“The army can't meddle in politics. In today's world, no military of a civilised nation engages in politics,” a cabinet member and special adviser to Bangladesh’s Yunus has said on Friday.
The comments come on the heels of Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman reportedly saying on Wednesday that elections in Bangladesh should be held by December.
"By saying that the election has to be held by December, the military chief failed to maintain his jurisdictional correctness," Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a special assistant to Muhammad Yunus, said in a post on Facebook.
"However, the military must be shown due respect and kept in confidence. Sudden or reckless actions regarding the military must not be taken,” he added.
He also said that Muhammad Yunus is "not going to step down… he needs to remain" in office as interim leader to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
The army chief’s statement holds a lot of significance in a country that has suffered from multiple military coups.
Bangladesh's political crisis has escalated this week, with rival parties protesting in the streets of the capital, Dhaka, with a string of competing demands.
Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over the interim government after a mass uprising last year, had reportedly threatened to quit if parties did not give him their backing.
Nahid Islam, leader of the National Citizen Party—made up of many of the students who spearheaded the uprising against Hasina—met with Yunus on Thursday evening, another top NCP leader, Ariful Islam Adeeb, said.
"They spoke about the current political situation," Adeeb said.
"The chief adviser said he is reconsidering whether he can continue his duties under the current circumstances."
But Nahid Islam—who had initially been part of Yunus's cabinet before resigning to form a political party—"urged him to remain in office," Adeeb said.
Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest religious party, has urged Yunus to call an all-party meeting to address the crisis, a party official said.
At least half a dozen children spent months in black site jails with their mothers, the report says, adding babies were even used as leverage during interrogations, including denying them milk.
‘A peaceful democratic transition’
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since the student-led revolt that toppled then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, with parties protesting on the streets over a string of demands.
"For the sake of Bangladesh and a peaceful democratic transition, Professor Yunus needs to remain in office," Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb said in his post.
"He does not hanker after power."
Thousands of supporters of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rallied in Dhaka on Wednesday, holding large-scale protests against the interim government for the first time.
Yunus has promised that polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest, but supporters of the BNP—seen as the frontrunners in the highly anticipated elections, which will be the first since Hasina was overthrown—demanded he fix a date.
"If the government fails to meet public expectations, it will be difficult for the BNP to continue extending its support," senior BNP leader Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain told reporters on Thursday.
"The highest priority should be placed on announcing a clear roadmap for the election."
The BNP also demanded that Yunus sack two members of his cabinet, accusing them of being close to the NCP, as well as the national security advisor.
"Their presence in the council of advisers raises questions about the nonpartisan and impartial nature of the government," Hossain said.
"It seems the government is pushing forward the agenda of a particular group."
Later in the day, Taiyeb in a social media post said that the statement he had written earlier was his 'personal opinion'."
