Dhaka, July 10, 2025 — The Bangladesh Students’ League (BSL) has strongly protested a recent BBC ‘Eye Investigations’ report alleging that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina authorised a deadly crackdown on political protesters. In a press release issued today, the BSL denounced the report as “methodologically flawed, factually inconsistent, and overtly partisan,” asserting that it undermines journalistic ethics and misleads global audiences about the political situation in Bangladesh.
The investigative piece, produced in collaboration with BBC Bangla, centers on a leaked 18-second audio clip purportedly implicating Sheikh Hasina in ordering lethal force against protesters. BSL claims the clip is a selective and decontextualized compilation of two separate audio fragments and criticizes the BBC for not releasing the full recording or disclosing verifiable metadata such as timestamp or source identity.
The BSL further argues that the report overlooks critical legal and political context. According to the statement, violent attacks on police stations, key government installations, and civilians in July–August 2024 were acts of insurrection, prompting legitimate state responses under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It contends that law enforcement acted within legal boundaries to restore order.The student organization also accused the BBC of omitting evidence of extremist involvement and coordinated sabotage by banned groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The BSL alleges that members of the interim Yunus-led government and its political affiliate, the National Consensus Party (NCP), publicly encouraged or supported such acts.Additionally, the BSL condemned what it termed a “systematic purge” against supporters of the Awami League and minority communities, which it claims were met with impunity under indemnity decrees issued by the interim regime.
“The BBC’s report distracts from the current regime’s failures and destabilizes Bangladesh’s sovereignty and democratic order,” the BSL’s statement reads.
It urged international media and observers to act with impartiality and full contextual awareness when reporting on the country.The BSL reaffirmed its commitment to defending Bangladesh’s constitutional order and secular democratic values while opposing what it calls “foreign-sponsored narratives” seeking to delegitimize the nation’s democratic legacy.
