Bangladeshi nationals living abroad converged on John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday, 12 October, to confront Muhammad Yunus — the Nobel Peace Prize recipient who held the position of chief adviser in Bangladesh's interim administration — with a portion of those present characterising him as a danger to the country and contending that governance structures had been weakened during his tenure.

Travelling from Doha aboard a Qatar Airways service, Yunus reached Terminal 8 and was approached by individuals while seated in a wheelchair during his escort through the terminal. Video circulating on social media showed gatherings of people directing chants at him — among them accusations branding him a terrorist, claims that he had weakened democratic institutions, calls for his removal from office, and allegations connecting him to killings, mass detentions, and the deaths of thousands of police officers during his time in power. No independent confirmation of those claims has been established.

Bystanders reported that Yunus and his aide Lamia Morshed stepped back inside the airport briefly after security personnel moved in, though his trip to the US had drawn questions from some quarters.

Among those gathered, news reports identified backers of the Awami League — the party formerly led by deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — whose operations remain under a political ban within Bangladesh. According to Tanvir Kaisar, general secretary of the Jackson Heights Awami League, a group of party members who had assembled under the coordination of New York Metropolitan Awami League general secretary Imdad Chowdhury raised questions directed at Yunus regarding recent developments in Bangladesh. According to accounts from those present, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, who holds the general secretary post within US Jubo League, attended alongside a number of fellow members. The Awami League's youth-oriented branch operates under the name Jubo League.

According to Kaisar, news of Yunus's arrival reached protesters with little advance warning, prompting them to convene the gathering on short notice.

Officials in Dhaka issued a statement on Tuesday characterising the episode as politically motivated violence and announcing that prosecution proceedings would follow. At a press briefing in Dhaka on 13 October, Zahed Ur Rahman — serving as Information and Broadcasting Adviser to the Prime Minister — described the incident as a terrorist act carried out by Awami League members, and said the party's supporters had been engaged in efforts to destabilise Bangladesh both domestically and abroad, noting that activities of that kind by overseas members would draw a response.

Zahed stated that Yunus had been targeted because he took on the role of leading Bangladesh following Hasina's exit during the August 2024 unrest. He added that while Yunus's choices remained open to scrutiny, any form of harassment directed at him was wholly unacceptable. Authorities would also look into whether Yunus had been afforded the protection, ceremonial treatment, and respect befitting a former chief adviser.

Zahed characterised the reported incidents involving Bangladesh's state minister for primary and mass education and actress Azmeri Haque Badhan — both allegedly targeted while in Italy — as acts of politically organised intimidation by Awami League supporters, drawing a distinction between what he described and conventional pressure-group activity. Legal action over the Badhan harassment matter was already under way, with proceedings of a comparable nature set to follow in connection with the Yunus incident.

Zahed conveyed that Bangladesh sought Hasina's return to face accountability rather than as an act of retribution, adding that any path toward reconciliation would require those responsible for criminal acts to stand before a court. He contended that the Awami League bore direct responsibility for crimes against humanity, a position he paired with the observation that the party had offered no admission of wrongdoing and remained, by his account, actively destabilising the political environment and placing opponents under threat.

Any prospect of the government taking steps toward reconciliation with the party was set aside, given the group's alleged ties to violence and terrorism — conduct attributed in part to those in its leadership. Zahed's position held that any move toward reconciliation would need to originate within the Awami League, though the party's actions across the preceding two years had not pointed in that direction. Any effort to pressure Yunus or those connected to Bangladesh's political transition, he stated, would be met with a response.

No statement from Yunus had been made available to the public on the matter, and US authorities had yet to put out any official response.