Muhammad Yunus, who has led Bangladesh into severe turmoil and Islamisation, appears to be falling out of favour with a certain political class and a section of his own people.
Yunus is not just gradually losing ground in Bangladesh, but across the globe as well. There is no major country that is offering him any support, and very soon, he would be pushed into isolation. While the current Biden administration has rapped him for not doing enough for the minorities, the next president, Donald Trump, has already made his views clear on the issue.
Base eroding
Although small, a section of the youth in Bangladesh is now standing up to the atrocities of the Yunus regime. The scale of the retaliation may not be big, but in the near future it has the capacity to pose a risk to the Yunus regime.
It is becoming increasingly clear that a major coup in the form of a students’ protest was planned which eventually led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. Since the ouster and the installation of Yunus, may thought that the country would function normally. That has not happened, and outfits such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, which reports to Pakistan, have used this as an opportunity to spread terror in the country.
The small number of people who have decided to come out an oppose the atrocities are complaining about the number of violent incidents. Further the job market has gone haywire as Bangladesh has not only plunged into lawlessness, but also the economy is collapsing. This has irked several youths as it has hit their livelihood, and the hopes of finding a decent job are fading.
Further, there is also some amount of dissent among the cadres of the BNP who would have hoped that an election would be held earlier. Yunus has indicated that the elections are most likely to be held either late this year or early 2026. Many within the political circles feel that Yunus has not delivered on what he was expected. The longer he stays in office, the worse the situation will become. Any party which comes to power following the election will have its task cut out and also a humongous mess to clean up.
The democratically elected government would not only have to bring back law and order, but also fix the economy. The manner in which the events are folding, and Dhaka’s excessive proximity to Pakistan would only further isolate the country further on the International stage.
Not the statesman unlike what many thought
It would not be wrong to say that Muhammad Yunus may go down as one of the worst leaders Bangladesh has had. He pleases everyone, but nature has only led to the rise of violence, radicalisation and good relations with the rogue nation Pakistan, which follows terrorism as its national policy.
When Yunus was appointed as the caretaker of the interim government based on the demand made by the students, many in the country hoped that he would fix whatever was wrong there. Yunus, who prides himself as an economist, has instead pushed Bangladesh into one of its worst economic crises. Just to recall it only a couple of months back that the country was dubbed as one of the promising economies in the world.
The manner in which Yunus has conducted himself only shows that he has no mind of his own. He receives instructions from Islamabad, and his actions are a clear sign of this. Cases against the BNP and Jamaat cadres were immediately dropped upon him taking over. This has helped these two parties to run a vicious agenda against the Awami League, thus making sure that they would win the elections, which for now appears will be conducted in an unfair manner.
An interim government is meant to act in a neutral manner, but Yunus has done anything but that. On one hand, he has dropped cases against the Jammat and BNP cadres, while on the other, the Awami League leaders have been slapped with frivolous cases. This is unbecoming of an interim government.
Yunus fell into students’ trap
Yunus will always remain indebted to the students who protested and ensured the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. They even insisted that he head the interim government. However Yunus misread the situation and did not realise letting the students into administration is a bad idea. They are an emotive lot, and worse, they acted at the behest of extremist elements.
Yunus, instead of using his own mind, even went on to appoint two students as advisers, thinking that they would make a difference due to their youthful exuberance. Little did he realise that in a country which is facing such turmoil, the inexperience of these youth holds no benefit. In fact, his two student advisers have only turned out to be immature.
The agenda is only anti-Bharat
For now, Yunus’s main agenda is an anti-Bharat agenda. This was expected, considering he has let Pakistan rule his country as a proxy. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said that the attacks on Hindus and other minorities were carried out and orchestrated by radicalised anti-India religious groups. Yunus has done little or nothing to curb this.
The other problem is that Yunus looks at relations between Bangladesh and Bharat only under the lens of Sheikh Hasina. His interviews reek of an anti-Bharat stance, and that is unbecoming of a good neighbour.
Yunus is increasingly becoming ungrateful towards Bharat. New Delhi has taken several steps to better ties and the Indian High Commission still issues a significant number of visas to Bangladeshi nationals. Scores of Bangladeshi nationals continue to travel to Bharat to avail medical care and other needs. Yunus has been blind to all this, and his short-sighted style of governance will derail relations with New Delhi further.
Yunus is playing a dangerous game which would eventually cost his own country dear. There is already dissent brewing against him and his interim government. Many Bangladeshis are still indebted to Bharat for the Liberation War. They are also appreciative that Bharat has not closed its doors on them and allowed them to visit the country to avail medical care and other essential services. If Yunus continues in this fashion, the dissent within Bangladesh is only going to get louder, and it will only be a matter of time before the common man hits the streets demanding accountability.
