How Pakistan’s military-ISI nexus is waging psychological war against Bangladesh

Analysis

By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury 

Too many disturbing developments are unfolding beneath the surface or media’s attention about renewed attempts of Pakistan military establishment and its notorious spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) with the evil target of consolidating influence in Bangladesh, following last year’s Jihadist Coup, where US Deep State most definitely had used Pakistan, a country that publicly admitted of carrying out “dirty work” for Washington, London and other Western capitals. According to media reports, Islamabad is forming ‘National Armed Reserve’ or NAR comprising over 8,000 radicalized youth of Bangladesh, under the commandership of a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, with the aim to control the country by imposing Sharia law and turn Bangladesh’s next elected government totally submissive to Pakistan’s military establishment – more precisely, its Army Chief Asim Munir.

Meanwhile, hardly five decades after Bangladesh emerged from the blood-soaked carcasses of Pakistan’s colonial domination, elements within Islamabad appear intent on reopening a chapter of history decisively closed in 1971. What began as covert influence operations has now assumed the contours of sustained psychological warfare - conducted through disinformation campaigns, manipulated social media narratives, and overt political signaling. Within this evolving South Asian security environment, Pakistan’s military establishment and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are once again testing the resilience of Bangladesh’s sovereignty, with implications that extend far beyond Dhaka’s domestic politics.

Following last year’s Jihadist Coup, Pakistan - through its military establishment, including the ISI - has increasingly attempted to challenge the sovereignty of Bangladesh by promoting its dangerous daydream of reclaiming the country and dragging it back under Islamabad’s grip.

On December 24, 2025, a post appeared on Meta (formerly Facebook) from a page calling itself “The Times”, claiming: “Bangladesh considers changing national flag, anthem amid political shifts”. The post was accompanied by a grotesquely distorted image of Bangladesh’s national flag under the caption: “Bangladesh is considering changing its flag by adding a crescent and a star”.

This Meta page, created on July 7, 2024 - just days before the ouster of Sheikh Hasina - currently has over 288,000 followers (Page ID: 348707104997881). Notably, the page lists a Pakistani phone number, +92 317 3397895, used by one of its administrators. Although Meta has “confirmed” a link - timesnew.pk - as belonging to this so-called outlet, no legitimate publication named The Times exists in Pakistan under this domain. Instead, the verified link redirects users to an Instagram account with more than 88,000 followers.

A closer examination of both the Meta page and the associated Instagram account clearly reveals that these platforms function as propaganda instruments of Pakistan’s military establishment and ISI, rather than as any credible journalistic entity.

Meanwhile, Pakistani politicians, Islamist figures, and even jihadist sympathizers have escalated their rhetoric, brazenly behaving as though Bangladesh has already been “re-absorbed” into Pakistan or reduced to a mythical “East Pakistan”. In one particularly disturbing instance, Kamran Sayeed Usmani, a leader of the youth wing of Pakistan’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N), issued a video threat warning India that any attack on Bangladesh would provoke a Pakistani missile response.

In the video, Usmani positioned Bangladesh’s national flag beside Pakistan’s - a symbolic act that amounts to a direct denial of Bangladesh’s sovereignty. This is an insult to a nation born through the sacrifice of three million martyrs and the violation of five to six hundred thousand women during Pakistan’s genocidal campaign in 1971.

Shockingly, authorities in Dhaka maintained a disturbing silence over this provocation. No official protest, condemnation, or diplomatic response was issued - an omission that risks emboldening hostile actors who openly question Bangladesh’s independence.

Some apologists continue to argue, almost defensively, that Bangladeshi authorities have yet to present “concrete evidence” of foreign agency involvement. This stance remains untenable, especially when international human rights organizations and the United Nations have repeatedly urged impartial investigations - not geopolitical evasion or willful blindness.

Meanwhile, following the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, one of the key figures behind last year’s Jihadist Coup and pro-Pakistan notoriety, an obscure website named ‘Times of Islamabad’ published a propaganda on December 22, 2025, stating India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) had a “confirmed role” in Hadi’s assassination. This propaganda piece by relying on innuendo, made allegations stating that the suspected killers of Hadi fled to India.

Any sensible individual will easily understand, what Times of Islamabad has attempted is part of Pakistan’s old habit of spreading lies in a well-orchestrated manner.

According to my own research, Times of Islamabad, which claims to be operated by Makhdoom Balqees Bashir and Shahid Imran from an office in DHA Phase-8, Lahore, is neither recognized or indexed by Google News nor staffed by identifiable journalists. Despite its claims of “10 million monthly viewers”, its actual readership even struggles to cross 200,000 visits per month.

While the website boasts of a global audience, its social media reach is artificially inflated through direct patronage from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the ISI. The organization operates under the corporate name Islamabad Times (Pvt) Limited, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under Corporate Universal Identification No. 0099198 - a convenient legal façade for what is essentially a military-sponsored propaganda operation.

Most tellingly, this so-called media outlet has no visible newsroom, no reporters, and no editorial staff. It exists solely as a digital weapon, deployed to manipulate narratives, distort facts, and inject anti-India and anti-Hindu venom into Bangladesh’s information space.

From fabricated social media pages masquerading as international newspapers to reckless threats issued by Pakistani political operatives, the pattern is unmistakable. Pakistan’s military-ISI complex is no longer operating in the shadows - it is openly waging a psychological and ideological assault on Bangladesh’s sovereignty. These actions are not isolated incidents; they are coordinated attempts to normalize the idea that Bangladesh’s independence is negotiable, reversible, or disposable.

As a Bangladeshi journalist who has documented Pakistan’s ideological interference in South Asia for decades, I find this renewed audacity not only alarming but deeply insulting to our nation’s hard-won sovereignty.

If Dhaka continues to respond with silence, this silence will be interpreted as weakness. Policy circles in Dhaka should not dismiss such provocations as “online noise”, as history teaches us that Pakistan’s hostility toward Bangladesh never begins with tanks or fighter jets – it begins with narrative and well-orchestrated propaganda. We must not forget; Bangladesh was born through resistance against Pakistani tyranny. Any attempt - covert or overt - to resurrect Islamabad’s toxic influence must be confronted decisively. The blood of 1971 demands vigilance, not amnesia or intellectual lathyrism.  

While Bangladesh’s independence was neither accidental nor negotiable, the country’s sovereignty is certainly non-negotiable. Independence of Bangladesh was secured through resistance, sacrifice, and an unwavering rejection of Pakistani domination. If provocations rooted in disinformation and ideological hostility continue to be dismissed as unimportant, they will only grow bolder and more threatening. History offers a clear lesson: Pakistan’s hostility toward Bangladesh has never begun with tanks or troops, but with narratives designed to weaken resolve and distort truth. Safeguarding sovereignty today, therefore, demands vigilance not only at borders, but within the information space itself - where the first battles of tomorrow are already being fought.  

Disclaimer: This paper is the author's individual scholastic contribution and does not necessarily reflect the organization's viewpoint.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an award-winning journalist, writer, and Editor of the newspaper Blitz. He specializes in counterterrorism and regional geopolitics.