Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as head of a brand new caretaker authorities in Bangladesh in a ceremony that started with a minute’s silence to recollect those that have been killed within the current protests.
The swearing-in, led by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, was attended by greater than 1,500 friends together with politicians, college students, protest coordinators and representatives from the army and civil society. Different members of the interim authorities additionally took their oaths. Amongst them Adilur Rahman Khan, a outstanding human rights activist who was imprisoned by the ousted regime, and two scholar leaders.
Earlier, the entrepreneur and Nobel laureate had given an emotional speech to ready reporters at Dhaka airport on his arrival within the nation to take up his place.
Yunus mentioned he hoped to revive calm and rebuild Bangladesh after the rebellion that ended the 15-year, more and more autocratic rule of the previous prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus landed at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal worldwide airport on Thursday afternoon after a visit to France for medical remedy. He was welcomed by Bangladesh’s army chief, Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman, who was flanked by leaders of the navy and air power. Among the scholar leaders who led the rebellion towards Hasina have been additionally there. They’d proposed him as interim chief to President Shahabuddin, who’s appearing as chief govt below the structure.
Safety was tight on the airport as Bangladesh continues to expertise unrest after Hasina resigned and left the nation on Monday. Shahabuddin will preside over the oath-taking ceremony on Thursday night time, when Yunus is anticipated to announce his cupboard. In his speech, he addressed the folks of Bangladesh as “one big family” and mentioned the younger protesters had given them a “new birth” however he condemned the final two days of violence directed towards the nation’s non secular minorities.
“My first word to you is to protect the country from disorder. Protect it from violence so we can follow the path our students have shown us,” he mentioned, earlier than paying an emotional tribute to Abu Sayeed, a 25-year-old scholar who was shot lifeless by police throughout a protest in Rangpur on 16 July. Yunus fought again tears as he described Sayeed as “an incredibly brave young man”.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Pleasure, who acts as an adviser to his mom, had vowed on Wednesday that his household and the Awami League social gathering would proceed to be engaged in Bangladesh’s politics – a reversal from what he had mentioned earlier on Monday, when he known as the scholars “very ungrateful”.
Yunus was named as interim chief after talks amongst army officers, civic leaders and the coed activists who led the rebellion towards Hasina.
Zaman, the army chief, mentioned in a televised tackle on Wednesday he anticipated Yunus to usher in a “beautiful democratic” course of.
Yunus, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel peace prize for his work growing microcredit markets, informed reporters in Paris: “I’m looking forward to going back home and seeing what’s happening there, and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble that we are in.”
Requested when elections could be held, he put his fingers up as if it have been too early to say. “I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just fresh in this whole area,” he mentioned.
A tribunal in Dhaka earlier on Wednesday acquitted Yunus in a labour regulation violation case involving a telecommunications firm he based, by which he was convicted and sentenced to 6 months in jail. He had been launched on bail within the case.
Yunus has been a longtime opponent of Hasina, who has known as him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for utilizing power to extract mortgage repayments from rural poor, primarily girls. Yunus has denied the allegations.
Within the weeks since 15 July, greater than 300 folks have died in violence in Bangladesh. Rising tensions within the days surrounding Hasina’s resignation created chaos, with police leaving their posts after being attacked. Dozens of officers have been killed, prompting police to cease working. They threatened to not return until their security was ensured. The looting of firearms was additionally reported in native media.
The chaos started in July with protests towards a quota system for presidency jobs that critics mentioned favoured folks with connections to Hasina’s social gathering. However the demonstrations quickly grew right into a broader problem to Hasina’s 15-year rule, which was marked by human rights abuses, corruption, allegations of rigged elections and a brutal crackdown on her opponents.
Pleasure, Hasina’s son, mentioned in a social media put up on Wednesday that his household would return to politics and never quit after assaults on the Awami League social gathering’s leaders and members. Many noticed Pleasure as Hasina’s successor in Bangladesh’s dynastic political tradition.
On Monday, Pleasure had mentioned Hasina could be retiring to spend time along with her grandchildren . However in a video message posted on his Fb web page on Wednesday, he urged social gathering activists to stand up. “You are not alone. We are here. The family of Bangabandhu has not gone anywhere,” he mentioned.
Hasina’s father, the independence chief Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is fondly referred to in Bangladesh as Bangabandhu, which suggests “friend of Bengal”.
Pleasure mentioned: “If we want to build a new Bangladesh, it is not possible without the Awami League. The Awami League is the oldest, democratic, and largest party in Bangladesh. The Awami League has not died … It is not possible to eliminate the Awami League. We had said that our family would not engage in politics any more. However, given the attacks on our leaders and activists, we cannot give up.”
In a single day into Thursday, folks throughout Dhaka carried sticks, iron rods and sharp weapons to protect their neighbourhoods amid stories of robberies. Loudspeakers in mosques have been used to alert those who robberies have been occurring, and college students shaped volunteer teams to guard temples and companies as police remained off responsibility. The army shared hotline numbers for these in search of assist.
Many, together with in neighbouring India, worry extra instability within the densely populated nation of 170 million folks, which is already coping with excessive unemployment, corruption and a posh strategic relationship with India, China and the US.
Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive time period in January, in an election boycotted by her foremost opponents. 1000’s of opposition members have been jailed earlier than the vote, and the US and UK denounced the outcome as not credible.
