Bangladesh: 'Md Yunus and Students Call the Shots Now, Not Army; Attacks on Hindus Mostly Ended'

In Bangladesh Md Yunus and, perhaps, students call the shots not army; many Bangladeshis have concerns about relationship with India; attacks on minorities have almost stopped: Publisher & Editor, Daily Star, Mahfuz Anam

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The Publisher and Editor of the most highly regarded and widely read English language newspaper in Bangladesh, The Daily Star, has said the view that the Bangladesh army and its Army Chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, call the shots is mistaken and wrong. Mahfuz Anam said in Bangladesh the buck stops with Muhammad Yunus, the head of the interim government, and, perhaps, the students, who spearheaded the downfall of Sheikh Hasina, but not the army. He says the army has deliberately and very carefully chosen to remain in the background and the Army Chief has, therefore, kept a conscious and deliberate low profile.



Speaking about the attacks on minorities, which his paper on Saturday (10th) had front-paged with the statistic that there have been 205 attacks since the fall of Sheikh Hasina (i.e. over 5 days), Mr. Anam said that these have now virtually ended. As a result he said his paper has not mentioned any such attacks in the edition it brought out today (12/8).



In another very important set of answers, Mr. Anam said that many Bangladeshis – and not just the new Foreign Adviser, former Foreign Secretary and former Deputy High Commissioner to Calcutta, Touhid Hossain – have concerns and reservations about the relationship with India. In answer to a specific question about such reservations held by Prof. Yunus, Mr. Anam said that he is a wise man and these will not affect his attitude to India now that he is Chief Adviser of the interim government.



I will leave you to watch the interview to find out further details about all three issues mentioned above. There are sizeable chunks of the interview devoted to them. It is important you should see and understand them directly rather than read them in a precis or paraphrase.



The interview also has a substantial section about Sheikh Hasina and whether Bangladesh’s relationship with India would be adversely affected if she seeks asylum and New Delhi grants it. Again, I will leave you to see the interview to hear this section yourself.



In the interview, Mr. Anam gives considerable details about corruption and crony capitalism under Sheikh Hasina. This is particularly revealing.



He also speaks about reports, carried by NDTV and the Economic Times, about an allegedly undelivered speech where Sheikh Hasina accuses the United States of effectively plotting her downfall with references to St. Martin Island as one of the issues that has annoyed the United States. Mr. Anam said even if Sheikh Hasina’s son is right in claiming that this speech is fake, the sentiments allegedly expressed in it have been spoken by her when she was Prime Minister on multiple occasions. He gives details in the interview. Please see the interview.



This 44-minute interview is detailed and will take time to view but it will also be very rewarding, particularly if you are keen to understand Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus and the students, the various forces at play, Sheikh Hasina and her regime as well as India-Bangladesh relations and the issues that matter when viewed from the Bangladeshi perspective.