Asked Modi to stop Hasina from speaking, he said not possible due to social media: Yunus

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LONDON: Chief adviser to the interim Bangladesh govt, Mohammad Yunus, told delegates at Chatham House Wednesday he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina from ‘speaking’ after she fled to India but Modi replied that it was not possible because of social media.“I said to PM Modi: ‘You want to host her? I can’t force you to abandon that policy, but please help us in making sure she doesn’t speak to Bangladeshi people the way she is doing as the whole of Bangladesh gets very angry.’ India is not doing what I asked. Modi’s answer was: ‘It is social media, we can’t control it.’ What can you say? It’s an explosive situation. You can’t just walk away by saying it’s social media,” Yunus said.“We want to build the best relationship with India – but somehow things go wrong all the time because of all fake news coming from the Indian press,” he said. “Some people say it has connections with policy makers at the top. This is what makes Bangladesh very jittery. A whole barrage of things keep happening in cyber space.”Also Read: Bangladesh 2026 polls: Yunus says ‘no way’ he would continue to be in power; plans to unveil ‘big package’ next monthYunus said Awami League didn’t need to be part of the 2026 elections as “it isn’t a political party”. He pledged to hold “the most beautiful election ever”.“If they can kill young people on the street, make people disappear, steal money, would you call them a political party? None of them has ever expressed remorse. For the safety of politics of this country, the nation has decided that, for time being, the activities of Awami League will be suspended until the trial is over,” he said, referring to the trial of perpetrators of violence under the Hasina regime. “We have not banned Awami League.”Protests marked Yunus’ visit to Chatham House. “How can he ban the Awami League? He is not even elected. He has no authority,” said one of the Bangladeshi diaspora protesters outside, chanting, “Yunus terrorist”. One held a placard calling for the release of former Iskcon monk Chinmoy Prabhu.