Former interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus has received protocol and security assistance from the Bangladesh Consulate in New York to travel to another US state after being harassed at John F Kennedy International Airport.
Bangladesh Embassy in Washington and Consulate General in New York have formally asked US authorities to take action over the incident, Consul General Mozammel Haque told bdnews24.com on Thursday.
Mozammel said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had sent him a message through the appropriate authorities at some point after the incident, asking him to arrange protocol and security for Yunus.
“He wanted to go to another state. I personally drove Dr Yunus and his companion there,” Haque said.
A video circulated on social media shows several people, including New York Awami League General Secretary Emdad Chowdhury and US Jubo League General Secretary Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, confronting Yunus as he left the airport in a wheelchair on Monday afternoon.
Yunus was wheeled back inside the terminal as the group followed him, with one person shouting accusations over deaths and the destruction of democracy in Bangladesh.
Lamia Morshed, former chief coordinator for SDGs under the interim government and executive director of the Yunus Centre, was accompanying him.
Mozammel said two vehicles took Yunus to his destination, one carrying hired security personnel and staff responsible for protocol.
He said he returned that night and was back at work early the next morning.
The consul general said the consulate had not known Yunus was arriving in New York, so no airport reception had been arranged.
The foreign ministry condemned the incident in a statement on Tuesday and instructed Bangladesh’s missions to report it to local law enforcement and seek action against those responsible.
Mozammel said the consulate had notified New York’s Office of Foreign Missions, which said the relevant police and diplomatic police had been informed. Bangladesh’s missions had also contacted the authorities directly.
He said investigators were reviewing CCTV footage and the circumstances of the incident.
Bangladesh had shared available footage and identified names, and was ready to provide further information.