When Muhammad Yunus flew back to Bangladesh in August, he was greeted by bleak scenes.
The streets were still slick with blood, and the bodies of more than 1,000 protesters and children were piled up in morgues, filled with bullets fired by police.Sheikh Hasina had just been toppled by a student-led revolution after 15 years of authoritarian rule.
She ran away the country in a helicopter as civilians, seeking revenge for her atrocities, raided her residence.At 84, Yunus aneconomist who won a Nobel prize for pioneering microfinance for the poor had long quit his political ambitions.
He had dealt with years of vilification and persecution by Hasina, who saw him a political risk, and he spent much of his time abroad.But when the trainee protesters asked him to lead an interim federal government to bring back democracy to Bangladesh, he agreed.The damage she had done was significant, Yunus told the Guardian, describing the state of Bangladesh when he took charge.
It was a totally devastated nation, like another Gaza, except it wasnt structures that had actually been damaged however whole institutions, policies, individuals, international relationships.Hasinas reign was dominated by accusations of tyranny, violence and corruption.
It culminated in a bloody few weeks over July and August, when more than 1,400 individuals were killed in demonstrations against her repressive rule, a violent crackdown by authorities that might total up to a crime against humankind, according to the UN.
She has actually rejected all use of excessive force.View image in fullscreenCelebrations at Parliament House after the fall of Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka in August.
Photo: Syed Mahamudur Rahman/NurPhoto/Rex/ ShutterstockYunuss return to Bangladesh was declared as the dawn of a brand-new period for the nation.
In the 6 months because he took charge, senior law enforcement officers no longer under Hasinas defense have been prosecuted for extrajudicial killings, secret detention centres where Hasinas critics were supposedly tortured have actually been emptied, human rights commissions have actually been developed and Hasina is facing hundreds of charges, which she rejects.
Yunus has vowed that, at some point in between December this year and March 2026, Bangladesh will hold its very first complimentary and reasonable elections in decades, after which he will turn over power.But strolling the streets of Dhaka, there is a feeling that the nation stands at a precipice.
While Yunus is still commonly appreciated, questions have been raised over his governance capabilities and the pace of assured reform.Political celebrations, especially the Bangladesh National celebration (BNP), have been desperate to return to power and have actually put in mounting pressure on Yunus to hold elections, bring into question his authenticity.
The students who led the revolution have likewise launched their own party.The senior BNP figure Amir Chowdhury stated elections could not come quickly enough.
This federal government was only implied as an interim step, he said.
Now no one is accountable on a daily basis and they do not have the political weight, required and mobilisation to carry out reforms.Declining law and orderPolice, facing public anger and criminal charges for their actions under Hasina, have actually been unwilling to return to their posts and the security circumstance has actually been quickly decreasing.
Gang criminal offense is rampant on Dhakas streets and minority groups are experiencing harassment.
On Monday, protesters burned an effigy of Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the home affairs minister, demanding his elimination from office over his failure to suppress increasing crime.Yunus rejected any tip that the streets were less safe than under Hasinas guideline, however others have actually alerted that the nations security situation threatened to spiral beyond his federal governments control.
Prominent student leader Nahid Islam, head of the new National Citizens celebration, told the Guardian it would be impossible to hold free and fair elections in this present law-and-order situation.View image in fullscreenProtesters injured in the uprising that fell Hasina block a road in Dhaka last month, demanding recognition and security guarantees.
Photo: Syed Mahamudur Rahman/NurPhoto/Rex/ ShutterstockIn a strongly worded speech last week, Bangladeshs army chief, Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman who played a critical function in Hasinas departure and Yunus return said the nation was in a state of anarchy, and if the divisions fuelling discontent continued, the independence and sovereignty of this country will be at stake.Yunus kept he had a very good relationship with the military, and that there was no pressure from the army chief.
Some took the generals words as a strong rebuke of Yunuss leadership and even a warning that military intervention may be on the horizon.Yunus is figured out to frame the countrys troubles as consequencesof Hasinas rule: Hasinas routine wasnt a government, it was a household of outlaws.
Any order from in charge and it was done.
Somebodies causing problems? Well make them disappear.
Want to hold an election? We will make sure you win all the seats.
You desire money? Heres a million dollar loan from the bank you never need to pay back.The scale of the corruption performed under Hasina has actually left the banking system highly exposed and the economy in tatters.
Amongst Hasinas family members caught up in the monetary scandals is her niece, Tulip Siddiq, a UK Labour MP.
Siddiq resigned from her role at the Treasury as she dealt with questions over possessions presumably linked to Hasinas program and was called in a corruption examination in Bangladesh.
She has denied all wrongdoing.Operations including monetary authorities in the UK, United States and Switzerland are under method to attempt to recuperate upwards of $17bn approximated to have actually been drawn from nations banks by Hasinas allies.
However hopes of it being returned anytime quickly are diminishing.Banks were provided full licence to loot peoples money, with active participation from the government, Yunus stated.
They would send their officials with guns to get it all signed off.Yunus has likewise been implicated of refraining from doing enough to consist of a surge in the hardline Islamic religious right in current months.
Under Hasina, Islamist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami were banned, and Islamist politicians faced extensive persecution.
They are now complimentary to run and have seen a swell in support, while prohibited Islamist militant groups have likewise become more active.
There have been occurrences of teenage women football matches being stopped after intervention by local hardline Islamic groups and on Friday, cops utilized tear gas to disperse hundreds of members of banned militant outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir as they marched through Dhaka demanding an Islamic caliphate.Yunus courts TrumpSome of the best pressures on Yunus have originated from outside Bangladesh.
When she was in power, Hasina enjoyed a close relationship with India and is now hiding out in the neighbouring country as bilateral ties in between the nations disintegrate.
India has shown little interest in healing them while Yunus supervises, with Delhi recently implicating Dhaka of normalising terrorism.In December, a formal extradition demand was made to India to send Hasina back to face trial in Bangladesh however Yunus confirmed there had actually been no action from the Indian government.
He stated Hasina would still face trial for crimes against mankind, even if in absentia.Hasina is becoming significantly vocal in her criticisms of Yunus: she recently called him a mobster who was letting loose terrorists on the country.Yunus said India hosting her would be endured, but enabling her to use India as a platform for her project to try to undo whatever we have actually done is dangerous.
It destabilises the country.Indias federal government is not Yunuss only issue: the return of Donald Trump to the White House is also problem.
The Biden administration was among Yunuss most significant backers, both politically and financially.
The repair of democracy in Bangladesh is unlikely to be a concern for Trump.Bangladesh has actually taken a blow from Trumps decimation of the US Agency for International Development (USAid), which had vowed the nation more than $1bn in assistance in recent years.
In a speech, Trump alleged countless USAid dollars earmarked for enhancing Bangladesh political landscape had been used to elect a radical left communist without using any evidence.In an effort to bring the United States on side, Yunus recently invited Trumps billionaire backer Elon Musk to bring his Starlink satellite internet network to Bangladesh.
Sources around Yunus stated a see by Musk to the nation was expected in April.Yunus expressed hope that Trump might see Bangladesh as a good investment chance and trading partner, and saidhe meant to pitch this to Musk during his see.
Trumps a dealmaker, so I state to him: come, do deals with us, he said.
If he did not, Bangladesh would feel a little pain, Yunus said.
But this democratic procedure will not stop.Redwan Ahmed contributed reporting This article was amended on 10 March 2025.
An earlier variation improperly stated Muhammad Yunus had lived for decades in the United States; in truth he was based in Bangladesh but travelled frequently.