Row breaks out over Bangladesh govt's order to remove President Shahabuddin's portraits: Is Yunus govt wiping out Hasina's legacy?

Mohammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has reportedly ordered all Bangladeshi foreign missions to remove the portrait of President Shahabuddin from their offices. Reports have linked this move by the Yunus-led government to his gradual wiping of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's legacy from the South Asian nation. However, there was no written order of the same and local reports said that the order was issued verbally. Earlier this month, Yunus had announced that elections in the country would be held in February 2026.

Here's what we know about the portrait controversy

A report by The Bangladeshi Daily Prothom Alo reported that officials have been instructed to take down the portraits. The Daily Star cited sources in the foreign ministry who revealed that most of the 82 missions had already taken down the portraits following the July uprising, while the remaining missions were reportedly instructed last Friday to do the same. Since the order was made verbally, the lack of documentation and transparency has raised eyebrows. Moreover, removal of Shahabuddin's portraits has been linked to wiping Sheikh Hasina's legacy as he was appointed during Hasina’s tenure. As the controversy spiralled, both Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam and Shah Asif Rahman, Director General of the Public Diplomacy Wing, declined to comment.

Azad Majumder, Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, said in a Facebook post that the interim government had discouraged the use of official portraits from the outset, maintaining what he described as an unwritten “zero-portrait” policy and blamed media for stirring controversy. “Even so, some individuals have, on their own initiative, displayed pictures of the government or head of state. However, no written directive has been issued to any office or mission instructing them to remove such portraits. Since the announcement of the election schedule has reduced opportunities to create confusion over politics, many small matters are being exaggerated and turned into mountain-sized controversies to keep up political momentum,” Azad wrote. Responding on the controversy, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that she learnt of the removals from media reports and stated that it would not impact the upcoming polls. “If photos were removed, that has nothing to do with the election. A photo has no relation to an election.”

Is the Yunus government really wiping out Hasina's legacy?

After Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August 2024, the Yunus regime has been accused of erasing her legacy from the country, including that of Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Yunus government has also been accused of giving free rein to the Islamist forces in the country. Attacks on minorities have also increased after the ouster of Hasina, with India also urging the Yunus-led government to protect the minorities. Recently, the Bangladeshi government scrapped the status of August 15 as the 'National Mourning Day.' Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is considered 'Father of the Nation' in Bangladesh, was brutally assassinated on August 15, 1975. The day was observed as National Mourning Day in the neighbouring country, but the holiday on that day has been scrapped by the Yunus government.

The Yunus government has also removed Mujibur Rahman's image from banknotes and has renamed buildings and institutions in his name. It has also revised educational content to portray multiple viewpoints of the Liberation War, including that of Zia-ur-Rahman, and reduced mentions of India's role. Moreover, several trusts linked to Hasina and her family—including the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust—lost tax-exempt status and are now under financial scrutiny. The Awami League has been banned from political activity, including contests in upcoming elections—an effective move to sideline both the party and Hasina-affiliated politics. A nationwide crackdown—Operation Devil Hunt— has also been launched to target supporters and structures associated with Sheikh Hasina, resulting in thousands of arrests.