Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser’s Office has dismissed as “completely false and imaginary” Indian media reports claiming that Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus presented a flag featuring an altered map of Bangladesh incorporating parts of India to a top Pakistani military official.
In a statement Monday evening, the Chief Adviser’s press wing said Yunus had in fact presented The Art of Triumph, a graffiti book documenting Bangladesh’s July mass uprising, to General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
“The Chief Adviser presented to the Pakistani general The Art of Triumph, a collection of colorful graffiti drawings painted by students on walls across the country, including Dhaka, during the July uprising,” the statement said. The book was published by the July Memorial Foundation and serves as an illustrated record of the movement “achieved through the sacrifice of students and the public.”
Addressing the controversy over the cover design, the office clarified that it depicts a blood-red graffiti map of Bangladesh behind martyr Abu Sayed, a student killed during the protests. While the map’s proportions appear stylized, the office said, “claiming that any part of India’s northeastern region is included in the graffiti map is completely false and imaginary.”
A comparative analysis found the graffiti image “almost exactly reflects the real map of Bangladesh,” the statement added.
The collection has also been presented to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, former U.S. President Joe Biden, and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to the press wing.
The Chief Adviser’s Office urged media outlets to fact-check sensitive geopolitical content before publication to avoid spreading misinformation.