The interim government in Bangladesh will be led by Muhammad Yunus
The Resilient Failure of the Bangladesh Government: The Case of Hasina, an Army-backed Prime Minister for five decades after she resigned
“In Bangladesh if you have to define a good person, someone we can trust and move forward, someone who we can call reliable — the first name that will come up, it will be Dr. Muhammad Yunus,” said Fakruddin Abu Saeed, a 27-year-old consultant to nonprofits. “We are hoping that Dr. Muhammad Yunus will help Bangladesh move forward from the challenge it is facing.”
Rioters burned down police stations and attacked homes and temples of minority Hindus in the protests. “The whole edifice has collapsed,” said Jyoti Rahman, an Australia-based economist who writes on Bangladeshi politics and economy, referring to Hasina’s government.
The temporary leadership could herald more stability. “He’s a nonpartisan figure. That is what Bangladesh needs at the moment, to drive forward this process.”
The students were very clear in what they wanted to do, that’s what Thomas Kean said. “They were not going to accept the army or an army-backed government.”
Those concerns are alive in Bangladesh, where the institution has led 29 interventions in a country that is five decades old, according to Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House in London. It was the army chief, Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, who announced the former prime minister had resigned on Monday.
The resignation of a politician caused a change in Bangladesh politics. Bangladesh was ruled by a female prime minister for four years in a row. In the January elections she won after the opposition boycotted the polls.
Many Bangladeshis were proud of how Hasina transformed the country, building roads and railways, and developing a large garment export industry. Her party could not find a solution to high youth unemployment.
That is part of why she was felled by students protesting against quota for government jobs for descendants of veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh war. Many students believed the ruling party was handing out those jobs to cronies. “You basically have this perfect storm of sorts,” said Bajpaee.
Students who protested over the job quotas were attacked by Hasina’s party loyalists. Paramilitary forces and police joined the fray, triggering violent clashes that killed more than 300 people.
Indicted in Bangladesh for fraud in microlending to the impoverished and the 2006 Nobel peace prize winner, Mr. Yunus
The pioneer work on microlending to the impoverished earned him the 2006 prize for the peace prize. The special court in Bangladesh indicted him in June in a fraud case that was over $2 million. Yunus denied the charges and says the case was politically motivated by the former prime minister, who saw him as a potential rival.
He was released on bail and had traveled to Paris for the Olympic Games. He said that Bangladeshis should use the victory to their advantage.
“I fervently appeal to everybody to stay calm. He said in a statement on Wednesday that he wanted to make it clear that he was against all kinds of violence. “This is our beautiful country with lots of exciting possibilities. We need to protect and make it a great place for our children and future generations.
The man who received a 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in developing microcredit markets said he was looking forward to going home and seeing what was happening.
Violence in Bangladesh during the July 15 Retrenchment: Police, Anti-Formation, Security and the Children of the Hasina-Like Regime
Over 300 people have died in violence in Bangladesh since July 15. Police left their posts after being attacked as a result of rising tension in the days surrounding the resignation. Police stopped working across the country after many officers were killed. They threatened not to return unless their safety is ensured. Local media reported the theft of firearms.
With no forces to keep the demonstrators from approaching, Hasina flew to India. “At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India,” said that country’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar. “We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from Bangladesh authorities.”
Many fear that Hasina’s departure could trigger even more instability in the densely populated nation of some 170 million people, which is already dealing with high unemployment, corruption and a complex strategic relationship with India, China and the United States.
The army chief made a announcement in a press conference that an interim government would be formed. Even as he spoke, crowds rushed into the prime minister’s residence, some looting items like fish and Hasina’s clothes.
Protesters also vandalized and tore down a statue of Bangladesh’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Sheikh Hasina’s own father. Rioters torched a museum honoring his memory. There were multiple jailbreaks.
Some military and civilian officials who were loyal to the party resigned or were removed. The major general was on the plane trying to leave. Human Rights Watch reported that an advocacy group for families of victims of enforced disappearances demonstrated outside Bangladesh’s military intelligence agency, which led to the release of at least two men who had been held for eight years.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader was freed after being under house arrest for many years. Students and local residents guarded police stations and Hindu temples to prevent more attacks. The traffic was directed by them.
Even though a new police chief has been appointed, Rahman said it could take years to rebuild the police. Bangladesh police decided to strike on Tuesday because of their safety concerns. The students want reforms to stop future governments from abusing the powers that were accumulated during Hasina’s rule.
Without reforms, Kean explained, the incoming government would have “no checks and balances. It would control the judiciary, security forces.” It would “be able to use those to hold on to power and suppress opposition.”
The chaos started in July with protests against the quota system for government jobs, which critics said favored people with connections to the party of the prime minister. The protests soon became a bigger challenge to the 15- year rule of the Prime Minister, which was marked by human rights abuses, corruption, allegations of rigged elections and a brutal suppression of her opponents.
Joy, Hasina’s son, said in a social media post on Wednesday that his family would return to politics and not give up following attacks on the Awami League party’s leaders and members. Many people see Joy as the next leader of the South Asian nation.
Joy said the Awami League was the oldest, democratic and largest party in Bangladesh. “The Awami League has not died … It is not possible to eliminate the Awami League. Our family would not engage in politics anymore, we had said. We cannot give up because of the attacks on our leaders.
Victory Day of Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh: A “beautiful democratic process” after the re-election of Hasina
Overnight into Thursday, residents across Dhaka carried sticks, iron rods and sharp weapons to guard their neighborhoods amid reports of robberies. Communities used loudspeakers in mosques to alert people that robberies were occurring, as police remained off duty. The military has hotline numbers for people.
Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, in an election boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the vote was held and the result was not credible.
Yunus has been a longtime opponent of Hasina, who had called him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for using force to extract loan repayments from rural poor, mainly women. Yunus has denied the allegations.
Security was tight at the airport to ensure Yunus’ safe arrival, as the country has experienced days of unrest following the downfall of Hasina on Monday. President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath on Thursday night, when a new Cabinet is expected to be announced.
Yunus was named as interim leader following talks among military officials, civic leaders and the student activists who led the uprising against Hasina. After making his first public statements in the French capital, he boarded a plane to go home.
Yunus congratulated the student protesters, saying they had made “our second Victory Day possible,” and he appealed to them and other stakeholders to remain peaceful, while condemning the violence that followed Hasina’s resignation.
The Military Chief of Bangladesh said in a televised address Wednesday that he was looking forward to a “beautiful democratic process” with the help of Muhammad Yunus.