Muhammad Yunus takes the helm in Bangladesh, to seek peace and prepare elections

Bangladesh’s  President Mohammed Shahabuddin administers the oath of office to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, right, as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Aug. 8, 2024

Muhammad Yunus took the oath of office as head of Bangladesh’s interim government Thursday after protests forced out former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week.

The key tasks for Yunus now are putting an end to  the violence and  attrocities against Hindus and other miniorities, stop the rioting  and vandalism and   restoring law and order in Bangladesh.  Thereafter he must start  preparing for new elections following the  forced ouster of Hasina, who fled to India after weeks of  student protests, hijacked by Jamaiti fundamentalists, over Court introduced  job quotas grew into an uprising against her   so called “ autocratic “  15-year rule.

The figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to Yunus for his role as chief adviser, which is the equivalent to a prime minister, in the presence of diplomats, civil society members, top businessmen and members of the former opposition party at the presidential palace in Dhaka. Imagine No representatives of Awami League  party which had won the elections a few months back  were present.

The 16 other members of the interim Cabinet were drawn mainly from civil society and include two of the student protest leaders. The Cabinet members were chosen in discussions this week among student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.

The planned and motivated protests began in July against a quota system  which got reintroduced by a Court judgement for government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Hasina’s party.  PM Hasina had abolished this quota quite sometime back. However  she was forced to  resign and made to leave  for  India on Monday after the student  protests got   hijacked by ISI backed fundamentalists and coalesced into a movement against her government and more than 300 people including students and police officers were killed in the spiralling violence.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his best wishes to Yunus in a statement on social media platform X, and referred  to reports that Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh had been targeted during the violence.

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

Yunus, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets, was in Paris for the Olympics when he was chosen for the interim role. He called for calm and an end to partisan violence before he returned home earlier Thursday.

In his first comments after his arrival, he told a news briefing that his priority would be to restore order. “Bangladesh is a family. We have to unite it,” Yunus said, flanked by student leaders. “It has immense possibility.”

Yunus has been a long-time opponent of Hasina, who had called him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for using force to extract loan repayments from rural poor, mainly women. Yunus has denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, a tribunal in Dhaka acquitted Yunus in a labour law violation case involving a telecommunication company he founded, in which he was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail. He had been released on bail in the case.

The president had dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, clearing the path for the interim administration.

The quick move to select Yunus came when Hasina’s resignation created a vacuum and left the future unclear for Bangladesh, which has a history of military rule and myriad crises.

Many fear that Hasina’s departure could trigger even more instability in the nation of some 170 million people, already dealing with high unemployment, corruption and a complex strategic relationship with India, China and the United States.

Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who acts as an adviser to his mother, has vowed that his family and the Awami League party would remain engaged in Bangladesh’s politics despite what he said have been attacks on the Awami League party over the past week. Many observers see Joy as Hasina’s successor in a dynastic political culture that dominates the South Asian nation’s politics.

“If we want to build a new Bangladesh, it is not possible without the Awami League,” he said. “The Awami League is the oldest, democratic, and largest party in Bangladesh.”

Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted in a well planned strategy by her main opponents, thousands of opposition members were jailed beforehand.  Then both  U.S. and U.K. were quick to denounce  the result as “ not credible”. Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by alleged human rights abuses and corruption.

The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation on Monday. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. They threatened not to return unless their safety is ensured.

Overnight into Thursday, residents across Dhaka carried sticks, iron rods and sharp weapons to guard their neighbourhoods amid reports of robberies. Communities used loudspeakers in mosques to alert people that robberies were occurring, and police remained off duty. The military shared hotline numbers for people seeking help.