Muhammad Yunus slams Sheikh Hasina for making remarks on Bangladesh from India

Sheikh Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, resigned last month and fled the country as the anti-government protests intensified.

Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, on Thursday hit out at former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina for making political remarks on the country from India, calling it is an “unfriendly gesture”. According to Yunus, Hasina must “remain silent” to prevent the discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition.

Nobel laureate and head of Bangladesh's interim government Muhammad Yunus. (AFP)

“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh (government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet…She is there in India, and at times, she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” Yunus told news agency PTI.

Yunus was referring to Hasina's remarks from August 13, wherein she demanded justice, adding that those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism must be “investigated and punished”.

According to Yunus, Hasina's comments are “not good for Bangladesh or for India.”

“There is discomfort regarding it,” he told PTI.

The head of Bangladesh's interim government further said that they have conveyed their stance to India verbally and “quite firmly”.

“Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there, and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course. She has fled following a people’s uprising and public anger,” he said.

“…Yes, she has to be brought back, or else the people of Bangladesh won’t be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” he further added.

Yunus on India-Bangladesh relationship

According to Yunus, they desire good ties with India but insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures the country’s stability.

“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” the 84-year-old nobel laureate said, as quoted by PTI.

On future bilateral ties with India, Yunus said that certain treaties, such as transit and the Adani electricity deal, need to be reexamined.

“Everybody is saying that it is needed. We will see what is on paper and, second, what is actually happening on the ground. I can’t answer it specifically. If there is any need to review, we will then raise questions about it,” he said.

Sheikh Hasina's downfall

Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh since 2009, resigned last month and fled the country as the anti-government protests intensified. Thousands stormed her official residence, setting fires, carrying out furniture, and pulling raw fish from the refrigerators. Hours later, the former Bangladesh PM landed at the Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on a C-130 transport aircraft.

Shortly after Hasina's exit, Bangladesh Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced the formation of an interim government headed by Yunus.

(With inputs from PTI)