Calling the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina the second liberation for Bangladesh, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Muhammad Yunus hailed the students of his country as the best in the world. “They have released the country from the hands of a dictator. We are free now. It’s time to celebrate,” Yunus told Bala Chauhan from Paris, where he is accompanying Bangladesh’s Olympic contingent. Excerpts:
How do you look at the violence and arson, which started against the government quota policy and ended with ouster of Sheikh Hasina?
Everybody—young and old—is celebrating in the country, out on the streets, after a long time. This is a liberation celebration. Finally, we emerged from everything terrible happening to us. Hasina has fled the country and we are free to build a new country. I congratulate the students for achieving what no political party or world leader could do. Hasina is out and we are a free country now. This was in the offing, though I had no idea that it (protest) would become so big. What started as a students’ protest against the reservation policy got momentum from parents, civil society.
But the cost was so high... so many lives were lost.
She was killing young people. She asked the police to kill people, impose curfew. I appealed to all world leaders to come and help the young leaders. Students mobilised the movement. They were joined by their parents. Citizens joined the movement seeking the PM’s resignation. We wanted the quota system to be revised, but Hasina reacted with bullets.
What was the demand on quota?
They (students) didn’t ask the government to roll back the quota but to revise it and make it reasonable. There’s 56% reservation for government jobs under quota, for the descendants of freedom fighters. What was left for merit?
What is the messaging behind political overturn — that students can bring down a government?
Yes. Students organised themselves and brought down the most powerful PM in the country. She had to leave Bangladesh. That’s the power of young people. I had appealed to all world leaders, seeking help for our youth being killed. I said killing doesn’t help solve political problems. You (Hasina) have taken away the election. There are 170 million people, a large section is young, who has never voted in an election. The anger simmered and was stoked by the quota system.
What’s next for Bangladesh?
I don’t know because I am out of the country. I don’t know what message the Army is giving out. I don’t like the Army, nor does anyone in Bangladesh. They are chaotic. I hope they set up a caretaker government and elections are held soon. Before Hasina left, I pleaded for participative, transparent elections. Let people choose. I said let’s have a caretaker government and hold elections, but she held fake polls. That was at the root of the problem. Rampant corruption is another big problem. I didn’t know that student protests would become so big that even the Army would not be able do anything.
Do you see any external role in the clashes?
I had made an appeal to world leaders for help to stop the government from killing young people. I didn’t get any response. Anyone of them could have picked up the phone and spoken to her.
How do you respond to the instances of vandalism?
Hasina made people so angry that it is spilling over against her father and family.
What’s your message to students in your country?
Be firm. You have made history. You have stopped your country from falling apart. Now lead. A new government will have to talk to you. The country’s economy is in bad shape and so is the entire system.
What has been the role of your neighbours? India, in particular.
I blame India for having good ties with the wrong people. You have a policy towards Bangladesh. Please revisit your foreign policy. You congratulated people over an election which was never held.
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