the ISI behind the coup in Bangladesh? Is Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the violent attacks?”