The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly denied the authenticity of two documents allegedly leaked from its system and posted online containing sensational revelations about possible deployment of Indian troops in the besieged border district of Satkhira.
A pair of leaked documents – one fax and one email – seemingly containing correspondence between high officials of MOFA based in Dhaka and the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi were submitted anonymously online on Tuesday, and quickly went viral over social media networks in the next 24 hours.
Talking to UNB on Wednesday, Shamim Ahsan, director-general (external publicity) of the ministry poured scorn over the documents, categorically stating they were “photoshopped”.
“In this day and age, almost anything can be photoshopped to resemble what one wants,” the DG said, when his attention was drawn to handwriting and signatures that appear on the documents.
The leaked 2-page fax, provided it is genuine, is dated November 6, 2013 and addressed to the political counsellor of the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi. Although his name isn’t mentioned anywhere, Shah Ahmed Shafi currently serves in that post, as he was at the time of correspondence.
Rather ominously, the subject line of the fax reads “Military Aid from India and Deployment at Satkhira”.
The fax was sent by Toufiq Islam Shatil, a senior assistant secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of East Asia and the Pacific.
Copies of the fax were also addressed to Brig. General Noor Md. Noor Islam, defence advisor at the Bangladesh HC in Delhi, and Sujit Ghosh, political and information counsellor at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
The body of the fax refers to a letter received from Brig. General Noor Md. Noor Islam, presumably seeking information on “04 points” from the PMO’s office via MOFA.
From the accompanying allegedly leaked email, which is from Toufiq Islam Shatil to Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque with the draft of the fax attached for vetting purposes, we learn that the fax has been drafted on the basis of advice received from the PMO – specifically, from the prime minister’s defence adviser, Major General (retd) Tarek Siddique.
The first of the four points on which the PM’s adviser has provided information concerns “personnel”. It seems the deployment would consist of the Indian Army’s 33rd Corps West Bengal, consisting of the 17th, 20th, and 27th Mountain Division.
Four different categories are listed for the nature of the deployment – Rapid, Armoured, Artillery, and Signal & Engineering. However, at the time the fax was sent, only the first, Rapid, is confirmed, while the rest are marked TBC (To be confirmed).
According to the fax, the number of personnel to be deployed is to be agreed with the Jessore GOC of the Bangladesh Army.
The second point concerns “Transfer and Infiltration Channels”. This is said to mean how the Indian troops would enter Bangladesh to take part in the operation. From the fax, it is made clear that the Indian troops would travel from Ghojadanga BSF camp in Basirhat in India, just across the border from Satkhira, to the Bhomra BGB camp that is in Satkhira. Infiltration would take place through the Kakdanga and Toloigaccha points of the border in the region.
The third of the four points is to do with Reporting & Local Intelligence. Most likely denoting the hubs for intelligence gathering and reporting /recording of the what is achieved during the course of the deployment, it lists the Ashashuni and Satkhira Sadar police stations as the two principal centres for this purpose, with Jessore Cantonment listed as an extra option.
The fourth point specifies the “Areas of Engagement” for the Indian troop deployment. Listen within are five out of the seven upazillas that make up Satkhira – Shyamnagar, Debhata, Ashashuni, Kalaroa and Satkhira Sadar.
Thereafter, Toufiq Islam Shatil signs off by saying “Your mission is requested to give this matter high severity attention, review this with the appropriate authorities and return a response to us no later than 15/11/2013.”
The copy that has been uploaded onto the internet is clearly – or at least purports to be, given its disputed authenticity – after it was received in Delhi – at 11.46am on November 7, the day after it was sent from Dhaka. The Government of Bangladesh’s seal has been stamped on both pages of the fax, most likely in Delhi, although the signature on it is not legible.
Two other signatures appear on the faxes to give some clue as to who had access to it. One, that appears on both pages, is difficult to make out, but might be Ahmed Shafi’s. The other clearly purports to be Noor Islam’s, as it is put beside his handwritten name.
UNB also spoke to Hasan Abdullah Towhid, an assistant secretary in the East Asia and Pacific Wing, whose name also appears in the email – his role seemingly have been to draft the fax based on PMO advice for his senior officer, Toufiq Islam. He too was adamant that the documents doing the rounds were “fake”.
“You can make this out clearly from the seal, which looks like a drawing. Besides, the East Asia and Pacific Wing would have nothing to do with matters relating to India – that is looked after by the South Asia Wing,” Towhid said.
For almost a month now, joint forces comprising the Bangladesh military, RAB and police have been carrying out a combing operation in Satkhira, a stronghold of Jamaat-e-Islami activists involved in terrorist activity according to the government.
-UNB
