Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.
Yunus took oath at a ceremony in Dhaka on Thursday after weeks of student-led protests forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to neighboring India.
Earlier in the day, upon his arrival 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 was set to swear-in 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. Mr. Yunus returned to Bangladesh earlier in the day.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson and ex-premier Khaleda Zia, who was freed from house arrest on Tuesday, echoed the views of Mr. Yunus, saying it is not “anger” or “revenge” but “love and peace” which will rebuild the nation.
READ ALSO: Bangladesh protesters back Nobel laureate Yunus to lead new government
Yunus was picked by President Mohammed Shahabuddin to lead the new interim government, a key demand of student demonstrators whose uprising drove Hasina, 76, to flee to India on Monday.
“I am looking forward to going back home, see what’s happening and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble we are in,” he told reporters before boarding a flight at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport for Dubai where he was to connect to Dhaka.
Yunus advocates “social businesses” that solve problems rather than simply create wealth, with any profit generated being ploughed back to create more value.
Grameen Bank, the microfinance lender he founded, was rooted in this idea and lauded for helping to boost growth and alleviate poverty in Bangladesh.
Yunus’ belief that poverty – which plagued more than 18% of Bangladesh’s population in 2022 – is a “threat” and causes problems ranging from terrorism to trafficking, informs most of his work.
He sought to inculcate “sound financial principles” in the poor through his microcredit system.
Credible News.ng
