Fakhrul dismisses Ei Samay interview as ‘AI-generated’

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday dismissed as "fake and fabricated" an interview published by Kolkata-based Indian news outlet Ei Samay, which attributed remarks to him.

"That news is fake. They [Ei Samay] used artificial intelligence to create this false and misleading report," Fakhrul told UNB over the phone from the US.

Fakhrul, who is accompanying Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the report was "completely imaginary."

He stressed that no political leader could make such "absurd" comments as quoted in the article. "It is intentional. I never gave any interview to Ei Samay of Kolkata," he said.

On its website, the Kolkata-based outlet on Monday carried a report headlined, "Why is India putting BNP and Jamaat in the same bracket? asks Mirza", claiming that its correspondent had recently interviewed Fakhrul in Dhaka.

The interview has touched off debate across social media and drawn sharp criticism from Jamaat-e-Islami.

It quoted Fakhrul as saying that Jamaat had sought 30 seats from the BNP for the upcoming national election, but the BNP showed "little interest."

The report further cited him as saying, "We offered a much smaller number, which they found unacceptable. I assure you: we will not allow Jamaat to overstep its bounds. We've unnecessarily given them more priority than they deserve as a political force."

In a statement issued yesterday, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said, "It is difficult for us to believe that such completely false, disrespectful, and vengeful comments have been made by a senior politician like Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. The comments could not be further from the truth and lack decency. If these comments are indeed his, then we are forced to protest and condemn them."

On BNP's official Facebook page, the party reiterated Fakhrul's denial, "The remarks attributed to him in the interview published in the Indian newspaper Ei Samay were never made by him."

Meanwhile, Ei Samay posted two photocards on its verified Facebook page, captioned, "At the Gulshan office of Khaleda Zia, chairperson of BNP, the largest political party in Bangladesh at this moment. Anamitra Chatterjee with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on the 4th of this month."