The Asiapost News

Bangladesh is experiencing a “existential crisis,” according to Johnnie Moore, who served as an advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump during his first term (2017–21).

Moore claimed that Mohammed Yunus, the interim leader of Bangladesh, had not fulfilled his basic obligations to ensure the protection of the nation’s minorities.

The remarks are made in the midst of widespread violence in Bangladesh against Hindus and other minorities that has persisted since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown following weeks of demonstrations. The military and agitating organizations supported Yunus’ unelected government as an interim government to govern Bangladesh after Hasina fled for her life, but it has subsequently failed to stop the violence against religious minorities.

Days after Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested, Moore told ANI in an interview that the Yunus government seems to be conveying the message that if they can get him, they can grab anyone in the country.

Moore, the former US Commissioner for International Religious Freedom in the first Trump administration, stated, “I believe the perception is if they’ll go after him, they’ll go after any of us.”

Moore added, “Muhammad Yunus made pledges pertaining to democracy, the rule of law, and all of these ideals that are revered by the West and our international institutions when he took over as the country’s interim leader. For Bangladesh’s minorities as well as the nation as a whole, this is an existential crisis. It is an exhortation to stand out in favor of religious freedom and human rights.

Moore said that he was “astonished” by Yunus’s approach to the crisis, claiming that he had fallen short of his fundamental responsibility to ensure public safety.

“This is unbelievable. The response from Mr. Yunus in the Bangladeshi government shocked me. They claim that this is exaggerated. Yunus stated, “They’re saying that this isn’t as big of a deal as it seems.”

Moore is the most recent member of Trump’s team to offer commentary on the state of affairs in Bangladesh. In his speech to the Hindu community on Diwali, Trump had previously addressed the state of affairs in the nation and said that if he had been in government, the situation would not have occurred.

“I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos. It would have never happened on my watch. Kamala and Joe have ignored Hindus across the world and in America,” said Trump in a previous tweet.

There are a number of minority communities in Bangladesh, and Moore claimed that “there isn’t a minority in the country that doesn’t feel under threat right now.” The country is not only a Muslim country.

Moore also drew attention to the tendency of religious freedom and human rights organizations to ignore the violence against Hindus.

“Religious freedom and human rights organizations aimed to speak out for every second right. Unfortunately, I believe that when the Hindu community is attacked globally, fewer individuals speak out about it. I’m determined to do the complete opposite”. Moore urged religious freedom and human rights organizations around the globe to follow suit.

The Yunus government has attempted to minimize the violence against Hindus since Hasina’s ouster and has claimed that media coverage and social media posts frequently overstate the situation.

Unrest between Bangladesh and India has also resulted from violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and the support of Islamists, as evidenced by the rise in popularity of the pro-Pakistan Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist Jamaat-i-Islami under Yunus. Yunus has also freed radicals and Islamist leaders from prison, including terrorist Jashimuddin Rahmani Hafi of an Al-Qaeda affiliate, after he was positioned as Bangladesh’s unelected leader.