Bangladesh’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Yunus will be sworn in tomorrow
#News Bureau August 7,2024
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus will be sworn in on Thursday. More than a dozen members are likely to take oath with him. Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said this in a statement on Wednesday.
The army chief said that the advisory council led by Yunus may have 15 members. Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin on Tuesday appointed 84-year-old Yunus as the head of the interim government after the violent removal of pro-India former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. General Waqar said that Yunus will lead Bangladesh through the democratic process. “He is very eager to do so,” the general said in a televised address to the nation. He said, “I am sure he will be able to take us through a beautiful democratic process and we will benefit from it.”
Meanwhile, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in a statement soon after her release, called for creating a democratic Bangladesh where all religions are respected.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the designated head of Bangladesh’s interim government, has appealed to everyone to remain calm and stay away from all forms of violence. He said that there has been a major reshuffle in the security establishment in the country after the removal of the Sheikh Hasina government. The 84-year-old economist said, “We should make the best use of our new victory. We should not let it slip out of our hands due to our mistakes.” He will return from Paris on Thursday and take charge. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Yunus stressed the importance of taking advantage of the current political change.
According to the statement of the President’s press secretary, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday.
Yunus acquitted by court
A Bangladesh court today acquitted Yunus of a labor conviction on appeal, Reuters reports. Yunus fled abroad after being sentenced to six months in prison for the labor charge earlier this year, but was immediately granted bail pending appeal. Yunus was out on bail after being sentenced to six months in prison in January for failing to create a welfare fund for employees of Grameen Telecom, a company he founded.
Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Dhaka demanding her resignation. Monday’s events were the culmination of more than a month of unrest that began as protests against a government job quota plan but later turned into an anti-Hasina movement.
Hasina deployed security forces to suppress the protests over allegations of rigging in January elections and widespread human rights abuses. Hundreds were killed in the crackdown, but days earlier the military turned against Hasina and she was forced to flee by helicopter to neighboring India.
