Bangladesh’s ex-foreign secretary says restoring order is ‘first priority’

“Elections in Bangladesh do not enjoy the public trust anymore because of the polarization of the main political parties,” Chowdhury explained, referring to the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the recently ousted Awami League, led by now-ousted Sheikh Hasina. He advised that a non-party interim government should conduct the next election, to restore the people’s trust in the election process.

Chowdhury also questioned Hasina’s allegations that foreign countries were behind her ouster from power. Hasina was earlier quoted by the Economic Times as saying that she could have retained power if she had agreed to host a US military base on Saint Martin Island in Bangladesh. Notably, she has long blamed the United States for attempting to unseat her. After the last general election, the White House alleged that the polls were neither free nor fair.

However, Chowdhury insists that the recent protests that led to a change of government were rather “organic.”

Following the resignation of Hasina, reports of violence against Hindus, the largest minority in Muslim-dominated Bangladesh, emerged. At present, Hindus constitute around 8% of Bangladesh’s population. On Wednesday, Yunus met some members of the Hindu community at the Dhakeshwari Temple in the capital, Dhaka. He had condemned the alleged attacks and described them as “heinous.”