Indian media outlets report about Greater Bangladesh Map is fake: BanglaFact

Indian media outlets report about Greater Bangladesh Map is fake: BanglaFact

21 May, 2025 : BanglaFact, fact-checking and media research team of the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), has uncovered a false propaganda campaign in Indian media outlets regarding a fabricated Greater Bangladesh Map. According to BanglaFacts investigation, several Indian media outlets, including The Economic Times, published baseless reports claiming a Türkiye-based NGO was promoting a Greater Bangladesh Map incorporating parts of India and Myanmar. Indian news reports claimed that an Islamist organization named Sultanat-e-Bangla was behind the campaign of Greater Bangladesh concept. However, BanglaFact found no evidence of such an organization operating in Bangladesh. The investigation revealed that the confusion stemmed from a misinterpretation of a historical exhibition by the Center for Bengal Studies (CBS), a local research group. On Pohela Boishakh (April 14), CBS organized an exhibition titled Bhalo Kare Halkhata at Dhaka Universitys Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), displaying a historical map of the Bengal Sultanate, not a Greater Bangladesh map. CBS clarified that it has no links to any foreign NGO or political entity and condemned the Indian medias distortion of facts. BanglaFact noted that this appears to be a politically motivated disinformation campaign and could be linked to Indias internal politics and ongoing discussions about illegal push-ins into Bangladesh. The fact-checking team has been reporting a surge in fake news targeting Bangladesh from Indian sources, with 296 instances of misinformation identified in April alone.