Yunus harassed at New York’s JFK

Dhaka to raise the issue with Washington; parties and ex-advisers condemn

Former interim government chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus was harassed by a group of people at the John F Kennedy airport on Monday (New York time), prompting the Bangladesh government to announce plans to raise the issue with Washington.

A video clip circulating on social media shows several people hurling abuse at Yunus, who was in a wheelchair. Yunus and his associates later went back inside the airport before security personnel escorted him away from the crowd.

Condemning the incident, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir yesterday said Dhaka would seek action by US law enforcement agencies.

“We will take it up strongly with the government of the United States of America so that necessary steps are taken from a law enforcement point of view,” he told reporters at his ministry.

Humaiun said embassy protocol for private visits could depend on whether the government had earlier been informed. However, the harassment of a former chief adviser could not be taken lightly, he added.

He alleged that those involved had fled Bangladesh and were inciting violence from abroad. “We will have to hunt them down, and we will do it with our bilateral partners in those countries,” he said, urging US authorities to identify those responsible and take appropriate action.

In a statement, the foreign ministry strongly denounced the incident, saying those responsible were suspected of having links to the Awami League, political activities of which are banned in Bangladesh.

It said Bangladesh’s mission in New York had been asked to take up the matter with local law enforcement agencies to identify those involved and seek legal action.

The ministry also urged Bangladeshi expatriates to refrain from such conduct, saying the incident had tarnished the country’s image.

PM’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman also criticised the incident.

“The government views these incidents as Awami League terror,” he said, referring to earlier incidents involving people associated with the July uprising.

“If anyone from the Awami League abroad attempts to take such steps, it will not go unchallenged,” he said while briefing the press at the Secretariat.

Zahed said Yunus’s actions as interim government chief adviser could be legitimately criticised, but harassment was unacceptable. He added that Yunus might have been targeted for taking charge of the country after Sheikh Hasina fled.

The government would also verify whether there had been any lapse in arrangements related to Yunus’s VVIP status as a former chief adviser, he said.

Zahed said legal proceedings would be initiated against those responsible, referring to steps taken after actress Azmeri Haque Badhan was harassed in Italy last month.

National Citizen Party Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam condemned the incident, blaming AL supporters.

In a Facebook post, he called for action against what he described as a network of violent activists at home and abroad. He also demanded speedy trials in cases involving killings during the July uprising, enforced disappearances, and other killings under the AL government.

Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said it had humiliated Bangladesh internationally.

He urged everyone to refrain from such conduct towards respected figures of Bangladesh and called on officials at Bangladeshi missions abroad to take responsible and courageous steps.

Several former interim government advisers, in a statement, expressed their unreserved outrage and strongest possible condemnation of the persistent harassment, online smear campaigns, and targeted attacks on former chief adviser Yunus.

They are Salehuddin Ahmed; M Fouzul Kabir Khan; CR Abrar; Asif Nazrul; Adilur Rahman Khan; Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Choudhury (retd); Brig Gen Sakhawat Hussain (retd); Faruk E Azam BP; Farida Akhter; Sharmeen Soneya Murshid, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki; and Syeda Rizwana Hasan.