Several Bangladeshis led a protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday against chief adviser of the Bangladesh government Muhammad Yunus. The Bangladeshi diaspora members were supporters of the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina.
They raised slogans of "Yunus is Pakistani. Go back to Pakistan", alleging that minorities, including Hindus and people of other religions, in Bangladesh were facing atrocities.
Videos of the protests showed a huge crowd outside the UN headquarters, holding banners that read 'Stop killing minorities in Bangladesh' and 'Say no to Islamist terrorism in Bangladesh', among others.
The protest comes as global leaders convene at the UN to take part in the UN General Assembly sessions.
"We are protesting against the illegal Yunus regime, as after the 5th of August 2024, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country for security reasons, and Yunus captured the country, and since then, minorities, Hindus and people from other religions have been killed since the 5th of August," one of the protestors was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
{{/usCountry}}"We are protesting against the illegal Yunus regime, as after the 5th of August 2024, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country for security reasons, and Yunus captured the country, and since then, minorities, Hindus and people from other religions have been killed since the 5th of August," one of the protestors was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
{{/usCountry}}The protestor further alleged that several people, especially Hindus, had to leave Bangladesh. "It's a dire condition in Bangladesh, and this is the reason people are here to just protest, and Yunus has to leave the power and should go for an election," he added.
Another protestor charged that Muhammad Yunus was trying to make Bangladesh a “Taliban” and “a terrorist country”, and sought the release of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former priest of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), arrested in Bangladesh last year.
The Hindu priest's arrest over sedition charges had raked up a storm in Bangladesh last year. The Bangladesh court has so far declined his bail petitions.
“We are here today in front of the United Nations to protest against Dr Yunus, who is making Bangladesh a Taliban country, a terrorist country, and he is committing all the atrocities against the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and all religious minorities...,” the protestor said.
The protestor also called Sheikh Hasina's ouster from Bangladesh in August last year illegal and said that ever since “in collusion with the Islamist forces, terrorist organisations, Dr Yunus is transforming Bangladesh systematically into a semi-Taliban nation”.
On Friday, Yunus delivered his address at the UNGA, marking his second speech there since the youth-led uprising ended Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule last year.