London: Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim government in the country, travelled over eight thousand kilometres from Dhaka to London this week on a trip that only served his own purpose and proved to be completely non-beneficial for Dhaka.
Yunus, as head of a transitional government, headed off to London on Monday. This was his 11th visit abroad in as many months. Immediately after his arrival in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer cancelled the “planned” meeting with Yunus, despite extensive diplomatic efforts made by the Bangladeshi administration. The Yunus government had reportedly lobbied heavily for the meeting, even circulating claims that he (Yunus) would be honoured with a special British royal award. However, it later emerged that his name was not on the list of recipients.
Speaking at a discussion on Wednesday (June 11) in London, Yunus mentioned that the Bangladeshi economy is under pressure, with foreign reserves nearly exhausted and the banking system already collapsed. In these 11 months, the cost of all 11 foreign visits has come to Tk 264 crore and 80 lakh – not to mention the 75 days he spent away from Bangladesh. These foreign tours do enhance the ‘personal branding’ of Yunus and are highly publicized by the press wing of the Chief Advisor’s office. Yunus travels with a sizable entourage on state resources. Not surprisingly, none of these trips have held any substantive value for Bangladesh as Yunus completely forgot that he leads a transitional government and has pledged transparency, reform and responsible governance.
With diplomatic efforts failing, the Yunus government is now claiming that the London visit was aimed at securing UK support to recover money allegedly laundered during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.
The much-anticipated “private meeting” between Yunus and the Acting Chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Tarique Rahman took place on Friday at a time when the rift between various political parties over holding national elections in the country is widening. According to a joint statement released after the meeting, Rahman proposed to Yunus that the upcoming national elections in the country should be held before the beginning of Ramadan in 2026, adding that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia also shared the same view.
Several insiders reckon that Yunus could have directly invited Rahman to visit Bangladesh and held discussions there instead of going all the way to London to hold the meeting.
According to constitutional experts, post-Tarique Rahman and Yunus meeting the major political parties may finalise seat sharing with Yunus batting for giving 30-40 seats to Jamaat and 20-30 seats to the students-led NCP.
Further, Yunus would like to propose Tarique Rahman as Prime Minister and a Speaker from BNP. A post of Vice President and Deputy Speaker might be created which is likely to go to Jamaat and at least 10 ministries could be given to Jamaat and NCP. Later, if BNP and other parties agree, Yunus could become the President of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, with Yunus in power, several non-state actors continue to enjoy patronage and support in their promotion of radical Islamist activities in Bangladesh.
The political drama of resignation centering around Yunus exposed a dangerous convergence of internal conspiracies and international volatility. At the heart of the “resignation” drama was Yunus himself, who experts reckon has been planted by the West. He is surrounded by active radical Islamist groups such as Jamaat-Shibir, NCP, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Harkat-ul-Jihad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, ISIS, and even an extremist faction of Hefazat.
Yunus’s false claims of restoring democracy, overthrowing Sheikh Hasina and establishing rule of law stand discredited by arrest of parliamentarians en masse and launching a systemic campaign aimed directly at the country’s legal community. Over 391 legal professionals are facing false accusations.
Yunus banned the Awami League and welcomed the Jamaat-e-Islami giving the radical Islamist party the green signal to participate in the election process.
Interestingly, under Hasina’s leadership, Bangladesh witnessed remarkable economic growth and development due to her stringent policies strengthening infrastructure in the country by providing electricity to remote villages, building highways, railway lines and ports. During her tenure, the garment industry also flourished and textile exports surged.
Over the past 15 years, Bangladesh enjoyed a steady Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate averaging 6.29 per cent annually. Moreover, the per capita income surged from USD $698 in 2009 to over USD $2,500 in 2023, making it one of the highest in the region, even surpassing India for the first time.
Regional and Western governments have expressed concerns over the current political climate in Bangladesh and view the country as a potential incubator for jihadism.
Yunus’ frequent foreign visits are only for the sake of “optics”. In September 2024, he met Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UNGA and faced strong flack from local Bangladeshis. Yunus and his inner circle is shaping opinion by misleading information, through selective messaging and spreading hatred towards minorities.
Bangladesh, under Yunus, is simmering with protests and common people seem to be on edge about political and economic developments in the anarchic, undemocratic, volatile political landscape.
(The writer is an expert on South Asia and Eurasia. He was formerly with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views expressed are personal)
–IANS
/as