BNP on Wednesday called as ‘blatantly false and fabricated’ an interview published in Kolkata-based Indian news outlet Ei Samay, which claimed that its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir wants Awami League and Jatiya Party in the next national election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, signed by BNP Assistant Office Secretary Taiful Islam Tipu, the party also said that Fakhrul has not given any interviews to any foreign media in recent times.
“A baseless report has been published recently, claiming that BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir gave an interview to the Bengali daily Ei Samay in Kolkata and said he wants Awami League and Jatiya Party in the Election,’ the so-called interview is entirely false and fabricated,” the statement said.
It claimed that the imaginary interview was circulated with ill intent to damage the image of BNP and its Secretary General.
“The aim of this fake report is to create confusion and doubt among the people of Bangladesh. There is no reason for the people or party leaders and activists to be misled by this false report published in Ei Samay,” the statement said.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is now in New York as part of the delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly session with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Fakhrul shrugs off Kolkata media interview as fake
Earlier on Tuesday, Fakhrul himself dismissed the interview published in his name by Ei Samay as ‘fake and fabricated’.
“That news is fake! They (Ei Samay) used artificial intelligence (AI) to create this false and misleading report,” he told UNB over the phone from the USA.
Fakhrul said no political leader could make such ‘absurd’ comments as quoted in the report. “It is intentional. I never gave any interview to Ei Samay of Kolkata.”
On its website, eisamay.com carried a report headlined “Why is India putting BNP and Jamaat in the same bracket?” asks Mirza, claiming that its correspondent Anamitra Chatterjee had recently interviewed Fakhrul in Dhaka.
The interview has sparked debate on social media and drawn sharp criticism from Jamaat-e-Islami.