Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Younis said on Tuesday he was ready to head a caretaker government, a day after the army took control after mass protests forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to flee.
Microfinance pioneer Younis, 84, is credited with lifting millions of people out of poverty – earning the enmity of the ousted Hasina and the widespread respect of millions of Bangladeshis.
“If action is required in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of our people, I will take it,” he said in a statement to AFP. He also demanded ‘free elections’, when he was asked by student leaders to lead a party. Interim Government
Nobel laureate Muhammad Younis will lead the government after which students have called for protests.
Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was released from detention.
India ‘deeply concerned’, assurance of help to Hasina
The death toll in the protests has risen to 432, with 10 people killed today.
Calls for a ‘peaceful’ and peaceful democratic transition globally.
Families are waiting for the release of some political prisoners.
The movement that ousted Hasina arose out of protests against a government job quota for families of veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war, which critics see as a means of securing jobs for allies of the ruling party.
The unrest began last month in the form of protests against civil service job quotas and then escalated into widespread calls for Hasina Wajid’s resignation.
A statement from Shahabuddin’s office also said that Hasina Wajid’s rival, BNP chairperson and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, had been released from detention.
Protest leaders want Nobel laureate Younis to lead a transitional government.
Student leaders said they wanted Younis as chief adviser to the interim government, and Younis ‘ spokesman said he had agreed.
Younis and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for lifting millions of people out of poverty by providing small loans of less than $100 to the rural poor of Bangladesh. He was indicted by a court in June on embezzlement charges, which he denied.
“On Dr. Younis, we have faith,” Asif Mehmood, a key leader of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group, wrote on Facebook.
One of the main organizers of the movement against Hasina, Naheed Islam, along with two other student leaders, said in a video on Facebook that parliament should be dissolved by 3 pm (9 am) on Tuesday and that “revolutionary students Said to be ready” if that happens. didn’t happen
“No government will be accepted other than the one we propose,” Nahid Islam said.
“We will not accept an army-backed or army-led government.”
“We have also discussed with Muhammad Younis and he has agreed to take up this responsibility on our invitation,” added Nahid Islam.
Younis himself did not initially comment on the call, but in an interview with India’s The Print, he said Bangladesh was “an occupied country” under Hasina’s rule.
“Today all the people of Bangladesh are feeling free,” he quoted Younis as saying.
