A senior aide of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is “deliberately steering the country toward civil unrest,” hours after a Dhaka tribunal handed down a death sentence to Hasina.

The Awami League leader went a step further, accusing the interim administration of maintaining links with Pakistan-based extremist organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. The remarks came amid escalating political tensions following the controversial verdict.

Death Sentence Passed in Absentia

The International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death, holding them responsible for authorising lethal action against demonstrators. Both leaders, who escaped to India last year, were tried in absentia. With India declining requests to extradite them, legal experts believe the likelihood of the sentence being carried out remains minimal.

In a sharply worded statement, Hasina dismissed the charges as unfounded. She argued that she and Khan acted responsibly under extreme pressure, insisting their intent was to prevent greater casualties.

“We temporarily lost control of the situation, but calling it a planned attack on citizens is a distortion of reality,” she said, condemning the judgement as “politically charged and fundamentally unfair.”

Awami League Calls Nationwide Shutdown

The Awami League announced a nationwide shutdown for Tuesday, urging supporters to protest what it described as an unjust ruling targeted at silencing the party’s leadership.

Hasina, now 78, faces a complex legal path ahead: she cannot challenge the verdict unless she voluntarily returns to Bangladesh or is detained within 30 days of the judgement—an outcome viewed as unlikely given her continued stay in India.

As political tensions intensify, observers warn that the fallout from the ruling could deepen divisions across Bangladesh’s already volatile political landscape.