‘You terrorist’: Muhammad Yunus heckled by Bangladesh expatriates at New York’s JFK Airport

Former Bangladesh interim government chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus was confronted by expatriate supporters of the Awami League at John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in the United States. The incident took place when Yunus was leaving the airport at around 3:45 pm. According to reports, he was accompanied by Lamiya Morshed, the interim government’s chief coordinator for SDGs and executive director of the Yunus Centre. A video of the incident is being widely circulated on social media platforms. The video shows expatriates calling him a “terrorist” and accusing him of killing hundreds and undermining democracy. Following the tense confrontation and mobbing, Yunus was wheeled back inside the terminal.

“You are a terrorist. You have killed people in Bangladesh. Why have you come here? Tell us, why have you come?” a man was heard shouting at Yunus in a video circulating on social media.

Go back slogans raised 

According to some reports, the confrontation took place after he arrived at Terminal 8 on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha. 

The footage showed people shouting at him as he was being taken out of the airport in a wheelchair. Some also demanded that he “go back”.

Demand for withdrawal of Nobel Prize

Earlier, some outfits staged a demonstration in Shimla against the alleged “repression” and “genocide” of Hindus in Bangladesh, and demanded withdrawal of the Nobel Peace Prize from Muhammad Yunus, the then chief advisor to the interim government.

Joined by social organisations under the banner of ‘Defenders of Human Rights’ (DHR), the protesters expressed anger over the alleged atrocities against members of the Hindu community and their places of worship in Bangladesh, calling on the government to protect the rights of minorities.

“Attacks on Hindus and their places of worship are continuing unabated ever since Muhammad Yunus took over as advisor on August 8. The Hindu community in Bangladesh, which supported the Mukti Vahini and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971 when Bangladesh came into existence, is being unfairly targeted,” DRH convenor Ajay Srivastava said.

A case should be filed against Yunus in the International Court of Justice and the Nobel Prize committee should consider withdrawing the peace prize accorded to him in 2006, he added.