Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and chief adviser to Bangladesh’s new interim government. File | Photo credit: AFP
citizen of Bangladesh Chief Adviser to the Interim Government of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus on Sunday (August 25, 2024) said that people living in Bangladesh will not be discriminated against on the basis of their religion or political beliefs. Giving a televised address to the nation ahead of the national holiday on the occasion of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, Prof. Yunus assured that his government will fulfill the promises made to the students and common people who overthrew the government of Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina And pledged to hold elections after nationwide “political consultations”.
“We will not discriminate against anyone because they have a different religion or different political opinion. We want to include all members of the country in one family,” Prof Yunus said in Bangla. “Religious minorities, tribes and other marginalised communities are equal citizens of the ‘new’ Bangladesh and will enjoy equal rights,” he added.
The speech, broadcast at 7:30 pm on Sunday (August 25, 2024), is symbolically significant in the backdrop of recent reports of attacks on places of worship and property of minority religious groups in Bangladesh. Sri Krishna Janmashtami as well as Bijoya Dashami, Christmas, Good Friday and Buddha Purnima are some of the religious events of minority groups that Bangladesh celebrates as national holidays.
Preparations for Janmashtami are in full swing at Hindu temples and institutions in Dhaka and other cities of Bangladesh. Programmes are also planned by the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarvajanin Puja Samiti at the Dhakeshwari National Temple, the most important Hindu religious institution in Dhaka. A special Janmashtami procession is expected to be taken out in the city after this.
Bangladesh’s communal harmony became a topic of discussion after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5. After Ms. Hasina fled the country in a military plane, there were reports of attacks on minority religious groups, which caught the attention of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who mentioned the matter in his speech from Delhi’s Red Fort on August 15. On August 16, Professor Yunus and Mr. Modi discussed the protection of minority rights.
Prof Yunus also directly addressed the question of the caretaker government’s tenure for the first time and said that the caretaker government will remain in power as long as the people of Bangladesh want them to implement the agenda of the student agitators who have planned a corruption-free governance. “We are not people from the ruling class. We have come here to respond to the appeal of the student protesters. The date of the election will be decided through political consultations. We will go when the people want us to go,” Prof Yunus said, indicating that the interim government will remain in power until transparent elections are held in the country.
Since taking office on August 7, the interim government led by Yunus has been unable to stop the demonstrations and protests in Dhaka, making daily work difficult for millions of people. He appealed to the protesters to withdraw their protests and go home, saying, “We have noticed that you are protesting near our offices, which is hindering the implementation of our tasks. Please let us perform our duties without any hindrance.”
A team from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is currently visiting Bangladesh to discuss the violence that took place during and after the uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina from power. The team is led by Rory Mungoven, Asia-Pacific regional head at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Along with the excessive use of state power by the Hasina government to crush the uprising, the visiting team is also expected to investigate allegations of communal violence.