Bangladesh updates: Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to head interim govt

Here are the latest developments on the day after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and left Bangladesh, following which the Army had announced it would form an interim government: 

- Updated at 2:21 p.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed the head of Bangladesh’s new interim government,  the president’s press secretary told BenarNews, a day after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country. The confirmation came after a meeting Tuesday between the country’s president and Army chief with university student leaders who had spearheaded anti-quota protests that spiraled into an agitation against Hasina. “Today’s meeting finalized the name of the interim government chief as Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The remaining name of the members and time of the government would be finalized after discussing with other stakeholders,” the president’s secretary Joynal Abedin said. Abedin said the remaining members of the interim government would be finalized later.

- Updated at 12:51 p.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Sheikh Hasina is in a state of shock after fleeing Bangladesh, India's foreign minister told sources Tuesday, according to India’s state news agency. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told an all-party meeting in New Delhi that Hasina was stunned at the turn of events in Bangladesh, the sources said, reported Press Trust of India. The Indian government was giving the ex-PM of Bangladesh some time to recover, the minister said. After she has had some time to process things,  New Delhi will speak to her about her future plans and other issues, the sources said. Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country on Monday after nationwide mass protests demanded she quit and take responsibility for the more than 300 lives lost after security forces tried to quell anti-quota demonstrations with force.

- Updated at 12:05 p.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh ex-PM, requested approval to enter India on Monday without giving any  advance warning, the Indian foreign minister said Tuesday. “At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told both house of the Indian parliament. “We simultaneously received a request for flight clearance from Bangladesh authorities. She arrived yesterday evening in Delhi.” Hasina resigned as prime minister of Bangladesh on Monday and fled the country soon after. She arrived at the Hindon Air base in Ghaziabad,  19 miles from New Delhi in a C-130J military transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force, Indian state-new agency Press Trust of India had reported. India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met her there.

- Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Bangladesh’s garment factories will reopen Wednesday, the main manufacturers’ association said. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the knitwear makers’ group told BenarNews that they asked factory owners to reopen after being shut during the civil unrest of the past few weeks. One of the biggest contributors to Bangladesh’s economy, the garment sector accounts for 83% of the country’s total export earnings, according to the BGMEA. Bangladesh was the world’s third-largest clothing exporter in 2023, according to the World Trade Organization, exporting over U.S. $38 billion of clothes.

- Updated at 11:10 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday said he was ready to lead the country’s interim government.

Bangladesh’s president, army chief and other political parties have yet to approve this plan, but Yunus said he would be motivated by the bravery of his country’s citizens if required.

“If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it,” the microfinance pioneer told Agence France-Presse news agency in a statement. He also called for “free elections” in the country.

- Updated at 10:45 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel for his pioneering micro-credit loans that helped Bangladeshis out of poverty. The former PM Hasina and her Awami League believed that Yunus used his friendship with former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to pressure the World Bank to withdraw funding for the vaunted Padma Bridge, which Bangladesh eventually built with its own money and inaugurated with much fanfare on June 25. Yunus firmly denied the allegation.

- Updated at 10:44 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Bangladesh’s president and Army chief went into a meeting around 6 p.m. local time with student leaders. They were discussing a proposal by the group that led the anti-quota protest movement to name Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, Hasina’s nemesis, to lead the interim government. Yunus’ spokesperson told local media that he had accepted the students’ proposal, although it has yet to be approved by the Army chief, president and other parties. The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who is currently in France, is expected to arrive in Dhaka later Tuesday or Wednesday, his spokesperson added.

- Updated at 6:40 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved the Parliament on Tuesday, the state-run news agency reported. This would potentially clear the way for the formation of an interim government after Hasina resigned a day earlier. Leaders of the student-led protest movement that had agitated in the streets and called for her to step down had threatened further action by 3 p.m. Tuesday (local time), if the dissolution did not take place, news reports said.

- Updated at 5:45 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

At least 108 people were killed in violence nationwide after Hasina quit, according to a tally of figures from district hospitals and civil administrations. The number was expected to rise because of more deaths that were still not verified. As many as 54 were killed during the daytime on Monday and at least another 54 were killed after the violence intensified into the evening and overnight hours.

- Updated at 5:15 a.m. ET on 2024-08-06

The Philippines, Indonesia and Australia issued travel alerts urging citizens to exercise extreme caution while visiting or staying in Bangladesh. The Philippines has a little under 1,000 expatriates living in the South Asian country, and the government said it was closely monitoring the situation there, which remained volatile. “The Philippines calls for the peaceful and orderly transition of power," in Bangladesh, the Philippine government said in a statement.