Members of the Bangladeshi diaspora staged a protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, accusing Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, of presiding over rising atrocities against religious minorities since assuming power.
Protesters carried placards and raised slogans such as “Yunus is Pakistani, go back to Pakistan,” alleging that under his rule, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and other minority groups have faced killings, persecution, and mass displacement.
A demonstrator told ANI that the situation in Bangladesh had deteriorated drastically since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave the country on August 5, 2024. “Millions of people, especially Hindus, have fled. It’s a dire condition. Yunus must step down and call for elections,” the protester said.
Another participant accused Yunus of turning Bangladesh into a “Taliban-style terrorist state” and demanded the immediate release of religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, allegedly detained unlawfully by the interim regime.
Speakers at the rally also described Sheikh Hasina’s ouster as “illegal,” claiming that Yunus, in collusion with Islamist forces, is systematically transforming Bangladesh into a “semi-Taliban nation.”
The protest coincided with Yunus’s address to the 80th United Nations General Assembly, where he reflected on Bangladesh’s political transition since last year’s Gen Z-led uprising that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
Highlighting the role of the diaspora, Yunus noted that over 7 million Bangladeshis abroad contribute significantly to both the home economy—through remittances estimated at USD 18 billion in 2019—and host countries. He urged global leaders to ensure empathy and protection for migrant workers, stressing that “migration is mutually beneficial: good for us, good for them.”
