Can Bangladesh Afford to Trust Dr. Yunus and the Psychopath Trinity?

By Lt (Retd) Imran Ahmed Chowdhury BEM

Bangladesh stands once again at a perilous crossroads. The dream of 1971 — a secular, democratic, and self-reliant republic — appears under siege from within. The sudden emergence of a political amalgamation of Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Nationalist Conservative Party (NCP), Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT), and the resurrected Jamaat-e-Islami signals not reform, but regression.

Dr. Yunus, once the celebrated “banker to the poor,” now appears to be the political face of an unholy alliance between economic opportunists and religious zealots. While he may speak the language of democracy, his allies whisper the rhetoric of revenge, division, and theological totalitarianism. Can Bangladesh truly afford to trust such a trinity — a Nobel laureate flanked by political psychopaths and ideological extremists?

This alliance reeks of treachery. It masquerades as a movement for change, yet its ideological DNA is toxic. Jamaat-e-Islami, historically opposed to Bangladesh’s independence, carries the blood of 1971’s martyrs on its hands. HuT dreams of a transnational Caliphate that would dissolve Bangladesh’s sovereignty. The NCP, meanwhile, thrives on opportunism, catering to both the disillusioned elite and the disenchanted youth by mixing nationalist rhetoric with populist demagoguery.

Dr. Yunus’s silence over his allies’ radical past is not naivety — it is complicity. His portrayal as a victim of state oppression distracts from the dangerous legitimacy he is lending to groups that once justified genocide and now seek to dismantle the secular state. Under his intellectual cloak, the very forces that opposed independence find a new mask and a new mentor.

If Bangladesh walks this radical route, the consequences could be catastrophic. The economy, still recovering from global shocks, would crumble under the weight of instability. The armed forces, once the guardians of sovereignty, might again find themselves lured into political arbitration. The communal harmony built over five decades could collapse, returning the nation to a medieval mindset where clerics dictate policy and dissent is heresy.

The international community must also see beyond the veil. Western capitals often mistake Yunus’s moral charisma for political virtue. But history warns us — charisma without accountability is a precursor to chaos. Bangladesh’s 1971 war was not fought for a theocracy or a cult of personality; it was fought for freedom, reason, and equality.

The current experiment of mixing Nobel prestige with Islamist nostalgia and nationalist psychopathy is not democracy — it is deception. The nation that bled for its liberation deserves better than a recycled band of traitors draped in reformist slogans.

Bangladesh must awaken before this concocted revolution derails its destiny. The choice is clear: to stand by the spirit of 1971 — secularism, pluralism, and progress — or to drift into a dark age scripted by men who worship power, not principle.

Lt (Retd) Imran Ahmed Chowdhury BEM: Geopolitical Scholar and Public Intellectual