Dhaka, April 17 -- Political tremors continue to ripple across South Asia following Bangladesh's dramatic leadership change last August, when mass protests led by a wide-ranging coalition of student groups, civil society activists, and radical Islamists forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.

In her place emerged Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus, widely hailed for his work in microfinance, who was appointed as interim leader amid high hopes for reform and unity.

But those early hopes are now giving way to growing unease, both at home and abroad. Yunus's apparent tolerance of Islamist forces and a sharp pivot in foreign policy toward China and Pakistan have raised fears about Bangladesh's internal cohesion and its regional ...