When Justice Knocks and Politics Hides: Why Starmer’s Snub of Yunus Was a Blown Moment

14 June 2025




Over $230 billion vanished from Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina’s reign — enough to fund entire education systems, rebuild broken banks, and refill empty reserves. Instead, a sizable chunk of that loot ended up somewhere far more familiar: the United Kingdom, nestled in trust funds, shell companies, and swanky Central London flats.

The UK’s National Crime Agency has already frozen over £400 million in suspect assets. The Rahman family alone — Hasina loyalists — were sitting on up to £110 million worth of Mayfair real estate. Add in Tulip Siddiq, former anti-corruption minister and Hasina’s niece, and the hypocrisy writes itself.

The UK isn’t short of laws. What it’s short on — painfully and repeatedly — is backbone.

Which is why Professor Yunus’s visit to London mattered. As Bangladesh’s interim Chief Advisor, he wasn’t there for tea and crumpets. He came asking for real support: help tracing and returning money looted from his country’s people.

And Keir Starmer couldn’t be bothered to take the meeting.

That’s not just a diplomatic cold shoulder — that’s a political cop-out. Britain froze the assets. It knows the money’s dirty. But when it came time to speak to the victims’ representative? Silence. Door shut. Move along.

This was a golden chance to show the world that a post-Johnson, post-Sunak Britain was ready to clean house — not just talk about fighting corruption, but actually fight it. Instead, we got the same old hedging: legal theatre without moral clarity.

Let’s call it what it is — a missed opportunity, and a very public failure of political will.

If Britain wants to stop being the world’s favourite laundromat, it needs to start meeting the people trying to pull the plug. Starting with Dr Yunus

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let This Be Her Medal: The Maherin Medal for Civilian Sacrifice

Image
23 July 2025 My cousin died in a tragedy. But the real tragedy is that Bangladesh has no name for women like her. Maherin wasn’t just a name I knew—she was family. My cousin. The daughter of my mother’s brother. Though life had stretched us across continents—me in the U.S., she in Bangladesh—we were growing close again. Since the political shift of 2024, I’d been spending more time in Dhaka. The nation was calling calling, and I finally found a small part to play. And as I returned more frequently, Maherin and I—like cousins often do—began to rediscover each other. It started with messages, then calls. Then came the day she invited the family to her home in Uttara. Our two aunts from North America were visiting, and with both our parents gone, Maherin saw the moment for what it was: a chance to gather what was left of us and stitch something whole again. I remember walking into her apartment and being hit by the smell of spices and home—the kind of scent that can stop time. For a few h...
Read more

From Resilience to Reinvention: Forging a New Era in U.S.-Bangladesh Relations

Image
15 July 2025 (Thank You Note & Closing remarks at the Congressional Briefing) Good morning, everyone. It’s a privilege to join you today—Congressman Doggett, Congressman McGovern, Ambassador Mozena, Michael Kugelman, and all our distinguished guests. Your presence speaks to a shared recognition: the future of U.S.-Bangladesh relations is a story still being written. Today, many have spoken about the crises we’ve faced. But as we close this gathering, I want to shift focus—from challenge to possibility, from reaction to reinvention. Because resilience is not enough. We need reinvention—rooted in economic sovereignty, democratic values, and strategic partnership between Bangladesh and the United States. Our objective is disarmingly simple, yet profoundly revolutionary: to cultivate a trade relationship that is not extractive, but inherently expansive. A relationship that is not merely transactional, but truly transformative. A Nation Moving Forward As Co-Chair of the Bangladesh Ameri...
Read more

Recognise All the Founding Fathers — Not Just One Man

Image
15 August 2025 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should be honoured for what he was — the  torchbearer  of our independence movement. He carried the banner, united the people, and became the face of our struggle. But history must be honest. After the war ended in December 1971, Mujib was freed from prison, flown to London, then to New Delhi, and finally returned to Dhaka on  10 January 1972 . Two days later, he was sworn in as Prime Minister. It was then, according to an interview given by Tajuddin Ahmad’s daughter Sharmin Ahmad, that Mujib whispered to her father the moment he arrived in Dhaka that he intended to take the premiership. While still in London, Mujib met international reporters at Claridge’s Hotel on  8 January 1972  and declared that “millions” had been killed in the war. Soon after, in a televised interview with David Frost, he repeated the figure of  three million . As  The Guardian  later reported, Serajur Rahman — then deputy head of BBC Ba...
Read more