Dhaka, Feb 3 The Bangladesh government has rejected the desperate "smear campaign" instigated by extremists and their allies working from London and elsewhere, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ministry also said that the government regrets that the Al Jazeera media house has allowed itself to become an instrument for their malicious political designs aimed at destabilising the secular democratic government of Bangladesh with a proven track record of extraordinary socio-economic development and progress.
The statement added that the fact that the report's historical account fails to even mention the horrific genocide of 1971 in which Jamaat perpetrators killed millions of Bengali civil and raped more than 2 lakh women, is a reflection of the political bias in Al Jazeera's coverage and that of its principal commentator, David Bergman, convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) for challenging the official death toll of 1971 Liberation War.
The ministry in its statement said that the Bangladesh government has learnt of a false and defamatory report titled "All the Prime Minister's Men" by Al Jazeera news channel of Qatar.
"The report is nothing more than a misleading series of innuendos and insinuations in what is apparently a politically motivated 'smear campaign' by notorious individuals associated with the Jamaat-i-Islami extremist group, which has been opposing the progressive and secular principles of the People's Republic of Bangladesh since its very birth as an independent nation in 1971.
"It is noted that the main 'source' of Al Jazeera's allegations is an alleged international criminal claimed to be a 'psychopath' by Al-Jazeera itself," the statement said.
It further said that there is no evidence linking the Prime Minister and other state institutions of Bangladesh to this particular individual, and it is highly irresponsible for an international news channel to draw conclusions on the basis of the words of a mentally unstable person.
"It is also not surprising that the report aligns with the string of anti-Bangladesh propaganda habitually orchestrated by a few convicted absconding criminals and discredited individuals patronised by Jamaat-i-Islami Bangladesh, which on certain occasions have conspired with international extremist groups and news media specially the Al Jazeera," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh army headquarters in a statement on Tuesday strongly denounced the Al Jazeera report, saying it is part of a move to break the harmony among different government organs.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Bangladesh said, "Bangladesh army headquarters condemn in the strongest possible words the concocted and ill-intended report by a vested group in the news channel Al Jazeera titled 'All the Prime Minister's Men' aired on February 2, 2021."
The statement also mentioned that Bangladesh army is the most disciplined under the present chain of command and loyal to the constitution and the government.
It said the army will always remain respectful to the government of Bangladesh and contribute to the nation-building efforts.
( With inputs from IANS )
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