Muhammad Yunus stood alongside student and civil society leaders in the new “advisory” cabinet.
Dhaka:
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus led a solemn tribute to Bangladesh’s fallen independence heroes in the first act of his interim government on Friday, after a student-led uprising forced predecessor Sheikh Hasina into exile.
One day after returning from Europe and promising to “defend, support and protect the Constitution” upon taking office, 84-year-old Yunus began the difficult challenge of returning the country to democracy.
Hasina, 76, accused of widespread human rights violations including the arrest of her political opponents, fled by helicopter to neighboring India on Monday as protesters flooded the streets of Dhaka in a dramatic end to her 15-year rule. years.
The military announced his resignation and then agreed to students’ demands that Yunus – who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering microfinance work – lead an interim government.
Yunus, who has assumed the title of “chief advisor” to a provisional administration made up of civilian colleagues except a retired brigadier general, said he wants to hold elections “within a few months.”
When the research might take place is unclear.
Officials from Hasina’s former ruling party, the Awami League, went into hiding after revenge attacks caused some of their offices to burn down, while former opposition groups such as the main Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are rebuilding themselves after years of crushing repression.
‘Victory Day’
The new administration faces a difficult task.
The veteran economist called for the restoration of order in the South Asian country after weeks of violence that left at least 455 people dead, urging citizens to protect each other, including minorities who have been attacked.
Under heavy rain, Yunus stood silently on Friday alongside student and civil society leaders in the new “consultative” cabinet tasked with driving democratic reforms.
Together, the group laid a wreath in the red and green colors of the national flag at the main memorial in honor of the millions who died in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of liberation against Pakistan.
Yunus suggested upon his arrival in Dhaka on Thursday that Hasina’s ouster was as significant as the conflict that gave rise to Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh has created a new day of victory,” he told reporters. “Bangladesh got a second independence.”
Several of Yunus’s advisers are loosely affiliated with the BNP, led by Hasina’s longtime rival and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, 78, recently released from years of house arrest.
They also include student leaders who started the protests.
Yunus wrote this week in The Economist that his country needed a new generation of leaders “who are not obsessed with settling scores, as many of our previous governments were.”
However, Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy told the Times of India that his mother still hoped to run for political office.
“She will return to Bangladesh the moment the interim government decides to hold elections,” he said.
‘Law and order’
Hasina’s flight abroad has increased bitterness towards India, which played a decisive military role in securing Bangladesh’s independence but also supported Hasina to the hilt.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to offer his “best wishes” to Yunus on Thursday, moments after he took office, saying New Delhi was “committed” to working with neighboring Dhaka.
India’s arch-rival Pakistan also said on Friday it hoped to be able to strengthen ties with Dhaka, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wishing Yunus “great success in guiding Bangladesh towards a harmonious and prosperous future”.
China said on Friday it also welcomed the interim government, promising to work with the country “to promote exchanges and cooperation.”
Farida Akhter, an adviser to the interim government, told AFP the group would also visit a monument in Dhaka where student protests began last month.
“We are paying our respects there, as the student movement started from there,” she said, before naming the main task on the to-do list.
“Our first priority is law and order,” she said.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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