Yunus takes oath as head of Bangladesh’s interim government

Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on Thursday as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, days after the country’s longest-serving prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration was ousted following protests in which more than 450 people died.
Dr Yunus, 84, is a social reformer, economist and the founder of Grameen Bank, which grants small loans mostly to poor farmers and for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
He was appointed during a meeting of President Mohammed Shahabuddin, military leaders and the heads of the Students Against Discrimination group after parliament was dissolved following Ms Hasina’s departure.
Army Chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman, former bureaucrats and Nahid Islam, the key co-ordinator of the student movement, were among those present at the swearing-in.
The oath-taking ceremony took place amid reports of violence against allies of the deposed 76-year-old leader, who has taken refuge in India following her dramatic escape from the official residence in Dhaka, as tens of thousands of protesters stormed the fortified palace in the Bangladeshi capital.
Dr Yunus arrived in Dhaka from Paris on Thursday and was received by Gen Waker and members of the student protest groups, along with his supporters.
“Bangladesh has got a second independence,” Dr Yunis told reporters at the airport, flanked by the army chief and student leaders.
He reiterated his call for peace and an end to violence amid reports of attacks on the members of the previous regime and minorities, including the Hindus and members of Ms Hasina’s Awami League party.
At least 29 bodies of the leaders of her party and their family members were found across Bangladesh on Tuesday.
“If you have trust in me, then make sure there will be no attacks against anyone, anywhere in the country,” Dr Yunis said.
“Every person is our brother … our task is to protect them,” he said, adding that “the whole of Bangladesh is one big family”.
Dr Yunus’s appointment has brought a sense of jubilation and optimism in a country that commentators and rights groups say was marred by systematic corruption, inflation, unemployment and human rights violations under the authoritarian rule of Ms Hasina, who was the world’s longest-serving female head of a government.
The daughter of the founding father and first prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led its fight for independence from Pakistan in 1971, Ms Hasina came to power in a landslide victory in 2009.
She won again with a thumping majority in 2014. However, in the past decade, she emerged as an authoritarian who fought elections without an opposition.
She was accused of human rights violations, clampdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent.
She jailed thousands of leaders from opposition parties, writers, activists and intellectuals, or anyone who expressed dissent.
Her exit came after thousands of people stormed her residence in Dhaka following mass protests against government job quotas.
Dr Yunus had a fractious relationship with Ms Hasina, who accused him of “sucking blood from the poor”.
He too was slapped with over 100 charges and was convicted in a labour laws case but was acquitted by a court on Wednesday after he was appointed to lead the government.
“He is not only a Nobel laureate, but also because of his international acceptance and the acceptance he has received by the civilians and the elites of Bangladesh … he’s one of the best people for this job,” Dr Ishrat Hossain, a Bangladeshi researcher on politics and international relations at Oxford University, told The National.