Sheikh Hasina’s unfinished exit story: Why Bangladesh President’s Yunus offensive has triggered Jamaat pushback

Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman addresses his supporters during a rally as he begins campaigning ahead of the upcoming national elections, in Mirpur on January 22, 2026. (Photo by Salahuddin Ahmed / AFP)

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman criticized President Shahabuddin for suppressing details about the August 2024 political upheaval and questioned his credibility amid controversy over Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and a secretive US trade deal.

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Days after Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin publicly accused the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus of unconstitutional conduct, the Islamist Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has moved swiftly to counter the narrative.

Jamaat chief and Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman launched a sharp attack on Shahabuddin through a Facebook post, questioning the President’s credibility and accusing him of suppressing crucial details related to the political upheaval of August 5, 2024. That day marked the collapse of the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country amid violent nationwide protests. The vacuum was subsequently filled by an interim setup backed by Islamist forces.

Jamaat pushes back after Shahabuddin targets Yunus

Shahabuddin, in an interview with Bangla daily Kaler Kontho, described the Yunus administration as unconstitutional and accused it of systematic efforts to sideline the Presidency, according to a report by India Today.

The President stated that the interim government placed him under virtual house arrest, attempted multiple times to remove him from office and even blocked him from leaving Bangladesh for medical treatment.

Shahabuddin was appointed President in April 2023 by the Hasina-led Awami League.

The Jamaat response followed swiftly. Referring to the August 2024 events, Shafiqur Rahman accused the President of selective disclosure and political opportunism.

“The President has suppressed many things regarding August 5, 2024. He did not acknowledge in his current statement what he told the leaders present regarding the resignation of the fallen and fugitive Prime Minister and what he later told the nation. And he did not say anything that day that he is saying now,” Rahman wrote on Facebook.

The missing resignation letter controversy

Rahman’s remarks point directly to the unresolved controversy surrounding Sheikh Hasina’s alleged resignation letter, a document constitutionally required to legitimise the formation of Yunus’s interim government.

In a televised address on August 5, hours after Hasina fled, Shahabuddin had told the nation: “You know Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has tendered her resignation letter to the President and I have received it.”

However, two months later, Shahabuddin contradicted that claim. In October 2024, he told Dhaka-based daily Janatar Chokh that he had never actually received the letter.

“I tried [to collect the resignation letter] many times but failed. Maybe she did not have the time,” Shahabuddin said.

The reversal has since been repeatedly cited by Jamaat leaders to deflect scrutiny from the legitimacy of the Yunus-led administration.

Shahabuddin flags secretive US trade deal

In the same interview, the President also raised concerns about what he described as a secretive trade agreement signed between Bangladesh and the United States during the final days of the Yunus interim regime.

Shahabuddin said the deal was rushed through under a Non-Disclosure Agreement and kept deliberately out of the President’s knowledge.

“Such a state agreement should have been communicated to me. But, he [Yunus] did not do it,” Shahabuddin remarked.

He further revealed that his survival in office depended on support from senior leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and backing from the armed forces.

“A high-ranking BNP leader assured me of their support. We want to maintain constitutional continuity. We are not in favour of removing the President through any unconstitutional means,” Shahabuddin said.

Renewed scrutiny of Yunus-Islamist axis

The Jamaat chief’s aggressive response has reignited questions over the close alignment between Islamist groups and the Yunus-led interim administration.

Multiple reports have alleged that Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, played a decisive role in mobilising protests that led to the downfall of the Awami League government.

Several leaders of the student movement that spearheaded the anti-Hasina agitation later found political shelter under Jamaat’s umbrella. Among them is Nahid Islam, a founder of the National Citizens Party, who subsequently aligned with Jamaat ahead of the 2026 elections.

Notably, a number of these former student activists were rewarded with ministerial positions in the Yunus-led cabinet, reinforcing perceptions of a calculated Islamist capture of the interim political order.

As Shahabuddin continues to lift the lid on the inner workings of the Yunus regime, Jamaat’s attempt to discredit the President appears less like a defence of constitutional propriety and more like damage control for an interim arrangement whose legitimacy remains deeply contested.