Exit After Exit: Radical Pressure Shakes Yunus’ Interim Government In Bangladesh

Last Updated:December 25, 2025, 09:26 IST

What began as a technocratic caretaker arrangement is now showing signs of becoming a government by concession, struggling to balance order, legitimacy, and the street

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. (Reuters)

The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh appears to be losing political ballast as another resignation deepens the sense of drift and fragility at the top. Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, the rank equivalent of minister of state for home affairs, has resigned, with the President formally accepting his resignation on Wednesday, according to a gazette notification issued by the government.

The resignation is widely seen not as a routine administrative exit but as a calculated concession to radical pressure. It follows escalating demands for accountability in the case involving student leader Sharif Osman Hadi, with hardline groups openly threatening agitation. Just days earlier, Abdullah Al Jaber, secretary of Inqilab Moncha—a socio-cultural outfit co-founded by Hadi—issued a 24-hour ultimatum demanding the resignation of home adviser Lt. Gen. (retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, accusing him of shielding perpetrators by failing to ensure their arrest.

While the home adviser remains in place, the removal of his deputy signals an attempt by the interim regime to sacrifice a layer below the top in the hope of calming the streets. Whether this tactical retreat will placate radical elements—or merely embolden them—remains an open question.

Crucially, this is not an isolated episode. The Yunus government has already witnessed three adviser resignations, each chipping away at its claims of stability and moral authority:

• Nahid Islam, a student leader adviser, exited the advisory council earlier in 2025.

• Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, Adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, resigned on December 10, 2025.

• Mahfuj Alam, Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, also resigned on December 10, 2025.

The pressure has not been limited to advisers alone. The Bangladesh ist Party (BNP) has in recent weeks openly demanded the resignation of the Security Adviser, underlining how contested the interim government’s authority has become.

While some exits are being explained away as electoral manoeuvring, with advisers seeking to contest the national elections expected in February, the pattern tells a more troubling story. The growing radicalisation of public pressure, coupled with an interim government increasingly seen as responsive to ultimatums rather than institutions, raises serious questions about who is setting the agenda in today’s Bangladesh.

What began as a technocratic caretaker arrangement is now showing signs of becoming a government by concession, struggling to balance order, legitimacy, and the street—an imbalance that may only grow sharper as elections draw closer.

News world Exit After Exit: Radical Pressure Shakes Yunus’ Interim Government In Bangladesh

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