Former religious affairs adviser Dr AFM Khalid Hossain has said that disinformation harms people of every nation and faith. Islam in particular is being targeted by a deliberate disinformation campaign, he said, and people from all walks of life are its victims. Even former chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has not been spared such propaganda.
He was speaking as chief guest at a national seerah seminar titled “The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) contribution to rooting out information terrorism and our duties”, held at 3pm on Sunday, 8 November, in the Abdus Salam Hall of the National Press Club. The seminar was organised by the Chinta Bhabna Foundation with the support of the Institute of Professional Development and Research (IPDR).
Professor Dr AKM Abdul Kader of the University of Chittagong presented the keynote paper. He set out the information ethics shown by the Prophet: truthfulness, responsibility and the importance of verification.
Calling for national unity against disinformation, Dr Khalid Hossain said everyone must work together against it, above party, opinion and political ideology. Everyone must stay alert so that false information and propaganda can never push a nation or a society towards ruin, he said. Internationally, too, disinformation is having a severe negative effect on people’s lives and on society.
He added that it is essential to follow the guidance of the Holy Quran and of the Prophet when spreading information and speaking. No information should ever be spread without being checked. Disinformation cannot be uprooted by technical controls alone, he said; it needs an information culture grounded in taqwa, or God-consciousness. If every person weighed the truth of a piece of information and the harm it could do before passing it on, propaganda would fall sharply at the level of both state and society.
The seminar was chaired by Dr AIM Nesar Uddin, chairman of the Chinta Bhabna Foundation. Dr Md Shamsul Alam, former vice-chancellor of the Islamic Arabic University and a professor at the University of Dhaka, attended as guest of honour. Professor Dr Hedayet Ullah, former curriculum specialist at the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board, spoke as the main discussant.
Also present were Dr Moazzem Hossain, chairman of the Institute of Professional Development and Research; Nurul Islam, managing director of Bangla Satellite City; M Yusuf, managing director of Marvelous Group; and Dr Dewan MA Sajjad, vice-chancellor of USET University.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report