Yunus pledges to deliver a govt which assures safety to citizens

Muhammad Yunus on Thursday promised to deliver a government which assures safety to its citizens and urged them to assist him in rebuilding Bangladesh, as the Nobel laureate returned to the protest-torn country from Paris to head an interim government following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.

Yunus, 84, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work on microlending, was designated head of the interim government after President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament on Tuesday after Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and fled to India following widespread protests against her regime.

Yunus was in Paris for the Olympic Games. He returned to the country via Dubai.

An Emirates flight (EK-582) carrying Yunus landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:10 pm local time. Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, senior officials, student leaders and civil society members welcomed him at the airport.

At an emotional press conference at the airport, Yunus expressed gratitude to the youth who made the protest movement against Hasina successful. “Today is a day of our pride,” he said.

Yunus called the change of regime the country’s “second independence”. 

"We have got independence for the second time. We have to protect this independence," he said.

He urged people from all walks of life to listen to him and he agreed to take charge of the interim administration responding to the call of the students and youths. "We have to form a government which assures safety to its citizens," he said.