Guwahati: With a huge expectation from the people of Bangladesh, the interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was formed on 8 August 2024 in Dhaka. But on the ground, the caretaker government is yet to make any formal reform in the system even though it has achieved diplomatic success in different fronts along with a sustained public trust. The widely acclaimed banker turned social-enterprise motivator Prof Yunus has continued his mission to understand the ground situation while discussing with various political parties along with other important personalities to finalize his roadmap for a free, fair, and participatory national elections in due course of time.
The octogenarian preacher for three zeros (no poverty, no net carbon emission and no wealth concentration), Prof Yunus has already received encouraging messages from various global leaders and institutions. Needless to mention that, nearly a hundred Nobel laureates from different parts of the world recently sent a letter of appreciation and good will to Prof Yunus. The signatories, including former US President Barack Obama, human rights activist Shirin Ebadi and a number of elected public personalities, business leaders, civil society representatives etc. argued that Prof Yunus was rightly put in his opposition by the agitating students of Bangladesh. Most of the development partners of Bangladesh including different western countries were happy and expressed their desire to support the south Asian nation with nearly 170 million people in its development process.
Prof Yunus, who was in Paris during the first week of August, arrived in Dhaka to receive a hero’s welcome. By then, the country’s longest serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted and the Awami League chief was forced to leave the country following an unprecedented mass movement against her government with dictatorial attitude. The daughter Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Bangladesh freedom movement hero, Hasina left Dhaka on 5 August to arrive in India. New Delhi has yet to make an official declaration about her status as an asylum seeker and the only version, stated by India’s foreign minister, reveals that the fifth time Bangla premier was given shelter following a short notice request. No official announcement is available if Hasina was allowed to stay in India as long as she wants or if the iron lady was looking for a third country for long term shelter.
Meanwhile, hundreds of police complaints were lodged against Hasina and the interim government is looking for her return to face trial in the country. It’s assumed that Prof Yunus will soon ask for her extradition from New Delhi and till then he expected Hasina to keep quiet as long as she is taking shelter in a different country. Initially, Hasina and her son from the USA made a number of contradictory statements over her departure and probable return to Bangladesh. Various Indian media outlets used their versions in headlines and even tried to project that in the absence of Hasina, the Hindus and other religious minorities were facing Islamists backlash, as if there was no event of Hindu harassment in Bangladesh during Hasina’s regime. Prof Yunus, during a recent media interview, even urged New Delhi to avoid judging everyone except Hasina as anti-Indians.
Amidst the ‘not so good’ bilateral relationship with New Delhi because of Hasina’s presence in India, Prof Yunus is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York during the UN General Assembly session on 22, 23 September next. Earlier on 16 August, Prof Yunus dialed PM Modi and had a fruitful discussion to take forward bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries. PM Modi emphasized on protection of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, where Prof Yunus assured that his government is committed to ensure security to all minorities in his Muslim majority nation. He also invited PM Modi to visit Bangladesh at his convenience and arranged to send a delegation of Indian journalists to witness the ground situation there. Prof Yunus believes that good ties with New Delhi are essential but that ‘should be based on equity and fairness’.
Nearly 1,000 people were killed and thousand others were injured in the turmoil that engulfed Bangladesh in July and August. At least five journalists also lost their lives during the unrest as they were reporting from the ground. The Geneva-based global media rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) called the Prof Yunus-led interim government to initiate a fast probe into the murder of journalists namely Hasan Mehedi, Shakil Hossain, Abu Taher Md Turab, Tahir Zaman Priyo and Pradip Kumar Bhowmik to punish the perpetrators under the law. PEC president Blaise Lempen also asked the authorities to pay compensations to the bereaved journo-families.
Meanwhile, in a message to the nation, Prof Yunus remembered the sacrifice of hundreds of students and civilians from all walks of life to end the 15-year dictatorship of fascist Hasina, ‘who led a brutal genocide right up until her downfall’. He also remembered the journalists who were killed during the movement and paid deepest respects to all the martyrs in the revolution. Speaking about the thousands of others who were injured, crippled for life and and with many losing their eyesight as Hasina’s enforcers targeted their eyes when firing rubber bullets. The soft spoken gentleman with strong determination stated that his government will ensure treatment to all those who sustained critical injuries during the agitation.
“Our first task is to ensure justice and accountability for the killings we all witnessed in July and August. We have invited the UN human rights office to conduct an independent and impartial inquiry into the genocide. They have already started their work. I have also held talks with top international law experts in order to establish a tribunal of global standards,” stated Prof Yunus, adding, “We want to bring back the killers and all the wealth which has been laundered by corrupt individuals, politicians, and bureaucrats during the tenure of the autocratic ruler.’ Finally he promised, “I am committed to fulfilling the dream that our young revolutionaries have awakened in the minds of the country’s people to build a new Bangladesh. Being inspired by the martyrs’ sacrifice, we want to change the course of history and start a new era.”