Bangladesh leader of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus hailed the students whose protests led to the end of the Sheikh Hasina rule in the country and her exit from the land. “No doubt... the student-led revolution brought down the entire government,” he said in a media briefing on Sunday after meeting the students. Underlining the conversation he had with them, Yunus said, “I told the students, 'I respect and admire you... What you've accomplished is truly unmatched... and because you asked me to take charge of the interim administration, I accept”.
He described Sheikh Hasina, who left the country after resigning and is currently living safely in India, as a “monster”.
“Finally, the moment has come—the monster is gone,” he said without naming Hasina’s departure from the country, which marked the end of what the Opposition in the country dubbed as an autocratic rule which silenced all dissent.
Yusuf on recent resignations
He said the high-profile resignations of authorities close to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are legal after student leaders who organised protests against Hasina's government issued ultimatums for them to quit.
“Legally...all the steps were taken,” Yunus said. He said a key priority of the interim government is to restore the independence of the judiciary. He called former chief justice Obaidul Hassan "just a hangman.”
Syed Refaat Ahmed was appointed the new chief justice on Sunday after his name was proposed by student leaders of the protests. More than 300 people, including students and police officers, were killed in the weeks of violence.
Yunus had been a longtime critic of Hasina and her government.
Yunus ran into trouble with Hasina in 2008, when her administration launched a series of investigations into him and his Grameen Bank. He was put on trial in 2013 on charges of receiving money without government permission, including his Nobel Prize and royalties from a book.
Yunus has denied the allegations, and his supporters say he was targeted because of his frosty relations with Hasina.
(With inputs from agencies)
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