Bangladesh: Yunus becomes interim leader, replacing Hasina

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as Bangladesh's interim leader on Thursday after a student-led uprising forced Sheikh Hasina to leave the country after over 15 years in power.

The 84-year-old Yunus was recommended for this role by the leaders of student protests.

"The country has the possibility of becoming a very beautiful nation," Yunus told reporters at the airport earlier on Thursday. "Whatever path our students show us, we will move ahead with that."

Yunus was welcomed by the country's military chief, Waker-uz-Zaman, and other defense leaders at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

"Today is a glorious day for us," he told reporters.

"Bangladesh has created a new victory day. Bangladesh has got a second independence."

The veteran leader said his priority would be to restore order in Bangladesh and prepare for new elections following weeks of violence.

Just a week ago, the Bangladeshi military was shooting at students protesting against Hasina's government, killing at least 300 people.

Calls for calm

In his first speech after returning to Dhaka, Yunus called on Bangladeshis to restore law and order across the country.

"Law and order is our first task... We cannot take a step forward unless we fix the law and order situation," he said.

"My call to the people is if you have trust in me, then make sure there will be no attacks against anyone, anywhere in the country."

Yunus said recent attacks against religious minorities, including Hindus, were part of a conspiracy.

"Every person is our brother... our task is to protect them," he said, adding that "the whole of Bangladesh is one big family."

Yunus plans to hold elections within a few months.

Yunus pays tribute to student protesters

Flanked by student leaders, Yunus said Bangladesh was a country of "immense possibility."

He said the student protesters "protected the nation and gave it a new life" and choked up when he recalled the death of young activist Abu Sayeed, who was shot dead by police from close range last month.

"Bangladesh can be a beautiful country, but we destroyed the possibilities," Yunus added.

"Now we have to build a seedbed again — the new seedbed will be built by them," he said, gesturing to the young student supporters.

Bangladesh student leaders Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, who led the protests, were reported to be part of the new, caretaker government set to be sworn in.

'The name of confidence'

The lauded professor is the only name that instills confidence in students and citizens, Bangladeshi journalist Mainul Islam Khan told DW in an interview. He added that people were "eagerly waiting for him to take charge of the country."

Once sworn in, Yunus is set to face huge challenges, Khan said. "The first challenge is to restore security in the country to send the students back to the classrooms and the people back to their homes." 

Another is to fill several key government positions where officials have resigned in the last few weeks.  

The biggest challenge, however, is to fulfill the students' key demand — reform in all sectors.

"It is very early to say how much time he will need to reform the important sectors including the Election Commission and then call for an election," Khan said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a tribunal in Dhaka acquitted Yunus in a labor law violation case that many believed to be politically motivated. He was sentenced to six months in prison but he had been allowed to remain on bail while filing an appeal.

Another rival of Hasina, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, also saw her conviction overturned by presidential decree on Tuesday, letting her hold her first public address in six years. 

Anti-government protest movement

While the protests originally focused on quotas in government jobs, they quickly morphed into an anti-Hasina movement once she deployed the forces against civilians. 

The military eventually turned on Hasina after weeks of violent clashes, forcing the prime minister to flee to neighboring India in a helicopter.

However, the military switched sides over the weekend and Hasina was forced to flee to neighboring India.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of the ousted prime minister, admitted there had been errors in how the protests were dealt with but added that he believed the demonstrations had got out of hand.

"Yes, mistakes were made," he told DW. "But I also think that the protests were incited way beyond what they should have been."

On his mother's further plans, he said: " She has not made any decision to go anywhere at all."

Protestors celebrated Hasina's political demise by storming her official residence Ganabhaban, in Dhaka. Thousands engaged in vandalism and looted everything on site from raw food to clothes, furniture, art and gadgets. A further 100 people were killed as violence continued after Hasina's departure.

The military then agreed to students' demand to install Yunus — winner of the 2006 Nobel for his work in microfinancing — as the interim leader. 

zc, mk/ab (AFP, Reuters)