The head of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, said that the advisory council has not yet taken any decision regarding the term of the interim government or when the next election will be held. He said this in an exclusive interview given to Voice of America Bangla in New York, United States, after his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. The interview was conducted by Anees Ahmed for Voice of America. Bangladesh Army Chief General Walker-Uz-Zaman has expressed his strong support to the Interim Government to organize an acceptable national election in Bangladesh within the next eighteen months by completing the important reforms in Bangladesh. He said this in an interview given to Reuters on September 23.
Based on the statement of the army chief, can it be assumed that the term of the interim government will be 18 months? When this question was asked, Yunus said in reply, “You can take it if you want. But, it is not the government’s opinion. The government has not given any opinion so far. So the government has to say when the government will fix the term. Until the government says that. The term of the government is not ending. To clarify the matter, the head of the interim government added, “We have to say. We have to say. That will be the date when you hear from us. On August 5 this year, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and went to India in the face of the student uprising. After the fall of the government, on August 8, Dr. Muhammad Yunus assumed responsibility as the chief adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh. Since then, a visible strain in Bangladesh’s relations with India is being noticed. Regarding the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, who is currently staying in India and was deposed in a popular coup, Yunus said that it is a legal matter and Bangladesh will seek Sheikh Hasina’s return following the legal process.
Regarding relations with India, the chief adviser said, “It is in the interest of both of our countries to develop very close relations, sweet relations. Sometimes, some questions come up where the relationship is a bit long. For example, shooting at the border, the girl died, the child. The boy died, these are painful….We don’t think that the government did this on purpose, the government of India did these things on purpose. We should eliminate all the reasons that caused this to happen, so that this kind of incident does not happen People can go about their lives safely. The students were the leaders of this recent coup. But there are many students who are outside the government who are trying to establish authority in various institutions of the country In response to the question, Dr. Muhammad Yunus said, “It should be done. It should be left to the young people. I have always been saying that it is in the hands of the young people, because they will write their future.”
In Bangladesh, the student movement that began on July 1 to demand the abolition of the quota system in government jobs turned into a massive mass protest within two weeks. According to the preliminary report of the United Nations, about 400 people were killed in the clashes between the police and the Awami League supporters. A preliminary UN report also said that more than 250 people lost their lives between August 5 and August 11 after the fall of the government. This includes policemen. Bangladesh’s 1,90,000-strong police force is still in disarray and its impact on the law-and-order situation in the country is still in disarray. In this context, the Bangladesh Army was given the power of executive magistrate for two months on September 17. Interim government led by Yunus. Commissioned officers of Bangladesh Army have got this power.
About a month and a half after assuming power, when asked why he felt the need to give magisterial powers to army commission officers, Yunus said that because of the negative feelings created by the people about the police for their anti-people role, including the killing of police students during the public uprising, Police could not maintain law and order due to morale breakdown. Even appointing Ansar for this work did not bring results. Therefore, the army has been given magisterial powers for two months to control the law and order situation.
Dr. Yunus said, “All kinds of disturbances are being created. There are gatherings. In this, workers’ dissatisfaction was seen, especially in our garment factories. I thought that if we continue like this, it will start increasing. Then the topic of giving magistracy to the army came up. Because…they say we are but no one cares about us because we have no power.If we have a power they will consider us…then we gave them magistracy.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has criticized the granting of magisterial powers to the army. On September 20, he said, “In our opinion, this power should be given only when it seems that the constitution has gone beyond the rules. But this constitution is still good, where the political leaders and workers are controlling all the institutions, the magistracy power has been given to the army, which means that new problems have been created. to do
When asked about investigating and prosecuting the killings that took place after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, especially the police killings, the chief adviser said, “Whoever committed the crime will be prosecuted. Otherwise, the prosecution will not be completed. In this interview, Dr. Official apology of Pakistan government for the war crimes of 1971 by Muhammad Yunus, talks with Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan on re-establishment of SAARC on the sidelines of the busy UN session, initiative and progress of his government on reforms in various fields including constitutional reform, Bangladeshi citizens of other ethnic groups in the hilly districts of Bangladesh. He also talked about the recent conflict and violence of Bengalis, the Rohingya crisis, etc.
At least four tribals have been killed in the latest Pahari-Bengali clashes in the mountainous region of Bangladesh. More than fifty people were injured in this incident. Due to this conflict, many houses, shops and Buddhist temples were vandalized, looted and set on fire. The hill districts (Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati) have long had an omnipresent presence of military and paramilitary forces. There the military administration is attached to the civil administration of the districts. The reason for the massive military presence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is said to be necessary to prevent and control insurgent activities in the area.
The international human rights organization Freedom House has criticized the Bangladesh government regarding the unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and demanded to ensure the safety of the minority groups. Yunus said in response to a question about the establishment of peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, “This is just Aslam. A problem that has been going on for so many years, you will solve it with us in two days, it is not right to expect that we will come up with a solution. A peace agreement has been reached, that peace agreement is very important.” It’s been a year. That peace agreement cannot be upheld. Will it be done again by the government that will be elected next?
Asked what his government’s decision would be if Rohingyas try to enter Bangladesh again, the chief adviser said, “If they want to come, we will let them come. We will accept them. Due to the recent unrest in Myanmar, some Rohingya asylum seekers have entered Bangladesh again and it is expected More Rohingyas may enter Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch reported on September 25 that at least 10,000 Rohingyas are still waiting at the Bangladesh border.
Before this, on September 3, Foreign Affairs Adviser. Tauhid Hossain said, “In principle we will not give shelter to any Rohingya again, although it is sad to say, but it is beyond our means and we cannot give them shelter anymore. In his address to the nation on September 11 on the occasion of the one month anniversary of the formation of the interim government, Chief Adviser Sankar As the initial step, he announced the decision to form six commissions. The areas of reform are election system, police administration, anti-corruption public administration and constitution. He said in the interview of Voice of America, a neutral, fair and free election has been completed Organizing is the main goal of his government.
