Bangladesh Army dismisses ‘India Today’ report suggesting potential coup against Muhammad Yunus

The Bangladesh Army on Tuesday dismissed a report by India Today as “false and fabricated information”, according to the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.

The article, “Bangladesh army holds emergency meeting amid possibility of coup against Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus”, was described as a “glaring example of journalistic malpractice and the decline of a once-reputed news outlet into a purveyor of disinformation”.

The headline has been updated to say “Coup in Bangladesh against Yunus? Army holds emergency meeting”.

“It has come to the attention of the Bangladesh Army that India Today has once again published a report based on false and fabricated information regarding a routine meeting held by the Bangladesh Army,” the news agency quoted a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the country’s armed forces, as saying.

“It is deeply troubling that India Today continues to publish sensationalist narratives without due diligence or a responsible commitment to journalistic integrity,” the Army added in its statement.

On March 13, the Bangladeshi government had said that news reports by some Indian media outlets claiming instability in the Bangladesh Army were “baseless” and “deeply irresponsible”.

Outlets like India Today, The Economic Times and others had reported that Lieutenant General Faizur Rahman, who is a quartermaster general, purportedly made moves to stage a coup to replace General Waqar-uz-Zaman as the country’s Army chief.

Rahman had been put under...

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