The interim government in Bangladesh, led by controversial Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has launched a campaign to hunt down Awami League (AL) leaders from across the country. The nefarious mission has been dubbed ‘Operation Devil Hunt.’
Yunus was tasked to lead Bangladesh following the undemocratic ouster of former Prime Minister and Awami League supremo, Sheikh Hasina. He was expected to take the Islamic Republic on the path of ‘democracy’ in the politically turbulent time.
However, the regime of the Nobel laureate is busy pandering to Islamists, ensuring the revival of the opposition BNP and crushing the Awami League with an iron fist as part of a well-thought-out political strategy.
Mass arrest of Awami League leaders and supporters
On 8th February this year, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus launched the infamous ‘Operation Devil Hunt’.
A day earlier, violent clashes broke out between ‘student protesters’ and Awami League supporters after the former attacked the residence of AL leader Mozammel Haque in Gazipur.
Muhammad Yunus seized the opportunity to hunt down the leaders and supporters of his arch-rival Sheikh Hasina under the pretext of providing justice to ‘student protestors.’ And thus the never-seen-before saga of political witchhunt began against the Awami League.
🚨 BREAKING: Early this morning, one of the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement(SAD), Hasnat Abdullah, and Sarjis Alam, openly ordered the MURDER of former Gazipur Mayor Jahangir Alam, Minister for Liberation War Affairs Mozammel Haque, and Gazipur District… pic.twitter.com/8sV7RQZaMj
— Asifur Rahman Chowdhury (@Asifurrahman71) February 8, 2025
The Home Ministry of Bangladesh issued a statement, shrewdly labelling the clashes between the ‘student protestors’ and Awami League supporters as ‘terrorist attacks.’
Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury declared, “Those who attempt to destabilise the country will be arrested.” The repeated dehumanisation and attempts to portray the Awami League as an ‘enemy of Bangladesh’ were soon followed by mass arrests.
The situation is so grim that a whopping 7,301 people have been put behind bars in connection to the Gazipur attack. Needless to say, most of the people arrested belong to the Awami League.
Initially, the witchhunt was limited to Gazipur but it later spread to Cumilla and Noakhali. The centrally supervised campaign was executed by the police, Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and the Coast Guard.
The interim government had made its sinister agenda clear even before the launch of the ‘Operation Devil Hunt’
Muhammad Yunus as ‘mute spectator’ and facilitator of persecution
Muhammad Yunus has largely remained a ‘mute spectator’ to targeted attacks, aimed at erasing the history of Awami League in the context of Bangladesh’s independence and politics.
The ‘student protestors’, who oversaw the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, had launched ‘Bulldozer procession’ outside the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman on 5th February this year. They carried out vandalism and set the building on fire.
The radical elements, who enjoy the backing of the Yunus regime, also damaged murals of the founding Father of the Nation. They also carried out destruction and arson attacks on the residences of Sheikh Hasina’s late husband and cousins.
The ‘student protestors’ also attacked the homes of ex-President Abdul Hamid and former Bangladeshi army chief Moeen U. Ahmed. Far from condemning the vandalism, Yunus appeared to justify the actions. This explains why no ‘student protestor’ has been arrested.
He has also remained tight-lipped on attacks on Awami League leaders and the destruction of the party office.
In January this year, Yunus’ regime introduced new textbooks for primary and secondary students which falsely claim that the first declaration of independence of Bangladesh was made by Ziaur Rehman, the founder of BNP, and not Mujibur Rehman.
The ‘Nobel laureate’ has made it clear that he is willing to go to any length to distort the country’s history and erase the contribution of the Awami League in the Independence Movement.
Thus, Muhammad Yunus had been a facilitator as well as a mute spectator of the persecution of the Awami League based on the circumstances.
Interim government and its attempt to eradicate the Awami League
Soon after coming to power, Muhammad Yunus chalked out plans to ban the Awami League. The plan did not go through due to fierce opposition from rival political parties.
In October 2024, the interim government banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, over supposed violence committed by its members since 2008.
On 25th January this year, Mahfuz Alam announced, “The elections will be contested among pro-Bangladesh groups only.” He defined pro-Bangladesh groups as BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami etc and said that these parties would form a government through ‘fair electoral process’.
“But Awami League’s rehabilitation will not be allowed in this country,” he emphasised, indicating that there are no plans to let Awami League contest elections in a ‘democratic’ Bangladesh.
For the unversed, Mahfuz Alam is an ‘adviser’ to the interim government of Bangladesh. The anti-India propagandist had previously served as a ‘special assistant’ to Muhammad Yunus.
Interestingly, Yunus had described the same man as the ‘brain’ behind the campaign to remove Sheikh Hasina from power in August 2024.
Remind: In the video, Dr. Yunus is introducing his special assistant Mahfuz Alam, also known as Mahfuz Abdullah, and he is a member of Hizbut Tahrir of the banned organization.The Mastermind of the fall of Bangladesh Ex Government Sheikh Hasina. pic.twitter.com/5KJHBRh9ml
— Avro Neel Hindu🕉️🇧🇩 (@avroneel80) November 8, 2024
Islamist Sarjis Alam, who had previosuly threatened India and demanded the handover of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had also demanded a blanket ban on the Awami League.
“We cannot hold voters accountable for the crimes of the party. However, the registration of the Awami League as a political party must be completely revoked,” Alam had declared.
Owing to his anti-Indian rhetoric, the Islamist was made the chief organiser of the Jatiyo Nagorik Committee. Sarjis Alam is also close to the Muhammad Yunus-led-interim government in Bangladesh.
Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, the Youth and Sports Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh declared on Wednesday (19th February) that Awami League should be ‘eradicated politically and ideologically’ from the Islamic Republic.
He declared, “The Awami League should not only be banned but also politically eradicated from Bangladesh. This is my personal stance. Now, discussion may take place on how it will be implemented. There are precedents of this in various countries”
“I have seen my brothers martyred by their [AL men] firing before my eyes. I have been a victim of disappearance; I have seen death up close. It is impossible to even think of the political rehabilitation of Awami League,” Bhuyain brazened out.
BNP and Muhammad Yunus are ‘natural allies’
Muhammad Yunus and Bangladesh Nationalist Party are united through their common dislike for Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League.
After Hasina fled Bangladesh, Yunus described the moment as ‘Second Liberation Day.’ BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had also hailed ‘brave children’ for their struggle that made the ‘impossible possible.’
Both the BNP and Yunus regime did not hold back from making their anti-India agenda clear. Prior to Hasina’s ouster, BNP was openly supporting the boycott of Indian goods and products.
Although Yunus couldn’t afford to openly endorse the ‘India Out’ campaign, he tried to temporarily placate the anti-India Islamists by not exporting Hilsa fish to India.
When Khaleda Zia was politically active, she would openly support insurgents in India’s North East by hailing them as ‘freedom fighters.’
Her anti-India sentiment was recently echoed by one of the advisors of the Yunus regime, Mahfuz Alam.
BNP has always promoted a ‘Bangladeshi identity’ based on Islam. Its politics centred around the majoritarian form of Islamic nationalism that had no place for Hindus and other religious minorities in the story of Bangladesh.
The party had also been involved in anti-Hindu atrocities. While Yunus has not directed Muslim mobs to run rampage, he has strategically remained tight-lipped on their activities.
His regime has released Islamic hardliners and convicted terrorists and tried to downplay attacks on Hindu minorities as ‘fake‘, ‘exaggerated‘ or ‘politically motivated‘.
Conclusion
It is now increasingly clear that Muhammad Yunus, through his advisors and ‘student activists’ are creating a conducive environment to ban Awami League and end its political participation in perpetuity. The draconian, large scale arrests of supporters of Awami League under the garb of ‘Operation Devil Hunt’ is part of the same strategy.
