Our campaign has evolved from one focused on protecting the human rights of Professor Muhammad Yunus and others in Bangladesh to extending acts of friendship and solidarity with Bangladesh and Bangladeshis as this young nation enters an exciting yet uncertain new era. We have launched this new website and blog to advance this cause.
As we do so, we note that there has been some misleading and biased reporting and social media activity about Bangladesh in recent weeks. However, we have been heartened by some unbiased and objective coverage. For instance, an article in The Wire titled India is Hardly in a Position to Lecture Bangladesh on Minority Protection by a former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University provides a nuanced and detailed analysis of what is going on in Bangladesh from an Indian perspective.
And more recently, the Economist has named Bangladesh the country of the year. In that announcement, they wrote, “Bangladesh has a history of vengeful violence when power changes hands. The main opposition party, the BNP, is venal. Islamic extremism is a threat. Yet the transition has so far been encouraging. A temporary technocratic government, led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is backed by students, the army, business and civil society. It has restored order and stabilised the economy. In 2025 it will need to repair ties with India and decide when to hold elections—first ensuring that the courts are neutral and the opposition has time to organise. None of this will be easy. But for toppling a despot and taking strides towards a more liberal government, Bangladesh is our country of the year.”
As we enter this new phase of our work, we suggest you take a look at the posts from August to December 2024 from our earlier website that were published after the fall of the autocratic government that persecuted so many. You can see the entire Protect Yunus blog from its inception in 2017 here.
The immediate focus of our solidarity will be raising funds for Myriad USA’s “Friends of the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation Fund” to help the martyrs and victims of the July/August uprising recover. (In Bengali, “Shaheed Smrity” means “Martyrs’ Memorial.”) For online donations, click here. For information about other ways to contribute funds, click here.
These contributions are already tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers. You can read more about this opportunity here. In the weeks ahead, we expect the Myriad network to be able to offer tax deductibility (or the equivalent) to residents of other countries including many in the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. For residents of Bangladesh, click here to find out how you can get involved.
Another focus of ours will be providing analysis and engagement opportunities to help ensure positive relations between Bangladesh and neighboring countries, such as India.
Over time, we hope to encourage investment in Bangladesh and to mobilize the Bangladeshi diaspora around the world to help shape a positive future for the country.
We welcome your suggestions. Please contact us at friendsofbangladesh1@gmail.com.