Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge of Bangladesh’s caretaker government, with hopes of healing the country convulsed by weeks of violence that forced ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to neighbouring India.
Known as the “banker to the poor”, Yunus is the pioneer of the global microcredit movement. The Grameen Bank he founded won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for helping lift millions from poverty by providing tiny loans to the rural poor who are too impoverished to gain attention from traditional banks.
As chief adviser of the caretaker government, he is, however, tasked with bringing stability back to the country which witnessed some of its worst violence in decades and then hold fresh parliamentary elections.
“The country has the possibility of becoming a very beautiful nation,” Yunus earlier told reporters when he arrived in Dhaka following medical treatment in Paris, after protesters backed him for the role in a caretaker set up.
The student protesters had saved the country, he said, adding: “Whatever path our students show us, we will move ahead with that.”
A harsh critic of Hasina, Yunus became emotional and seemed to hold his tears back as he referred to a student he said had been shot during the protests and that sacrifice could not be forgotten.
“Now again we have to rise up. To the government officials here and defence chiefs – we are a family, we should move ahead together,” he said.
Hasina’s flight from the country she ruled for 20 of the last 30 years after winning a fourth term in January triggered jubilation and violence as crowds stormed and ransacked her official residence.
Many Hindu homes, temples and businesses were vandalised after Hasina’s departure, and hundreds in the minority community have tried unsuccessfully to flee to India this week. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said a school teacher was killed and 45 other people hurt.
Many Hindus have traditionally supported Hasina’s Awami League party, which identifies as secular.
Yunus’ swearing-in plugged the power vacuum in the South Asian country of 170 million people with the fourth-largest Muslim population in the world, created after Hasina resigned and flew to India on Monday.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office to Yunus and 13 advisers who will help him govern, at a brief ceremony in the official presidential residence.
Three more advisers will be sworn in at a later date, officials said. Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, two student leaders who are both in their mid-20s and led the protests, were among the 13 who joined the caretaker government.
The ceremony started with a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to the hundreds who were killed in the protests and clashes that erupted in July.
The army played a critical role towards the end of the crisis, conveying to Hasina that troops would not open fire on civilians to enforce a curfew declared on Sunday, sealing her fate, Reuters reported.
Hasina’s Awami League party does not figure in the interim government. In a Facebook post, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said the party had not given up, and was ready to hold talks with opponents and the interim government.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted two national elections after the arrest of its leaders and has demanded fresh elections in three months.