News Desk
DHAKA, — Reports from Dhaka indicate that Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, Special Assistant to Bangladesh’s interim Chief Adviser Mohammad Yunus, has fled to the United States after failing to return from his sanctioned leave earlier this month. His absence, now stretching beyond a week, has fuelled speculation that even those closest to Yunus have little confidence in the stability of his administration or the prospects of its rule.
Chowdhury, a former inspector general of police with ministerial rank, was granted leave to travel to Austin, Texas, from October 24 to November 9. No extension order has been issued by the Home Ministry, and his continued absence has unsettled political and security circles already shaken by the sentencing of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Scenes across Bangladesh reflect the unease. In Dhaka, markets close early as protests simmer under heavy police patrols. In Chittagong, students gather in tense clusters on campuses, watched closely by security forces. Ordinary families speak in whispers about the future, while tea stalls abuzz with speculation about the government’s fragility.
The tribunal’s decision against Hasina has left the nation in a state of unrest, and the flight of Chowdhury underscores the cracks within Yunus’s interim government. For many Bangladeshis, the departure of such a senior aide is seen as a signal that confidence in the administration is eroding from within, deepening fears that the interim regime may not withstand the turbulence unleashed by Hasina’s sentencing.
