New York: Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Mohammad Yunus, ducked questions from Indian media at a New York hotel on Monday night. In a video shared by the news agency ANI, it was clearly visible that Yunus evaded questions from a group of Indian media who were in the United States to cover the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Yunus, 84, took oath as the head of the interim government on August 8, three days after Hasina resigned and fled to India following widespread protests against her government.
"Go back, Yunus"
Vociferous protestors chanted "Go Back" slogans against Yunus outside a hotel in New York where he is staying to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Protestors raised slogans against the chief of the interim government over the alleged attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. Sloganeers chanted, "Go back, Step down, Step down, Step down" and held up posters which said "Shiekh Hasina Our Prime Minister."
"Muhammad Yunus took the power unconstitutionally, illegally. He captured power with dirty politics and a lot of people have been killed. So far, our elected PM Sheikh Hasina has not resigned. We request UN humbly that he did not represent Bangladeshi people here," Sheikh Jamal Hussain, a protestor told ANI.
Another protestor, Dr Rahman said, "I am here to protest the illegal, unelected person representing 117 million people of Bangladesh...He is not elected, he has been appointed by students. He doesn't care about minorities or anybody...He has illegally occupied the country..."
Hindus attacked in Bangladesh
Bangladesh witnessed several incidents of violence and chaos, especially targeting minorities, including Hindus after its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee to India after student protests turned into a massive anti-government movement. Haseena resigned from her position on August 5. Later in interviews, Yunus accused New Delhi of exaggerating attacks on minority communities-- a claim which has been exposed multiple times on social media and Bangladeshi media.
In an interview with PTI at his official residence in Dhaka this month, Yunus said the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh are more political than communal. He suggested that the attacks were not communal, but a fallout of a political upheaval as there is a perception that most Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime.
“I have said this to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also that this is exaggerated. This issue has several dimensions. When the country went through an upheaval following the atrocities by (Sheikh) Hasina and the Awami League, those who were with them also faced attacks,” the Nobel laureate told PTI.
Why did PM Modi not meet Yunus in US?
It is worth mentioning PM Modi was on a three-day trip to the US, wherein he had a jampacked schedule-- from attending the QUAD Summit, the Indian diaspora event to the United Nations session. Earlier, it was speculated that PM Modi would meet Yunus on the sidelines of the event. However, foreign secretary Vikram Misri in a late-night press conference clarified that there were no meetings scheduled between the leaders of the two neighbouring nations.
He said the meeting was not scheduled due to the different arrival and departure timings of the leaders. "The Prime Minister is leaving in a few minutes from now. The Chief Advisor of Bangladesh is not here yet, so there hasn’t been any possibility of a meeting on this occasion," he said.
Jaishankar meets his Bangladeshi counterpart
However, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. This marked the first high-level engagement between India and Bangladesh’s interim government. "Had a meeting with Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain of Bangladesh in New York this evening. The conversation focussed on our bilateral ties," Jaishankar posted on X.
(With inputs from agency)
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