DHAKA: Bangladesh was experiencing a “student-led revolution” after the ouster of PM Sheikh Hasina, the country’s new interim leader Muhammad Yunus told a group of journalists Sunday night. “This is a revolution, a student-led revolution,” the Nobel laureate told a news briefing on Sunday. “There’s no doubt about (that) because the business of the whole government collapsed.”
Yunus, 84, arrived back in Bangladesh from Paris Thursday after he was called by the student leaders of the protests to steer democratic reforms.”I said, ‘I respect you, I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparallelled’,” he said. “‘Because you ordered me to do this, I take your order’,” Yunus said he told them.
Yunus also said that the high-profile resignations of authorities close to Hasina are legal after student leaders who organised protests against Hasina’s govt issued ultimatums for them to quit. “Legally … all the steps were taken,” Yunus said. The country’s chief justice, five justices and central bank governor have all resigned in the past few days.
Yunus said a key priority of the interim govt is to restore the independence of the judiciary. He called former chief justice Obaidul Hassan “just a hangman”.
The interim government is expected to announce a new election, but it is not clear when it will be held. agencies