Muhammad Yunus appeals for calm before oath as B'desh interim govt head

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is set to take oath as the head of Bangladesh's interim government on Thursday, as he made a fervent appeal to everyone to stay calm and "refrain from all kinds of violence" to make the best use of our new victory.

As authorities scrambled to bring the law and order situation under control, Army chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman on Wednesday announced that the interim government will take oath around 8 pm on Thursday. He said the advisory council may have 15 members.

Gen Zaman further said THAT the armed forces will provide all possible support to 84-year-old Yunus after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country following violent anti-government protests spearheaded by the Students Against Discrimination movement. Yunus is now in Paris and was headed to Dhaka.

 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) chairperson and ex-premier Khaleda Zia, who was freed from house arrest on Tuesday, echoed the views of Yunus, saying it is not "anger" or "revenge" but "love and peace" which will rebuild the nation.

Businesses demanded immediate restoration of law and order to ensure the safety of their production units amid attacks on factories over the last two days. They said factories were reopened on Wednesday, particularly the garment units, but many cannot run properly fearing unrest and vandalism, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

With police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic, students carried out traffic management as volunteers for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper said. There were reports of attacks on police stations and facilities across the country on Tuesday, resulting in numerous police casualties, it added.
 

 

Yunus, whose name was first proposed for the top job by the coordinators of the students movement, congratulated the "brave students" who took the lead in making, what he said, "our Second Victory Day possible", and appealed to all students, political parties and non-political people to stay calm.

"Let us not miss the chance by going into any senseless violence. Violence is our enemy. Please don't create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country," he said in a statement.

"If we take the path of violence everything will be destroyed. Please stay calm. Help those around you to stay calm."

"Let us make the best use of our new victory. Let us not let this slip away because of our mistakes," the economist said. "I fervently appeal to everybody to stay calm. Please refrain from all kinds of violence."

Bodies of at least 29 supporters of Hasina's Awami League party were recovered across the country through Tuesday, taking the overall death toll to 469 in almost three weeks since the protest first started in July, according to local media reports. Sheikh Hasina flew to Hindon air base, near Delhi, by a Bangladesh military aircraft on Monday.

Yunus' appeal comes as the Army chief acknowledged there were incidents of looting and anarchy after Hasina's ouster. He said the police forces became "totally dysfunctional and it was not possible on the part of the military along with the navy and air force troops to "fill up the void".

"But we will do everything possible to bring the culprits to justice.

In his statement, Yunus also called Bangladesh a "beautiful country with lots of exciting possibilities."

"We must protect and make it a wonderful country for us and for our future generations."

A top police official, meanwhile, said the casualties of policemen in the recent violence occurred due to some unprofessional and overly ambitious officials who violated human rights.

Addressing a news conference at the Police Headquarters, newly-appointed Inspector General of Police Md Mainul Islam said some unprofessional officers did not follow the accepted principles of applying force and violated human rights.

"It is because of them [unprofessional officials] that this ongoing violence and casualties have occurred," he was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.

Many police officials have been injured, killed, and tortured because of some unprofessional and overly ambitious officials, Islam added.

Media reports also flagged more cases of violence against minorities surfacing through Tuesday, prominent among them being the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan's frontman Rahul Ananda's residence on Monday prompting the singer and his family to take shelter at a secret place.

The Daily Star quoted Saiful Islam Jarnal, one of Joler Gaan's founding members, who described that the mob after breaking the main gate, started ravaging the house taking whatever they could find for themselves - from furniture, mirrors to valuables and then torched the whole house along with Rahul Anand's over 3,000 musical instruments, which he designed and made over the years.

Terming attacks on minorities as against the fundamental spirit of the students' movement, Transparency International Bangladesh has called on authorities to ensure the security of religious minorities and state assets.

Several Hindu temples, households and businesses have been vandalised and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with Hasina's party have been killed in the violence, according to two community leaders in Dhaka.

In her address to a massive rally of her party - her first public speech since 2018 - in Nayapaltan in Central Dhaka, Khaleda Zia thanked the people for their "struggle to make possible the impossible".

Urging all to strengthen the hands of the youths, the 79-year-old former premier said, "Youths are our future. We need to build a democratic Bangladesh to fulfil their dream, and for which they shed their blood...No destruction, no anger and no revenge, we need love and peace to rebuild our country."

Additional Inspector General of Police A K M Shahidur Rahman, who was appointed as the focal person of the Bangladesh Police on Tuesday to handle the current crisis, requested all police members once again to ignore rumours and return to their duties in a phased manner, ensuring that security arrangements are properly in place.

Rahman has now been appointed as the Director General of elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a reshuffle on Wednesday, according to the home ministry which reconstituted the top positions in the security establishment.

Six top officials of Bangladesh Bank including Deputy Governor Kazi Sayedur Rahman resigned as unrest erupted at the bank on Wednesday, the second day after offices reopened, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

It said more than a hundred officials of the bank stormed the governor's office, forcing several deputy governors to leave the building.