Desk Report:
“A fugitive group has left the country or their leadership has left. They are trying their best to unsettle it (the country),” said Professor Yunus.
Principal Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus spoke to BBC Bangla about the law and order situation, reforms and elections, the formation of a new student leadership party, and political developments during the nearly seven months of the interim government under his leadership. In an exclusive interview, he also spoke about the deteriorating relations between Bangladesh and India.
BBC Bangla: I am Mir Sabbir, welcoming you to the BBC Bangla interview. Today I am with you, Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh.
Chief Advisor, thank you very much for joining the interview with BBC Bangla.
Chief Advisor: Thank you too.
BBC Bangla: The last time I spoke to you was exactly a year ago, a huge change has taken place in Bangladesh. You were in a state of panic about arrests, you were talking about the panic about arrests. From there, you became the Chief Advisor, six months have passed. How do you view these six months? How successful have you been in what you wanted to do as the Chief Advisor?
Chief Advisor: First of all, let me make a correction, the panic about the arrests – I had no panic. There was a possibility that they would take me. I was taking it easy, if they take me, there is nothing I can do. Since there are no laws and regulations in the country, they can do whatever they want. My life was going on in that. When the government was formed, I had no idea, no idea that I would suddenly become the head of a government, get responsibility. And that country is a country where everything is ruined. Nothing is working properly anymore. Everything that is there has to be worked through the rubble.
So my first attempt was to bring out the real face from that rubble. To make people’s daily lives easier. I was in that effort. Then slowly think about what the future will be – where we will move forward.
The first thought came to me that we need a reform. Because the reason why these events have happened, the fascist government has been able to continue. It has been able to continue for 16 years, we have not been able to do anything. Three elections have been held, no voters have been seen. All these various types of corruption and failures, Misrul etc. – how can we pull it out of there. If we are going to pull it out, we have to do institutional reforms. That’s why we decided first…
BBC Bangla: How much do you think you’ve managed to pull out?
Chief Advisor: Regarding reforms? We haven’t started reforms yet…
BBC Bangla: No, regarding the situation you were talking about when I became Chief Advisor, there was a kind of situation…
Chief Advisor: A lot of changes…
BBC Bangla: How much changes? What do you think?
Chief Advisor: A lot of changes. I would say that the ruins from which we came are taking on a new look. It is emerging that we have simplified the economy. We have gained the trust of both the country and abroad. It is clear that we have been able to establish trust all over the world. No one can question that I have not been able to gain the trust of such and such a country. Whichever country you ask, they have placed their trust in us. Not only have they placed their trust, they have done so enormously. They are saying that we will do more now than we have done in the past, since we see that the government is running well now. That’s why they are saying this. So this is a big proof. Whenever you see the rows of countries – each country has come and said, we support you. We will give you what you need. They have provided incredible support.
BBC Bangla: You are talking about trust and support abroad, if I come to the context of the country – I come to the context of law and order. There is a lot of criticism about the deterioration of the law and order situation. And if I look at the statistics of the police and human rights organizations, crime has increased quite a bit. So why can’t you control this?
Chief Advisor: I started with the word of trust, let’s go back to the word of trust, the trust of the people of the country and abroad. Whether the people of the country have trust in us, that is the big thing.
I think the people of the country have trust in us. There is a huge amount. So that is a big proof. What we are doing or not – these are small things. Our small things are good in this, bad in that – some are good, some are bad, there will be. This is an unfamiliar world, we have come. We are not experts sitting here. We come from different worlds, we are trying our own way to do what we can. There may be mistakes. Some did well, some did not do well. It can happen. I am not denying that.
