Bangladesh’s new interim government said on Sunday it was working to address attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities following the dramatic ouster of autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hindus are the largest minority religion in Muslim-majority Bangladesh and are considered a strong support base of Hasina’s party Awami League.
Hasina’s sudden resignation and flight abroad on Monday, ending her 15 years of autocratic rule, was followed by multiple reports of attacks on Hindu homes, temples and businesses.
“Attacks on religious minorities in some places have been noted with grave concern,” the interim Cabinet said in its first official statement since its appointment on Thursday.
The cabinet said it would “immediately meet with representative bodies and other concerned groups to find ways to resolve such heinous attacks”.
Sunday’s statement by the self-styled “council of advisors” tasked with advancing democratic reforms in the South Asian nation of 170 million listed a number of urgent priorities.
The government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, ordered “support” to the families of protesters who were killed during demonstrations that followed Hasina’s departure.
It directed public money to pay for those injured in the riots that began in July and left more than 450 people dead.
The council also said it would reopen the metro system in the capital Dhaka by the end of the week and soon appoint a new central bank governor, who will replace a Hasina loyalist who was forced to resign.
institutional cleansing
Earlier in the day a new chief justice was sworn in, a day after his predecessor, another Hasina ally who was accused of controlling the Supreme Court to his government’s will, resigned following demands from protesters.
This is the latest in a series of new appointments to replace old officials, seen as linked to the previous government, who were removed in the wake of the student-led uprising.
The new top judge, Syed Refat Ahmed, studied at Dhaka University, Oxford and Tufts University in the United States.
Ahmed replaced Obaidul Hasan after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court demanding that Hasan step down.
Hassan, appointed last year, previously oversaw a highly criticised war crimes tribunal that ordered the executions of Hasina’s opponents, and his brother was a long-time secretary.
Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India on Monday as protesters took over the streets of Dhaka, bringing a dramatic end to her harsh rule.
His government was accused of widespread human rights abuses during his 15-year rule, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of his political opponents.
His sudden downfall has forced cabinet ministers to step down while several other top appointments, including the national police chief, have had to step down.
Interim leader Yunus, 84, returned from Europe on Thursday to head a temporary administration that faces the challenge of ending the chaos and implementing democratic reforms.
Yunus said restoration of law and order was the “first priority” of the caretaker administration.
Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, credited with helping lift millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty.
He took over as “chief adviser” of a caretaker administration that includes civilians except a retired brigadier-general, and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
