Bangladesh’s incoming interim leader Muhammad Yunus appealed for calm on Wednesday and urged all parties to help the country rebuild after weeks of violence that killed hundreds and prompted the Prime Minister to resign.
ADVERTISEMENTBangladesh’s incoming interim leader Muhammad Yunus appealed for calm on Wednesday, urging parties to help the country rebuild after weeks of violence killed hundreds and prompted the Prime Minister to resign and fled to India.
Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was in Paris to spectate the Olympics when he was named interim leader following talks amongst civic leaders, military leaders and the student activists who led the protests against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – who was viewed as increasingly autocratic.
Yunus made his first public comments in Paris before boarding a plane to Bangladesh.
He congratulated the student protestors, saying they had made “our second Victory Day possible,” and appealed to them to remain peaceful. Yunus also condemned any violence since Hasin’s resignation on Monday.
“Violence is our enemy. Please don’t create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country,” Yunus said.
Yunus will be sworn in as interim leader on Thursday night, according to the Bangladeshi military chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman.
The military leader said that those responsible for violence since Hasina’s resignation would be brought to justice.
Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets.
“I’m looking forward to going back home and seeing what’s happening there,” he told reporters in Paris, “And howe we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble that we are in.”
Asked when elections would be held, he put his hands up as if to indicate it was too early to say.
“I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just fresh in this whole area.”