Political activities must be open to all in B’desh: UN
At least 18 branches of Grameen Bank – a microfinance organisation founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who served as head of the interim govt formed after Hasina’s ouster in 2024 – have come under attack across Bangladesh in the past two weeks, with two offices targeted in the last 24 hours.
“Certainly, regarding political activity, we believe that all political parties and all political personalities should be free to participate,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told reporters in New York on Tuesday. Dhaka has claimed that the protests are being led by supporters of Hasina’s banned Awami League, its student outfit Chhatra League and organisations linked to them. Since Monday, dozens of crude bombs have exploded, and passenger vehicles have been set on fire in Dhaka and other districts, leaving one person dead and several injured. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
DHAKA: The United Nations (UN) has said “all political parties and political personalities” of Bangladesh should be free to participate in political activities, amid street violence and protests in the capital and other parts of the country, events that coincide with former PM Sheikh Hasina ‘s proposed return from exile next month.