Less probe, more propaganda: How Osman Hadi killing was used to stoke anti-India sentiment

New Delhi, Jan 3 The killing of anti-India student leader, Osman Hadi has turned into a spectacle with less probe and more propaganda. The agencies have found that following the murder, the game in Bangladesh was not to probe the incident, but to externalise the issue.

Immediately after the murder, the focus of Bangladesh was not on the probe. Instead, without any investigation being conducted, Dhaka issued a statement stating that the accused had fled to India.

At the time of issuing that statement, the probe had not even commenced and yet such a sweeping remark was made.

The Bangladesh foreign ministry then went on to summon the Indian High Commissioner and sought New Delhi’s cooperation to prevent the suspects from fleeing India.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the adviser at the Information Ministry said that India has assured Dhaka of extraditing Hadi’s killers, if they had crossed over to India.

The statement came at a time when the Indian authorities and the West Bengal Police were making it clear that no such individuals had been arrested and there was no proof to suggest their presence on Indian soil.

An official said that going by the sequence of events, it became clear that these reactions by Bangladesh were deliberate. They were aimed at fanning violence and launching a massive anti-India campaign. This was well-planned and had the blessings of the ISI, which is all over Bangladesh today, the official said.

Such claims that Dhaka had made immediately ignited a wave of violent protests in the country. Well-coordinated mobs were already on standby to carry out these violent acts.

In no time there were protests in Chittagong, Dhaka and Rajshahi. All the protests witnessed anti-India slogans being raised. They also demanded the extradition of Hadi’s killers. A mob also marched towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, while in Chittagong the residence of the Indian envoy was surrounded.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that this was all staged to drum up an anti-India rhetoric. During this period several deepfake videos were in circulation that further contributed to the anti-India sentiment.

During this period, the Bangladesh foreign ministry continued to summon the Indian High Commissioner and reiterate the concern that India was sheltering Hadi’s killers. This worsened the situation and the protests worsened and a huge anti-India rhetoric was drummed up.

It did not just stop at with anti-India protests. There was also sudden rise in the number of Hindus being attacked during this period. This however continues till date.

Adding fuel to the fire was a video which was promoted aggressively on X by a handle named Pakistan Defence. This video had falsely claimed that Al Jazeera had confirmed Indian involvement in the Hadi killing.

Another TikTok video also did the rounds in which two random people were shown and the claim was that they were Hadi’s killers.

It was claimed that the killers were at Garo Hills in Meghalaya. The false narrative was however busted when Faisal Karim Masud, who has been branded as the killer released a video statement. He claimed that he had run away from Bangladesh for the fear of being targeted. He clarified that he had travelled to Dubai and not Delhi.

He also said that it was the operatives of the Jamaat-Shibir who carried out the murder. He also said that the association with Hadi was purely related to business and nothing more.

Officials say that while all this took place, the investigation into the killing was never the top focus. The idea was to fan an anti-India and anti-Hindu sentiment and the ISI-backed elements successfully managed to do just that.

Another official said that this entire drama was coordinated by the ISI’s Dhaka Cell. The idea behind creating this false narrative is to ensure that every Bangladeshi turns anti-India. Further there is an attempt to create a volatile situation so that the elections are postponed. The ISI wants to make it appear that all of Bangladesh’s problems are because of India, officials say.

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