Wednesday | 30 April 2025 | Reg No- 06
Bangla
   
Bangla | Wednesday | 30 April 2025 | Epaper
BREAKING: ● EU backs democratic oversight in Bangladesh’s financial governance      ● Ansar Uddin Khan made coordinator of ICT probe agency      ● BSEC dismisses 21 officials      ● Salman, Anisul, ex-IGP on remand over student movement related murder cases      ● Yunus distributes 300 houses among flood victims      ● Child cricketer's body recovered from Karnaphuli       ● Ramna Batamul bomb blast verdict on May 8      

Interview With FT

Students will form political party: Yunus

Published : Saturday, 1 February, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 468
"Students will form a party, they are campaigning, organising countrywide." Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus tells Gideon Rachman of Financial Times in an exclusive interview.

The excerpts of the interview where he explained July-August uprising, country's economic situation, his reforms agenda, future election, drive against corruption:

Muhammad Yunus: This unique event (July-August uprising last year) that has taken place in Bangladesh, almost unique in human history because they had no intention of bringing the government down. They were in an innocent kind of campaign for their jobs and things like that. It had no leader.

Gideon Rachman : And where were you at this point?
Muhammad Yunus : I was in Paris, organising the Paris Olympics because I was giving them a design, how an ideal Olympics should be. I call it a social Olympics. Sports is not just fun. Sports has huge social power, the fact that you bring so many people together all over the world.

Gideon Rachman : And so how did you then get the call and come back?
Muhammad Yunus : That day when the first call came, I was in the hospital just for a small operation. So they called. I was watching the news everyday on the mobile phone what is happening in Bangladesh. They said she left. Now we have to have a government. Please form the government for us. I said, no, I'm not the one. I don't know anything about it and I don't want to get involved with it.

Gideon Rachman : Who was it who contacted you?
Muhammad Yunus : Students. I don't know these guys. Never heard of them. Never knew them. So I try to convince them you'll find somebody. There are lots of good leaders in Bangladesh, you'll find them. They said, no, no, no, you have to be there. We can't find anybody. I said, try harder. No, we don't have time. I said use at least one day again for my sake, 24 hours later, you can call me back. If it's settled, I'll be extremely happy. They called me back, said no, we tried very hard. It's not possible. You have to come back. So I finally I said, look, you have given lives and can see those pictures, shootings and so on. So much blood have been shed. And you are at the forefront of this. If you have done all of this, probably I should do something against my wishes and it is the time that it has to be done. Government has to reform. Do you agree? I said, yes, I agree. That's it. They didn't say a word.

Two hours later, a nurse from the hospital comes with a bouquet to present to me. I said what is this for? She said you are the prime minister of Bangladesh, we didn't know that. I said, I just talked to these kids. I said, how do you know? She said it's all over the press, all over television. They're saying that you are the prime minister. I said, oh my god, I've heard this news from you. Nobody told me yet. Two hours later, the head of the hospital comes with the board, people with more bouquet greet me, you are the new prime minister. Hospital says you cannot leave until afternoon. So I told the hospital director, now that he is here, they said they are insisting that I have to go. Can you prepare me so that I can travel? He said, of course, you are the prime minister. I have to obey you. So we'll make all the preparations so that you can go safely and give you medication and everything with you. And I think we can make it. And I'll be in touch.

And a few hours later, when morning came, the big detachment of French army came to take me to the airport. And I said, my God, what happened to me? So that is the journey that I have to take. I go to Bangladesh, entire nation waiting for my plane to come. It was a commercial flight. So then they get a new government. So I have to address the nation right at the airport, asking for patience, peace, unity and all those kind of things. So that was the beginning of the whole story.

Gideon Rachman : So you've been in charge. How do you even start? And what have been your priorities? How have you adjusted them?
Muhammad Yunus : First thing, they said you form your cabinet. I said, who do I get? Because you have to take oath. So I've tried to get to my house first. And then I was back to the president palace so that we can all take the oath. In the meantime, I have to find people to form the cabinet and so on. So we're together. So this is very fast track. What do you do? That's the next question. Where do we begin now? Sit down and take a breath and see action one after another.

Gideon Rachman : And now, I mean, fast forwarding to today, what's the top priority?
Muhammad Yunus : Top priority, number one: get the economy moving again. Because the whole economy is devastated. The economy, I don't have to explain to you, you know that. The entire country was kind of a subject of a highway robbery by the people who are running it. They stole everything. Banks are empty because they took the money and taking over the bank is easy on gunpoint. The board was asked to resign and the government had its own people to sit in the board and start issuing loans to people that they want. It was a loan to you, friend, any amount you want. On paper, you'll never have to pay back.

So that's how all the money went. $17bn worth of money from the banking sector was plundered away. These are the facts that we have collected. Overall in the country, $16bn per year on average taken away. So you see the economy, what it is right now. It is an empty shell of an economy. We were worried about the garment industry, which is a mainstay for the economy. So if that goes, we are gone, finished. We are very happy to see the confidence of the buyers. They're still there and the factories are still running. So luckily that they stayed and our export earnings started increasing. Our exports expanded. That made us happy.

Our foreign exchange went down and luckily again, suddenly the remittances came as a saviour for us. Remittances started increasing. Our outstanding payments to be made to our people who supply things, we have to make payments and so on, we bought things from them. We didn't have enough money to pay them. Huge loans taken. Loans are becoming due, we have to pay. So that's a big tension. How do you pay? So this is one part, restoring the economy part of it.

And in the meantime, tell the people what we do from here. So one way we explain that since all the institutions have collapsed, we have to have a reform agenda. So we created 15 different reform commissions - on constitutional reforms, on election procedure reforms, on judiciary reforms, on human rights reforms. Many, many things, the police administration reforms, everything. We gave them 90 days to submit a report. The 90 days are over this month. Some of them needed a week or two weeks extension. We did that. We already have five commission reports in our hand. But it will take two or three weeks more to get all of them together. So our idea is when all the reports are available, we will have a consensus-building commission so that you have so many reports, so many things. So we wanted to have a process of building consensus on which we all agree. Then we will form what we call a July charter, the month of our student uprising. July charter will be the thing which unify the country, unify all our wishes into a charter. Because you all agreed, and you signed the charter. And that will be our historical document that we'll follow then.

How much would be implemented before the election? How much will be done after the election? Whichever the government is coming, their commitment because you are a signatory here and make sure that you follow this pact. So we have announced election dates. One is by the end of this year. And I explain to people that that will not allow us enough time to do all the reforms. Some essential reforms can be done by that time. If you want some more reforms, then we need another six months of time. So you choose whether by the middle of next year or by the end of this year. These are the two choices we give. The politicians want faster track, let's get the election done and then we'll take care of the rest of it.

So this is where we are. And I complained to the global community. I said you have been dealing with this government for all these years. You gave them awards. So what kind of system is it, tell me.

Gideon Rachman : And here in Davos, do you think a lot of the people who facilitated it, the bankers, they're here.
Muhammad Yunus : They're all here. You're dealing with her and praising her for fast growth. These are fake numbers.

Gideon Rachman : Can you get the money back? Do you think there's any chance?
Muhammad Yunus : This is what we're discussing here, how do we get the money back. Because this track is such a crazy thing. You give responsibility to somebody to bring the money back. You wonder whether he will bring the money back to us or give back the money to them. We don't know. So we are trying to find out who do we trust with this huge amount of money going out. They're building houses, building real estate, investing in companies, and putting it in the bank account. One of the things that make news in the UK about Tulip.

Gideon Rachman : Do you think the British government was just naive or do you think they knew what was going on?
Muhammad Yunus : That's a question we ask, ourselves. How can you not know this thing?

Gideon Rachman : You know, Tulip's job was anti-corruption.
Muhammad Yunus : Yeah, she was a minister of anti-corruption. And this is what she did. And the whole family's involved. It is not just Tulip alone. Anybody connected with the family is making lots of money.

Gideon Rachman : And Sheikh Hasina herself is still in Delhi.
Muhammad Yunus : She's in Delhi. And we said, well, you decide what you want to do, because legally you have to repatriate. At the same time, whatever time she spends there, make sure she doesn't talk because she's speaking all the time, attacking Bangladesh, addressing Bangladeshi people. There's a lot of misinformation in the press. Indian government tells us that this is not us, we are not doing it. It's the press doing it, but it's very, very negative. For example, headline would be Yunus is a terrorist. He has been trained in Pakistan. He wants to establish a Taliban regime in Bangladesh. And this Yunus has been sent by Americans. The whole American authority has prepared the whole scenario and put him there.

Gideon Rachman : What's the most important thing you want from the outside world, particularly perhaps the Europeans?
Muhammad Yunus : Europeans have been wonderful. I didn't expect so much warmth in them. They went out of their way to support us. They brought all the ambassadors from Delhi. Most of the European Union ambassadors are located in Delhi, looking after Bangladesh. So we bring all the ambassadors to Dhaka as the European Union. They are committed to do all the things they need. So I cannot expect more than that.

Gideon Rachman : Have you spoken to the IMF and the World Bank?
Muhammad Yunus : We have. And they are very helpful. We have lots of problems, we have not met many of the conditions that were put during the previous regime. We said, sorry, we are not responsible, but we will do our best. Help us to put the economy in a good footing. This is a chance. This is a historical chance. That's what we tell everybody. I genuinely believe that it is a historical chance for Bangladesh, and historical chance for our international friends.

Gideon Rachman : Can I just press you a little bit on the elections thing? It was interesting because we were talking to Syrians. They have the same issue. Do they have elections? And some people said, in theory it's great to have elections quickly. But actually in the Syrian case, big mistake. Don't do it too fast. It can just split the country if you do it too quickly.

Muhammad Yunus : This is a good time because always I'm protecting the unity of the nation. I do not want to depart from that. One of the possibility is the student themselves will form a party. In the beginning when they are forming the cabinet, I took three of the student into my cabinet. I said, if they can give life for the country, they can sit in the cabinet and decide what is that they are giving life for. And they are doing good work. Now the students are saying, why don't you form your our own political party, we'll take a chance. And they said, you have no chance. You don't even get one seat in the parliament. Why? Because nobody knows you. I said the whole nation knows them. Let them take a chance, whatever they want to do. So they will do it.
Maybe in the process of forming party, they will fall apart. That's also a danger because politics is getting in, all the politicians will penetrate into them. So we don't know whether they can remove themselves from the politics that we have in the country. This is the kind of chance we have to take. But the students are ready. They are campaigning. They are organising throughout the country.

Gideon Rachman : Can I put to you that one of the arguments that the Indians make and they say Bangladesh, it's very fragile. Yunus may not be OK, but there are Islamists who are going to take the country over. What do you say to that?

Muhammad Yunus : We don't see such signs. At least I don't see any such signs. Young people are really committed. They have not a touch of ill will or a personal desire to make a political career for themselves. They are joining or creating political party under the circumstances. This is needed because they have to protect the things they have earned by their blood. Otherwise, they will be taken away by all the people who are looking for opportunity to repeat the previous kind of administration and so on. That's our political kind of environment with Bangladesh. So they are trying to protect that. So I would say students will have transparent intentions.

Gideon Rachman : You've obviously got enormous problems you have to deal with. What's the potential of the country there?

Muhammad Yunus : Deal with them. You don't run away with the problem because you have tremendous support internally, globally. What else do you need? Bangladesh will never have this kind of support, global support, probably many, many years from now or never had it before. So that moment we have to capture. Use it to build, as they call new Bangladesh. This is an opportune moment for all of us.

Gideon Rachman : And in terms of economic sectors, you mentioned garments as crucial.
Muhammad Yunus : When I talk to businesspeople, investors, I said, look, Bangladesh is a unique country in a sense of population, the eighth-largest population in the whole world. Tiny little country. All are young people. Our median age is 27, sort of half the population is under 27 years old. Bubbling with ideas, they have technology in their hand. Everybody has a phone. They're international young people, although born and raised in Bangladesh. But their interest, their thinking is completely different and that's why they could do such a thing. I said, this is what Bangladesh is all about. I said, you don't have to invest in Bangladesh, a foreign country. We don't know. You locate your industry in Bangladesh, you run everything, we only work for you. This is your factory. We produce technology-related things. They know all the scope. Give them a chance.

You want to make machinery? Vehicles? Give them a chance. They'll build it for you. We never had any idea about the garment industry. Garment industry was thrown at us, and rural women never see an effect in their life were hired to do that. Didn't know what effect is. Today, 80 per cent of these workers are women coming from the villages and the most skilful, nobody could beat them. They are the second-largest garment industry product in the whole world. So this is what's waiting for you. So all we have to do is to provide you the space. We have the space already designated. You come. If power is a problem, we will solve the power problem because of hydroelectricity in Nepal. It's unlimited capacity. Humanity has given us this opportunity. Clean energy. All you'd have to do is to persuade India to let it come over India.

And we have enormous green energy. We do. And we serve not Bangladesh. We are not talking about Bangladesh. Nepalese young people will be working, Bhutanese people. This will be an economy of Nepal, Bangladesh and eastern India. So I said our future economies, this region, they will be all over Bangladesh. They'll ship their products from Bangladeshi ports. We have a lot of port facilities. We'll have more because we have long shore, with the Bay of Bengal. This is the economy that we are talking about. It will grow just like anything.


LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Foreign investors urge govt action for security
Houses damaged as mortar shell explodes in Munsiganj 
Kashmiris fortify bunkers anticipating India-Pakistan crossfire 
Kashmir attack unites political foes in India, Pakistan 
Five policemen hurt in Feni mob beating 
Number of murders soar with 316 people killed last month: Police HQs 
Actor Siddiq assaulted, handed over to police in city
Petrobangla pays $32m dues to QatarEnergy LNG 
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: [email protected], news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝
close