Personally urged Modi to prevent Hasina from addressing Bangladesh citizens online, says Yunus

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has claimed that he personally urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and prevent former PM Sheikh Hasina from addressing Bangladeshis online.

Yunus was speaking at the Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, where he spoke about the political atmosphere in post-Hasina Bangladesh. In August last year, Hasina had flown to India on board a military plane to escape street-protests in her country.

Bangladesh had sent an informal, unsigned diplomatic note to the Indian authorities, requesting Hasina’s extradition. The country’s International Crimes Tribunal had also initiated legal proceedings against Hasina for what the tribunal described as “crimes against humanity” committed during her final months in power.

Yunus said, “The whole anger (towards Hasina) has transferred to India because she went there. Not only is she living there, but the problem is that when I had a chance to talk to PM Modi, I simply said, ‘You want to host her? I cannot force you to abandon that policy, but please help us in making sure she doesn’t speak to Bangladeshi people, the way she is doing’.”

Former Bangladeshi PM has been addressing Bangladeshi people through various social media platforms, often announcing these broadcasts in advance. “These addresses provoke public anger and risk inciting unrest in Bangladesh,” said Yunus.

The Bangladesh leader said in response to his request, Modi told him, “It is the social media, we cannot control it.”

Yunus said he wanted to have the best relationship with India. However, a barrage of disinformation on social media continues to undermine efforts to stabilise the country and recover from last year’s violent uprising that unseated Hasina, he claimed.

Yunus, now 84, further reiterated that he had no interest in joining the next elected government, nor do any members of his current cabinet of advisers.