Hasina Accuses Interim Leader Muhammad Yunus of Enabling Extremism, Undermining Democracy in Bangladesh

New Delhi, Nov 2025 : Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a sharp attack on interim government head Muhammad Yunus, accusing him of failing to maintain administrative control and allowing extremist Islamic groups to re-establish their influence across the country. In a strongly worded article for The Week magazine, Hasina — who has been living in India since her government was ousted in August 2024 — warned that democracy in Bangladesh is being pushed to the brink under a leadership with “no electoral mandate.”

Hasina, the long-time Awami League chief, wrote that Bangladesh was once considered a “bastion of religious tolerance and secularism,” but the situation has deteriorated sharply under the current interim administration. According to her, “daily incidents of heinous violence” are now being reported against religious minorities, women, girls, and supporters of her party.

“True democracy cannot prevail as long as our country is governed by a head of state without an electoral mandate, who has banned the most popular political party, disenfranchised millions of his own citizens, and jeopardized our constitution through an unconstitutional charter,” she stated.

The former prime minister accused Yunus of introducing a political charter that, she said, “does not reflect the voice of the people of Bangladesh” and is instead designed to legitimize “a growing authoritarian regime under the guise of reforms.” She condemned the interim government’s decision to bar the Awami League from contesting the parliamentary elections scheduled for early next year, calling it a deliberate attempt to reshape the political landscape by excluding legitimate democratic forces.

“Only the people of Bangladesh can determine the future of the country,” Hasina asserted. “But by banning legitimate political forces and disenfranchising ordinary citizens, the interim administration will only succeed in creating division across the nation.”

Hasina went on to allege that Yunus’s inexperience in governance is evident and that the real power on the ground lies elsewhere. “The truth is, Yunus is not really in control at all,” she claimed. She accused the interim leadership of allowing Islamic groups linked to internationally known terrorist networks such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir to “take root in civilian life,” spreading radical ideologies and targeting vulnerable communities.

“These are the same extremist forces responsible for heinous attacks like the 2016 Holey Artisan Café massacre — groups that we worked tirelessly to contain and eradicate,” she wrote.

The former premier further alleged that serious crimes — including murder, rape, looting, arson, robbery, and dacoity — have become rampant under the interim government, with perpetrators facing little or no punishment. She said that within the first weeks of Yunus’s rule, thousands of attacks were carried out against Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and indigenous communities. “Even today, we hear weekly reports of homes, temples, churches, monasteries, and other religious sites being senselessly destroyed,” she added.

Hasina contrasted the current turmoil with what she described as her government’s “determination and discipline,” claiming that under Awami League leadership, Bangladesh had been “transformed into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.” She warned that the progress achieved over the past decade is now at risk as the interim administration struggles to maintain stability and curb rising extremism.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)