NEW DELHI, Sept 26: Nobel laureate and chief adviser to the interim Bangladesh government Muhammad Yunus has accepted that the ouster of the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was a planned operation by the students. There was “design and conspiracy” involved in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, he said.
Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting, where he was welcomed by former US President Bill Clinton and incumbent President Joe Biden, Yunus paid tribute to Bangladeshi student leaders. “They are the ones creating the new version of Bangladesh—let’s wish them every success,” he said.
During his speech, Yunus said “no one could make out” who was behind the protests but also named “Mahfuj Abdullah,” indicating that he played a role in Hasina’s ouster from the country. He stressed that this was meticulously designed and did not happen by chance.
The 84-year-old economist was appointed as the country’s “chief advisor” in August following the bloody, student-led movement that ousted Hasina, who has since fled the country. There are concerns that the student protests may have been hijacked by external forces.
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing turmoil in the country, Biden has offered support as Bangladesh implements its new reform agenda. The US-Bangladesh relationship “is rooted in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties,” the White House stated.
This reaffirmation of strong ties between the US and Bangladesh comes in light of earlier media reports which suggested that an “invisible hand” played a role in the removal of Sheikh Hasina, following deadly protests demanding reform to a jobs reservation system.
Top intelligence sources had said the event was an ‘official introduction at the world stage’ for the Nobel laureate. “Yunus and his association with the US is well-known,” the official had said.
During the Clinton Global Initiative’s event, Clinton said, “A few people on this planet have done as much (as Yunus) to change the lives of ordinary people who would never have had access to credit.” Clinton and Yunus’ friendship dates back to the 1980s, when Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, invited Yunus to visit and share his approach to alleviating poverty through small loans, which had successfully empowered impoverished Bangladeshi women without access to traditional banking services.
Yunus, in turn, thanked Clinton for believing in him in his early days, and for standing by him despite criticism at the time for promoting a Bangladeshi economist’s ideas in America. The sources also reminded that Hasina in an interview accepted that a certain nation wanted her removed because she did not want to deal with them on a port issue.
In an earlier interview, Hasina had claimed that she was approached by a ‘white man’ who offered to build an airbase in return for a smooth re-election in the 2024 general elections which was boycotted by the opposition parties. She had warned that “conspiracies are still on” to carve a new country out of Bangladesh, like East Timor. The Awami League supremo also added that the ‘white man’ was also targeting several other nations with his offers.
(Manas Dasgupta)