DHAKA, Bangladesh — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge of a caretaker government on Thursday, hoping to help rebuild Bangladesh after weeks of violence that led Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to neighboring India.
Known as the “poor man’s banker,” Yunus is a pioneer of the global microcredit movement, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for its Grameen Bank, which has lifted millions out of poverty by providing small loans to the rural poor who are too poor to qualify for traditional banking.
But as the interim government’s chief adviser, he is tasked with restoring stability to a country that has seen its worst violence in decades and holding new parliamentary elections.
“The brutal dictatorship is gone,” Yunus said in a televised address to the nation after being inaugurated. “Tomorrow, the sun will rise and we will have democracy, justice, human rights and complete freedom of expression without fear for everyone, regardless of party affiliation. That is our goal.”
Arriving in Dhaka on Thursday after treatment in Paris, Yunus said he would rule the city under the guidance of students who had supported him for positions in the caretaker government.
Yunus, a harsh critic of Prime Minister Hasina, became emotional and appeared to hold back tears at the airport as he referred to students who were shot during protests and said their sacrifice could not be forgotten.
Hasina’s election to a fourth term in January and her flight from the country she has ruled for 20 of the past 30 years sparked jubilation and violence, with crowds storming and ransacking the presidential residence.
Since Hasina stepped down as prime minister, many Hindu homes, temples and shops have been destroyed and hundreds of members of the minority community tried unsuccessfully to flee to India this week. The Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Unity Council said one teacher was killed and 45 were injured.
Many Hindus have traditionally supported Prime Minister Hasina’s Awami League party, which advocates secularism.
Yunus’ swearing-in filled a power vacuum created by Hasina’s resignation in the South Asian country of 170 million people, which has the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin swore in Yunus and 13 advisers who will help him govern, in a short ceremony at the presidential palace.
Officials said three more advisers would be sworn in at a later date. The 13-person government includes Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmood, student leaders in their mid-20s who led the protests.
The ceremony began with a minute’s silence to commemorate the hundreds of people who died in the protests and clashes that erupted in July.
Hasina’s Awami League party is not part of the caretaker government, but her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said in a Facebook post that the party has not given up and is open to talks with the opposition and the caretaker government.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted both national elections following the arrests of its leaders and demanded fresh elections within three months.
Hasina has been evacuated to the New Delhi area, and Yunus said the incident had sparked anger toward India among some Bangladeshis. The Indian foreign ministry said it had no update on Hasina’s travel plans and that it was up to the prime minister to “move things forward.”
The two countries have long-standing cultural and business ties, and New Delhi played a key role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Yunus and said his government was committed to working with Dhaka to realise the “shared aspirations” of the people of the two countries – “peace, security and development”.
“We hope for a speedy return to normalcy while ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minorities,” he said.
The student-led movement that ousted President Hasina began in July as protests over government quotas and sparked a violent crackdown that drew global criticism but the government denied using excessive force.
