Nobel winner Yunus sworn in to lead Bangladesh interim government

DHAKA: Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was sworn into office Thursday (Aug 8), vowing to lead Bangladesh back to democracy after a student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus, who earlier on Thursday had hailed the overthrow of Hasina as Bangladesh’s “second independence”, swore to “uphold, support and protect the constitution”, in front of political and civil society leaders, generals and diplomats at the presidential palace.
“Today is a glorious day for us,” Yunus, 84, told reporters hours earlier when he returned to Dhaka from Europe.
“Bangladesh has created a new victory day. Bangladesh has got a second independence.”
Yunus called for the restoration of order after weeks of violence that left at least 455 people dead, calling on citizens to guard each other, including minorities who came under attack.
“Law and order is our first task … We cannot take a step forward unless we fix the law and order situation,” he said.
“My call to the people is if you have trust in me, then make sure there will be no attacks against anyone, anywhere in the country.”
“Every person is our brother … our task is to protect them,” Yunus said, adding that “the whole of Bangladesh is one big family”.
During Hasina’s reign, Yunus was hit with more than 100 criminal cases and a smear campaign by a state-led Islamic agency that accused him of promoting homosexuality.
Yunus had travelled abroad this year while on bail after being sentenced to six months in jail on a charge condemned as politically motivated, and which a Dhaka court on Wednesday acquitted him of.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said Wednesday he supported Yunus.
“I am certain that he will be able to take us through a beautiful democratic process,” Waker said.
Few other details about the planned government have been released, including the role of the military.
But Bangladeshis voiced hope as they joined a rally in Dhaka on Wednesday for the former opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP).
The military’s switching of allegiance was the decisive factor in her ouster.
It has since acceded to a range of demands from the student leaders.
The president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, a key demand of the students and the BNP.
The head of the police force, which protesters have blamed for leading Hasina’s crackdown, was sacked on Tuesday.
The new chief, Mainul Islam, offered an apology on Wednesday for the conduct of officers and vowed a “fair and impartial investigation” into the killings of “students, common people and the police”.
Ex-prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 78, was also released from years of house arrest, while some political prisoners were freed.
The military has demoted some generals seen as close to Hasina and sacked Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.