By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, August 6: After packing off Sheikh Hasina from the Prime Ministership of Bangladesh, the leaders of the student movement which led to her ouster on Monday, “appointed” Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus as Chief Advisor of the interim government to be formed by President Munammad Shahabuddin.
Yunus has given his consent, say the leaders of the “Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement.”
In a video posted on social media Nahid Islam, one of the key coordinators of the movement, said they have already talked with Prof Yunus, and he has given his consent considering the present situation of the country.
Nahid, flanked by two other coordinators, said the widespread violence was being carried out by the “ousted fascists and their collaborators” to foil the revolution.
“We took 24 hours to announce a framework for the interim government. However, considering the emergency situation, we are announcing it now,” Nahid said.
“We have decided that the interim government would be formed in which internationally renowned Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammad Yunus, who has wide acceptability, would be the chief adviser,” Nahid announced.
“We want to see the process rolling by the morning. We urge the president to take steps as soon as possible to form an interim government headed by Dr Yunus,” Nahid added.
“And we will also announce the names of the remaining members of the interim government by morning.”
“Dear friends, as there is anarchy in the country, and insecurity over people’s lives, we are urging the president to take immediate and effective steps to restore law and order in the country, and that freedom-seeking students will also be on the streets to assist law enforcement forces in that regard.
“And, till the interim government is formed, the students will have to remain on the streets to safeguard their uprising. We have given our blood, been martyred, and we have to fulfil our pledge to build a new Bangladesh.
“No government other than the one proposed by the students will be accepted. As we have said, no military government, or one backed by the military, or a government of fascists, will be accepted,” Nahid said.
“Soon after our uprising, the fascists are creating anarchy in the country. There is now firing and shooting going on in many areas, attacks on temples, looting and sabotage. We think it is a pre-planned attempt to foil the students’ uprising.
“We have come to the decision that the government proposed by the uprising students and the people, an interim government, will be formed with Prof Yunus as the chief advisor. This government has to be formed without any delay.
“We are calling on everyone to take to the streets from tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. The ‘Committee to Safeguard Public Property and Communal Harmony’ formed and led by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has announced that they will guard every locality. We have to protect our minority communities, we have to protect our public property and we have to protect our country.”
Mujib’s Legacy Destroyed: Yunus
Speaking to ThePrint minutes after Hasina left Bangladesh, Yunus, who has been charged by the Hasina government in over 190 cases, said, “Bangladesh is liberated… We are a free country now.”
“We were an occupied country as long as she (Hasina) was there. She was behaving like an occupation force, a dictator, a general, controlling everything. Today all the people of Bangladesh feel liberated.”
Yunus was convicted by the Hasina-led government in January for violating the country’s labour laws and is currently out on bail.
“They are feeling the sense of liberation and joy that we can start all over again….We wanted to do it in the first round when we became independent in 1971. And we missed it because of all the problems we have right now. We now want to make a fresh start and create a beautiful country for ourselves. That’s the commitment we make and students and young people will be leading our future,” Yunus told ThePrint.
Asked about vandalism by protesters, who tried to damage a statue of Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka and stormed the parliament building, Yunus said that it’s an expression of the “damage she (Hasina) has done”.
“It says what they feel about Hasina, what she did to herself and her father… it’s not the fault of the young people who are doing this,” he said.
Yunus, founder of the pioneering microfinance system that lifted millions of poor out of poverty in Bangladesh, ruled out any role in active politics.
“I’m not the kind of person who would like to be in politics. Politics is not my cup of tea,” he maintained.
Currently in Paris, he said he would soon return to Bangladesh and continue to work for the people the way he did earlier.
“I will continue with my work in a free environment that I didn’t have during the regime of Sheikh Hasina because she was always attacking me. I will continue, devote myself to the things I could not do before,” The Print quoted him as saying.
Khaleda Zia Released
Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who in jail and out on bail, was released hours after her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina was ousted and the military took power.
The President’s press team said in a statement that a meeting led by Shahabuddin had “decided unanimously to free Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately”.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the head of the navy and airforce, and top leaders of several opposition parties including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami party, attended the meeting.
“The meeting has also decided to free all the people who have been arrested during the student protests,” the statement added.
Earlier yesterday, Waker said in a broadcast to the nation on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.
“The meeting decided to form an interim government immediately”, it added.
Hasina had sought to quell nationwide protests against her government since early July but she fled the country after brutal unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people were killed.
Zia, 78, is in poor health and confined to hospital after she was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft in 2018.
Namata’s Appeal
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday appealed to political leaders to not make any provocative statements on the Bangladesh crisis.
She said the Centre will decide India’s stand on the crisis in the neighbouring country.
Mamata further said, “I appeal to people of all communities with folded hands to remain calm and not engage in any communal behaviour or take the law into their own hands.
“If our brothers and sisters who are there (in Bangladesh) face some trouble, the Government of India and the Government of Bangladesh will look into it. We will do what the GoI asks. I urge leaders of all political parties and everyone else to not post anything that will disrupt peace here.”
She claimed that some BJP leaders have already started making ‘inappropriate’ comments on the situation in Bangladesh.
The West Bengal Police also asked people to not share “provocative videos”.
“Given the current situation in neighbouring Bangladesh, we have noticed a few posts and videos on social media that may create discord and unrest. Please do not pay attention to rumours, do not share provocative videos, do not step into a fake news trap. The state administration is alert and vigilant. Keep calm and maintain peace,” the police posted on X.
Doval Meets Hasina
The Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had met with Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina who had left the country.
According to unconfirmed reports in the Indian media, a transport carrier aircraft carrying Sheikh Hasna and her sister Sheikh Rehana landed at the Hindon airbase near Ghaziabad. Doval met with her there.
According to the media reports, Hasina did not seek political asylum in India. She has sought political asylum in the UK. If granted, she will leave for London immediately. Till then, India will provide her with temporary shelter.
When Sheikh Hasina landed not far from Delhi, India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar met with prime minister Narendra Modi. He apprised the prime minister of the situation in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing from the country, move for an interim government and the safety of Indians living in Bangladesh.
Jaishankar may make a statement about Bangladesh in parliament.
END
