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Bangladesh Crisis: On August 5, the inevitable happened in Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh since 2009, was forced to resign in the wake of a massive uprising amongst the people of that country, led by the students there. Hasina also had to flee as her life came under threat and she sought refuge in India before moving to an undisclosed location. The Bangladeshi Army has taken control of the country even as they said an interim government would be set up soon.

Speaking exclusively to ABP LIVE from Paris, Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus said, the only solution to secure Bangladesh’s future is to “go back to democracy”, and hold free and fair elections, which he says has not been happening in Dhaka under Hasina’s prolonged rule.

Yunus, 83, also expressed discontent on the role played by Bangladesh’s immediate neighbour India and questioned the Narendra Modi government’s stance that called the unfolding of the students’ protest there as an “internal matter” and said New Delhi was supporting a leader who was taking away people’s democratic rights.  

"I was very shocked and I was very hurt when India said this is Bangladesh's internal matter and we can’t do anything about it. I said come on! You come and participate in our elections and today when people are demonstrating on the streets and they are being shot dead, you have no role to play. We have been appealing to the whole world that innocent young people from Bangladesh are being shot by their own government, please help us and India said this is an internal matter,” said Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering work in 2006 on microfinance.

He said India’s silence in the entire saga made Bangladeshi people “angry” as New Delhi “stayed away” from taking any official position against Hasina’s actions in which over 300 Bangladeshis lost their lives as they took part in protests against reserved quotas for government jobs.

"If your neighbour's house is burning you cannot say it is their internal affair … If this is going to hurt us, it is going to hurt you. Because if Bangladesh sees a total mess and violence it will spill over all over your borders. You cannot stop it,” said Yunus, who was sentenced to jail in January this year for allegedly violating Bangladesh’s labour laws.

“India only wanted to support one person,” he said, adding that New Delhi had a “role” to play in Bangladesh’s general elections held in January 2024 when the former PM came back to power for an unprecedented fifth term.

“India made it very clear (that they played a role in Bangladesh’s elections). It is not a hidden thing… India was always the first country to congratulate her,” he underlined.

‘India Should Deal With People Of Bangladesh’

The economist also said India had been “unfortunately” supporting Hasina’s methods of manipulating every election she fought. “That’s why people are angry with India that you are supporting a person who’s taking away all our rights.”

However, he also said that being neighbours and connected historically and culturally, Dhaka and New Delhi can be “best of friends”.

“We need your support. We need the support of all Indian people. Together we can be best of friends – India and Bangladesh. We are so close to each other, we believe in things together, we can do things together. We can be best of friends instead of turning into another relationship as the worst of enemies. Why should we? There’s no reason to do that,” he highlighted.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) remained on high alert as hundreds and thousands of people from Bangladesh tried to cross over into India.

Following a high-level meeting convened by PM Modi on the Bangladesh crisis, New Delhi decided to suspend all kinds of rail connectivity with that country

“You (India) should be dealing with the people of Bangladesh, not the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Please change your policy,” Yunus said.

He also made it clear that having an acrimonious relationship with India will not work in Dhaka’s favour.

“India is our best friend. Why should we have trouble? India is a big country. We have many things to share with India and also benefit from India. We don’t want India to be our enemy. We want to be the closest friends… So change your policy and get together to understand where we are going wrong. Why should we push one person? It’s a nation, not a person,” Yunus reiterated.

Bangladesh Having ‘Second Liberation'

According to Yunus, Hasina’s removal from the Prime Ministership should be celebrated in the same spirit as it was done on December 16, 1975, when Bangladesh achieved independence from Pakistan.

"Today we are having a second liberation day. Celebrations going on all over the country. We got rid of something that we did not want … Millions of people are on the streets today rejoicing and this is all led by the students. All started in a simple way when the students wanted change in the quota system in the government jobs. It was a simple demand but the way they were mistreated, mishandled by the government by attacking them, beating them, shooting them, it (the protests) grew bigger and bigger,” explained Yunus.

He said for Bangladesh to come out of this crisis situation the only solution is to hold elections by following a democratic process.

"You have to get back to the democratic process. Every single citizen has the freedom to express themselves, form their own political party and express themselves. Only solution is to go back to democracy. You cannot solve political problems by guns. You cannot accuse people falsely and put them in jails just like that. We have to get back to democracy and elections. And today that door has been flung open. The students led the way because she was not,” said Yunus, who is famously known as “banker to the poor”.

He also said everyone should get the right to participate in the country’s next elections, including the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, or Jamaat.

“You allow everybody to participate in democracy as long as that person does not violate the law. So whether it was Jamaat or the BNP, they are citizens of the country, they have to participate in the elections, they have to get the chance to participate in the legal way but they were not getting the chance. The government became a factory of lies and people could see that through,” he underscored.

Yunus, who had once floated a political party named ‘Nagarik Shakti’ back in 2007, ruled out any possibility of running for elections again.

“I'll try to be as miles away as possible from politics. I am not a politician, I don't want to get involved in politics … I am not a politician, I am not fit for that kind of job. I do things for people and I know how to do that and I love that. Some people like it, some dislike it but my work goes on. This (politics) is a completely new territory and I don't want to get involved in that,” he said.