<div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina making political remarks from India is an “unfriendly gesture”, asserting that she must remain silent to prevent discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh (government) wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In an interview with the Press Trust of India at his official residence in Dhaka, Yunus, who was appointed the country’s Chief Adviser after Hasina’s ouster, stressed that while Bangladesh values strong ties with India, New Delhi must move “beyond the narrative that portrays every other political party except Awami League as Islamist and that the country will turn into Afghanistan without Sheikh Hasina.”&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yunus was apparently referring to Hasina’s statement on August 13 in which she demanded “justice”, saying those involved in recent “terror acts”, killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is not good for us or for India. There is discomfort regarding it,” he told PTI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Following unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India. Her presence in India for nearly four weeks has fuelled speculation in Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When asked whether Bangladesh has communicated its stance to India, Yunus said it has been conveyed verbally and quite firmly that she should keep quiet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course. She has fled following a people’s uprising and public anger,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yunus stated that the interim government is committed to ensuring justice for the people of Bangladesh against the atrocities, and justice requires that she be brought back to the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Yes, she has to be brought back or else the people of Bangladesh won’t be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” he emphasised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Discussing the future of the India-Bangladesh relationship, Yunus expressed a desire for good ties with India but insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina’s leadership ensures the country’s stability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The way forward is for India to come out of the narrative. The narrative is that everybody is Islamist, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is Islamist, and everyone else is Islamist and will make this country into Afghanistan. And Bangladesh is in safe hands with Sheikh Hasina at the helm only. India is captivated by this narrative. India has to come out of this narrative. Bangladesh, like any other nation, is another neighbour,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Referring to the recent incidents of alleged attacks on Hindu minorities in the country and India raising concerns about it, Yunus said this is just an excuse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The issue of trying to portray the conditions of minorities in such a big way is just an excuse,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address on August 15, expressed hope that the situation in violence-hit Bangladesh would return to normal soon and stated that 1.4 billion Indians are concerned about the safety of Hindus and minorities in the neighbouring country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel laureate emphasised the need for India and Bangladesh to work together to improve their currently strained relationship.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When asked about ways to improve the Indo-Bangla relations, Yunus said both the countries need to work together, and that it is at a low presently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We need to work together to improve this relationship, which is now at a low,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking about the future of bilateral treaties with India, Yunus said there are demands for a relook at certain treaties such as transit and the Adani electricity deal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Everybody is saying that it is needed. We will see what is on paper and, second, what is actually happening on the ground. I can’t answer it specifically. If there is any need to review, we will then raise questions about it,” he said.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>