Professor Muhammad Yunus took over responsibility as chief advisor of the interim government on 8 August 2024 at a juncture when extreme disorder prevailed all around -- the administration had come to a standstill, the law and order forces were inactive, educational institutions were besieged by unrest and public life had been pitched into uncertainty.
Muhammad Yunus had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Paris on 5 August when the Awami League government fell in face of a student-mass uprising. He had no idea that he would be taking over responsibility of running the country. The student leaders contacted him for the first time that evening.
Could there have been any alternative to Muhammad Yunus as chief advisor? Could anyone else bring the conflicting parties to one table?
After repeated requests from the student leaders he finally acquiesced to take over responsibility of the government. A detailed description of the interaction with Professor Yunus from Dhaka appears in Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain's book, 'July: Matribhumi Othoba Mrityu', published by Prothoma Prokashon.
The student leaders had made a right move that day. At that moment of uncertainty, the country needed a person who had the trust of the majority of the people in the country and who also had unquestionable credibility on an international level. It is also doubtful whether the political parties, who had an active role in the movement, would have accepted anyone else other than Professor Yunus.
Now seven months on, we have to review the success and failures of the interim government in context of our socioeconomic and political realities. We also have to keep in mind what our elected and unelected governments did in the past.
Bangladesh is the world's most densely populated country. No other country has around 180 million people living in an area of 56,000 square miles. The poverty rate here is 18 per cent, 30 per cent of the people are deprived of education, the number of landless and homeless is on a steady rise, and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.
An elected government comes to power for a five-year term. It is easy for them to take up short, mid and long-term plans. That is not possible on the part of an interim government. And on top of that, when the Yunus government took over power, law and order was in shambles.
Under the circumstances, the first and foremost responsibility of the interim government was to normalise the law and order situation. The second task was to restore order to the economy and take control of the market. The government has been somewhat successful in the latter. It has been possible to restore order to the banking sector which the previous government had taken to the brink of disaster.
Muhammad Yunus formed his government mostly with persons who had been outside politics and the administration. Naturally they met with obstacles at every step in running the administration and they are still struggling. Due to age and experience, the performance of all the members of the advisory council is not the same. While some are active in running their ministries, others have shortcomings, it is felt.
Muhammad Yunus has admitted that he and most of the advisors in his government have no experience in running the country. If any ministry functions well, the concerned advisor can take credit, and is doing so too. But if any ministry is not up to the mark, the responsibility falls on the government, to be more precise, on the chief advisor.
Many quarters complain that the government is not running the country properly. That is not a baseless contention. The inactivity of certain advisors is irksome. But the question is, could there have been any alternative to Muhammad Yunus as chief advisor? Could anyone else bring the conflicting parties to one table?
The big challenge for the interim government was to bring the various parties and quarters who had taken part in the movement, to one table. They have managed to do so more or else successfully. Albeit late, the national consensus commission has begun talks with the political parties.
The armed forces had a role to play, directly or indirectly, in the previous political changes that transpired in Bangladesh. The difference is, while the army had a positive role in the 5 August changeover, they did not interfere in the civil administration.
Chief of army staff Waker-Uz-Zaman repeatedly said they had no wish to come to power. It is also doubtful whether the civil government would get this continued support from the army had Muhammad Yunus not ben there. Even so, there are all sorts of propaganda and provocations aimed at the army and the army chief. Some are attempting to place the army and the interim government in confrontation. Such moves can push the country towards further instability.
The Nobel laureate for peace Muhammad Yunus had caught international attention too. In September last year, while joining the UN General Assembly, Professor Muhammad Yunus met with the heads of government and states of 12 countries, including the US president at the time Joe Biden, and the heads of various international agencies. He also took part in 40 high level meetings. The visit of UN secretary general to Bangladesh Antonio Guterres will hopefully play a positive role in bringing the nearly obscured Rohingya problem back to the attention of the world.
After coming to power, the interim government had to face several unwarranted situations. One was the floods in the eastern region of the country that wiped out vast expanses of crops. The market had been restive for quite a few months and now things are normalising. The prices of essentials during Ramzan are in control, unlike the previous years. The food stock is satisfactory too.
Despite these successes, the law and order situation remains a matter of public concern. There are incidents of robbery, mugging, killing and rape. Mob violence is a new phenomenon since after 5 August.
During the rule of Awami League, innocent people would be tagged with the BNP-Jamaat label and oppressed. After the uprising, the ire of the students and the common people was directed towards many ministers, MPs and leaders of the fallen Awami League government and their homes were attacked and damaged. And many innocent people were tagged as accomplices of the autocrats and their houses, offices and business establishments were attacked. In some places the religious minorities were victimised too. If anyone commits a crime, it is the duty of a citizen to hand him over to the law enforcement. But if that is not done and law is taken into one's own hands in the name of student leadership or anyone else, extreme disorder breaks out in society. I feel it is a failure of the government not to be able to take firm action in this regard.
The interim government had delineated three broad objectives -- the trial of the killings and torture that took place during the July uprising, state reforms to prevent a return of an autocratic system, and free and fair elections to establish democratic governance. But unless they can fix the law and order situation and if mob violence continues, it is not likely that any of these objectives can be reached.
So the government must be sterner in protecting the lives and property of each and every citizen. They have to change the old manner of responding to the exaggerations of foreign quarters about security of the minorities. The government must create an environment where no one can find scope for complaint. They must also remain alert against communal instigators within and outside the country.
Despite many limitations, there are two positive aspects of the Muhammad Yunus government that need to be mentioned. One is, teamwork or integrated programmes. Almost all the previous governments were individual-centric -- nothing would move without the head of the government. The advisors of the interim government run their ministries independently. Secondly, no matter what criticism there may be against the advisors of this government, till date there have been no allegations of corruption against them. That is of colossal importance in the socioeconomic structure of Bangladesh.
* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir