Bangladesh today stands at perilous crossroads, governed not by constitutional mandate but seemingly by the law of the jungle, under an unlawful and puppet administration fronted by Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus installed by the evil nexus of America and Pakistan.

As someone who has meticulously observed the political tides of Bangladesh since 1966, I speak with the solemnity of lived history. On the 23rd of May, I journeyed across the nerve centers of Dhaka—from the residence of the Chief Adviser at Jamuna to the bustling quarters of Kakrail, Shahbagh, Dhaka University, the airport, and the Dhaka Cantonment, which I call home. Despite the palpable tension in the air, the city bore little sign of military preparedness. The Bangladesh Army’s presence was nominal—an eerie calm that, in its own silence, spoke volumes.

A Melodrama Called “Resignation”

On the evening of 21 May 2025, Prof. Yunus dramatically hinted at his resignation, citing political gridlock and an inability to fulfill his duties. But this, I argue, is not an act of principled withdrawal—it is a meticulously staged melodrama designed to evoke sympathy while diverting scrutiny. It was choreographed with surgical precision by a man far more attuned to performance than governance.

Once revered in the West as a Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer, Dr. Yunus is a scholar tragically miscast in the role of a statesman. His ascension to power—facilitated by a shadowy coalition of the CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, and their local collaborators—followed the ousting of PM Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024 under cloak-and-dagger student-led protests. That bloodless coup was not an organic uprising but a foreign-orchestrated seizure of sovereignty.

His government, installed on 8 August 2024, was intended to serve only  foreign interests rather than national welfare. The farcical whispers of resignation are not born of conscience, but calculation. Locally, his mightiest supporters are Jamaat-e-Islami mass-murderers of 1971, when we were battling for life or death to establish Bangladesh. 

Indulging in theatrical laments

Prof. Yunus's lament—“What use is this office if I am held hostage?”—is not the existential crisis of a Hamlet, but the rehearsed line of a seasoned actor stalling for applause. This is not statesmanship. His failure to unify the country, to offer electoral clarity, or to command the respect of institutions speaks of bad leadership. 

The man who once inspired grassroots change under veiled cover now clutches the helm of a paralyzed administration—a sandcastle crumbling beneath rising tides. His murmurs of exit are a bluff, not a bow. He clings to power under the guise of reluctant sacrifice.

Let us be unequivocal: this unlawful interim regime has failed. Extremist factions disrupt Dhaka daily. Misinformation floods the media space. Political factions grow more belligerent, the economy stutters, and the nation’s patience thins. In the face of this, Yunus indulges in theatrical laments instead of taking decisive action. What began as a transitional experiment has devolved into a tragic opera of missed opportunities. 

Real Motive Behind Hasina's Fall

In sharp contrast stands General Waker-Uz-Zaman,  who has boldly demanded elections by December 2025. Whether one agrees with the general or not—and his past ten months have been far from exemplary—his clarity has pierced through the fog of Yunus’s equivocations. Dr. Yunus, meanwhile, recoils from confrontation, opting instead for the safety of platitudes.

Bangladesh deserves not theatrics, but truth. Not puppetry, but principle. Dr. Yunus has been an unsteady steward of this nation’s fragile transition. The regime under his watch, propped up by external forces and enforced through a dubious alliance with radical local forces, has not just lost its way—it has lost its soul.

The real motive behind Sheikh Hasina’s removal, as widely suspected, lies in her steadfast refusal to allow a U.S. military base on St Martin’s Island—an outpost that would give America strategic leverage over Southeast and East Asia. Her resistance to such neocolonial imposition sealed her fate. And in her place, the foreign powers installed a man more pliant, more accommodating, and ultimately more willing to mortgage Bangladesh’s sovereignty for Western approval.

Let us not be deceived. Dr. Yunus cannot—and will not—step down until those foreign interests are fulfilled. Should he defy them, he too may find himself cast aside. History is littered with such cautionary tales.

Let A New Chapter Begin

This regime has outlived its purpose and broken every promise. The farce of resignation will not redeem it. Dr. Yunus’s theatrics might garner headlines today, but they will not shelter him from history’s judgment tomorrow.

Let the curtain fall. Let a new chapter begin—one not written in back rooms by foreign handlers, but shaped in public squares by patriotic voices. Bangladesh does not need a dramatist at the helm. It needs a democrat.

This so-called interim government—propped up by the army and Jamaat-e-Islami, and enforced with the blessing of foreign powers —has no constitutional legitimacy. Sheikh Hasina did not resign; she was exiled under duress by an army chief obeying orders from afar. What now rules Dhaka is not democracy—it is despotism dressed in diplomatic doublespeak.

As someone who stood in the trenches of the 1971 Liberation War, I pledge to echo the eternal chants of Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu, and Joytu Sheikh Hasina until my final breath. I await her return. Because when a nation forgets its liberators, it risks being enslaved once more—this time not by rifles, but by rhetoric.

If the new generation misunderstands Sheikh Hasina, the burden of regret will fall not on their legacy, but on their own conscience—if they still have one, unlike the foreign powers who orchestrated this debacle.

This reflection is penned not by a political figure, but by a deeply troubled senior citizen of this nation.

(The author, based in Dhaka, was a freedom fighter to establish Bangladesh in 1971, and has served in leadership roles in major private sector enterprises. Views expressed are entirely personal and not necessarily shared by editors of South Asia Monitor. He can be reached at khan815@gmail.com )