A Nobel laureate will head an interim government in Bangladesh after unrest ousted Hasina

Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head Bangladesh’s interim government after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled the country amid a mass uprising against her rule.

Yunus was chosen during a meeting that included military chiefs, leaders of student protests that helped push out Hasina, prominent business leaders and civil society members. The decision was announced early Wednesday by Joynal Abedin, the press secretary of the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

A longtime political opponent of Hasina, Yunus is expected to return soon to from Paris, where he is advising Olympic organizers, according to local media reports. Student leaders said earlier that Yunus had agreed to head an interim government.

An economist and banker, Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets through Grameen Bank, which he founded in 1983. He was hailed for bringing thousands of people out of poverty by making small loans to businesspeople who wouldn’t qualify for normal bank loans.

Abedin said other members of the new government would be decided soon, after discussions with political parties and other stakeholders. The president had dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, clearing the way for an interim administration and new elections.

Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest, a longtime Hasina rival who was convicted on corruption charges by her government in 2018.

The student protesters said they would not allow any military-backed government to take over. The streets of Dhaka, the capital, appeared calm, with no reports of new violence Tuesday. Jubilant protesters thronged the ousted leader’s residence, some posing for selfies with soldiers guarding the building. A day earlier, angry protesters had looted furniture, paintings, flowerpots and chickens.

Dhaka’s main airport resumed operations after an eight-hour suspension.

The Bangladesh Police Association went on strike over a lack of security after numerous police stations were attacked Monday and “many” officers were killed, it said, without giving a figure. Officers would not return to work unless their safety is assured, the association said and apologized for police attacks on student protesters, saying officers were “forced to open fire.”

Yunus — currently in Paris for the Olympics — called Hasina’s resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” He could not immediately be reached for comment, but a key organizer of the protests, Nahid Islam, said Yunus had agreed to head the interim administration.

Islam said protesters would propose more names for the Cabinet and suggested that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.

Hasina fled to India by helicopter as protesters defied military curfew orders to march on the capital, with thousands eventually storming her residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.

The unrest erupted as protests against a quota system for government jobs, which critics said favored people with connections to her party, grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule, marked by human rights abuses, corruption and allegations of rigged elections amid a brutal crackdown on her opponents.

A bloody crackdown on the demonstrations led to clashes that left scores dead, further fueling the movement.

After Hasina stepped down, military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said he was taking temporary control of the country.

But the chaos has created a power vacuum and it remained unclear what comes next for this South Asian nation with a history of military rule, messy politics and myriad crises. The military wields significant influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

It was not clear if the latest developments would end the turmoil, and whether the army would have any role in the interim government. Zaman said the military would investigate all the killings and punish those responsible, which the protesters have demanded.

Earlier Tuesday, protest leader Sarjis Alam told reporters that they had asked the president to dissolve Parliament and proposed Yunus, “with his consent.”

Yunus, a longtime opponent of Hasina, was accused of corruption by her government and tried on charges he said were motivated by vengeance.

Amidst the celebrations, student Juairia Karim said it was a historic day. “Today we are getting what we deserve,” she said. “Everyone is happy, everyone is cheerful.”

But the country was still counting the toll of weeks of violence that produced some of its worst bloodshed since its 1971 war of independence. Many fear that Hasina’s departure could lead to even more instability in the densely populated nation, which is already dealing with high unemployment, corruption and climate change.

Violence just before and after Hasina’s resignation left at least 109 people dead, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured, according to media reports which could not be independently confirmed.

In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and detainees escaped from a jail after an attack on the facility Monday evening, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.

Many police in Dhaka assembled in a central barracks in fear of attacks after several stations were burned or vandalized.

There are growing fears among the country’s Hindu minority, which has been targeted in the past during political unrest and which has long been seen as pro-Hasina, that they could again face attacks. Local reports of violence against Hindu leaders and other minorities could not be confirmed.

“Hindus are very afraid,” Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari, leader of the Bangladesh branch of a Hindu movement, told the IANS news service. “Hindus are very afraid that they could be attacked anytime. This is because whenever the government falls, minorities are affected.”

The EU ambassador to Bangladesh, Charles Whitley, said on the social media platform X, that European diplomats were “very concerned” about reports of anti-minority violence.

Opposition politicians have publicly called on people not to attack minority groups, while student leaders asked supporters to guard Hindu temples and other places of worship.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday urged people to exercise restraint in what it said was a “transitional moment on our democratic path.”

“It would defeat the spirit of the revolution that toppled the illegitimate and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina if people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process,” Tarique Rahman, the party’s acting chairman, wrote on X.

The United Nation’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said Monday that the transition of power in Bangladesh must be “in line with the country’s international obligations” and “inclusive and open to the meaningful participation of all Bangladeshis.”

“I think the next leader of the country should learn from the students that if anyone becomes corrupt, a traitor, or takes any action against the country, they will face the same fate,” said Mohammad Jahirul Islam, a student in Dhaka.

Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January polls that were boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the voting, and the U.S. and the U.K. denounced the result as not credible, though the government defended it.

After fleeing Dhaka, Hasina landed at a military airfield near New Delhi on Monday and met Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Indian Express newspaper reported. She was taken to a safe house and planned to travel to the United Kingdom, it said.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar confirmed her presence and told Parliament that Hasina “at very short notice requested approval to come for the moment to India.”

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi, India.