Bangladesh’s government has threatened legal proceedings against people who heckled former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s adviser Zahed Ur Rahman warning that similar incidents involving Awami League members abroad would not go unchallenged.
Yunus, who was leaving the airport in a wheelchair on Monday, was confronted by a group of people who shouted slogans and accused him of undermining democracy and being responsible for deaths in Bangladesh. A video of the incident has circulated widely on social media.
“You are a terrorist, murderer!” and “Why you come here?” were among the remarks directed at Yunus, according to footage of the confrontation. The group also accused him of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of police officers.
Yunus remained silent as people accompanying him moved his wheelchair away from the hecklers and back inside the terminal.
Speaking at a media briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday, Zahed described the incident as “Awami League terror” and said the government would initiate legal proceedings against those responsible.
“It will not go unchallenged,” he said, warning Awami League members living abroad against similar actions.
Zahed cited the case of actress and activist Azmeri Haque Badhon, who was reportedly harassed in Italy last month, saying the government would pursue legal action in Yunus’s case as well.
The adviser also said the government would examine whether there had been any lapse in the arrangements and protocol due to Yunus as the former head of the interim administration.
The incident comes amid continuing political tensions following the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Yunus subsequently led the interim government for around 18 months, before the administration of Tarique Rahman took office.
Hasina’s Awami League has since been barred from political activities in Bangladesh, and the government has sought her extradition from India after she was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in 2025.
Yunus and his former administration have also faced criticism over their handling of the country’s measles outbreak, which has claimed more than a thousand children’s lives, according to official figures cited in the original report. UNICEF had previously warned the interim government about the risk of an outbreak amid delays in vaccine procurement.
The airport confrontation has added another flashpoint to the political dispute between the current government and the disbanded Awami League, with Dhaka signalling that it intends to pursue the matter beyond public condemnation.