‘Basherkella’, with over 3,20,000 followers, has been the ‘go-to-source’ for radical Muslims in the Indian subcontinent ever since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina and the onset of violence against the Hindu community.
With ties to both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), it has left no stone unturned to give a clean chit to Islamists involved in the anti-Hindu carnage.
Popular Indian Youtuber Akash Banarjee, @TheDeshBhakt debunks some of the fake news spread by the #Indian News Outlets, youtuber, Twitter accounts and BJP's IT Cell regarding attack on minority in #Bangladesh#SaveHindusInBangladesh #SaveBangladesiHindus #BangladeshHindus… pic.twitter.com/5TxqKjmKBi
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) August 11, 2024
On Sunday (11th August), Basherkella shared a misleading video by Akash Banerjee to falsely claim that Hindus are not under attack in Bangladesh (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary).
OpIndia had reported how the YouTuber shrewdly cast doubts on the extent of attacks on the Hindu community and suggested that it could be the result of political violence and not religious targeting.
For the unversed, Basherkella came to the fore after the start of the trial by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh. ICT was formed to investigate atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army and their supporters, Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams, on civilians during the 1971 Liberation War.
It has infamously supported war criminals, propagated Islamic extremism and endorsed attacks on minority communities (particularly the Hindus).
Given its notorious reputation, Mohammed Zubair of Alt News reuploaded a video published by Basherkella on Tuesday (6th August).
He claimed that Muslims were protecting the famous Dhakeshwari temple without mentioning the ‘religion’ of those endangering the safety of the Hindu site. The video shared by the dubious fact-checker and Basherkella was meant to negate the Islamist role in the anti-Hindu attacks.
Basherkalla, cited by Zubair to whitewash the pogroms against Hindus, is putting a target on the back of Bangladeshi Hindus by accusing them of spreading 'Bhagwa Love Trap' and importing 'Hindutva' and 'India' agenda.
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) August 10, 2024
Basherkalla is accusing Bangladesh IG Debdas Bhattacharya of… https://t.co/NMZ07fTvti pic.twitter.com/sCmpXWrOPc
As pointed out by popular Twitter user ‘Year of the Kraken’, Basherkella was seen lying about Hindus ‘attacking’ the armed forces of Bangladesh alongside Awami League members.
It had also peddled the conspiracy theory of ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’ to unleash the Islamist lynch mob against a top Hindu cop Debdas Bhattacharya.
Basherkella has been the frontrunner in dehumanising, instigating attacks and shrewdly whitewashing them when caught red-handed.
Anti-Hindu diatribe, attacks and downplaying of violence
According to a report published by Asia Times in 2013, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami carried out attacks on 319 temples, houses and shops of the Hindu community after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to death.
At that time, ‘Basherkella’ dehumanised Bengali Hindus with slurs such as ‘malaun’ and called for their murder. It announced, “We will kill all the Malauns and Bangladesh will be ‘Banglastan’ like Pakistan.”
A report by The Daily Star quoted the extremist account as saying, “In this subcontinent, if we and Pakistan unite, we won’t have to care about Malaun, atheist and Nasara. We will name this Islamic country as Islamic Republic of Banglastan or join with Pakistan where only Muslims will live.”
During the Islamist onslaught on Bangladeshi Hindus in October 2021, Basherkella resorted to vicious victim-blaming. It openly peddled fake news to give a clean chit to Muslim mobs, which set fire to Hindu houses in Rangpur.
OpIndia had reported the incident at that time. In a tweet, Basherkella had alleged, “Some #Hindu of Pirganj Upazila of Rangpur ignite their own houses to malign about the non-sectarian image of #Bangladesh: locals say.” After being exposed on social media, the Jamaat mouthpiece quietly deleted the tweet.
At that time, The New Indian Express had reported, “The UK-based IT cell of the JeI, Basherkella (bamboo fortress), has been spewing anti-Hindu and anti-India propaganda for some time, giving traction to the view that the violence was planned in advance.”
টিপ এদের সংস্কৃতি, মুসলমানদের নয়! #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/1l27xYsSlF
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) April 5, 2022
A year later, Basherkella dehumanised Hindu women by posting a picture of a smiling dog with a ‘bindi (red dot)’.
In a vicious Hinduphobic tweet, Basherkella wrote, “Tip ader sanskriti, Musalman der not (Bindi is their culture and not that of Muslims).” It indicated that ‘bindi’ belonged to Hindu women, who were represented by the picture of a smirking dog.
‘Basherkella’ encouraged violence, economic boycott of Ahmadiyas in Bangladesh
In March 2023, ‘Basherkella’ was actively involved in provoking Muslims to attack the Ahmadiya community in Ahmednagar village in the Panchagarh district of Bangladesh.
The Jamaat mouthpiece had posted a series of tweets after violent Muslim mobs targeted Ahmadiyas, killing 2 and injuring three dozen others. An estimated 50 shops and 189 houses were set on fire.
‘Basherkella’ not only encouraged Muslims to continue violent demonstrations against Ahmadiyas but urged them to boycott businesses belonging to the minority community.
কাদিয়ানীদের পণ্য#বয়কটকাদিয়ানী #BoycottQadiani #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/Ww2UMm9jQm
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) March 3, 2023
“A series of tweets from Basherkella has left the minority community shocked and bewildered…One of the tweets from the verified Basherkella account lists some renowned local brands, calling them “Qadiani owned” and asks all to boycott their products,” a report by Dhaka Tribune noted.
It also accused law enforcement authorities of taking the side of Ahmadiyas and attacking ‘anti-Qadiani protestors’ at the behest of the Sheikh Hasina-led-Awami League government, thereby fuelling more unrest.
At that time, the role of ‘Basherkella’ in inciting violence was confirmed by the then Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud.
Police Killed Md Arifuzzaman by firing on the protestant crowd as they were protesting against Qadiani's vicious gathering in #Panchagarh.#Bangladesh #BDPoliceBrutality #বয়কটকাদিয়ানী #BoycottQadiani @doamuslims pic.twitter.com/revvNcJfNs
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) March 3, 2023
Muslims had attacked Ahmadiyas after the latter announced plans to hold a 3-day religious program (Jalsa Salana) in Panchgarh.
Support for Al Qaeda
In November 2021, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) of Bangladesh police arrested a 21-year-old Muslim youth for amplifying the terror message of slain Al-Qaeda supremo Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
The accused was identified as Rasel Bin Sattar Khan. He had called for an Islamic uprising (intifada) in Bangladesh. Rasel was the admin of the Facebook page of ‘Basherkella’ and possessed jihadi books.
Despite being a third-year student, he had strong connections with Al Qaeda. Rasel was found circulating the audio message of Zawahiri, wherein he was heard calling for a mass uprising against ‘enemies of Islam.’
The message also made references to the governmental crackdown on violence unleashed by Hefazat-e-Islam in Dhaka in 2020.
Pro-US interference and growing control
In October 2023, the ‘Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’ pointed out how Basherkella was endorsing the visa restrictions imposed on media personnel by the US government.
It raised alarms over the Jamaat mouthpiece hailing US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Peter Haas’ as a ‘true friend.’
OpIndia had reported in November about the overt interference of Hass in the internal politics of Bangladesh. He had visited the house of a BNP leader named Sajedul Islam Sumon and even directed the Awami League to engage with the Opposition BNP.
'Ambassador Peter Haas
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) September 24, 2023
A friend of #Bangladesh'
Ambassador Haas is a true friend of the people of BD! His efforts in rescuing them from dictatorship are highly appreciated. Let's hope he continues to play a role in establishing democracy and ending dictatorship in the country. pic.twitter.com/1vwaJnfuSc
Reportedly, Basherkellah has been an ally of Tarique Rehman, the son of BNP supremo Khalida Zia. Rehman has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since 2008.
After Sheikh Hasina was ousted as PM of Bangladesh and replaced with a US asset, we highlighted overwhelming evidence to show that the country was heading towards becoming an Islamist state.
With the increasing control of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP in the political discourse of Bangladesh, extremist handles such as ‘Basherkella’ are going to gain more ground on social media in the coming days.
