A drowning man catches at a straw, but in the case of Bangladesh Awami League (AL), a drowning party catches at rumours and propaganda. Like a once-dominant actor in a fading soap opera, AL seems to believe that theatrics, albeit poorly scripted, will save its dwindling relevance.
After being unseated by the tide of the July revolution, the party that proudly proclaimed itself the vanguard of Bangladesh’s liberation has reduced itself to a syndicate of misinformation peddlers, spinning tales more absurd than an ancient fable.
AL’s organized propaganda has become a frantic scrubbing of guilt and failure through a torrent of lies.
Take, for instance, the tragic death of Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho, a student of Bangladesh University of Professionals, shot dead during a clash in Uttara Azampur. Mugdho's story could have been a unifying emblem of courage.
But no, the propaganda machine instead questioned his very existence. "Mugdho did not die; there was no one named Mugdho!" declared one post, absurdly suggesting that Mugdho and his brother were actually the same person.
Such propaganda reveals the depths to which the party has sunk. AL’s bots and cronies don’t merely distort reality -- they obliterate it; they fabricate narratives with utter audacity.
AL’s obsession with rewriting history is another tragicomedy. On November 10, Noor Hossain Day, the party announced a "showdown." Let’s pause here to marvel at the audacity of commemorating Noor Hossain, who was shot dead protesting autocracy, while being the very epitome of autocracy themselves.
Remember how AL once labeled Hussain Muhammad Ershad a "killer?" Yet, the same Ershad was later rehabilitated into politics by none other than Sheikh Hasina, who made him a special envoy. "Hypocrisy day" would have been a more appropriate name for the occasion.
The paranoia reaches sublime heights when you hear about Saint Martin’s Island. For years, environmentalists have been warning about the unplanned tourism that is destroying the island’s fragile ecosystem. The interim government, to its credit, began addressing this. But AL’s propaganda brigade? They turned it into a story about Saint Martin’s being handed over to the United States.
Research by Dismislab revealed the scale of the propaganda -- 1,369 fake Facebook profiles leaving over 21,000 identical comments across 197 posts. These bots operate on automation, targeting keywords and amplifying falsehoods faster than a superhero movie goes viral.
The AL’s bot network is not merely a tool of deception; it’s a masterpiece of irony. The very party that suppressed free speech with the draconian Digital Security Act now relies on digital platforms to fabricate reality. "Do as I say, not as I do," seems to be the unofficial motto here.
After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, looters ransacked gonobhaban and paraded around in lingerie. Distasteful, yes, but AL’s spin doctors transformed this into a tale of "Islamists" terrorizing Hindu women. This is propaganda at its ugliest, twisting the truth to stoke sectarian flames.
The reality, however, was starkly different. Madrasa students were seen guarding temples from actual criminals, demonstrating solidarity rather than sectarianism. But truth, as always, is inconvenient for AL’s narrative architects.
AL’s organized propaganda has become a frantic scrubbing of guilt and failure through a torrent of lies
Speaking of narratives, Sheikh Hasina’s party has proven to be a one-family show. With Hasina in exile and her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy acting as her spokesperson, the rest of the party appears to be either in spreading rumours in hiding or grappling with random murder charges. The loyalists, those opportunists who gained posts, plots, and loans, now seem to be fighting for relevance.
Under Sheikh Hasina’s regime, press freedom was arguably at its worst. Zafar Sobhan, editor of Dhaka Tribune, aptly described the period as one of immense repression in his keynote speech on “Press Freedom in a new Bangladesh” recently in a discussion. The Digital Security Act was wielded like a sword, silencing dissent.
Now, even after the regime’s fall, the remnants of this oppressive apparatus linger. Social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) remain battlegrounds, with AL’s propaganda flooding timelines like an unchecked oil spill.
Take the claim that Bangladesh’s flag wasn’t raised at the United Nations General Assembly. One wonders if AL’s bots will next claim the moon landing was faked by Yunus supporters.
For AL, it’s like, “Who controls the bots controls the narrative.” The AL isn’t waging a fictional war; it’s waging a fictional truth.
In the end, the party that once claimed to lead the liberation war now leads the liberation of lies. Its propaganda is not just a testament to its desperation but also a sobering reminder of the fragility of truth in the age of digital manipulation.
As the interim government struggles to rebuild, it faces a monumental challenge in countering these waves of disinformation.
So, the next time you encounter an AL bot peddling absurdities, remember that the drowning party clutches at rumours and propaganda because it has nothing else left to hold on to. And as you laugh -- or cry -- at their attempts, remember too that the fight for truth is never-ending.
HM Nazmul Alam, Lecturer, Department of English and Modern Languages, International University of Business, Agriculture and Technology. Email: [email protected]
