

The day was 8th August 2024. Muhammad Yunus, who Sheikh Hasina infamously described as ‘bloodsucker of the poor‘, was crowned the ‘chief advisor’ to the interim government of Bangladesh.
Just seven months earlier, the controversial ‘Nobel prize winner’ was found guilty of violating the country’s labour laws and was sentenced to six months of simple imprisonment.
However, a well-coordinated regime change operation by US agencies, which capitalised on a homegrown discontentment surrounding reservations, ensured the rise of Muhammad Yunus as the unelected, de facto leader of Bangladesh.
As the controversial US asset completes his 1-year stint as ‘chief advisor’ to the interim government on Friday (8th August), we critically analyse how Bangladesh has descended into a never-before-seen chaos under his watch.
The ‘regime change’ operation that brought Muhammad Yunus to power
Bangladesh witnessed violent protests between 6th June 2024 and 4th August 2024 over the decision of the High Court to reinstate 30% reservation in government jobs to the descendants of the freedom fighters of the 1971 Liberation War.
It must be mentioned that Bangladesh had 56% reservations until 2018 for certain groups in government jobs, which are considered lucrative in the country.
The beneficiaries include disabled individuals (1%), indigenous communities (5%), women (10%), people from underdeveloped districts (10%) and families of the freedom fighters of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War (30%).
This left only 44% of seats for selection based on merit. There were large-scale protests in 2018 by ‘student groups’, which forced the then-Sheikh Hasina government to abolish the quota altogether.
In June 2024, the High Court in Bangladesh overturned the decision of the government and held the scrapping of 30% reservation for families of freedom fighters as illegal.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the High Court, which led to widespread demonstrations.
The agitation against the ‘quota politics’ was spearheaded by so-called ‘student protestors’ across the country. An estimated 1500 people died during the course of violent clashes.
The well-coordinated regime change operation oversaw the undemocratic ouster of Sheikh Hasina and her eventual exile to India on 5th August 2025.
President has dissolved the parliament. Student leaders proposed @Yunus_Centre as the head of the interim government. Political parties have demanded the formation of the interim government by today. pic.twitter.com/0t4w7DXBSn
— Masum Billah (@BillahTalks) August 6, 2024
And a day later, on 6th August 2024, the name of Muhammad Yunus was coincidentally proposed to lead the interim government of Bangladesh and steer the country to a path of ‘democratic revival.’
Yunus, who had hailed the fall of Sheikh Hasina as ‘Second Liberation Day,’ was quick to accept the proposal of ‘student protestors’ to become the unelected ‘chief advisor.’
Despite being previously terminated as Managing Director of Grameen Bank for violating government rules, and facing over 100 charges for graft and labour law violations in Bangladesh, the country welcomed him with open arms.
No democratic mandate, and strategic delay of elections
The unelected interim government, headed by Muhammad Yunus, came to power on 8th August 2024 with the promise of holding ‘free and fair elections’ and implementing drastic systematic reforms.
It has managed to strategically delay elections, one date at a time, to hold onto power undemocratically for a whopping 365 days.
Ironically, Muhammad Yunus wanted fresh elections when Sheikh Hasina was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. But as the de facto leader of the country after her undemocratic ouster, he couldn’t hold a single election.
Gplus reported how he shifted election month 6 different times, with the latest being February 2026. This comes amid popular discontentment and backlash from Opposition parities and the Bangladesh Army.
Even if we were to assume that elections would be held in Bangladesh by February next year, it would imply that Yunus would continue to stay in power undemocratically for an additional 6 months (180 days+).
Persecution of Awami League by the interim government
Soon after coming to power, Muhammad Yunus chalked out plans to ban the Awami League. The plan did not go through due to fierce opposition from rival political parties.
In October 2024, the interim government banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, over supposed violence committed by its members since 2008.
In January 2025, Yunus regime introduced new textbooks for primary and secondary students which falsely claim that the first declaration of independence of Bangladesh was made by Ziaur Rehman, the founder of BNP, and not Mujibur Rehman.
The ‘Nobel laureate’ has made it clear that he is willing to go to any length to distort the country’s history and erase the contribution of the Awami League in the Independence Movement.
In the following month, Muhammad Yunus launched a campaign to hunt down Awami League (AL) leaders from across the country. The nefarious mission has been dubbed ‘Operation Devil Hunt.’
As part of the political witch-hunt, as many as 12,000 Awami League supporters and activists were put behind bars.
The centrally supervised campaign was executed by the police, Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and the Coast Guard.
In May this year, the Yunus regime finally banned the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act, days after the NCP (National Citizens’ Party) launched a march to ensure the disbanding of the political party.
In July 2025, Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina was sentenced in absentia to 6 months in prison for ‘contempt of court’ by the Yunus-controlled Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
Muhammad Yunus curbs dissent and press freedom
The chief advisor to the interim government, who was once critical of Sheikh Hasina for her alleged ‘undemocratic ways’ of running Bangladesh, is now silencing dissent one step at a time.
In January 2025, the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education in Bangladesh issued a notice stating that steps would be taken against students and educational institutions alike for ‘engaging in propaganda’ and ‘peddling misinformation’ against the Yunus regime.
It further highlighted that steps should be taken to prevent students from ‘engaging in provocative activities.’ While the notice was intially interpreted as a step towards stopping the spread of ‘misinformation’, it became a tool to silence critics and intimidate students.
Dissent against Bangladesh’s interim government was labelled a ‘work of propaganda’. Students, critical of Muhammad Yunus, were targeted as engaging in rumour-mongering and coerced into silence.
In July this year, the interim government in Bangladesh issued an ordinance eliminating the right of employees to protest against the government. The ordinance amended the Government Service Act of 2018.
If a government employee henceforth went on a strike, then he/she could be dismissed from service with ‘compulsory retirement’. Besides the looming threat of forced dismissal from service, government employees might be demoted to a lower rank or pay grade for agitating against the government.

Under the reign of Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh has witnessed 230% increase in attacks on journalists between August 2024 and July 2025. This was confirmed in a newly published report by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG).
The interim government filed cases against 195 journalists, denied accrediation of 167 journalists, initiated inquiry against 85 scribes through the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and oversaw acts of violence and criminal intimidation against 431 others.
This is besides the targeted harassment of prominent critical voices in Bangladesh such as columnist Shoaib Choudhury, economist Abul Barkat, and poet Sohel Hasan Galib.
Appeasement of Islamic extremists
Bangladesh witnessed a drastic rise in Islamism after Yunus came to power. He first revoked the ban on the radical Islamist outfit ‘Jamaat-e-Islami.’
Thereafter, he released the leader of the radical outfit ‘Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT)’ Muhammad Jasimuddin Rahmani.
At the same time, Muhammad Yunus downplayed the targeted attacks on the Hindu community by violent Muslim mobs. He has gone on record from lamenting about attacks on Hindus to saying that the claims of atrocities are ‘exaggerated‘.
In that way, the controversial US asset was able to placate Islamic extremists. Under the watch of Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh saw a drastic rise in vigilante Muslim mobs, which unleashed violence under the pretext of protecting the tenets of Islam.
These mobs were largely unorganised and called themselves ‘Tawhidi Janata (meaning Revolutionary People).’ They came under the spotlight over acts of vandalism and harassment of people.
The interim government also appointed a Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist named Mohammad Azaz as the administrator for the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).
The situation had become so grim that Bangladeshi ambassador to Morocco Mohammad Harun Al Rashid was forced to slam the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in a scathing Facebook post in March 2025.
In July this year, an Islamic outfit named ‘Jamaat-Char Monai’ announced its plans to turn Bangladesh into a Sharia-compliant nation like Afghanistan. It also vowed to follow the model implemented by the Taliban regime.
The organisation’s leader Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim declared, “If govt is formed by winning the national election, the Islamic Movement Bangladesh will introduce Sharia law in the country. The current governance system of Afghanistan will be followed.”
Recently, it came to light that several Muslims from Bangladesh travelled to Pakistan to train as ‘terrorists.’ Currently, 10 Islamic terror outfits are trying to make inroads in the country.
Rising suppression of women in Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus
In July 2025, the ‘Bangladesh Bank’ gave a Talibani farman (diktat) barring female employees from wearing ‘short dresses’, ‘short sleeves’ and ‘leggings’. The directive by the Central Bank of Bangladesh also recommended that women wear headscarves and hijab.
‘Bangladesh Bank’ also warned of disciplinary actions against employees who refuse to adhere to the new guidelines. After the Talibani farman of the ‘Bangladesh Bank’ caused a social media stir, the directive was withdrawn.
This diktat by ‘Bangladesh Bank’ bore an uncanny resemblance to the orders by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, restricting women from wearing clothes of their choice.
#Bangladesh central bank made #Hijab mandatory for women employees. https://t.co/hEl9UgEL6e pic.twitter.com/vaZ2NH0FjN
— Pratim Ranjan Bose (@pratimbose) July 23, 2025
While the situation in Bangladesh does not look as grim as Afghanistan for now, the new found love for Taliban lays the foundation for more restrictions on women in the upcoming days.
Islamists had previously unleashed havoc on university teachers in Bangladesh by labelling them as ‘anti-hijab.’ The day is not far when women and girls in Bangladesh will be arrested for showing their face in public as is the case in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Within a year of the fall of Sheikh Hasina, the Central Bank of Bangladesh resorted to imposing restrictions on the clothing of women.
Does the #Yunus Govt and the #NCP share #Hefazat‘s misogyny?
Watch as supporters of radical #Islamist group #HefazateIslam demonstrate their rabid hatred for #women by beating on an effigy of a generic saree-clad #woman at #Dhaka University’s Raju Statue area this afternoon… pic.twitter.com/icD15XRx3n
— Bangladesh Watch (@bdwatch2024) May 3, 2025
In April this year, Muslims belonging to the radical outfit ‘Hefazat-e-Islam’ hung the effigy of a woman, stripped and defiled it with shoes to demand the abolishment of the Women Affairs Reform Commission in Bangladesh.
The incident occurred at the campus of the University of Dhaka near the iconic ‘Anti Terrorism Raju Memorial’ sculpture.
In a deleted video shared by Khoborer Kagoj, Muslims were seen assaulting an effigy of a woman, defiling and kicking it and thrashing it with shoes to display their angst. The effigy of the woman was draped in a saree (the kind that Hindu women wear) with its hands tied behind.
In March 2025, a librarian at Dhaka University, identified as Asif Sardar Arnab, sexually harassed a female student. Although he was initially arrested, Asif was quickly released on bail.

He was cheered and greeted with garlands by a radical Muslim mob, aligned with his behaviour. In the meantime, the victim had been subjected to violent threats for speaking out against the accused.
Asif sexually harassed the female student, claiming that her dress did not ‘sufficiently cover’ her breasts. His action was praised by Muslims for enforcing Islamic morality.
In January this year, a Muslim mob laid siege to the Tilakpur High School in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh. The extremists, comprising madrassa students, carried out vandalism to protest against a friendly football match between two women’s teams.
The match was scheduled to take place on 29th January at the playground of the Tilakpur High School between the Joypurhat and Rangpur women’s football teams.

In visuals that have surfaced on social media, the Muslim mob could be seen vandalising the tin fence of the school. Prior to carrying out the attack, they gathered outside the Tilakpur railway station and gave provocative speeches.
The mob demanded the cancellation of the women’s football match, alleging non-observance of purdah. Thereafter, the extremists made their way to the Tilakpur High School and unleashed mayhem.
A radical Muslim declared, “I want to warn those who want to earn money by exposing our women. Be careful. Stop all women’s games in the future. If you don’t stop, then we will show our resistance.”
Gplus had previously reported on the alarming rise of rape cases in Bangladesh under the watch of Muhammad Yunus. In the meantime, Islamists who committed heinous crimes against women were freed by the top court of the country.
Attack on Hindus and other ethnic-religious minorities under Muhammad Yunus
The Hindu community have been at the victims of unspeakabable atrocities, perpetrated by violent Muslim mobs under the watch of Muhammad Yunus.
Gplus had highlighted over 2 dozen cases where Hindus were attacked, tortured and persecuted by Muslim mobs under the pretext of ‘blasphemy.’ The latest case pertains to the the vandalism and looting of over 15 Hindu homes
The weaponisation of blasphemy laws to persecute Hindu minorities was highlighted in the recently released factsheet by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
This is besides multiple instances of targeted murders like that of trader Bhajan Kumar Guha, rapes of minor Hindu girls and women by Muslim men and forced resignation of Hindu employees from government insitutions.
Cases of temple vandalism and loot are an everyday occurrence in Bangladesh now, especially after Muhammad Yunus took the reins of Bangladesh into his own hands.
To make matters worse, Muhammad Yunus has given in to the demands of Islamists to raze temples to the ground and has even attempted to justify ‘collective punishment’ of the Hindu community.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) has recently informed that a total of 2,442 incidents of violence have been recorded against religious and ethnic minorities between 4th August 2024 and 30th June this year.
A concerted attempt is underway to erase the legacy of prominent Hindu Bengalis, such as Satyajit Roy and Atul Prasad Sen who have their roots in present-day Bangladesh.
Earlier this year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a 104-page report detailing atrocities committed against vulnerable Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. The findings of the OHCHR expose the grim reality that Muhammad Yunus tried to brush under the carpet.
Muhammad Yunus fans existing anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh
In May this year, Muhammad Yunus attempted to whip up anti-India sentiments in the country so as to distract the public from his incompetency and failure to restore democracy and electoral reforms in Bangladesh.
Through one of his stooges, Mahmudur Rahman Manna (Nagorik Oikya party President), Yunus sent out a message that Bangladesh was faced with a ‘major crisis due to Indian hegemony’.
“The chief adviser stated that the country is in a major crisis due to Indian hegemony. He believes that the entire nation needs to remain united in response. He (Yunus) started the discussion by saying that we are in a deep crisis. By crisis, he meant the conspiracy of Indian hegemony,” Manna remarked.
He quoted Muhammad Yunus as saying, “Indian hegemony does not want to accept this change in our country at all. If they could, they would destroy us in a single day, and they are doing everything necessary to that end. That’s what he said.”
Gplus had previously explained the rationale behind the continued hostility and war-of-words against India.
Given that India is a perceived as a ‘Hindu nation’ by Bangladeshi Muslims, Yunus set out to antagonise the neighbouring country as well and capitalise on growing anti-Indian sentiment in the country.
He first attempted to ban the export of Hilsa fish to India but it was in vain. He then strategically downplayed the crucial role played by India in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War by distorting textbooks.
Yunus remained tight-lipped when officials, appointed by him, issued threats to India. In October 2024, Law adviser Asif Nazrul in Bangladesh’s interim government warned that if India tried to refuse the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, the country would launch a “strong protest.”
Sarjis Alam, a so-called ‘student activist’, issued veiled threats to Indian Prime Minsiter Modi. And yet again, Yunus maintained strategic silence. His own ‘adviser’ Mahfuz Alam threatened to annex parts of India.
Former Director General of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), A.L.M. Fazlur Rahman, had also threatened to occupy the 7 States of North-East India in case of war with Pakistan. He is a close aide of Muhammad Yunus.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) commander Lt. Col Golam Kibria also issued threats to India’s Border Security Force (BSF). The interim government maintained stoic silence yet again.
Yunus went on a trip to China and urged the expansonist nation to use the 7 sisters of India as an extension of its economy.
At the same time, he is forging good relations with Pakistan i.e. the same country which orchestrated genocide against it in 1971.