Dhaka, Nov. 8 -- Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has alleged that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has branded millions who took part in or supported the July Revolution as "terrorists" and "Islamist extremists."

"In effect, she is identifying nearly 180 million Bangladeshis as extremists," Shafiqul wrote on his verified Facebook account on Saturday night, according to local media reports.

He compared Hasina's remarks to a 1973 Weekly Holiday article titled "65 Million Collaborators," in which editor Enayetullah Khan criticised Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's government for portraying a large section of citizens as "traitors."

"Half a century later, history is repeating itself," Shafiqul wrote, noting that Hasina made her comm...