Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Political Assistant, Md Rashed Khan, on Saturday torn up a copy of major Bengali newspaper Amar Desh in a video shared on his Facebook account, protesting two recent lead stories published about him by the daily.

In the video, Rashed is seen ripping the newspaper while expressing anger over what he described as attempts to tarnish his reputation through its coverage.

The latest report, published on Saturday, October 31, carried the headline, “Hasina's son Joy and some neo-BNP members have united”. The newspaper had also published another lead story on October 15 under the headline, “What are the Prime Minister's advisers and assistants doing?”, which included remarks about Rashed Khan.

In his video statement, Rashed Khan alleged that the October 15 report had deliberately targeted him, despite devoting only a few lines to his activities. He also criticised the latest headline, saying it attempted to associate him with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, despite his joining the BNP.

Rashed Khan suggested that Amar Desh's coverage was linked to his recent allegations against Jamaat-e-Islami. He has claimed that the party's Nayeb-e-Ameer Mia Golam Porwar held a meeting with a senior Indian intelligence official and challenged Jamaat to investigate the matter.

He said he had offered to share evidence with a party-appointed investigation committee or directly with Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman. He also said Jamaat could file a defamation case against him if it could establish that his allegations were false.

Expressing disappointment with Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman, he said he had previously held the editor in high regard because of his own experiences of persecution under the Awami League regime.