Illusion Is Fading, Says Sheikh Hasina On West ‘Mistaking’ Yunus’ Economics For Democracy | Exclusive

Last Updated:November 13, 2025, 10:40 IST

The former Bangladeshi PM said Western supporters misread Yunus’s economic work as proof of democratic values, but his actions in power have dispelled that belief

Bangladesh Former PM Sheikh Hasina (L) and interim leader Muhammad Yunus (R). (Image: AFP)

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Muhammad Yunus rose on the strength of international admiration for his economic ideas, but his foreign supporters wrongly assumed those credentials translated into a commitment to democratic governance.

In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18’s Manoj Gupta, Hasina said the events since her ouster have exposed “an unelected head of state" whose decisions undermine constitutional order and empower extremist factions.

Hasina argued that Yunus’s global stature, built during his years as an economist and development figure, created a misleading impression abroad. “While Yunus has cultivated a network of influential Western admirers from his work as an economist, those who admired him mistook his economic theories for democratic credentials," she said.

According to her, this goodwill allowed him to present himself as a reformist alternative even as he dismantled democratic safeguards at home.

She said that illusion “is fading" as foreign observers begin to confront the political reality in Dhaka. Hasina pointed to his early decisions: placing “radical extremists" in his cabinet, granting immunity to “all the perpetrators of last summer’s violence", and dissolving the judicial inquiry her government had established. These moves, she argued, were not the actions of a democratic reformer but of a leader seeking to consolidate unelected power.

Hasina rejected suggestions that the United States or other Western governments played a role in her removal, saying she had “no reason to believe" foreign states were involved. Instead, she said her criticism was aimed squarely at Yunus, arguing that many abroad were simply swayed by his development-world reputation and assumed it signalled democratic intent.

That misplaced confidence, she suggested, created the space for Yunus to project credibility while pursuing a domestic power play that used street violence and institutional manipulation to entrench a leader “now seeking to bar from the election a party that is supported by millions".

The former PM said Bangladesh’s political stability cannot rest on international perceptions shaped by Yunus’s past economic reputation. The only way forward, she insisted, is a return to “free, fair, and inclusive elections" that allow Bangladeshis, not Western opinion-makers, to decide their government.

Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

News world Illusion Is Fading, Says Sheikh Hasina On West ‘Mistaking’ Yunus’ Economics For Democracy | Exclusive

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