Former interim government chief advisor and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been accused of being harassed by some Awami League leaders at John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York, USA.
A video circulating on social media shows some people surrounding him shouting and chanting slogans.
According to the report, the incident took place around 3:45 pm local time on Monday as he was leaving the airport terminal in a wheelchair. Lamia Morshed, the interim government’s chief coordinator for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and executive director of the Yunus Center, was by his side.
In the video, some of the protesters stood in front of Yunus and made various accusations against him. At that time, one of them can be heard shouting, “You killed thousands of people in Bangladesh. You are a terrorist! Why did you come here?” The person also alleged that many people were arrested during Yunus’s time and the country’s democracy was destroyed. These are the allegations of the protesters; the veracity of these could not be independently verified from the video.
When the situation developed, Yunus was taken back inside the terminal in a wheelchair. Officials of the Bangladesh Mission in New York were asked for their statement on the incident, but there was no immediate response. bdnews24.com also sought a statement from the Yunus Center.
Meanwhile, Yunus was scheduled to attend the World Health Assembly in Berlin, Germany, from October 11 to 13. However, he canceled the trip at the last minute. There were also reports of objections from several organizations based in Europe to his participation in the assembly.
Anna Stormer, the communications team for the World Health Assembly, told bdnews24.com in an email that Muhammad Yunus has canceled his decision to attend the assembly due to health reasons. However, no details were given about his health condition.