'India trying to destroy us:' Bangladesh chief advisor Mohammed Yunus spews venom after being cornered by Army, BNP

Embattled by the political unrest within his country which seeks his ouster, Bangladesh chief advisor Mohammed Yunus has again turned to an 'anti-India' tirade to keep his regime afloat. The 84-year-old Nobel Prize winner has been running the country unelected since the collapse of Sheikh Hasina's government. 

 

Yunus faced a major setback last week after his Army Chief openly challenged him to conduct elections and not make long-term decisions since he was unelected, Yunus threatened to resign in a bid to win support only to announce he would continue as a chief advisor a day later. 

 

Now, his latest attempt is to pin the blame on India as unrest grows in his country. Leader of a Bangladeshi political party Nagorik Oikya,  Mahmudur Rahman Manna, on Sunday told reporters that Yunus told him that Bangladesh was in 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 the entire nation needs to remain united in response," said Manna. 

 

"He started the discussion by saying that we are in a deep crisis. By crisis, he meant the conspiracy of Indian hegemony. 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," Manna quoted the chief adviser as saying. 

 

Yunus's statement reflects his desperate attempt to cling to power after he faces increased pressure from within the country to quit. Last week, the country's Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said elections should be held by December 2025 because the army's long-term civil responsibilities are putting national defence at risk. Zaman said Bangladesh needed political stability which is possible only with an elected government and not with delegated decision-makers. 

 

The Army Chief's statement came amid rumours that the government wanted to remove the army chief. Yunus also faces pressure from one of the largest political parties BNP, led by Khaleda Zia, urging him to resign and conduct elections before December 2025.  BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that he "didn't want Yunus to resign but to hand over power peacefully through elections."

 

It is this crisis that Yunus seeks to call an "Indian conspiracy". However, he did not make it clear the role of anti-Indian forces like the BNP and Army. Yunus also reportedly is urging Bangladeshis to "stand behind the government" like how people in Pakistan stood behind its army and people during Operation Sindoor.

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