Muhammad Yunus heckled by protesters at New York's JFK Airport

Nobel laureate and former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus was heckled by a group of Bangladeshi expatriates at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday, October 12.

Video footage shows Yunus, who was traveling in a wheelchair, being surrounded by protesters shouting slogans such as ‘You are a terrorist’, ‘You destroyed democracy’, and ‘Go back’. The demonstrators accused him of being responsible for mass arrests, violence, and the deaths of thousands of police officers during his tenure in Bangladesh. Some reports suggest the protesters were supporters of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League.

In response, former advisers to the interim government issued a statement expressing ‘deep outrage’ and condemning the ‘orchestrated attacks’ against Yunus. Meanwhile, officials in Dhaka described the incident as ‘Awami terrorism’ and vowed to take legal action against those attempting to destabilize the country from abroad. Security personnel intervened to escort Yunus and his aide, Lamia Morshed, safely through the terminal.