Netra News, a dubious organization funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has been making frantic bids in misguiding the US policymakers through its orchestrated propaganda against Bangladesh, ruling Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Although according to statistics on the alexa.com web-ranking site, Netra News has a very meagre readership, members of this organization are actively involved in publishing misinformation and disinformation on Bangladesh, while they also are privately sending concocted information to the members of the US Congress, Senate and other key policymakers in the Capitol Hill. Their target is to somehow bring pro-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) into power in 2023 and empower pro-jihadist Jamaat-e-Islami and other radical Islamic forces in the country. Individuals behind Netra News, particularly Tasneem Khalil and David Bergman played key-role behind Qatar-based terror broadcast network Al Jazeera’s false reports on Bangladesh, while they also are working as cohorts of a convicted fugitive named Shahid Uddin Khan. According to media reports, Khan is wanted by Interpol and also being known as one of the main affiliates of notorious Dawood Ibrahim.
It may be stated here that, Shahid Uddin Khan, one of the key accomplices of Tasneem Khalil and David Bergman of Netra News fled Bangladesh amid series of charges of fraud, land grabbing, terror-financing, money laundering and other forms of criminal activities.
Shahid Uddin Khan (Army No: BA002428, Course: 8-BMA, Commission Date: 10-06-1983) and his wife and daughters entered Britain with millions of dirty cash.
According to credible sources, in 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan invested millions of pounds in the United Kingdom in exchange of obtaining immigrant status under Visa Tier 1, vide VAF No. 511702. The family had laundered an unknown amount of money and brought that into the United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates and few more countries, while Shahid Uddin Khan had invested over 18 million pounds for buying citizenship under Britain’s scandalous ‘Golden Visa’ scheme.
A sacked military officer Shahid Uddin Khan, his wife and daughters are on run while they have already been convicted by several courts in Bangladesh. Shahid and his wife also face rigorous life-term imprisonment for their direct involvement in funding Islamic State and other jihadist outfits.
On January 17, 2019, Dhaka residence of Md. Shahid Uddin Khan was raided by the members of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Bangladesh Police. During the raid, CTTC team found illegal weapons, ammunition, IED making materials, counterfeit Bangladeshi and Indian currency bills and jihadist propaganda materials as well as documents about Shahid’s money laundering and terror financing.
According to media reports, four months before the Sri Lanka attacks, ISIS funder Md. Shahid Uddin Khan had sent large amount of money to his Colombo-based jihadist contact via Dubai. Khan has been living in the United Kingdom for last few years along with his family. Sitting in Britain, Khans are continuing various forms of jihadist activities. Recently he has established an organization named ‘Astha’ which aims at unseating democratically elected governments in the world and replace those with Caliphate. By now, Md. Shahid Uddin Khan already has expanded his activities in Sweden and the United States through two of his cohorts.
According to documents available with various intelligence agencies in Bangladesh, Md. Shahid Uddin Khan hails from a radical Muslim family while his wife Farjana Anjum too hails from a similar family background. This couple’s daughters though are living and being educated in Britain are notoriously radicalized and are working as lone wolves. They have been targeting various individuals and trying to convert them into Islam.
In January 2019, Md. Shahid Uddin Khan used illegal channel in transferring an amount equivalent to ninety-two thousand dollars. This amount went from Dubai to Colombo. It may be mentioned here that, in 2018 this newspaper published several reports exposing a secret conspiracy by a conglomerate of several jihadist outfits of staging terrorist attacks in a number of South Asian nations.
It is even alleged that, terror-financer Shahid Uddin Khan has been contacting Al Qaeda as well as Islamic State with the offer of funding terrorist and suicide attacks inside Bangladesh.
Shahid Uddin Khan was first accorded media exposure by Tasneem Khalil of Netra News through Facebook LIVE. Later Khan established contact with Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s leader Tarique Rahman. It may be mentioned here that, Tarique Rahman is facing multiple convictions in Bangladeshi court and has been living in Britain on asylum, wherefrom he has been continuing anti-Bangladesh and pro-militancy activities.
Couple of years ago, Tarique Rahman established contacts with members of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a militancy outfit with the help of Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s fugitive leader Mahmudur Rahman.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party has also been maintaining connections with pro-Caliphate Hefazat-e-Islam since 2013 and was also plotting Iran-type Islamic revolution in Bangladesh.
According to media reports, while Tarique Rahman has been getting finance from Pakistani spy agency ISI for many years, his party comrade Mahmudur Rahman is under direct patronization of Turkish rule Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With Erdogan’s funds, Mahmudur Rahman has launched a Bangla online portal named ‘Amar Desh’ from London, which has been working as the mouthpiece of radical Islam and militancy.
Main agenda of Netra News is to feed false information to the US Congress, Senate and other offices in Washington DC about Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Awami League, with the nefarious agenda of helping pro-Islamist party such as Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), pro-jihadist Jamaat-e-Islami, pro-Caliphate Hezafat-e-Islam and other anti-West, anti-India and anti-Hindu parties in power. Additionally, Netra News cronies are maintaining constant communications with Al Jazeera and other dubious media networks with the agenda of using those platforms against Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Awami League.
End of PART-2. Next part: US funded Netra News turns into vessel of propaganda against Bangladesh
