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Former state minister for home affairs Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj has strongly criticised the harassment of former interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Sohel Taj, son of Bangladesh’s first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, said he was shocked after watching a video of the incident.
He accused supporters of the former ruling Awami League of attempting to shift responsibility for alleged killings, enforced disappearances, corruption and the erosion of democratic rights onto others.
“This is the magic pill of former autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in exile. After taking this pill, they have lost their minds,” he wrote.
Sohel Taj also described the behaviour as involving two psychological concepts: gaslighting and projection.
Gaslighting refers to psychological manipulation in which someone makes another person question their own memory or perception of events. Projection is a psychological defence mechanism in which individuals attribute their own unwanted feelings, thoughts or insecurities to others.
According to reports, several US-based supporters of the Awami League, whose activities are banned in Bangladesh, approached Yunus in the airport lobby on Monday local time while he was in a wheelchair. They shouted at him and made derogatory remarks, including asking, “Why you come here?”
The individuals reportedly raised questions about arrests and the political situation in Bangladesh.
Yunus’s companions subsequently moved him to a safer area inside the airport.
