The government will take necessary action over the alleged harassment of former interim government chief adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus at a New York airport, Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Dr Zahed Ur Rahman said on Tuesday.

‘If anyone from the Awami League living abroad attempts such actions, they will not be allowed to go unchallenged,’ he told a press briefing on the progress of government activities at the Press Information Department conference room at the Secretariat.

Zahed said that Yunus, who is currently in the United States, had faced an attempt at harassment at an airport. He said the incident appeared to be linked to Yunus taking responsibility for the state after Sheikh Hasina fled the country.

There could be legitimate criticism of the activities of Yunus’s government, and Yunus himself had criticised it while in Bangladesh, Zahed said. ‘But this kind of harassment is unacceptable,’ he added.

The adviser said that similar incidents had occurred involving a state minister and an actress who had expressed solidarity with the July movement. Several people associated with the movement during the interim government had also faced such situations, he said, adding that the government viewed these incidents as acts of terrorism by the Awami League.

Legal proceedings had begun over the incident involving the actress, and the government would take necessary steps over the incident involving Yunus, Zahed said.

He added that the government would examine whether there had been any shortcomings in security arrangements and state protocol for Yunus in the United States, given the status and privileges he was entitled to as a former chief adviser.

Asked whether Sheikh Hasina might return to Bangladesh in December, Zahed said that the government wanted her to return.

He said that Hasina had been tried and sentenced in a crimes against humanity case and that the government had requested India to hand her over to Bangladesh.

‘Even if Sheikh Hasina returns in December, the government has no problem with that. We want the allegations against her to be dealt with through the country’s judicial system,’ he said, adding that the government was prepared to bring her back.

Asked about media coverage of the incident involving Yunus in New York, Zahed said that the government had taken note of how some media outlets presented the news. He said that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry monitored such matters as part of its responsibilities, including whether coverage remained within legal limits.

Media outlets were entitled to interpret events from their own perspectives, he said, but anyone affected by a breach of the law could seek legal remedies.

The government was working to strengthen the Press Council to address unprofessional journalism, including through amendments to the relevant law, he added.

Sun News/ rabbi