Amar Desh's Mahmudur questions Subir Bhaumik's motive for reporting 'PM murder plot'

A former adviser to BNP chief Khaleda Zia has questioned the motive of an Indian journalist behind a widely refuted report on a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 26 Sept 2017, 05:38 PM
Updated : 27 Sept 2017, 04:34 PM

Subir Bhaumik, the journalist for Myanmar-based Mizzima, gave rise to heated debate and speculation after claiming that rogue members of the Special Security Force or SSF planned a hit on Hasina on Aug 24. The Prime Minister's Office then rubbished the report as 'baseless'. 

"He has an Indian connection, a lot of people call him a RAW agent, this is his own comment," Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of the Amar Desh, said during a programme in Dhaka on Tuesday.

"We don’t know if he is an agent for RAW or some other agency. But there is no doubt that he has a connection with the Indian government," he said.

"So what is Subir Bhaumik's identity? His first identity is that he is a former correspondent for the BBC. The second involves his Indian connection.

"His third identity lies with a Bangladeshi news outlet … a private one …bdnews24.com. He is apparently a senior editor at bdnews24.com. I was an executive chairman of the Board of Investment. One of the board's job is to issue approvals for foreign nationals employed in our country. I don’t know if Subir Bhaumik sought permits from a government agency before working for bdnews24.com."

He also spoke about the editor-in-chief of Mizzima, Soe Myint, a Burmese national. “This man Soe Myint hijacked a plane to India. Then the Indian government accommodated him in Kolkata. This Soe Myint is editor of Mizzima or whatever it is. This Soe Myint and Subir Bhaumik made up this story."      

Rahman, former energy adviser for Khaleda Zia when she was prime minister, bought the Daily Amar Desh owned by key BNP leader Mosaddek Hossain Falu when the party lost power.

He then emerged as acting editor of the newspaper in 2008.

Accused in an array of cases over contempt, defamation, sedition and ICT law violation, he was released from prison last year after having spent over three years behind bars.

He was addressing a programme to commemorate Amar Desh advisory editor Ataus Samad when he brought up Bhaumik's report.

A bdnews24.com spokesperson said Subir Bhaumik began working as South Asia correspondent for bdnews24.com in May, 2016. South Asia correspondents for global outlets are usually based in New Delhi and Asia correspondents in Singapore. With that norm in place, he worked for bdnews24.com from Kolkata.

"A veteran journalist of many years, Subir Bhaumik was bestowed the title of senior editor. He never worked from Dhaka or any other place in Bangladesh. So it did not require an approval of the Board of Investment," he added.

For the duration of his contract, he was paid remuneration and allowances using official channels after securing approvals from the Ministry of Information and the Bangladesh Bank. The method is common among foreign news agencies.

When his contract ended in May, 2016, Subir Bhaumik joined the advisory body for India's National Security Advisor.  After that, he contributed occasional columns and analysis for bdnews24.com, but not news reports.

Subir Bhaumik responds

The journalist has sent a written response to the news report to make "three things clear".

Subir Bhaumik wrote:

"

Apropos your news item "Amar Desh's Mahmudur questions Subir Bhaumik's motive for reporting 'PM murder plot' " and the Bengali version, I wish to make three things clear.

RAW AGENT -- For those who make this allegation that I am a RAW agent, I advise them to read my Oxford thesis and first book 'Insurgent Crossfire', where I detailed RAW's involvement in sponsoring the CHT armed movement (1975-96) in graphic detail, which no Bangladeshi has done so far. Is RAW so kind to its critics! It is true that in course of my long professional career I have known RAW officers, like I have known those of ISI, DGFI, NSI and possibly other agencies of global powers who operate under consular cover. But I never fought shy of exposing RAW when it merited -- be it in CHT or when they secretly started liaison with BNP's Tarique Rahman. That upset RAW officials like JK Sinha and Amitabh "Tony" Mathur and they tried to paint me an ULFA agent, because I had close relations with Paresh Barua and other ULFA leaders. Thankfully neither of them made it to the top of RAW, so I escaped possible harassment from them.

BURMESE AGENT -- I have been as passionate a supporter for the cause of Burmese democracy as of the 'Spirit of 1971' in Bangladesh. I and my good friend Nandita Haksar, who defended even Indian parliament attack accused Afzal Guru and so many others charged by the Indian state, played a role in getting Soe Myint out of jail and relieved of his hijack charges. Soe is a passionate defender of Burmese democracy and so to club as a supporter of the Tatmadaw (Burmese army) would be a huge joke. His is the only media house in Myanmar that uses the term Rohingya (and not the state-enforced "illegal Bengali") and he has allowed me and other foreign writers enough editorial freedom that may sometime upset powers that be. Soe is impressed by Indian democracy and federalism, as thousands of Burmese are, but that's where it ends. As far as I am concerned, I only started getting Burmese visa in 2012 after an elected government came to power. He is a Burmese (not Burman) patriot and if people like Mahmudur can't understand the difference, let me explain. A Burman nationalist is xenophobic proponent of supremacy of the Burman race, a Burmese nationalist is one who believes in inclusive nationalism that brings together diverse peoples of Myanmar into its fold. If you know the history of ethnic conflicts in Myanmar, you will know what I mean.

Indian Connection -- As a student of a leading military school in India, I believe in a strong professional military but not one that needlessly dabbles in politics. Mahmudur says I have an Indian connection -- yes I am Indian by birth and my passport is Indian but I am probably a more passionately Bengali than him and my Indian connection is in the realm of values, like civilian supremacy, federal democracy and secular polity, which in my country today is under serious challenge.