DHAKA: Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was named chief adviser to Bangladesh's interim government on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising.
Yunus was appointed to the post by Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin after he held meetings with student leaders and heads of the three military services, local media reported late Tuesday, citing a statement and officials from the president's office.
Yunus, 84, and his Grameen Bank, a microcredit organization, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for work lifting millions out of poverty by granting small loans of under $100 to the poor in rural Bangladesh.
The student leaders had said they wanted Yunus as chief adviser to the interim government and a spokesman for Yunus said he agreed. Yunus is in Paris for a medical procedure and is expected to return to Dhaka soon.
There was no immediate comment from him in response to the appointment. It was also not immediately known when the interim government would take over.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shahabuddin dissolved parliament, paving the way for the interim government and new elections.
His office also announced that the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister who had feuded with Hasina for decades, had been released from house arrest.
Student protesters had threatened more demonstrations if parliament was not dissolved.
Shahabuddin had earlier said that an interim government would hold elections soon after taking over. Nahid Islam, a key organizer of the campaign against Hasina, said in a video message: “Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted.”
The movement that ousted Hasina arose out of demonstrations against public sector work quotas for families of veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 independence war, seen by critics as a way to reserve jobs for allies of the ruling party.
Around 300 people were killed and thousands injured in violence that has torn through the country since July.
After protesters stormed and looted the prime minister's lavish residence on Monday, the streets of the capital Dhaka were peaceful again on Tuesday, with lighter traffic than usual and many schools and businesses closed during the unrest remaining closed.
Garment factories, which supply clothes to some of the world's top brands and are a mainstay of the economy, will reopen on Wednesday after being closed due to the disruptions, the largest garment manufacturers' association said.
Hasina's escape ended her 15-year second term in power in the country of 170 million people, which she had ruled for 20 of the past 30 years at the helm of a political movement inherited from her father, state founder Mujibur Rahman, after he was assassinated 1975.
Since the early 1990s, Hasina had feuded and traded power with her rival Zia, who inherited her own political movement from her husband Ziaur Rahman, a ruler who was himself assassinated in 1981.
SECOND LIBERATION DAY
Yunus, who was indicted by a court in June on embezzlement charges he denied, told Indian broadcaster Times Now that Monday marked the “second liberation day” for Bangladesh after its 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
But he said Bangladeshis were angry with neighboring India for allowing Hasina to land there after fleeing Dhaka.
“India is our best friend … people are angry with India because you are supporting the person who destroyed our lives,” Yunus said.
Protests against Hasina were fueled in part by poverty. After years of strong economic growth as the garment industry expanded, the $450 billion economy struggled with costly imports and inflation, and the government had sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Hasina was accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian, with many of her political enemies imprisoned. Her departure was greeted by cheering crowds, who stormed the lavish grounds of her residence without interruption, carrying away furniture and TVs after she fled on Monday.
Hasina flew to India and lives in a safe house outside Delhi. Indian media reported that Hasina may travel to Britain, where she has family including a niece who is a minister.
Reuters could not confirm her plans. Britain's Home Office declined to comment.
Student leaders said they had received reports of attacks on minority groups including Hindu temples in the Muslim-majority country, and urged restraint.
Hundreds of Hindu houses, businesses and temples have been vandalized since Hasina's ouster, a community association said on Tuesday. India said it was concerned about the incidents.
Reuters was unable to verify the extent of reported incidents and police officers did not return calls seeking comment.
Hindus make up about eight percent of Bangladesh's 170 million people and have historically largely supported Hasina's Awami League party, which identifies as largely secular, instead of the opposition bloc that includes a hardline Islamist party.
