New Delhi:

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus – who last week took oath as head of Bangladesh’s interim government – has heaped praise on students who spearheaded protests against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “There is no doubt… because of the student-led revolution the whole government collapsed…” Mr Yunus told reporters after a Sunday night meet with the students.

“I said (to the students), ‘I respect you… I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparalleled… and because you ordered me to do this (to take charge of the interim administration) I accept…’,” Mr Yunus said, recounting part of the conversation he had with the students.

Two of the student protesters – Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud – are part of a 16-member advisory council that was sworn in with Mr Yunus. The 84-year-old won the 2006 Nobel Peace prize for his work in microfinance and setting up the Grameen Bank, which works for community development.

READ | Md Yunus Takes Oath As Head Of Bangladesh Interim Government

Mr Yunus has also stressed the wave of resignations of high-ranking public officials, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and head of Bangladesh’s central bank, was “conducted legally”.

They had reportedly been issued ultimatums to quit.

READ | Why Bangladesh Chief Justice, Sheikh Hasina Loyalist, Was Forced To Quit

“They want to have a new court,” he said of the students. “So they went there and asked the chief justice to resign and put their pressure to make him resign.”

“I’m sure they will find the legal way to justify all of this, because legally… all the steps were followed,” he said. His office only agreed to publish these quotes Monday evening.

“The Monster Is Gone”

“Finally, this moment, the monster is gone,” Mr Yunus also said, referring to Ms Hasina’s departure and the end of what her critics said was an autocratic rule that stifled all dissent. 

However, Mr Yunus warned the interim government that public goodwill is a limited resource and that they would face many difficult decisions ahead. “The moment you start taking decisions, some people will like your decisions, some people will not like your decisions,” he said. “…that’s the way it works.”

Interim Bangladesh Government

The interim government was formed after Bangladesh witnessed weeks of violence and clashes – triggered by protests over a jobs quota – forced Ms Hasina, a five-time PM, to resign and flee.

READ | Explained: How Gen Z Women And Military Transformed Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina left the Prime Minister’s residence in Dhaka – hours before it was overrun – and flew to India in a Bangladeshi military aircraft. The 76-year-old, seen as a key ally of New Delhi, remains in an undisclosed location amid reports she will seek political asylum, possibly in the United Kingdom.

Following Ms Hasina’s departure Md Yunus – who faced multiple corruption charges under the previous government and was in Europe while Sheikh Hasina was in power – was picked by the protesting to oversee democratic reforms.

His first act after being administered an oath of office – and taking the title of ‘chief advisor’ – was to lead a solemn tribute to the more than 450 people who died in the protests.

READ | Muhammad Yunus Honours Heroes, First Act As Bangladesh Interim Leader

It is unclear when Bangladesh will hold an election to select a new Prime Minister. Whenever that is, Mrs Hasina is likely to return to contest, her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy told The Times of India. “She will go back to Bangladesh the moment the interim government decides to hold an election,” he said.

India Extends “Best Wishes”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his best wishes to Mr Yunus,

READ |PM Extends Best Wishes To Yunus, “Hopes For Safety Of Hindus”

“We hope for an early return to normalcy, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities. India remains committed to working with Bangladesh to fulfil the shared aspirations of both our peoples for peace, security and development,” he wrote on X. 

READ | How Sheikh Hasina’s Ouster Affects India-Bangladesh Ties

With the change of guard in neighbouring Bangladesh, the Indian government now faces a diplomatic dilemma, even as China was also swift to welcome Dhaka’s new authorities, saying it “attaches importance to the development” of relations.

With input from agencies

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Dhaka:

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Friday announced the portfolios of the newly-appointed council of advisors and took charge of 27 ministries, including defence, and named career diplomat Mohammad Touhid Hossain to head the foreign ministry.

Nobel laureate Yunus, 84, on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, replacing Sheikh Hasina who abruptly resigned and fled to India leaving the country in turmoil following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.

He was sworn in as the chief advisor – a position equivalent to prime minister.

Other advisors were selected in consultation with student leaders, the military, and civil society representatives.

According to an official announcement, Yunus will oversee a broad array of ministries keeping to himself 27 portfolios including the defence, public administration, education, energy, food, water resources and information ministries.

Former foreign secretary Hossain has been entrusted with the charge of the foreign ministry while retired Army brigadier general M Sakhawat Hossain was tasked to oversee the home ministry.

Hossain was the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata from 2001 to 2005 and served as Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh from 2006 to 2009.

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salahuddin Ahmed will be in charge of the finance and planning ministries while former attorney general A F Hassan Arif will oversee the local government ministry.

Two coordinators of Students Against Discrimination inducted in the interim cabinet M Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud were given the charge of telecommunications and information technology and youth and sports ministries respectively.

The group waged first the street movement to reform the quota system for government jobs last month which later turned into a public upsurge and ousted Hasina’s 15-year regime and installed the interim government, visibly backed by the military.

Three members of the advisers’ council, mostly civil society figures, could not take the oath on Thursday night at the Bangabhaban presidential palace as they were outside of the capital and officials presumed that Yunus might distribute some of the 27 portfolios to them.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus along with his lawyers arrives at the Anti-Corruption Commission office in Dhaka on October 05, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus appeared before Bangladesh’s anti-graft watchdog Thursday over corruption charges that his lawyers said were part of a campaign of government harassment.

Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering micro-credit bank, but he has fallen out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.

He is facing around 175 separate criminal and labour tribunal cases related to social business firms he set up in Bangladesh aimed at creating jobs and bringing services to the poor.

“I have not committed any offence,” Yunus told reporters after leaving the Anti-Corruption Commission in the capital Dhaka. “I am not scared.”

Defence lawyer Abdullah al Mamun told reporters Yunus had to cut short his trip to United Nations headquarters in New York to attend the hearing.

Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, another lawyer for Yunus, said he was interrogated for more than an hour in the office.

“These cases are all part of the continuous harassment against Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus,” he added.

Yunus and seven officials of Grameen Telecom, a social business firm he founded, are accused of money laundering and embezzling 250 million taka ($2.3 million), according to charges filed by the commission in May.

He faces up to 12 years in jail if convicted.

Another case against Yunus is currently at trial with the next hearing scheduled for October 11. His lawyers have insisted he is innocent of all charges against him.

In August, 160 global figures including former US president Barack Obama and ex-UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon published a joint letter against the “continuous judicial harassment” of the micro-credit pioneer.

The signatories — including more than 100 of his fellow Nobel laureates — said they feared for “his safety and freedom”.

Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work promoting economic development.

He has been credited with helping eradicate extreme poverty in Bangladesh by offering microfinance loans to tens of millions of rural women through Grameen Bank, which he founded in the 1980s.

Bangladesh’s anti-graft watchdog last year ordered a wide-ranging probe into firms that Yunus chairs.

Hasina has attacked him personally, blaming him for the World Bank pulling out from a bridge project near Dhaka that was mired in corruption allegations.

When the bridge finally opened last year, Hasina said Yunus should be “dipped in a river” for jeopardising its completion.

Critics accuse Bangladeshi courts of rubber-stamping decisions made by Hasina’s government.

Rights activists, newspaper editors and opposition politicians have been sentenced in recent months ahead of a national election due in January.