Professor Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen
Former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh
Ms. Nusrat Faria is a movie star. She has been detained and now in Police custody. There is no case against her nor she ever was involved in politics. Her only crime is “she played the role of Sheikh Hasina in a movie” and she loved her role. Is there anything wrong in it?
Another popular singer Momtaz Begum who was a powerful singer and she built her property by earning from her music and songs has been arrested and the government bulldozed her house into ground. She did not earned money by corruption. Her only crime is she was a supporter the past government and a popular singer. Bulldozing her property is simply immoral.
The young jehadis of Dr. Yunus also bulldozed into ground by using government bulldozers the beautiful mansion of Shakib Al Hasan, the best all-rounder cricketer of Bangladesh who built it with his own income from cricket world is neither justified.
The jehadis of Yunus also vandalized, looted and destroyed more than 235 private houses of the elected leaders of the past government including the historic house of Bangabandhu at 32 Dhanmondi which has been a national museum, a symbol of Bangladesh independence and a pride. They destroyed invaluable historic documents in that house that were a national treasure for any researcher or educator.
Why the civil society leaders and Foreign diplomats including human rights activists who are always quick in expressing their concerns are now silent?
Mayor of Narangonj city Dr. Ivy Rahman was also arrested although there was no case against her. Is it not a violation of individual dignity and civic rights?
It is reported that 82,000 people have been jailed (jail capacity is 42,000) and 18,000 false and fraudulent murder cases against 300,000 supporters of the past government have been filed in order to harass and extort money. No wonder, now the Bangladesh judiciary has become a “joke” and a vehicle of corruption and extortion.
Question is, why our civil society and NGO leaders including diplomats and human rights activists are so quiet nowadays when gross violations are occurring in Bangladesh everyday? Is it because of fear of death and humiliation by jehadis and of course, new gestapos?
Bangladesh is not Gaza and the Yunus government is not a Netanyahu government that you cannot speak against its atrocities and its human rights violations.
As per Ain-O-Shalish, an NGO, 17 political prisoners have died recently inside jails while in custody due to torture. Is death by torture in custody is justified?
Freedom of speech and opinion has severely been curtailed in today’s Bangladesh and false cases have been filed against hundreds of journalists yet the leaders of free world is quiet.
Fear, anarchy and lawlessness and mob injustice is so pervasive under the present Yunus government in Bangladesh that hundreds of factories had to shut down, thousands of workers heve been laid off and the nation’s economy is crumbling. Nation’s GDP growth rate that achieved an average of 6.6% in past two decades and the Bangladesh economy became a “model of development” is now expected to achieve only 3.3% lowest in 30 years.
As per World Bank, nearly 3 million people are being pushed into poverty level and nation’s poverty rate which was 17% in 2024 has now increased to 22% and extreme poverty increased from 5.6% to 9% plus an additional 26.6 million added to the unemployment roster. No wonder, theft, dacoity, hijacking and crime have increased manyfold. Streets and homes are no longer safe in Bangladesh and the expatriate communities are selling their properties fast and siphoning those money abroad. No wonder, in spite of receipt of record amount of remittances, the foreign reserve is not increasing as expected.
All macroeconomic indicators show that under the Yunus government, Bangladesh is going to be a “failed state” soon if corrective measures are not taken.
Young students backed by military appointed Dr. Yunus, the only Nobel Laureate of Bangladesh to have better job opportunities, unfortunately, they are now finding no jobs and their future is uncertain. They expected better performance from Dr. Yunus but he miserably failed and there is fear that soon Bangladesh could become a failed state, a land of terrorists and jehadis. Its goal of achieving a hunger-free country by 2030 and a prosperous nation by 2041 is now doubtful to be achieved.
Once Bangladesh was known as a “bottomless basket with no hope of survival” but Sheikh Hasina changed that perception by dramatic improvement of the economy and she turned it into a vibrant economy and a “land of opportunity”.
Many of Dr. Yunus well wishers expected that he being a world renowned person would follow Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela of South Africa but sadly, he missed the opportunity. Instead he followed a path of vengeance, enmity and deceit. His administration appears to be a liar of first order and devoid of reality. He himself is portraying the country as the ‘most corrupt country’ in the world where its ‘security forces including police and military forces committed genocide’ which is not true. If his statements are true, the Bangladeshi forces might lose their credibility to be employed as the UN Peacekeepers and since it’s the most corrupt nation, no one will be willing to invest in Bangladesh. In order to demonize and to create a hostile approach to the past government, his administration has come up many false and distorted statistics and narratives those in the long run will hurt the nation’s economy and its future.
During the uprising as per the leading dailies of Bangladesh 329 people died from 16 July to 5 August and 328 died during 5-8 August, 2024 totaling 647 deaths (if you count daily deaths as reported in Prothom-alo, Somokhal and daily Star). The initial UN report mentioned 650 deaths and his Health Adviser could come up with only 834 deaths. Many who were once reported as dead and fortunately, as per media report, a total of 48 showed up as alive. Sadly, yet he is claiming 1500 deaths and the UNHRC Report, out of respect for him, followed his narrative.
If he cannot control his jehadis, improve law and order situation in the country, stop gross abuse of judiciary, and the crumbling of the economy, it is advisable that he should quit before this country collapses and become a dungeon of terrorists and jehadis.