Sheikh Hasina's Regime Change Was Planned Days Before Her Ouster: Yunus Aide

Dhaka: Bangladesh's former Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus was chosen for the top post in the country even before former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Dhaka following violent student protests in 2024. According to Yunus' former press secretary Shafiqul Alam, student leaders, who were planning a regime change in Bangladesh, reached out to the Nobel laureate to lead the interim government two days before Hasina's ouster on August 5, 2024. What Yunus Aide SaidIn the Facebook post, Alam alleged that an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist became a link between Yunus and the protesters conspiring to overthrow Hasina as Bangladesh's prime minister. "When student leaders wanted to reach out to Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and invite him to head the interim government in a post-Hasina scenario, they needed a trusted bridge-builder. Qadaruddin Shishir stepped up to fulfill that critical role," the Yunus aide wrote. Qadaruddin Shishir was then the editor of AFP Dhaka's fact-check team. Alam wrote that Shishir "managed" the "high-stakes operation" of regime change in "complete secrecy"."Only a select few trusted individuals knew what was happening. It was Shishir who first approached the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner on behalf of the student leaders and facilitated the initial talks between the two parties," he noted. Alam further revealed that the meeting happened two days before Hasina was forced to flee the country, offering a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes moves that led to one of Bangladesh's most consequential political transitions in recent history."Hasina would remain in power for two more days, yet her brutal security machine--notorious for mass killings and abductions--never caught a whisper of it. Had they discovered what was happening, Shishir and our entire AFP team would likely have ended up in an Aynaghar (house of mirrors secret prison)," Alam said. He went on to praise the journalist's "cool and composure", while, according to him, he "quietly started gathering video evidence of the cold-blooded murders being committed by the regime."Hasina's Allegations Against YunusAfter Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government was toppled, an interim administration led by Yunus assumed office on August 8, 2024, and governed Bangladesh for the next one and a half years. In 2025, Hasina was tried in absentia by a special tribunal and sentenced to death. The interim government also disbanded her Awami League party and sought her extradition from India. Hasina has accused the Yunus administration of allowing perpetrators of violence to escape accountability while pursuing politically motivated cases against Awami League members. She has also alleged that political repression and a culture of fear had continued under subsequent political arrangements.Recently, during his US visit, Yunus was heckled by purported supporters of the disbanded Awami League at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. In a video of the incident that later went viral, the protesters were seen shouting, "You are a terrorist, murderer!" "Why you come here?" and "You killed thousands of police officers in my country", as a bewildered-looking Yunus left the airport. The situation prompted the escort to hurriedly turn the wheelchair around inside the terminal to protect him from the verbal abuse.