BNP leaders set to greet Yunus in New York, Awami League lines up protests

Rival political groups from Bangladesh’s diaspora are preparing opposing programmes in New York ahead of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus’ visit to the United States for the UN General Assembly.

The BNP leaders are preparing to welcome Yunus and his delegation, while the Awami League leaders are planning protests.

The interim prime minister is set to depart for New York on Sunday night, with his arrival at JFK Airport expected on Monday afternoon.

Joining Yunus on the trip are BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Abdullah Mohammad Taher, NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, and Humayun Kabir, foreign affairs advisor BNP’s acting chairman.

In the lead-up to their arrival, the US chapter of the BNP, along with its affiliated and associate bodies, held a gathering on Saturday at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights.

At the event, leaders announced plans to greet the visiting delegation at the airport on Monday.

They voiced determination to counter any activities organised by the Awami League, fuelling tensions among sections of the expatriate Bangladeshi community in New York.

In response, the Awami League leaders and activists have started arriving in New York from across the US, including California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Chicago, Boston, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Protesters plan to operate in separate groups under the slogan: “Wherever Yunus goes, resistance follows.”

The protest programmes have been confirmed by Siddiqur Rahman, president of the US Awami League, Samad Azad, its general secretary, M Fazlur Rahman, president of the party’s southern US branch, Mohammad Ali Manik, general secretary of that branch, and Imdad Chowdhury, general secretary of the New York Metropolitan Awami League.

Awami League leaders have also announced daily sit-ins and black flag demonstrations outside the hotel where Yunus is expected to stay.

On Friday, during Yunus’ scheduled speech at the United Nations, party activists will also stage a black flag protest and rally outside the UN headquarters.

The following day, demonstrations are planned outside the Marriott Marquis Hotel near Times Square, where Yunus is scheduled to attend a public discussion.

According to Awami League organisers, permission for this protest has been obtained from the New York City administration.

On the eve of these rival events, Golam Mortoza, press minister at Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, claimed via his Facebook page that several Awami League activists in the US had been arrested.

Leaders of the US Awami League rejected the claim as “false”, accusing critics of spreading misinformation to disrupt the anti-Yunus protests.

The New York Police Department has not confirmed any such arrests.