The government on Tuesday strongly condemned the heckling of former interim government Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus by activists of the banned Awami League at John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, United States.

“It appears that a group of perpetrators suspected to be linked to the banned political outfit, Bangladesh Awami League, were behind this harassment of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who is highly respected by the international community, on foreign soil,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry also said it had instructed Bangladesh’s mission in New York to take up the matter with local law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators and pursue appropriate legal action against those who had tarnished the image of Bangladesh and its citizens before the world.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh time, activists of the banned Awami League attempted to harass Yunus at JFK Airport as he arrived on a flight.

A video circulating on Facebook shows Yunus seated in a wheelchair and accompanied by an associate when two or three men approach him. One of them, wearing a black jacket and sunglasses, appears to lead the confrontation.

Bangla Fact, a fact-checking initiative, identified the man in the black jacket as Emdad Chowdhury, general secretary of the New York Metropolitan Awami League.

Another man was identified as Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, general secretary of the US unit of the Jubo League.

The incident drew widespread condemnation from political leaders and civil society members in the country, with renewed calls for the trial of Awami League as a political party.