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India-Pakistan
Militants claim Pakistani reports of TTP chief's death are false
2025-12-02

Text:
I think chief is meant in the sense of emir here, not the organization’s Number 1.
The recent news of the alleged "death" of Ratan Dhali,a Bangladeshi suspected member of the Pakistan-based militant network Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has been widely circulated in some media outlets in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Notably, based on the "100% confirmed" claim by Bangladesh Special Branch (SB) Superintendent of Police (SP) Rowshan Sadia Afroz, platforms like The Daily Star, Face the People, and *The Dissents* published this news. However,it has now become clear that this is entirely false and a propaganda-driven narrative aimed at destabilizing Bangladesh's internal stability.

Ratan Dhali, suspected of being linked to the Pakistan-based militant group, was first reported "dead" last week through a statement by SP Rowshan Sadia Afroz. She claimed that Dhali was involved in militant activities in Bangladesh in the interest of Pakistan and was subsequently killed by the Pakistani military.

Based on this claim, outlets like The Daily Star and various online portals extensively published the news,sparking widespread reactions on social media.This led to public unrest regarding the country’s security situation and fostered an atmosphere of distrust against the Bangladesh government.

However, fact-checking has revealed that this news was deliberately false.

Yesterday, a video of Dhali surfaced on Pakistani social media, showing him alive and well.

In the video, Dhali introduces himself and states that the propaganda against him is part of a conspiracy by the country’s enemies. The video quickly went viral, garnering thousands of views across platforms,proving the falsehood of the media reports.

According to Bangladesh’s national security analysts, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is behind this incident, spreading such false narratives to keep militant networks active in Bangladesh.

More alarmingly, there are indications of American interests at play—some Kolkata-based media outlets and institutions like The Daily Star have been used to propagate this news, attempting to influence South Asia’s geopolitical stability.

SP Rowshan Sadia Afroz’s claim played a pivotal role here, raising questions about her impartiality and the process of verifying information. The investigation team has found the involvement of SP Rawshan Sadia Afroz with Zulkar Nayen Sayer of Bangla Outlook, Mahfuz Anam of Daily Star and Qadruddin Shishir of The Dissent in spreading all these false propaganda news.

Political analyst Dr. Shahinur Rahman describes this as a classic example of hybrid warfare. “Pakistan and its allies are using such false news to obstruct Bangladesh’s economic development and stability. If media like The Daily Star propagate such stories,public trust will erode and the country will become unstable,” he said. He claims that such incidents are aimed at undermining Bangladesh’s recent economic progress, such as its GDP growth surpassing 7%.

The Bangladesh government has not yet issued an official statement, but security experts assert that an investigation into SP Rowshan’s actions will be initiated and media outlets like The Daily Star will be held accountable. Public anger over the incident is growing and hashtags like #RatanDhaliAlive and #MediaLies are trending on Pakistani social media.

Ensuring media responsibility and transparency in intelligence operations is now critical to maintaining Bangladesh’s stability. Lessons must be drawn from this incident to prevent such propaganda in the future, ensuring Bangladesh’s progress continues uninterrupted.

Posted by:badanov

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