Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, advisor to the Ministries of Youth & Sports and Local Government, has accused BNP leader Ishraq Hossain of using a television channel to spread propaganda after failing to assume office as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (July 29), Asif Mahmud made a series of allegations, also responding to what he described as baseless accusations against him. He wrote that he was being unfairly blamed for the arrest of Ishraq under a police-filed case following attacks on a police station.
Referring to a recent triple murder in Muradnagar, Asif claimed that Shah Zunnun Bushri, brother of former BNP minister Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaykobad, was directly involved in the incident and was even seen celebrating on social media. “Despite my name being dragged into the issue, neither I nor my family has visited the area in the past three months,” he wrote. “Early interviews with the victims (which are archived) make no mention of me. It’s only after a month that Kaykobad’s people seemingly convinced them to make such claims.”
Asif further alleged that Ishraq, unable to retain the mayoral office due to legal and administrative rulings, had now teamed up with Kaykobad and was using a “captured TV channel” to spread misinformation. He added that even a murder suspect from the July uprising was being portrayed as a victim in this media campaign.
“We are helpless in front of this mafia-terror establishment,” Asif stated. “The Kaykobad family has grown desperate out of fear that I might contest for MP in Muradnagar. I’ve tried to work for the people of the area without any personal ambition, but now it seems even that might not be possible.”
He further lamented that in this struggle, he, a person from a middle-class background with neither institutional nor financial support, had become a target of powerful forces.
In his post, Asif wrote: “When you control the media, what can’t be done? Attack a police station, glorify murder suspects, and still frame others as villains. And now I’m being portrayed as the villain while the real perpetrators play the victim.”
In the comments section under Asif’s post, NCP North Zone coordinator Sarjis Alam claimed, “BNP’s Ishraq Bhai runs BanglaVision.” He further alleged that the channel had shifted from professional journalism to promoting personal and political agendas.
Sarjis warned, “If BanglaVision repeats the kind of partisan role certain channels played before the 1971 and 2024 uprisings, they won’t get the same leeway this time. The public will boycott these deceitful media outlets.”
