Yesterday was a rather surreal day in Bangladesh’s capital, in the best possible ways.
At a few minutes after 2pm local time, Professor Yunus returned to Bangladesh from Paris and was greeted by his team and by various dignitaries from government, the military, civil society, the media, and student leaders. It was all broadcast live on national television. The reporters bought time for his arrival and short speech by talking about Dr. Yunus’ national and global leadership on microcredit, social business, the Olympics, and even Grameen Check (fabric woven by Grameen weavers that Dr. Yunus always wears clothing made out of)!
When Dr. Yunus went in front of the cameras to give an 8 minute speech, he did so without notes and with only about a dozen student leaders standing behind him. The television commentators later noted that neither his family, his colleagues at Grameen Bank/Yunus Centre, the military, nor government people were standing with him–only student leaders. It was thought to be symbolically important that he orchestrated his first statement in Bangladesh this way.
His speech, which naturally was in Bengali, was perfect. (You can view a video of the speech here, and read an English translation of it here.) Professor Yunus touched all the right bases, acknowledging the students’ leadership in winning the “second independence for Bangladesh,” calling for calm and no violence, choking up noticeably when he talked about the martyr Abu Sayed (killed in cold blood last month by the government, which was captured on a grisly video that has been viewed millions of times), saying that attacks on anyone for any reason were antithetical to Bangladesh’s needs right now, and calling Bangladesh “one family” while naming each religious minority as being part of that family and that they should be protected.
Furthermore, he called on each and every citizen to protect what he called the second independence or revolution. He lauded the students and said they had inspired not just Bangladesh but young people around the world. He said that the independence that had been won needed to be manifested in every home in the country. He said that if people were not willing to listen to his calls to stop the violence and the attacks, he would relinquish his role and return to his work as a private citizen. He briefly acknowledged the armed forces and government people, but again it was noticeable that they were seated, and the students were behind him. Here is an article that contains the highlights of the speech and related reporting.
Earlier today, it was announced that the Labor Tribunal conviction against him and three others that had been announced on January 1 has been dismissed. We hope and expect that the Anti-Corruption Case is not far behind in being dismissed.
A correspondent for a national TV station said that Grameen Bank sent its managing director and some colleagues to the airport to greet Professor Yunus. It is good to see a reconciliation between Grameen Bank and its founder in process.
The swearing in took place a few hours later and can be viewed here. Dr. Yunus’ longtime colleague Nurjahan Begum was one of the 16 ministers who will form the government with him. She was also a defendant in the meritless cases lodged against him. Also, two student leaders will serve.
While the typical length of time for a caretaker government in Bangladesh is 90 days, there is much talk of this government being longer, in part because the students have reportedly demanded it. They and others think that this interim government needs time to make some reforms before giving the main parties a chance to run again. One of the traditional parties is lobbying to have an election in 90 days, which they would probably win by default. There is not much support for that position, but their demands must be dealt with. Many tricky decisions lie ahead.
All in all, Professsor Yunus got off to a very strong start. It was hard not to get choked up watching it all, especially when you consider where Professor Yunus and those of us who consider ourselves allies were just one week ago.