TDS Desk

The Bangladesh Army has protested against a report published on Indian news outlet Anandabazar website on December 27, 2024 that claims Pakistani army is set to return to Bangladesh after 53 years.

The online story, which is a series of 22 photos with captions claims, among other things, that the Pakistani army is set to arrive and train their Bangladesh counterparts, which the Inter Services Public Relations Department said was presenting “wrong and baseless information” about the Bangladesh army.

The online report titled, “Urdee-te Bangali Gonohotyar Rokter Chhite! 53 Bochhor Por Bangladesh-e Phirchhe Shei Porajito Pak Fouj” (which roughly translates to ‘Uniforms bloodied in Bengali genocide! Defeated Pak army returns to Bangladesh after 53 years”) paints a grim picture of Bangladesh, which the report claims is firmly falling into the grips of Pakistan claiming that a Pakistani major general is set to train Bangladeshi officers as Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, who has been anti-Indian from the outset, is warming up to Pakistan.

The official mouthpiece of the defence forces of Bangladesh, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in its release that Bangladesh Army conducted itself with full professionalism and was a firm proponent of international cooperation. “As such Bangladesh military maintains cordial relationship with the armed forces of a number of countries.”

The statement also points out that Bangladeshi armed forces have had regular exchange programmes with other armed forces so as to increase mutual cooperation and skills at the same time.

It should be mentioned that there is no plan for any Pakistani army unit to provide training at any cantonment of Bangladesh. “This claim is baseless and has no bearing with the facts.”

Any uninformed, unsolicited, and objectionable opinions on sensitive defence matters are unwarranted, the ISPR said.

In violation of proper journalistic practices, the aforementioned newspaper did not seek any comments or clarification from Bangladesh’s ISPR before publishing the report, it mentioned.

The Bangladesh Army is committed to ensuring transparency and providing accurate information, the press release said.

It is humbly requested that before publishing any report, media outlets verify information from reliable sources, it mentioned.