Northeast News Propaganda: Attempt to Turn DGFI Officers’ Islamabad Visit into a Conspiracy

 Northeast News Propaganda: Attempt to Turn DGFI Officers’ Islamabad Visit into a Conspiracy

Northeast News journalist Chandan Nandy has recently published a report claiming that six DGFI officers left for Islamabad a few days before Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India. The headline and language have been crafted in such a way as to suggest that this was some secret mission or a Pakistan-leaning diplomatic move. Chandan Nandy has previously spread similar propaganda-type narratives about Bangladesh on multiple occasions. This time too, it follows the same pattern.

The reality is completely different. Bangladesh’s military and intelligence agencies, including the DGFI, regularly participate in professional training, courses, and exchange programmes with various countries. Pakistan is also on that list — just as India, China, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and other countries are. These courses form part of military diplomacy and professional skill development. They are not secret missions, but routine activities that have been continuing for a long time.

An attempt has been made to create an atmosphere of suspicion by linking this visit with Tarique Rahman’s India trip. Yet Bangladesh’s intelligence agencies take part in the same kind of professional exchanges with multiple countries, including India. DGFI Director General Major General Kaisar Rashid Chowdhury himself had earlier visited both New Delhi and Islamabad. Those visits were also part of professional engagement. In the same way, the visit of these six officers is a continuation of that process.

Singling out only Pakistan among the countries with which Bangladesh conducts military and intelligence-level training exchanges, and portraying the visit as ‘suspicious’ just because it precedes the India trip, is nothing but narrative construction. Bangladesh’s national interests and professional relations do not depend on the approval or discomfort of any single country.

The DGFI officers’ visit was for participation in professional courses. Such programmes take place with many countries, including India. Presenting it in the colour of a conspiracy is baseless and motivated. This kind of repeated propaganda by Chandan Nandy and Northeast News is part of the effort to spread confusion about Bangladesh in Indian circles.