Rokeya Collective, a news outlet focused on women’s rights, published a report on October 25 titled “From Jim Jones to Pinaki: The Algorithm of Allegiance.”

The report examined the December 18, 2025, attacks on the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.

The report, written by the journalist Nazia Afrin, claimed: “According to The Daily Star’s analysis, after the attack on Prothom Alo, Pinaki Bhattacharya posted at 12:20 a.m., calling on everyone to head toward The Daily Star.”

But a review by The Dissent found that Rokeya Collective’s claim was false.

The person who posted at 12:20 a.m., calling on people to head to The Daily Star after the attack on Prothom Alo, was not Pinaki Bhattacharya. It was Elias Hossain, another Bangladeshi YouTuber and activist living abroad.

The Daily Star analysis cited by Rokeya Collective also attributed that call to Elias Hossain, not Pinaki Bhattacharya.

Before the attacks on The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, however, both Bhattacharya and Hossain, two influencers living abroad, had long campaigned against the newspapers. In March 2025, a ziyafat, or communal feast, was organized outside Prothom Alo’s office, with Bhattacharya campaigning in support of the event. No violence occurred there at the time.

What The Daily Star and Dismislab’s Analysis Said

On February 24, 2026, The Daily Star and the fact-checking organization Dismislab published a joint report analyzing inflammatory posts and the sequence of events surrounding the attacks on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.

The joint report by Dismislab and The Daily Star stated: “Fifteen minutes after the attack on Prothom Alo began, the U.S.-based Bangladeshi influencer Elias Hossain made the first direct call for violence that night. At midnight, he wrote on Facebook: ‘Everyone, come to Prothom Alo. Half the work is done. You finish the rest.’ The post drew nearly 77,000 reactions in just one hour.

“Five minutes later, Hossain, a former journalist, published another post. He wrote: ‘Not a single brick of Prothom Alo should remain.’

“At the same time, the mob at the scene set Prothom Alo on fire.

“Five minutes later, he wrote in another post: ‘If the army comes in front of their office to save Prothom Alo, please give them a fitting response.’ This post received more reactions than any of his preceding posts.

“At 12:20 a.m. on December 19, he posted: ‘Prothom Alo done. Come over to The Daily Star.’

“Within four minutes of that post, Daily Star employees headed downstairs to leave the building. But a mob had already gathered and was throwing bricks and stones at the building. The employees quickly went back upstairs and took refuge on the roof. They remained trapped amid heavy smoke until 4 a.m.”

The same report, published by The Daily Star, stated: “Pinaki Bhattacharya is a Bangladeshi citizen and social media influencer. He currently lives in France and has 3.1 million Facebook followers. He is not an administrator of that group. Nor did he publish any inflammatory posts during the violence. He has, however, long positioned himself as a fierce critic of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, describing both newspapers as pro-India.”

Read the report here:

The Dissent found no posts on Bhattacharya’s profile directly calling for attacks on the offices of Prothom Alo or The Daily Star before or during the violence.

At 12:12 a.m., while the attacks were underway, Bhattacharya wrote in a Facebook post: “We will not allow fascist strongholds to remain in Bangladesh.”

Five minutes later, at 12:17 a.m., he wrote in another post: “Turn grief into strength. Be patient; do not destroy. Stay calm. Hadi’s body has not yet arrived in the country. People across the country are grieving. We will not allow fascist strongholds to remain in Bangladesh — this is a long political struggle. Prepare for a long political struggle toward victory. That will be the highest tribute to Hadi.
“Long live the revolution.”

At 12:53 a.m., in a video message, he urged people to help the army rescue journalists trapped inside The Daily Star. He wrote: “Many journalists are trapped inside The Daily Star building. Let the army rescue everyone. Everyone, stay calm. Refrain from all reckless actions. Our political struggle is a long one.”

At 1:11 a.m., he wrote in another Facebook post: “The Delhi Star is our ideological enemy. Our ideological fight against these rumor factories will continue. But attacking the building and the journalists working there is reckless. The journalist Zyma Islam is trapped inside. I ask everyone to help ensure that she is rescued quickly.”

At 1:34 a.m. on December 19, he published another post asking everyone to remain calm.

Rokeya Collective is a new media outlet focused on women’s rights. Its chair, Sheikh Sabiha Alam, is currently the Dhaka bureau chief of the international news agency Agence France-Presse.