Asylum-seeker uses French soil for jihadist recruitment
By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
An asylum-seeker has been using French soil for years for jihadist recruitment and spreading venom against Israel, Jews, India and Hindus and openly proclaiming solidarity with Palestinian mega-terror outfit Hamas.
On November 26, 2022 a neo-Muslim named Pinaki Bhattacharya, who has been a prime mouthpiece of Al Qaeda connected ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) through a Facebook post said, “Jihad is the only way [to] eliminate Israel from the map of the world. All my fans and followers should join the cause”. Although according to French law, jihadist recruitment is a punishable crime, no action has been taken against this individual. In 2014, France drafted a law aimed at stopping aspiring jihadists from travelling, which includes a ban on foreign travel for up to six months for individuals suspected of radicalization and gives the authorities the power to confiscate and invalidate their passports temporarily.
Pinaki Bhattacharya has 670k followers in his Facebook page. In addition to Facebook, Pinaki Bhattacharya has 55.2k followers on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) and an YouTube channel with 1.64 million subscribers. He has been using all of the social media and video-sharing platforms in spreading propaganda against Israel, Jews, India and Hindus and giving instigation to communal riot and jihad.
In a video content released on April 24, notoriously anti-Hindu, anti-Bharat and anti-Semite Pinaki Bhattacharya has said, “in South Asia, Bharat has become a hated nation” and termed Bharatiya Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “butcher”. He termed mega-terror outfit Hamas kingpin Ismail Heniyeh as “respected Ismail Heniyeh” and openly expressed solidarity towards Hamas and its atrocities.
YouTube faces increasing pressure to take action against Pinaki Bhattacharya, an individual accused of spreading hatred and violent extremism against India and Hindus. With over 1.6 million subscribers, Bhattacharya has utilized the platform to disseminate propaganda, incite violence, and target large business houses.
YouTube’s community standards explicitly prohibit harassment, cyberbullying, harmful content, and hate speech. However, Bhattacharya’s continued presence on the platform raises questions about the effectiveness of YouTube’s moderation policies and enforcement mechanisms.
Just a few years ago, Pinaki Bhattacharya found himself estranged from his family after he decided to renounce Hinduism and embrace Islam, influenced by Tablighi Jamaat. Pinaki Bhattacharya was born in 1967 in Jaleshory Tola, Bogra District of Bangladesh. His father’s name is Shaymol Bhattacharya, who was a school teacher at Bagura Zila School and also a Cultural Organizer. Pinaki is the elder son of Shaymol Bhattacharya, and his mother’s name is Shukrity Bhattacharya. He has a brother named Avro Bhattacharya and a sister named Lopa Mudra Bhattacharya. From 1985 to 1992, Pinaki attended Rajshahi Medical College.
His father, Shyamal Bhattacharya, a respected school teacher, writer, and drama actor, was deeply disheartened by his son’s religious conversion. Their relationship soured to the point where Shyamal, in a fit of anger, disowned Pinaki, cutting off all communication. Pinaki, graduated from Rajshahi Medical College in 1992, an institution with a reputation for being associated with Jamaat-e-Islami activities.
Upon learning of Pinaki’s affiliations with ISI and his ties to Islamists, jihadists, and terrorists, his wife, also a physician, distanced herself from him. While residing in Bangladesh, Pinaki, under the guise of producing life-saving drugs in his pharmaceutical factory, engaged in illicit activities, manufacturing counterfeit medicine and ‘Yaba’ tablets-a potent mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine-which were distributed through criminal networks. As law enforcement agencies began to close in on his illegal operations, Pinaki fled Bangladesh and sought asylum in France, falsely claiming to be a “political victim” of the Awami League government.
In France, Pinaki holds two occupations: he operates an illegal hawala business and manages social media accounts, including a YouTube channel with nearly two million subscribers. The majority of his YouTube audience comprises semi-educated and uneducated individuals from Bangladesh and West Bengal, along with significant viewership from Bangladeshi labourers in various countries such as Malaysia and the Middle East.
Through his YouTube channel, Pinaki Bhattacharya, allegedly associated with the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), disseminates venomous content and propagates vile messages. He targets Bharat (India), Hindu dharma, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and opposes anti-Islamist and anti-jihadist movements within India and Bangladesh.
In one of his recent videos, which amassed almost 900,000 views within five days, Pinaki Bhattacharya likened Hindutva to Zionism and voiced apprehensions regarding India’s increasing global influence.
Pinaki has garnered popularity among radical Muslims and individuals belonging to the anti-India and anti-Hindu factions in Bangladesh and Pakistan due to his jihadist and anti-Bharat publications. He has allegedly encouraged Bangladeshi Muslims to participate in jihad against Hindus and join jihadist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Additionally, he has been reported to praise Hamas for their actions, including attacks on Israelis and instances of violence including sexual violence against Israeli and Jewish girls and women.
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