• President dissolves parliament on student leaders, BNP demand
• Military reshuffles several generals, sacks Rapid Action Battalion chief
• 10 killed in clashes on Tuesday as Hasina’s supporters targeted

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has been tapped to lead an interim government after mass protests forced longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee, the presidency announced early Wednesday.

The appointment came quickly after student leaders called on the 84-year-old Mr Yunus — credited with lifting millions out of poverty in the South Asian country — to lead, and he said he was ready to do so.

The decision “to form an interim government with... Yunus as its chief” was taken at a meeting of President Mohammed Shahabuddin, military leaders and the heads of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group, the president’s office said.

“The president has asked the people to help ride out the crisis. Quick formation of an interim government is necessary to overcome the crisis,” it said in a statement, adding that the national police chief had been sacked.

Mr Yunus will have the title of chief adviser, according to SAD leader Nahid Islam.

Mr Shahabuddin agreed that the interim government “will be formed within the shortest time” possible, Mr Islam told reporters.

Ms Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but was accused of rigging elections in January and then watched millions of people take to the streets over the past month demanding her resignation.

Hundreds of people were killed as security forces sought to quell the unrest but the protests grew and Ms Hasina finally fled Monday aboard a helicopter after the military turned against her. Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said it was “time to stop the violence”.

‘In Dr Yunus, we trust’

The president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, a key demand of the student leaders and the major opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which has demanded elections within three months.

“If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it,” Mr Yunus said in a statement on Tuesday, also calling for free elections.

“In Dr Yunus, we trust,” Asif Mahmud, a key leader of SAD, wrote on Facebook.

The military on Tuesday reshuffled several generals, demoting some seen as close to Ms Hasina, and sacking Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.

Ex-prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, 78, was also released from years of house arrest, a presidential statement and her party said.

Unhappy with India

Ms Hasina flew to India and is staying at a safe house outside Delhi. Indian media reported that she may travel to Britain, where she has family including a niece who is a government minister.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Yunus told Indian broadcaster Times Now that Monday marked the “second liberation day” for Bangladesh after its independence from Pakistan.

But he said Bangla­deshis were angry with neighbour India for allowing Ms Hasina to land there after fleeing Dhaka.

“India is our best friend...people are angry at India because you are supporting the person who destroyed our lives,” Mr Yunus said.

However, New Delhi said it was “deeply concerned till law and order is visibly restored” in the neighbouring country.

In the first official confirmation that Sheikh Hasina was in India, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told parliament, “At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India. We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from the Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi.”

Scenes after ouster

A day after demonstrators stormed and looted the prime minister’s lavish residence, the streets of the capital Dhaka were peaceful again on Tuesday, with traffic lighter than usual and many schools and businesses that shut during the unrest still closed.

Garment factories, which supply apparel to some of the world’s top brands and are a mainstay of the economy, will reopen on Wednesday after being shut due to the disruptions, the main garment manufacturers’ association said.

Police reported mobs launching revenge attacks on Ms Hasina’s allies. Offices of her Awami League party were torched and looted across the country, eyewitnesses told AFP.

Monday was the deadliest day since protests began in early July, with a further 10 people killed on Tuesday, taking the total toll overall to at least 432, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024