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Published : 12 Jun 2025, 02:45 AM
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has faced questions at a London dialogue over the interim government’s silence during the demolition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence at Dhanmondi 32.
The interim prime minister said Bangladesh’s situation is now “calm”, adding that establishing unity among political parties remains the government’s “top priority”.
The incident, which took place on Aug 5, 2024, following the fall of the Awami League government, involved looting and arson at the house where the country's founding president once lived.
Six months later, on Feb 5, a programme dubbed the “Bulldozer March” was held across the country, marking the demolition of the residence in a festive atmosphere.
During a four-day official visit to the United Kingdom, Yunus attended a conversation hosted by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House on Wednesday, where he was confronted about the interim government's inaction.
A journalist from the Bangladeshi diaspora said, “When you arrived at Dhaka airport on the 8th of August, you said that your main challenge is to bring all the people together.
“But we have seen that the house of Bangladesh’s first president, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was demolished over six hours by Dhaka city corporation’s bulldozer. During that, we saw the administration was silent.
“So on this basis, you have separated particular persons or their supporters—you have created a division. How do you plan to reform Bangladesh or make unity while excluding them? Are you only an advisor for the other half, excluding particular parties or persons?”
The chief advisor did not give a direct answer to the question about the destruction of the house.
Instead, he said: We couldn't handle everything right away. So it’s a kind of period that we have gone through. Things have calmed down, come to order. Now we are dealing with it.”
According to him, bringing the nation into discipline was one of the interim government's major tasks since taking over in August last year.
Yunus said: “The police force that we got yesterday—they were shooting at the kids. And today suddenly they said ‘Okay, clear the road, get out’. People ask ‘Who are you? You killed my brother. You killed my son. You killed my sister. And now you're telling me what to do?’”
“So they [police] are afraid to go to the road. So we had a deadlock situation. We didn’t know how to handle those kinds of things. So it took time.”
Claiming the situation has changed, the chief advisor said: “Luckily I can report to you that it has calmed down. Now people are accepting the police. All the people that were identified as perpetrators of all the terrible things that happened in Bangladesh have been taken out of the services and they will be under trial.”
Yunus said the trial is crucial, claiming those responsible have been clearly identified through extensive video footage gathered during the unrest, which he described as a “uniquely recorded uprising”.
He added, “We are not saying that we are a government that has solved all problems or that we are successful. But we have now a police force which can bring law and order in the country.”
On political unity, Yunus said: “The unity of the political parties is the number one goal for us. We have been sitting--all these things we’re talking about--creating a July Charter.
“It’s not an easy thing for all the parties to sit together and debate, but we are doing that,” he added
