Yunus’ UN visit sparks BNP-AL face off in New York

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, arriving in New York Monday afternoon to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly but his visit has ignited a fierce political face-off between supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL), turning the Big Apple into a battleground of rival rallies, protests, and counter-programmes.

Tensions flared Sunday night at Drive City Plaza in Jackson Heights, where a scuffle erupted between activists from the two camps as they jostled for space and visibility ahead of Yunus’s arrival. 

The incident foreshadowed what promises to be a politically charged week in the heart of Manhattan.

Dr Yunus departed Dhaka aboard an Emirates flight at 1:40 am Sunday (Bangladesh time), landing at New York’s JFK Airport at 2:30 pm Monday (local time).

His arrival triggered immediate mobilisation on both sides.

Awami League activists in the US vowed to stage protests at JFK, branding Yunus’s trip as “self-serving” and “damaging to Bangladesh’s image.”

BNP and allied groups, including Jamaat-e-Islami, organised a formal welcome committee to greet Yunus and his high-profile delegation which includes BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Acting Chairman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir, Jamaat Nayeb-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, and leaders from the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP).

Gias Ahmed, Chairman of the America-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and a BNP Central Executive Committee member, told Jagonews: “We’ll be at JFK from 12:00pm to 4:00pm today to welcome Dr Yunus and our leaders and hold a peaceful rally. We’ll also stage a demonstration in front of the UN on September 26. Last night, they tried to disrupt our event. We stopped them. Our supporters are flying in from across the US. We will not allow anyone to break the peace.” 

In response, Dr Siddiqur Rahman, President of the US Awami League, fired back: “Dr Yunus’s visit serves his own interests, not Bangladesh’s. As long as he’s here, from the 22nd onward, our country’s image will suffer. We will lawfully resist anyone accompanying him, wherever we find them in New York.” 

Dr. Yunus’s official entourage includes five key political figures: Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir (BNP),

Humayun Kabir (BNP), Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher (Jamaat-e-Islami), Akhtar Hossain (NCP), and Dr Tasnim Zara (NCP)

Jamaat leader Mohammad Naqibur Rahman will join the delegation from the US.

Dr Yunus is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on 26 September, with his return to Dhaka set for 2 October.

With rallies planned at JFK, the UN, and across Queens and Manhattan, New York’s Bangladeshi diaspora is bracing for a week of political theatre — where slogans will fly, allegiances will be tested, and the streets of Jackson Heights may once again turn into flashpoints.