Awami League Dismisses BBC Report On Hasina Audio As Fabricated And Misleading

Bangladesh’s Awami League has voiced strong objection to a report by the BBC, which referenced a purported leaked audio recording allegedly involving former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The party labelled the report ‘false and distorted’, raising serious concerns about its content and intent.

The BBC report, broadcast on Wednesday, claimed that Sheikh Hasina had sanctioned the use of ‘lethal force’ during anti-government protests in July, citing an unverified audio clip said to feature the former Prime Minister.

Responding on Thursday, the Awami League condemned the report, calling it deeply troubling and based entirely on a questionable 18-second audio clip.

The party described the piece as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent Sheikh Hasina, the party leader and daughter of the country’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

35-minute broadcast called ‘Politically Biased’

In its official statement, the Awami League criticised the 35-minute investigative report aired by the BBC World Service.

“Against the backdrop of ongoing human rights violations in Bangladesh under the illegitimate, fascist regime of Yunus, the BBC World Service recently aired a 35-minute report presented as part of an investigative journalism piece. However, the report deliberately and irrelevantly included an unverified audio clip allegedly involving Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in which it is implied that she approved the use of lethal force against protesters,” the statement stated.

The party claimed the broadcast lacked fairness and neutrality, stating the clip contained no named recipient and showed signs of artificial generation, possibly using AI tools.

“If the audio were genuine, there would have been a specific recipient. This clip has been artificially generated using artificial intelligence with the clear intent of defaming Sheikh Hasina, in collusion with political opponents of the current government and the Awami League. Even the forensic audio firm that the BBC claimed to have consulted could not confirm its authenticity with full certainty. Moreover, the report fails to provide any counter-narrative or perspective from the Prime Minister’s side,” the party noted.

Further, the party criticised the report for relying on sources from law enforcement and legal offices allegedly loyal to the opposition figure Muhammad Yunus.

According to the Awami League, some of these sources have previously defended war criminals, framing their actions as humanitarian advocacy.

Allegations of orchestrated unrest and terror links

Touching on last year’s student-led movement calling for quota reforms, the Awami League said its administration had closely monitored the situation and was evaluating student demands. It accused both domestic and international groups opposed to Bangladesh’s progress of orchestrating a campaign of misinformation and plotting violence under the guise of peaceful protest.

The party said that extremist and militant organisations with alleged ties to Pakistan had taken advantage of the situation to incite chaos, particularly in Dhaka.

The party cited, “Intelligence sources indicated that these groups planned coordinated attacks and arson on key national installations, government buildings, and offices. Attacks on key infrastructure points (KIPs), jailbreaks, assassinations, and the extraction of high-profile terrorists from custody planned — and eventually, many of these events did occur. These extremist and terrorist groups essentially declared war on the state, attempting to endanger the sovereignty of Bangladesh. The BBC report completely ignores these realities.”

Police under attack; Key facts omitted by BBC

Highlighting the severity of the unrest, the Awami League stated that in July and August, attackers targeted police personnel, over 450 police stations targeted, weapons looted, and several deaths reported.

The party noted that the BBC deliberately left out these key developments from its coverage.

The party also dismissed claims that Sheikh Hasina personally instigated violence, pointing out that protests persisted after she left the country, rendering such allegations ‘illogical’.

“In one of BBC Bangla’s own video reports, a leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir — an internationally designated terrorist organisation — admitted that they had infiltrated the protests in the guise of general students. This supports Sheikh Hasina’s assertion that terrorist groups were involved in the violence. Yet this fact is absent in the new report,” the party said.

In its concluding remarks, the Awami League accused the BBC of deliberately selecting a fabricated clip and presenting a one-sided account that violates the standards of independent journalism.

“The illegitimate, fascist regime of Yunus has deliberately prepared this narrative as a weapon to serve its political interests. We had hoped that a globally respected institution like the BBC would not fall into the trap set by such malicious forces. Sadly, this is not the case,” the statement concluded.

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