While Qatar-based terror broadcast network Al Jazeera English channel has been consistently running vile propaganda against Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, members of Bangabandhu family as well as esteemed figures in the government and civil-military establishment, Election Commission in Bangladesh has allowed two reporters namely Jonah Hull (a British national) and Maurya Gautam (an Indian national and Senior cameraman/editor with Al Jazeera English based in India) to cover the January 7, 2024 general elections in the country.
According to a credible source, highly-controversial British journalist David Bergman has connections with Jonah Hull, while he reportedly has influenced Al Jazeera English Channel in setting an agenda of discrediting the election thus running negative propaganda targeting ruling Awami League as well as several key figures of the party.
It is also learnt, during their stay in Bangladesh, Al Jazeera English channel’s team shall interview leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and other Islamist forces in the country, while the channel is also planning to air a three-minute video clip of Tarique Rahman.
During their stay in Bangladesh, in addition to covering the election, Al Jazeera English channel’s team will also cover ailing BNP leader Khaleda Zia as well as controversial Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The source said, David Bergman has particularly asked the Qatari channel to give massive coverage to Muhammad Yunus and use him in spreading lies against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ruling Awami League.
It said, David Bergman, a relative of anti-Awami League and pro-Pakistan politician has been attempting to defame and demonize ruling Awami League and secularist forces in Bangladesh. He also has been notoriously inclined towards pro-Pakistan, anti-India and pro-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
It may also be mentioned here that, David Bergman has teamed up with a number of anti-India and pro-Pakistan cyber activists including Pinaki Bhattacharya (who converted into Islam after joining Jamaat-e-Islami and been consistently demonizing India, Hindus, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi); Zulkarnain Saer Sami, alias Zulkarnain Saer, alias Zulkarnain Saer Khan Sami alias Tanvir Md. Sadat; and Tasneem Khalil.
According to Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium (TRAC), which is one of the most comprehensive compendiums of information and analysis of terrorist groups and activities in the world, jihadist Zulkarnain Saer Khan threatened to behead a Hindu rights activist and professor Kushal Baran Chakraborty in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Indian newspaper The Afternoon Voice in a report said, when in 1986, the Bhopal disaster caused by the Union Carbide that killed 3,787 people and affected five hundred though Indians, David Bergman joined hands with the perpetrators of the heinous crime and later had emerged as the paid agent of Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). As a result, Bergman was arrested in September 1986 for violating India’s Foreigners Act and National Security Act and was accused of working as media propagandist for Union Carbide.
Pakistani ISI plots to send several journalists to cover Bangladesh election
Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) is trying to send several journalist from various media outlets, including ARY – a venture of the agency, which is being accused of funding 2004 huge volume of weapons, ammunitions, and explosives, which were supposed to be supplied to United Liberation Front of Assom (ULFA), an insurgency group in the northeastern states in India.
The incident of the 10-Truck Arms and Ammunition Haul took place in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on the night of 1 April 2004, when police and Coast Guard interrupted the loading of ten trucks and seized extensive illegal arms and ammunition at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) on the Karnaphuli River. This is believed to be the largest arms smuggling incident in the history of Bangladesh.
Investigators believed that delivery was intended for the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a militant group seeking the independence of Assam from India and considered responsible for causing thousands of deaths since 1979. Its military wing chief, Paresh Baruah, then living in Dhaka under direct patronization of then ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was among the 50 persons, including BNP leader Tarique Rahman ultimately charged in the case.
This incident occurred during the administration of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Four-Party alliance, which led the government from 2001 to late October 2006. Media analysts said that, given the scale of the operation and existing problems with corruption, high government officials and intelligence officers were believed to be involved in the smuggling plans. In 2004, arms smuggling charges were filed against a total of 45 individuals under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and arms charges against 43 persons under the Arms Act.
In March 2009, one of the accused submitted a ten-page statement about the case, saying he had told police of high-level government involvement as early as 2005. He said his confessions were not recorded and officials warned him against repeating his statement, upon the threat of death.
