Geneva witnessed a fresh burst of protests against Bangladesh’s interim administration, with Awami League leaders calling Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’s government completely illegal and accusing him of driving the country toward religious extremism.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Switzerland Awami League General Secretary Shaymal Khan said Yunus had seized power through a terrorist attack and warned that his rule was exacting a heavy toll on minorities and dissenters alike.
“The Yunus government is completely illegal. He took state power through a terrorist attack Yunus is committing and promoting religious extremism in Bangladesh. Not only Hindus, but other minorities and free-thinking people are paying a very high price,” Khan said, demanding Yunus’s immediate resignation.
Khan insisted that half of Bangladesh still backs the Awami League and dismissed next year’s general elections — scheduled for February — as meaningless without the party’s participation. “At least 50 percent of the Bangladeshi population supports the Awami League. Holding even one election without the Awami League is a joke,” he told ANI.
He also accused Yunus of trying to tilt Bangladesh closer to Pakistan and of undermining ties with India. “In 1971, we separated from Pakistan. At that time, some Pakistani supporters were in Bangladesh, and they are still in Bangladesh. With Yunus, they are trying to build relations with Pakistan again, going against our independence, and also doing many things against India without any valid reason,” Khan alleged.
The remarks came alongside a protest staged by Awami League members at Geneva’s iconic Broken Chair, during the ongoing 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council. Demonstrators carried placards branding Yunus a “killer” and “terrorist,” demanding both his resignation and the revocation of his Nobel Peace Prize. They shouted slogans in support of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and accused the interim government of killings, rapes, enforced disappearances, and false prosecutions.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the protest via phone, lending weight to the demonstration.
The unrest follows a seminar at the UN council last week, where Bangladeshi-born scientist Dr. Nuran Nabi painted a grim picture of life under the Yunus-led administration. “There are widespread human rights violations, with many people being killed by mob violence. The economic condition is dire, and people are going hungry. Many say they were better off before this government took power,” Nabi told the forum.
He accused Yunus of enabling religious fundamentalists to push the country toward an “Afghanistan-like” model of governance. “The current administration, headed by Professor Yunus, was installed with the support of Western countries who believed that, as a Nobel laureate, he would improve the country. Instead, he has been accused of promoting violence rather than peace,” Nabi said.
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