Muhammad Yunus calls for solidarity against Indian aggression

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has urged the country’s politicians to keep differences at bay and put up a united front to counter Indian aggression.

The Muslim-majority nation saw a student-led uprising in August, toppling autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina and ending her 15-year rule.

India is Hasina’s biggest international patron and the destination of her exile.

“They are undermining our efforts to build a new Bangladesh and are spreading fictitious stories,” Yunus told a gathering of Bangladeshi political parties.

“They have spread these rumours in particular countries and among influential players.”

Yunus urged politicians at the meeting to unite against what he characterised as a disinformation campaign, describing the matter as “a question of our existence”.

A caretaker administration headed by Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been tasked with enacting democratic reforms ahead of fresh elections.

The chaotic aftermath of Hasina’s ouster saw a smattering of reprisal attacks against Hindus and other minorities, based in part on their perceived support for her government.

Yunus’s administration has acknowledged and condemned attacks on Hindus but said in many cases they were motivated by politics rather than religion.

It has accused India of exaggerating the scale of the violence and running a “propaganda campaign”.

The meeting, Yunus’s media team said, was part of an initiative to promote national unity in the face of “Indian aggression”. Yunus also met with student leaders.