Prof Yunus’ leadership united global support for Bangladesh when needed: Shafiqul Alam

Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam today (4 August) said Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus' leadership helped secure international solidarity for Bangladesh when it was needed most.

"His public-spirited approach offers a blueprint for what comes next," he said in a post on his verified Facebook post.

Alam said there are moments in a nation's life when clarity and courage matter more than politics. July 2024 was one such moment.

"The Hasina regime had unleashed unthinkable violence—hundreds of young people were killed including many from the BNP and other opposition parties," he said, stressing that amid this darkness, it was Professor Muhammad Yunus who spoke with the moral force and international credibility the moment demanded.

On 21 July, Alam, said as the violence peaked, Prof Yunus issued a global appeal. "He urged the UN and world leaders to stop what he rightly called a "nationwide killing spree."

"He demanded international investigations and called on people of conscience to stand with Bangladesh. That intervention helped shift international opinion and isolate Hasina. It gave our struggle global weight and helped pave the way for the peaceful transition that followed," said the Press Secretary.

"Prof Yunus did not speak as a politician but as a citizen and he saluted the protesters, referred to their victory as our 'Second Victory Day', and called on Bangladeshis to refrain from revenge and begin the work of rebuilding," Alam said, adding, "He stood not above the fray but within it—clear-eyed, principled, and trusted by a generation hungry for dignity and change."

This leadership was not born overnight, Alam said. For years, he said, Prof Yunus had condemned Hasina's authoritarian rule.

"He called it 'fascist', decried its sham elections, and demanded reform of the judiciary, bureaucracy, and constitution. He warned the world of Bangladesh's democratic collapse and suffered greatly for it: public vilification, legal harassment, travel restrictions, and over 100 politically motivated cases—including a prison sentence in early 2024 that he avoided only by securing bail," the press secretary said.

When the people demanded a transitional figure who stood apart from party rivalries and embodied the values, they had risked their lives for, they turned to him. Not because he sought power, but because he had earned their trust, said the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary in a post shared from his verified Facebook account.

At that crucial moment, Alam said, they did not hear the same kind of international urgency or moral leadership from figures like Major (retd) Hafiz Uddin. "He had long opposed Hasina, and like many in the BNP, he and his party endured enormous abuse at the hands of her regime. But in July 2024, when voices were needed on the global stage, Major Hafiz's was not among the loudest or most effective."

"That distinction matters—not to diminish anyone's suffering or contribution—but to understand why Professor Yunus became the voice of a national movement," Alam said.