Staff Correspondent

When Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus flew back to Bangladesh in August, he was greeted by bleak scenes. The streets were still slick with blood, and the bodies of more than 1,000 protesters and children were piled up in morgues, riddled with bullets fired by police.

Sheikh Hasina had just been toppled by a student-led revolution after 15 years of authoritarian rule. She fled the country in a helicopter as civilians, seeking revenge for her atrocities, ransacked her residence, reports UK-based The Guardian today.

At 84, Prof Yunus - an economist who won a Nobel prize for pioneering microfinance for the poor - had long given up his political ambitions. He had faced years of vilification and persecution by Hasina, who viewed him a political threat, and he spent much of his time abroad.

But when the student protesters asked him to lead an interim government to restore democracy to Bangladesh, he agreed.

"The damage she had done was monumental," Prof Yunus told the Guardian, describing the state of Bangladesh when he took charge. "It was a completely devastated country, like another Gaza, except it wasn't buildings that had been destroyed but whole institutions, policies, people and international relationships," The Guardian said.

Hasina's reign was dominated by allegations of tyranny, violence and corruption. It culminated in a bloody few weeks over July and August, when more than 1,400 people were killed in protests against her repressive rule, a violent crackdown by police that could amount to a "crime against humanity", according to the UN. She has denied all use of excessive force.

It reports Prof Yunus's return to Bangladesh was heralded as the dawn of a new era for the country. In the six months since he took charge, senior police officers - no longer under Hasina's protection - have been prosecuted for extrajudicial killings, secret detention centres where Hasina's critics were allegedly tortured have been emptied, human rights commissions have been established and Hasina is facing hundreds of charges, which she denies. Prof Yunus has pledged that, sometime between December this year and March 2026, Bangladesh will hold its first free and fair elections in decades, after which he will hand over power.

But walking the streets of Dhaka, there is a feeling that the country stands at a precipice. While Prof Yunus is still widely respected, questions have been raised over his governance capabilities and the pace of promised reform.

Political parties, particularly the Bangladesh National party (BNP), have been desperate to return to power and have exerted mounting pressure on Prof Yunus to hold elections, calling into question his legitimacy. The students who led the revolution have also launched their own party.
Nahid Islam, leader of the newly founded Jatiya Nagarik Party, at the party's launch in Dhaka, The Guardian said.

Building a 'second republic': students who led Bangladesh revolution launch political party.

The senior BNP figure Amir Chowdhury said elections could not come soon enough. "This government was only meant as an interim measure," he said. "Right now nobody is accountable on a day-to-day basis and they don't have the political weight, mandate and mobilisation to carry out reforms."

Prof Yunus is determined to frame the country's woes as consequences of Hasina's rule: "Hasina's regime wasn't a government, it was a family of bandits. Any order from the boss and it was done. Someone's causing problems? We'll make them disappear. Want to hold an election? We will make sure you win all the seats. You want money? Here's a million dollar loan from the bank you never have to pay back," said the report.

The scale of the corruption carried out under Hasina has left the banking system highly exposed and the economy in tatters. Among Hasina's relatives caught up in the financial scandals is her niece, Tulip Siddiq, a UK Labour MP. Siddiq resigned from her role at the Treasury as she faced questions over assets allegedly linked to Hasina's regime and was named in a corruption investigation in Bangladesh. She has denied all wrongdoing.

Operations involving financial authorities in the UK, US and Switzerland are under way to try to recover upwards of $17 billion estimated to have been taken from country's banks by Hasina's allies. But hopes of it being returned anytime soon are diminishing.

"Banks were given full licence to loot people's money, with active participation from the government," Prof Yunus said. "They would send their officials with guns to get it all signed off."

When Hasina was in power, she enjoyed a close relationship with India and is now hiding out in the neighbouring nation as bilateral ties between the countries disintegrate. India has shown little interest in mending them while Prof Yunus is in charge, with Delhi recently accusing Dhaka of "normalising terrorism", The Guardian said.

Prof Yunus said India hosting Hasina would be tolerated, but "allowing her to use India as a platform for her campaign to try to undo everything we have done is dangerous. It destabilises the country."

Prof Yunus recently invited Trump's billionaire backer Elon Musk to bring his Starlink satellite internet network to Bangladesh. Sources around Prof Yunus said a visit by Musk to the country was expected in April.

The Chief Adviser expressed hope that Trump might see Bangladesh as a "good investment opportunity" and trading partner, and said he intended to pitch this to Musk during his visit, the report said.