'Yunus not in control, terror group-linked Islamists spreading hardline ideology': Former PM Hasina

In a sharp attack on Yunis, Hasina, who has been living in India since the fall of her government, said true democracy cannot exist in Bangladesh while the country is governed by a head of state with no electoral mandate.

New Delhi: Bangladesh's interim government chief Muhammad Yunus is not in control of the administration and Islamist factions linked to terrorist groups are allowed to spread a hardline ideology, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

In a sharp attack on Yunis, Hasina, who has been living in India since the fall of her government in August 2024, said true democracy cannot exist in Bangladesh while the country is governed by a head of state with no electoral mandate.

In a piece she wrote for The Week magazine the Awami League leader said Bangladesh was once a bastion of "religious tolerance and secularism" but now it is witnessing daily acts of "deplorable violence" targeting religious minorities, women, girls and supporters of her party.

"True democracy cannot exist while our country is governed by a head of state with no electoral mandate, who has banned the most popular political party, disenfranchised tens of millions of its own citizens and threatened our constitution with an unconstitutional charter," she said.

"This charter does not reflect the voices of the people of Bangladesh and is nothing more than a political instrument designed to legitimise increasingly authoritarian rule under the guise of reform," she alleged.

Hasina also came down hard on Yunus dispensation for banning Awami League from contesting the parliamentary elections scheduled for early next year.

"Only the people of Bangladesh can decide the country's future. But by banning legitimate political forces and disenfranchising ordinary citizens, the interim administration will succeed only in sowing division across the country," she said.

Hasina said Yunus is not in control of his administration and his lack of governance experience is woefully apparent to ordinary Bangladeshis.

"But the truth is that Yunus is not really in control at all." "Islamist factions linked to known terrorist organisations such as Hizb ut-Tahrir have been allowed to take root in civil life, spreading a hardline ideology that seeks to oppress some of the most vulnerable in our society," she alleged.

"These are the same extremist forces responsible for atrocious and deadly attacks such as the 2016 assault on the Holey Artisan Cafe -- groups we worked tirelessly to contain and root out." The former prime minister alleged that murder, rape, muggings, arson, lootings and robberies have become the norm in Bangladesh and offenders go unpunished.

"In the first weeks of the Yunus administration's rule, thousands of attacks targeting Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and indigenous people were reported. Still today we hear weekly reports of shrines, homes and places of worship needlessly destroyed," she said.

Hasina also noted how her government had "transformed" Bangladesh into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world through determination and discipline.

"When we came to office, our economy was fragile, our people had little hope and our infrastructure lagged far behind. Sadly, following a golden period, Bangladesh is led by an administration with no constitutional basis, no experience of governance and no electoral mandate," she said.

"Our GDP climbed from USD 47 billion to nearly USD 600 billion, making Bangladesh one of the 35 largest economies in the world. Most of the credit for this goes to ordinary Bangladeshis, not to politicians," she said.

"Millions were lifted out of absolute poverty, women entered the workforce in growing numbers and foreign reserves grew to levels once unimaginable," she added.

Hasina said Bangladesh must establish a genuine tradition of participatory elections.

"Only then can we break the cycle of manipulation, boycott and exclusion that has defined too much of our political history and help free the nation from repeating these recurring mistakes," she added.