By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
In an era where misinformation and political maneuvering dominate global narratives, a disturbing trend has emerged in Bangladesh under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus. His supporters, acting in a manner reminiscent of Joseph Goebbels, are attempting to discredit factual reporting and manipulate public perception. The recent attempt to label an article published by The Organiser as “fake” is just one example of this orchestrated propaganda.
Adolf Hitler’s infamous propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, remains an unforgivable figure to all individuals with a conscience for his nefarious role in covering up the crimes committed by Hitler and his Nazi forces. He was notorious for portraying Hitler as a noble figure while enabling atrocities. Now, 86 years later, a new gang of Goebbels has emerged in Bangladesh under the leadership of Trump-hater Muhammad Yunus, who has long been accused of facilitating the persecution of Hindus and religious minorities in Bangladesh, effectively enabling Islamist, jihadist, and Caliphate-oriented groups – including Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Hizb ut-Tahrir – to gain influence over the country.
On January 30, the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) published a report titled CA Press Wing Debunks Indian Weekly’s Report Involving Bangladesh-US Ties, stating:
A news item on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s meeting with the president of Open Society Foundations, Alex Soros, published by the Indian weekly The Organiser, is false, the CA Press Wing said.
“The Organiser weekly in India has launched another salvo in the ongoing campaign of many Indian nationalists to discredit Bangladesh’s Interim Government and to pave the way for India’s proxy, Sheikh Hasina, to resume her despotic rule over Bangladesh,” the press wing said in a statement posted on its verified Facebook account—CA Press Wing Facts.
The Organiser’s latest canard is that the meeting between Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Alex Soros, president of the Open Society Foundations, constituted a challenge to US President Donald Trump…
The above statement from the Press Wing Facts of Yunus’s administration originated from an article published in The Organiser on January 29, which was simultaneously published in Blitz. While The Organiser does not typically include citations, the same article in Blitz contained reference links. It clearly detailed how Muhammad Yunus disregarded the presidency of Donald Trump by seeking intervention from Alexander Soros of the Open Society Foundation in matters outside Soros’s purview.
Most significantly, the Yunus-Soros meeting occurred at a sensitive time, shortly after Muhammad Yunus had openly disregarded an October 31 tweet from President Trump. In that tweet, Trump strongly condemned the “barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are being attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh,” stating that the country “remains in a total state of chaos”.
On November 6, Yunus’s Press Secretary, Shafiqul Alam, responded to Trump’s Diwali tweet, stating, “Donald Trump was probably misinformed about the issue of persecution of minorities in Bangladesh. Now, he is the President of the United States; he will definitely be able to see what really happened”.
Through this statement, Yunus’s office not only outrightly denied the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh but also attempted to shift blame, accusing Indian media and the Awami League of feeding “misinformation” to Donald Trump.
The reason for Yunus’s disregard for Trump’s statement appears to stem from his unwavering confidence in the victory of his preferred candidate, Kamala Harris. Harris, like Yunus, enjoys strong backing from George and Alex Soros, as well as the Open Society Foundation. Additionally, Yunus has deep financial and professional connections with Hillary Clinton, including through Grameen America.
According to The Times of India, Yunus has received funds from George Soros, including through the Soros Economic Development Fund. In 2016, after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, Yunus – who is known as a “dear friend” of the Clintons and a top donor to the Clinton Foundation – condemned the election results, calling Trump’s victory a “solar eclipse… black days”. He further stated that the 2016 election “became the victim of the wrong type of politics” and advised Trump to adopt a “more generous outlook” in his presidency by “building bridges, not walls”.
Furthermore, it is essential to mention here that, Hillary Clinton has direct connections with almost all of the foreign ventures of Muhammad Yunus, including Grameen America.
Following Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 election, Bangladesh’s state news agency published a story claiming that Trump’s “crushing presidential victory heralded a new era of uncertainty in the United States and the world”.
This statement further demonstrates Yunus’s refusal to accept Trump’s leadership, despite publicly congratulating him.
Meanwhile, following an investigative report in the Indian media exposing the involvement of Monica Yunus, Muhammad Yunus’s daughter, in the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) under Joe Biden’s presidency, the PCAH website was mysteriously shut down. Attempts to access the site (PCAH.gov) from Bangladesh and other countries have been met with error messages, further fueling speculation.
Previously, multiple social media posts had raised concerns about Monica Yunus’s role, with users stating, “Monica Yunus, touted as a new spokesperson for President Biden’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, now stands at the center of a rapidly intensifying scandal”.
These posts called on President Trump to take action, adding, “Until Yunus steps out of the shadows with a full-throated and evidence-backed rebuttal, the stench of impropriety only gets worse. If the White House won’t hold her to account, then it’s complicit in perpetuating a culture of political favoritism”.
An Indian media outlet reported that Muhammad Yunus, who played a key role in removing former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power, now faces potential scrutiny from the Trump administration. Yunus has a well-documented history of connections with Hillary Clinton, who actively opposed Trump. In 2016, Yunus contributed US$300,000 to the Clinton Foundation. His daughter’s residence in the United States has also reportedly displeased Trump, leading to speculation that Yunus may now face investigation under Trump’s leadership.
Hillary Clinton has previously been criticized for using her position as Secretary of State to grant special privileges to large donors of the Clinton Foundation.
In 2016, the Associated Press published an investigative report based on Hillary Clinton’s meeting logs. The report revealed that at least 85 out of 154 private individuals she met or spoke with as Secretary of State had donated to the Clinton Foundation, contributing a total of up to US$156 million. The link to this AP report has since been deleted.
Shortly after the Press Wing Facts labeled The Organiser article as “fake”, Yunus’s regime attempted another smear campaign against Trump and his family. A report titled Trump’s Family Business Partner Wants to Invest in Bangladesh was widely circulated, claiming that Gentry Beach, a key business associate of Trump’s family, had expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh’s mineral and gas sector.
Following Beach’s meeting with leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), JeI leaders stated, “Beach is a business partner of the Trump family and collaborates with Trump’s son. They have business interests in minerals and operate in 44 countries”. Beach also met with Muhammad Yunus.
Prior to his Bangladesh visit, Gentry Beach had traveled to Pakistan for similar business dealings. This strongly suggests that Beach’s visit to Bangladesh may have been orchestrated by Pakistani authorities. Yunus, through extensive media coverage, may have sought to mislead his supporters into believing he had influence over the Trump administration or, alternatively, attempted to embarrass Trump and his family.
These developments underscore Yunus’s desperation to retain his allies’ trust. On January 30, Yunus even published a photo of an unidentified individual, falsely claiming that “Japan on Thursday promised to continue its trade and development cooperation with Bangladesh and support the Interim Government of Professor Muhammad Yunus”. This claim was met with widespread criticism and skepticism.
Despite the Yunus regime’s desperate attempt to brand The Organiser article as “fake”, the reality is that the so-called “Press Wing Facts” itself is engaging in outright disinformation. By attempting to silence critical voices and distort undeniable facts, Yunus and his allies are following in the footsteps of notorious propagandists, hoping that relentless repetition of falsehoods will somehow erase the truth.
Such blatant attempts to manipulate public perception and suppress factual reporting are not only dishonest but also dangerously reckless. The world must recognize these tactics for what they are – nothing more than a calculated effort to shield Yunus’s regime from scrutiny. But no amount of deception can permanently bury the truth.
It is imperative that Muhammad Yunus and his administration cease these shameful efforts to suppress factual reporting and instead acknowledge the reality they are so desperately trying to hide. The international community must not be swayed by these absurd fabrications. Truth has a way of prevailing, and no amount of propaganda can alter the facts.
(The writer is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research-scholar and Editor of Blitz)
