Awami League critiques Muhammad Yunus' disastrous UK trip
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Bangladesh's oldest political party the Awami League (AL) has condemned Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser of the interim regime of Bangladesh, for his disastrous UK trip which according to AL achieved nothing for the Bangladeshi people.Throughout the five-day visit, thousands of Bangladeshis – including many Awami League supporters - peacefully protested on the streets of London. These were ordinary citizens demanding free and fair elections and accountability from Yunus.Despite announcing a meeting with UK PM Keir Starmer ahead of his trip, it was later revealed that no such meeting was ever scheduled. Yunus failed to secure an audience with the Prime Minister – a double humiliation, since it followed an earlier failure ahead of the trip to secure a meeting with France's president, Emmanuel Macron.Yunus stayed in the luxurious Dorchester Hotel, in the heart of London's shopping district, and was one of numerous recipients of awards handed out by King Charles III, although he received notably less coverage than another award recipient, the footballer David Beckham. Yunus also undertook a series of meetings that did not yield anything tangible for the people of Bangladesh.The obvious contrast is with Sheikh Hasina, who as the PM, met with British Prime Ministers routinely on visits, the last time being a bilateral meeting with Rishi Sunak in London in 2023, discussing serious matters of shared strategic and economic importance to the two nations.Demonstrations were held outside the Dorchester Hotel upon Yunus's arrival, at Chatham House where Yunus gave a speech, and in Parliament Square where several hundred British Bangladeshis banded together to demand a better future for their homeland.Md Arafat, AL spokesperson, said, 'I'm sure Yunus enjoyed rubbing shoulders with David Beckham, but he has achieved nothing for our country. His shopping trip to London would be laughable were a tragedy not unfolding for the people of Bangladesh, who live in an environment of fear and social breakdown.This trip represents a humiliation for Bangladesh on the global stage. Yunus's visit painfully illustrates Bangladesh's diminished importance on the world stage. His refusal to allow free and fair elections, his unreliability as an economic partner and his questionable commitment to Bangladesh's traditional strategic alliances have worsened our isolation. Yunus must explain what he has achieved for Bangladesh, apologise for insulting his own people, and commit to real democratic consultation on the country's future.'
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