Last Updated:
Protesting students in Bangladesh approached Muhammad Yunus to lead an interim government days before Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024
Muhammad Yunus’ aide says plan to oust Hasina was planned days before her forced exit
Bangladesh’s former Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus was chosen for the top post in the country even before Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave the country following massive student-led protests in August 2024.
According to Yunus’ former press secretary Shafiqul Alam, protesting students who were eyeing a regime change in Bangladesh had reached out to the Nobel laureate, urging him to lead the interim government two days before Hasina’s ouster on August 5, 2024.
A Journalist Served As Link Between Yunus, Protesting Students
In a Facebook post, Alam claimed that an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist emerged as a link between Yunus and the protesting students orchestrating the ouster of Sheikh Hasina-led government.
“When student leaders wanted to reach out to Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and invite him to head the interim government in a post-Hasina scenario, they needed a trusted bridge-builder. Qadaruddin Shishir stepped up to fulfill that critical role,” he wrote.
According to Alam, Shishir was then serving as the editor of AFP Dhaka’s fact-check team.
“He managed this high-stakes operation in complete secrecy”.
Alam alleged that it was Shishir who first approached Muhammad Yunus and later facilitated the initial talks between him and the protesters.
“Only a few trusted individuals knew what was happening”, he claimed.
“Hasina would remain in power for two more days, yet her brutal security machine –– notorious for mass killings and abduction –– never caught a whisper of it”, Alam wrote.
He claimed that the journalist remained “remarkably cool and composed” throughout this, as he “quietly started gathering video evidence of the cold-blooded murders being committed by the regime.”
Sheikh Hasina’s Ouster
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country after massive student-led protests escalated into widespread violence on August 5, 2024.
Hasina, who has been living in India since then, has said that she would go back to Dhaka in December this year.
After the Awami League government was toppled, an interim administration led by Yunus assumed office on August 8, 2024, and governed Bangladesh for the next one and a half years.
In February 2026, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman led the party to a sweeping victory in the 13th Parliamentary election, paving the way for a new government to assume office. He was then sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
In 2025, Sheikh Hasina was tried in absentia by a special tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging. Meanwhile, the interim government also disbanded her party and sought her extradition from India.
Quick Answers
Ask News18Qadaruddin Shishir, who served as the editor of AFP Dhaka’s fact-check team, acted as a trusted bridge-builder and facilitated the initial talks between the protesting students and Muhammad Yunus in complete secrecy two days before Sheikh Hasina’s ouster.
Ask News18About the Author
A Journalism graduate, Meemansa Shekhawat is a sub-editor at News18. Driven by a keen interest in news, she is a passionate writer with specialisation in national and international affairs. You can re…Read More
October 30, 2026, 14:33 IST
Read More
