Monster is gone: Bangladesh caretaker govt head Muhammad Yunus on Sheikh Hasina's ouster
Dhaka/IBNS: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who last week took oath as head of Bangladesh's interim government, has praised students who spearheaded protests to oust former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"There is no doubt... because of the student-led revolution the whole government collapsed..." Yunus told reporters after a Sunday night meeting with the students.
"I said (to the students), 'I respect you... I admire you. What you have done is absolutely unparalleled... and because you ordered me to do this (to take charge of the interim administration) I accept...'," Yunus said, recounting part of the conversation he had with the students.
Two of the student protesters, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, are part of a 16-member advisory council that was sworn in with Yunus.
The 84-year-old, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering microcredit and microfinance, which he put into action through the Grameen Bank, was sworn in last week after he returned to Dhaka from Paris, where he had been undergoing medical treatment.
"Finally, this moment, the monster is gone," Yunus told the media, referring to Hasina's departure and the end of what her critics said was an autocratic rule that stifled all dissent.
However, Yunus warned the interim government that public goodwill is a limited resource and that they would face many difficult decisions ahead. "The moment you start taking decisions, some people will like your decisions, some people will not like your decisions," he said. "...that's the way it works."
Yunus also stressed the wave of resignations of high-ranking public officials, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and head of Bangladesh's central bank, was "conducted legally".
They had reportedly been issued ultimatums to quit.
Days after the Sheikh Hasina government was toppled, students, who have been protesting against the quota system, on Saturday demanded the resignation of all judges including the Chief Justice, media reports said.
The students have surrounded the Bangladesh Supreme Court demanding an immediate resignation of the Chief Justice.
The protests were triggered after the Chief Justice had called a full-court hearing without any consultation with the newly-formed interim government, which is headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Bangladesh witnessed turmoil in recent weeks which began with students protesting against job quotas and then slowly spiralled into a mass movement that demanded former PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation.
The violence led to the death of over 300 people.
The showdown took a new turn when former PM Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign which led to the toppling of her government and ending her 15-year rule.
Hasina escaped to India in a helicopter.
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