In Gaibandha alone, one hundred seventy women and children were raped in just eleven months. If this number does not make your skin crawl, then we have failed as human beings. What is even more horrifying is that this figure is from only one district. Imagining what the situation looks like across the entire country is enough to make anyone tremble. And in the midst of this misery sits the honorable Dr. Yunus and his so-called reformist government, who overthrew an elected administration using July’s violence, foreign funding, Islamic militant support, and the backing of sections of the military.

Since the July riots, the country has descended into a state of lawlessness, and the biggest victims are women and children. When an illegal government seizes power through a coup, when the law enforcement agencies spend their time serving political masters, when there is no trace of good governance left, it is society’s most vulnerable who suffer the most. The statistics from Gaibandha reflect that harsh reality.

Mr. Yunus and his team give long speeches about reform. But look at the ground. What change has come to the lives of ordinary people? A mother is afraid to send her daughter to school. A father cannot sleep at night out of fear for his daughter’s safety. Is this reform? Is this development? A government that cannot protect half of its population has no legitimacy.

Criminals are exploiting the chaos created by this foreign-funded, illegal government. Police are tied up dealing with political cases, leaving rapists and abusers free to roam. A second-grade child in Gaibandha was raped. A seventy-five-year-old woman is not safe. And the government is nowhere to be found. Cases are being filed, but most suspects remain out of reach. Is this governance? Is this good governance?

Dr. Yunus won a Nobel Prize for microcredit. But does he know what kind of horror ordinary women in this country are going through? Or is he too busy keeping his foreign patrons happy? This government, propped up with military backing, seems more interested in clinging to power than serving the people.

In a country where one district sees one hundred seventy women and children raped in eleven months, do the rulers feel no shame? A government that comes to power through a coup, aided by militants, cannot claim any moral standing. No matter how much Dr. Yunus and his team talk, the reality is that there is no rule of law, no security, and no safe space for women.

This illegal government has passed a new law for rapid disposal of rape cases, promising investigation within fifteen days and trial within ninety. But laws already existed. What is the use if they are not enforced? When criminals enjoy political protection, what difference will new laws make? In most Gaibandha rape cases, the accused are still free. What is the police doing? What is the government doing? There is no answer.

Will this government—brought to power with the help of Islamic militants—ensure women’s safety? In a country where fundamentalist influence is rising and women’s freedoms and rights are constantly questioned, how will safety be guaranteed? If Mr. Yunus and his government truly cared, they would have come to power through lawful means, not through orchestrating riots.

Gaibandha’s situation is a warning for the entire country. But is there anyone in power who is listening? Those who came to power on foreign funding and military support—will they listen to the people? Or will they remain busy tightening their grip on power?

Bangladesh has reached a point where there is no safe place for women. Not at home, not outside, not in school, not on the streets. Who is responsible? Those who staged a coup and pushed the country into this darkness. As long as Mr. Yunus and his team continue this illegitimate rule, nothing will improve. A government built on injustice cannot deliver justice.

The one hundred seventy women and children raped in Gaibandha are not just numbers. They are proof of the complete failure of the Yunus government. Under this administration, women are not safe, children are not safe, no one is safe. What an incredible job the Yunus clique is doing in running the country. Under a Nobel laureate, Bangladesh has become a place with no room for women at all. Is this the reform people were promised? Or was this the real plan all along—driving the country toward ruin?⁩