Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus returned to Bangladesh on Thursday to head a caretaker government after a student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus arrived in Dhaka on a flight from Paris via Dubai shortly after 2pm (0800 GMT) and is expected to be sworn in as the country’s new leader on Thursday evening after what the army chief has vowed will be a “beautiful democratic process”.
For Yunus, 84, to stand with military leaders was almost unimaginable a week ago, when security forces opened deadly fire on protesters who took to the streets demanding Hasina’s resignation.
But over the weekend the military cracked down on Hasina and she was forced to flee to neighbouring India – even as millions of Bangladeshis celebrated her death.
The military then agreed to students’ demands that Yunus – who won the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinancing – lead an interim government.
“I am looking forward to going back home, seeing what is happening and how we can organise ourselves to get out of this crisis,” Yunus told reporters in Paris as he left for Dhaka.
‘Get ready’
The senior academic had gone abroad on bail this year after being sentenced to six months in jail on a politically motivated charge, and was acquitted by a Dhaka court on Wednesday.
Yunus has been booked under more than 100 criminal cases and a state-run Islamic agency launched a smear campaign against him, accusing him of promoting homosexuality and accusing the courts of endorsing decisions of the ousted Hasina government.
Army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said he supported Yunus and hoped he would be sworn in to lead an interim government on Thursday evening.
“I’m very confident he’ll be able to lead us through a beautiful democratic process,” Wacker said.
Yunus said he wanted to hold elections within a few months.
‘Seismic moment’
Many other details about the planned government have not been released, including the role of the military.
But Bangladeshis expressed hope on Wednesday by joining a rally in Dhaka for the former opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP).
“I hope a national government will be formed in a beautiful manner with everyone’s consent,” Moynul Islam Pintu told AFP.
“I hope the country will run well and the police force will be reformed so that they will not harass people.”
Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, resigned on Monday as millions of people took to the streets of Dhaka.
Later, the enthusiastic mob looted his palace.
Monday’s events were the culmination of more than a month of unrest that began as protests against a plan to reserve government jobs but later spiraled into an anti-Hasina movement.
Hasina, who was accused of rigging January elections and widespread human rights abuses, deployed security forces to suppress the protests.
At least 455 people were killed in the unrest, according to a tally compiled by AFP based on reports from police, government officials and hospital doctors.
“These protests mark a watershed moment in Bangladesh’s history,” said Thomas Keane, an analyst at the International Crisis Group.
“The country was in danger of becoming a de facto one-party state, and through a peaceful street-based movement led by Generation Z students in their 20s, they succeeded in ousting him from power.”
Military steps
The army’s switching sides was the decisive cause for his death.
It has since accepted several other demands of the student leaders.
The President dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, which was a key demand of the students and the BNP.
The head of the police force, whom protesters have accused of leading Hasina’s crackdown, was sacked on Tuesday.
New chief Mainul Islam on Wednesday apologised for the behaviour of officers and pledged a “fair and impartial investigation” into the killings of “students, civilians and police”.
Former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia (78) was also released from years of house arrest, while some political prisoners were also freed.
The army has demoted some generals considered close to Hasina and sacked Ziaul Ahsan, commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.
Police said the mob launched revenge attacks on officials and Hasina’s associates and freed more than 500 prisoners from jail.
Protesters broke into parliament and set TV stations on fire. Others vandalised statues of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence hero.
However, the streets of the capital have been largely peaceful since Tuesday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
