GENEVA — Speaking at an international human rights forum, Bangladeshi freedom fighter Dr. Nuran Nabi delivered a blistering critique of the interim government led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, accusing him of turning Bangladesh into a “failed state” under the guise of Western-backed reform.
Dr. Nabi, who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, said the nation’s founding ideals—secularism, democracy, and equal rights for all religions—have been replaced by mob rule, political persecution, and a resurgence of extremism.
“Yunus has become a prophet of violence,” he declared. “Under his rule, Bangladesh has witnessed mob killings, mass rapes, and the destruction of law-enforcement institutions.”
According to Dr. Nabi, more than 3,200 police officers have been killed since Yunus took office, a figure that could not be independently verified. He alleged that the interim authorities have issued an indemnity ordinance shielding the perpetrators from prosecution.
He cited a particularly gruesome case in Sirajganj, where 17 police officers—including a pregnant woman—were burned alive. The crime, he said, remains unpunished.
Turning his attention to alleged foreign involvement, Dr. Nabi accused a U.S.-backed agency of helping finance efforts to remove former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through coordinated international and domestic conspiracies. Referring to public remarks he attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Dr. Nabi claimed that USAID provided $29 million and Indian channels contributed another $21 million to destabilize the Hasina government—paving the way for Yunus’s rise to power.
He further alleged that Western nations continue to support Yunus despite reports of widespread human-rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests of journalists, artists, and opposition figures.
“Hundreds of journalists are in prison, and even national icons—athletes and singers—have been falsely accused of murder to silence dissent,” he said.
Dr. Nabi warned that Bangladesh risks becoming a “proxy battleground for global superpowers,” arguing that the ongoing turmoil undermines both national sovereignty and democratic integrity.
“I risked my life in 1971 to build a secular, democratic Bangladesh,” he said. “Today, I see my country transformed into a land of mobocracy and terror, backed by those who claim to defend human rights.”
In his closing remarks, Dr. Nabi appealed to the international community and global rights bodies to speak out against what he described as systematic repression under Yunus’s leadership.
“Bangladeshis are human beings like any other,” he said. “Their lives, dignity, and freedom must be protected.”
Dr. Nabi’s impassioned speech drew significant attention from participants at the forum, many of whom expressed alarm over the deteriorating human-rights situation in Bangladesh.
