Bangladesh awaits interim government as parliament dissolved

Student leaders of protests in Bangladesh that led to the resignation of longtime Premier Sheikh Hasina have said they do not want an army-led interim government but instead one advised by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Yunus’ office confirmed Tuesday that he has agreed to be an adviser for an interim government.

Student leaders are due to meet on Tuesday with Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, who announced the previous day that an interim government would be formed, without giving details about who would lead it.

The meeting comes as the office of President Mohammed Shahabuddin said in a statement that he had dissolved the parliament.

The dissolution of the legislature had been a key demand of the protesters.

Nobel laureate Yunus to take advisory role

Yunus, who is reportedly in Paris, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work in granting microcredit to impoverished Bangladeshis from his Grameen Bank, often enabling them to pull themselves out of poverty by building small businesses.

The 84-year-old was, however, indicted by a Bangladeshi court in June on embezzlement charges that he has denied.

“Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted,” Nahid Islam, one of the key organizers of the student movement, said in a video on Facebook with three other organizers. “We wouldn’t accept any army-supported or army-led government.”

“We have also had discussions with Muhammad Yunus and he has agreed to take on this responsibility at our invitation,” Islam added.

In an interview with India’s The Print, Yunus said Bangladesh had been “an occupied country” under Hasina.

“Today, all the people of Bangladesh feel liberated,” he added.

What has happened in Bangladesh?

The planned meeting between Waker-uz-Zaman and the protest organizers comes a day after tumultuous events in the capital, Dhaka, that saw Hasina step down from her position after 15 years in power and leave the country by helicopter to seek safety amid sometimes violent protests.

Prior to her resignation, nearly 300 people died in weeks of protests that began as peaceful demonstrations against civil service job quotas, according to local media reports. Thousands were also injured in violence as the protests metamorphosed into nationwide anti-government rallies that continued even after the controversial quotas privileging certain groups were removed.

At least 109 people were killed during violent unrest on Monday alone, police and doctors said, updating an earlier toll.

Schools, which were closed from mid-July amid the growing protests, reopened on Tuesday, though attendance was meager.

However, the garment factories that form a mainstay of the South Asian country’s economy were to remain closed until further notice, the main garment manufacturers association said.

Where is Sheikh Hasina?

Two Indian government officials told the Reuters news agency that Hasina landed at a military airfield at Hindon near Delhi on Monday after leaving Dhaka.

Although reports have said she will remain in the neighboring country for the time being,  a top-level source has said she wanted to “transit” on to London.

However, as  the British government has called for a UN-led investigation into “unprecedented levels of violence” during the official crackdown on the protests, she may decide against making the trip.

Hasina has been accused by critics of overseeing the detention of tens of thousands of opposition activists during her rule, with hundreds falling victim to extrajudicial killings.

Human Rights Watch last year said security forces had committed “over 600 enforced disappearances” since Hasina came to power in 2009. Nearly 100 people remain unaccounted for.

Hasina’s departure is particularly good news for her archrival, Khaleda Zia, who was jailed on graft charges in 2018.

President Shahabuddin said on Monday that Zia would be released from prison along with the many people arrested during the protests.

Her actual release was then confirmed by her party on Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency.