New York — After a series of student-led protests resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled the country on August 5.
Days later, Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate who pioneered the global microcredit movement, was sworn in as the nation’s interim leader. He spoke with Voice of America Bangla Service reporter Anis Ahmed on Friday in New York, where he explained his decision to grant temporary magistracy powers to the army to restore law and order after the police lost public trust. He also stressed the critical role of youth leadership in shaping the country’s future.
Yunus, who took office amid widespread unrest, highlighted key priorities such as strengthening relations with neighboring countries, holding elections, reforming the constitution and addressing the Rohingya refugee crisis. He confirmed that reforms and elections remained essential before power could be handed over to elected representatives.
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity:
VOA: First, we would like to know that after nearly one and a half months of assuming this responsibility on August 8, you have now delegated magistracy power to army officers. Why do you feel it was necessary?
Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh: To bring law and order to the country. We were trying to work it out through the police, which is normal. But the police have lost their moral courage because when they face people, they hear bitter words. Just a few days ago they killed some students, so they are distancing themselves — they don’t want to be out front. So, as they lost morale, we lost the strength of law and order. But as we’ve said before, not everyone in the police is responsible for wrongdoing. We will identify those who have done wrong. They will be brought to justice. But this is a long process; it’s not happening all of a sudden. And in the meantime, law and order is being violated — different types of violations are happening. We thought that if we allowed this to continue, then conditions would deteriorate, so the issue of giving powers to our army came up. We asked the army, and they agreed. They said, “We’re here, but no one is heeding us because we do not have any power. If we had some power, the people would be cautious.” We then gave them the magistracy power but for a limited period, for two months. That’s how it happened.
VOA: So, you’re hopeful that the police service will return in two months?
Yunus: Yes, I hope so. They’re not able to use their power; the army has come in and that’s not very pleasing for them that their duties are being performed by someone else.
VOA: We know students took the role of leadership amid the unrest, and that there are student representatives in your government as well. But is it also true that we are seeing students trying to establish their authority in different sectors and institutions of the country? Are these students running the country? What role are they playing?
Yunus: Yes, they should. The youth should assume authority. So far, the old people have made mistakes, so let there be an effort for youth to come forward and take responsibility. They might also make mistakes and then correct those, but their leadership ushered in big changes. So, I don’t find any reasons to doubt their capacity for leadership.
VOA: So, can we say that the students are running your administration?
Yunus: No, I didn’t say they are running the administration, I said they should. Let the youth take it. I have always said, even before I took this responsibility, that it should be in the hands of the youth because they will build their future. If we try to write the future for them, that would not be right. So, I’ll say again that not only in Bangladesh but in the entire world, youth should be given this responsibility.
VOA: We haven’t heard anything from you regarding the duration of this interim government, but General Waqar-Uz-Zaman recently said an election would occur within the next 18 months. Are we safe to assume the interim government would dissolve at that time?
Yunus: Well, if you want to presume, you may, but that’s not the decision of the government. The government has not given any opinion so far. The government needs to say when they would take a decision about their duration.
VOA: The Advisory Committee to the interim government has yet to make any decisions?
Yunus: We have discussed but no decisions have been taken yet.
VOA: What are the plans of your government to improve relations with India?
Yunus: We are telling them clearly that we want good relations with them. Because that is needed for India and for us, too. We are neighbors. If relations between neighbors are bad, it’s not good for any nation. It’s not good for them, nor for us. It’s in the interest of our two countries that our relations should be close and cordial.
VOA: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is in India. What steps are you taking to extradite her to Bangladesh?
Yunus: This is a legal matter. Definitely we will want her back, wherever she might be, whenever we can legally implement the decision.
VOA: After August 5, Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, once home to Hasina’s father but turned into a museum after his assasination there, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was destroyed. Your government subsequently canceled the national day of mourning. Obviously, some look on Rahman, in their words, as a fascist icon. But Rahman has long been recognized as the father of the nation. What’s the viewpoint of your interim government?
Yunus: You’re talking about the past. Apparently, you don’t remember that a mass uprising has since taken place. You’re speaking as if it never happened. You need to see what’s happening in this new situation. You do not seem to have any questions about how many students have sacrificed their lives, why they sacrificed their lives. First, we must admit that they, the students, said that we have pushed a reset button. The past is gone for sure. Now we will build up in new way. People also want that. And this new way means we must bring reforms.
VOA: We’ve paid respect to those killed during the student-led uprisings, and you have said that their killers will be brought to justice. But at the same time, after August 5, many others were killed. A short while ago we were talking about many police being killed. What steps are being taken by your government to bring the perpetrators to justice?
Yunus: Whoever has committed a crime and wherever that might be, they will be brought to justice. If that’s not done, justice won’t be complete. To judge one type of crime and not another, that’s not acceptable. That would be a form of partisan justice. So, if we return to that kind of partisanship, the mass movement would have been meaningless. So, if crime is committed, the criminal will face the law.
VOA: There are more than a million Rohingya currently displaced in Bangladesh. Will your government grant them refugee status?
Yunus: International institutions have given them this status. The United Nations refugee agency [UNHCR] has been working there for a long time. So, they are refugees. They are not citizens of our country.
VOA: But officially they are not recognized as refugees.
Yunus: If they were not refugees, UNHCR couldn’t reach them.
VOA: Thousands of Rohingya recently arrived in Bangladesh, and it is assumed that more are on the way. So, if more Rohingya enter Bangladesh, then what would be your decision?
Yunus: According to international law, if they want to come, we will let them. We will accept them. And then we’ll do whatever is necessary. It’s not our problem alone. It is the responsibility of the entire world. When one’s life is at stake, one seeks refuge. We cannot close doors on them. You know, it’s been going on for ages. They have been here for the last seven years. Questions are being raised about their future and the future of their children. Nearly 32,000 Rohingya children are born here every year, so the Rohingya community is growing, even independently of new arrivals. When they came, they brought infant children with them. They, too, have grown up. What are you going to do about them? They can’t even see their future. Because of high-tech media they can see the entire world, but they’re confined like in a prison. They may grow angry; they may grow rebellious. This is not a good thing. We don’t know how it’s going to spread, where it will go. We really don’t know, so the whole world should focus on how to help them have a satisfying life. We are looking for a solution.
VOA: There are discussions about constitutional amendments. You’ve even established a committee about it. Is it going to happen during your interim government’s time and what kind of changes or amendments are you expecting?
Yunus: As I said before, we must begin everything anew. The previous government destroyed everything. So, from that destruction we need to rise afresh. That’s why we are establishing commissions for all fields. We have made six commissions; more commissions will come soon. Of those, one commission is on the constitution. The whole country wants the constitution to be amended. However, the topic may be subject to debate. That’s why the commission will create guidelines for those debates. That will give the country an opportunity to debate on it so that the political parties can give their opinion and can decide whether they are going to amend right now or later, and what exactly they would do. The constitution that we have now will not be helpful. If the country runs according to the present constitution, the same situation will happen again.
VOA: Some people are talking about changing the constitution, others are talking about amending it. Whatever happens, how is it going to be implemented?
Yunus: It is a matter of law. What we are now doing is not on the process of implementation, we are focusing on why we need it. When they sit for discussion, they will decide those matters from a legal perspective. We are trying to reach a unanimous opinion on what exactly we need. Then there will be another round of discussion on the legal process.
VOA: What are your main objectives as interim leader?
Yunus: My main objectives are to bring in reforms, to arrange an election and hand over the power to the elected representatives.
VOA: The chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, thank you so much on behalf of Voice of America.
Yunus: Thanks to you, too.
This interview was translated from the original Bangla language by VOA Bangla Service’s Anis Ahmed.
…