In recent months, India’s portrayal of the Hindu community’s situation in Bangladesh has sparked a heated debate, with many dismissing the coverage as a mix of misinformation and disinformation.
While it’s true that errors in reporting can sometimes lead to the spread of false information, it’s crucial to recognize that India’s actions are far more calculated.
What we are witnessing, particularly in the Indian media’s coverage of Bangladesh, is not an unfortunate mistake, but a deliberate and strategic campaign of propaganda.
India, as the world’s largest democracy, has long prided itself on its democratic ideals. However, it has also become a prominent player in a new and alarming industry: the production and dissemination of fake information.
This is no longer a fringe phenomenon but a vast, organized operation that has permeated the mainstream media.
The fact that such narratives about Bangladesh’s internal politics are amplified in India’s media ecosystem signals a troubling alignment between the press and, at the very least, the government’s agenda.
If there were a significant divergence between the media’s portrayal and the government’s official stance, we might chalk it up to media bias or, at worst, journalistic oversight. But this isn’t the case here.
The narrative being pushed is not merely editorial slant but a concerted effort to validate India’s geopolitical position, especially its stance on Bangladesh.
To understand this, one must consider what I would call Satanic Verses Syndrome. Let me explain why.
In 1988, when Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses was published, it quickly became the focal point of fierce protests and debates.
These protests were not confined to those who had read the book—or even those who could read it, for that matter.
In many places where the book was banned, how did people who had never seen a single page of it come to believe it was destroying their values?
Although it’s perfectly legitimate to object to a book’s content, even vehemently, many who had actually read The Satanic Verses saw it as nothing more than a work of fiction—an exploration of bizarre, even offensive, ideas—but ultimately, just that: fiction.
For some, the conversation was unnecessary, a curious but ultimately harmless literary exercise. Yet, for those who had never laid eyes on the book, the very notion of it sparked outrage, even violent protests.
People went so far as to take to the streets, resulting in casualties. The key question here is: how did they come to see this book, which they had never read, as an existential threat to their beliefs and values?
The answer lies in the power of propaganda. A societal reading of The Satanic Verses was constructed even before the book had reached the masses.
This reading was created not by the book itself, but by those with the power to shape public opinion—by those who could take an idea, an abstract concept, and transform it into a rallying cry.
Satanic Verses Syndrome refers to this phenomenon: a narrative formed not from the substance of the work itself, but from the politics that surround it.
People protest, they form opinions, they organize—all based on something they’ve never truly encountered, but something that’s been presented to them through the lens of powerful influences.
India’s media strategy regarding Bangladesh follows this very playbook.
How the narrative is shaped over the years
The narrative surrounding the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh is being shaped long before the facts are fully understood.
A portrayal of victimhood, of a clash between Hinduism and Bangladesh’s Muslim-majority population, is being propagated to justify India’s increasingly authoritarian domestic policies and its assertive stance on the regional stage.
Much like the reaction to The Satanic Verses, this narrative is being shaped not by the reality on the ground, but by the political goals of those with the loudest microphones.
The Indian media’s portrayal of Bangladesh is less about accurate reporting and more about creating a reality that serves a broader agenda.
In the end, this isn’t about informing the public; it’s about creating a specific narrative. And that’s the real danger: when politics dictates the story, the truth often gets lost in the noise.
India is playing the same game with Bangladesh—relentlessly pushing its narrative, no matter the facts. Its media strategy has descended into what can only be called “photoshop journalism,” a phenomenon so pervasive it has seriously damaged the global reputation of Indian media.
With the rise of accessible fact-checking tools, people are now more informed than ever, and while misinformation continues to spread, verifying the truth is becoming easier every day.
So why can’t India escape this Satanic Verses Syndrome? The answer is simple: India refuses to change its policy on Bangladesh.
It is fixated on maintaining a relationship exclusively with the Awami League, and it simply cannot imagine how it would handle Bangladesh if the League were not in power.
This refusal to adapt has led India to rely on manufactured narratives, attempting to solidify a fictional version of events as reality.
In Bangladesh, India’s overt role in enabling the rise of Awami fascism has led many to view the decline of the League as India’s decline as well.
By offering refuge to the League’s leader, India has effectively become complicit in that defeat.
Now, as India seeks to distort the narrative of the student and public movements against fascism by relying on blatant falsehoods, it underscores the deep flaws in its foreign policy.
India seems to believe that it can use propaganda to convince the world of a version of events that contradicts what everyone already knows to be true.
It has previously succeeded in this kind of narrative-building, especially with the 1971 war, where the Indian Bengali perspective shaped much of the dominant story.
This confidence may still work domestically, but on the international stage, it is much harder to manipulate.
At the same time, some powerful media outlets in Bangladesh, with significant Indian influence, are playing a critical role in supporting this propaganda effort.
These outlets—such as Prothom Alo and The Daily Star—are often cited by Indian media as sources for their skewed narratives. In essence, the raw material for this propaganda is created in Bangladesh, and then amplified in India.
Thus, India’s confidence is not rooted in the strength of its own media but in its ability to leverage support from within Bangladesh.
This collaboration of local and international media has made the spread of India’s narrative far more effective.
The two main convoluted narratives
Since India cannot conceive of any alternative to the Awami League, it is attempting to reshape both the cause and spirit of the people’s uprising against the League.
In doing so, it is reframing the narrative and spreading propaganda on an industrial scale, turning misinformation into a well-coordinated operation. India’s focus is essentially on two key areas:
The first one is the August 5 uprising: Originally a popular revolt against Awami fascism, India is attempting to recast it as an Islamic revolution against progressivism.
However, with India’s support, Hasina has orchestrated three consecutive elections without the people’s mandate, and it is widely recognized that this uprising is an expression of the people’s desire for genuine democracy.
The narrative of the liberation war and progressivism, which India once championed, was undermined when fascism took hold under Hasina’s leadership.
Therefore, the uprising is directed against this very narrative, not the so-called right-wing ideology that India and the Awami League are now promoting.
India seems to believe the West will easily accept this interpretation, as right-wing movements are often perceived there as having fascist tendencies.
But in Bangladesh, the situation is far different: the uprising was a broad-based, cross-sectional movement. While it did have significant participation from right-wing elements, it cannot be classified as a fascist right-wing uprising.
In fact, this right-wing faction has been at the forefront of the anti-fascist struggle for the past 15 years. It would be more accurate to describe it as an anti-fascist or non-fascist right-wing revolt, or even a radical centrist movement.
Whatever the perspective, there is no basis for calling it an Islamic jihadist revolution.
India is trying to frame this democratic, anti-fascist uprising as a battle between Islam and progressivism, but if this narrative had emerged during the “War on Terror,” it might have gained some traction.
Now, however, it is falling flat—and rightly so.
The other one is obviously the Hindu victimhood narrative, something India has been attempting to reframe is the notion that the uprising has led to violence against Hindus.
India is trying to present the struggle between the people and the League as a religious conflict, framing it as a clash between Hindus and the Bangladeshi population.
The violence that occurred was the result of the people’s resistance to fascist forces, with the Awami League as the common enemy. It had no religious basis.
While Muslims were primarily affected, many Hindus—who had largely supported the League—were also targeted. However, they were attacked not because of their religion, but because of their support for fascism.
India, nevertheless, is trying to cast this as an assault on Hindus, distorting the reality of the situation.
As a result of these troubling actions, Hindu extremists in India have attacked the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, violating the Vienna Convention.
Blows for both the countries
This incident will have international repercussions for India. While it may serve to further fuel Hindu extremism within India, it has dealt a severe blow to the country’s democratic reputation.
Moreover, Hindus in Bangladesh have lost trust in India, as they are well aware of the true situation.
They see India exploiting the deaths of their own people for political gain—spreading false reports about the living and profiting from the deaths of those who have passed.
Photoshopped images of fabricated incidents are being paraded through the media, and Bangladesh’s Hindu community has come to realize that if such deceitful and dishonest forces are considered allies, placing trust in them will only lead to disaster.
As a result, India’s credibility continues to erode, while the unity between Bangladesh’s people and India’s principled, anti-extremist, and democratic-minded citizens grows stronger.
This shift will not bode well for the Modi government.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s diaspora, along with a new generation of English-speaking politicians and writers, is working hard to expose the truth on the global stage.
Though small in number, they are challenging India’s one-sided attempts to manipulate the narrative and are successfully bringing the real story to the world’s attention.
In essence, the politics of propaganda is inherently fascist. If India continues down this path, abandoning its democratic ideals, it risks losing credibility as a democratic power.
It seems the time has come for India to reconsider its foreign policy, especially with regard to Bangladesh.
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Rezaul Karim Rony is a writer and philosopher. He is currently working as the Deputy Editor of the CGS
Bangla Outlook