Want Good Relation With India But It Should Be Based on 'Fairness, Equality:' Yunus

Dhaka: Bangladesh 's interim government chief Dr Muhammad Yunus, on Wednesday, asserted that his country wanted good relations with India and other neighbouring nations but it should be based on fairness and equality.  

In a televised address, Yunus said after he took oath as the head of the administration, he received congratulatory calls and messages from different heads of government who promised to enhance bilateral relations with Bangladesh .

"India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan 's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were among the heads of government with whom I communicated by telephone," he said.

"We want good relations with India and other neighbouring nations, but the relations must be based on fairness and equality," the Chief Adviser said.

The 84-year-old Nobel laureate took oath as the head of the interim government on August 8 after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India following widespread protests against her government.

Yunus said Bangladesh has already started "high-level" talks with India for bilateral cooperation on flood management.

"I have also taken the initiative to revive SAARC to enhance regional cooperation in South Asia,” he said.

SAARC comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh , Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"We want the world to recognise Bangladesh as a respected democracy," he said.

Yunus said the interim government has taken steps to form six commissions to overhaul in six key sectors, including the electoral system, in a bid to reform Bangladesh .

The other sectors are police administration, judiciary, anti-corruption commission, public administration, and the constitution.

The commissions are expected to start their functions from October 1 and they are expected to complete their work within the next three months, Yunus said.

Underlining that the core aim of the reforms is to ensure equal rights for all, he said, "We have a lot of work ahead of us. We want to move forward together toward the same goal. We want to create a structure that enables the untapped talents within us, especially within our new generation, to be expressed without obstacles, with the support of the state and society." Yunus dedicated several paragraphs of his speech paying tributes to those killed or injured in the mass protests that led to the ouster of the Hasina government.

“I recall those who embraced deaths standing like Himalayas in front of (police’s) lethal weapons to protest injustice, received wounds or lost their eye sights," he said, promising to rehabilitate the families of the victims.

But at the same time, Yunus made an ardent call “not to take laws in one’s own hand” and warned that anyone doing so will have to face punitive actions. He also asked everyone to maintain communal harmony in the country.

“We are a country of communal harmony. None of you must do anything in any way which can affect religious harmony,” Yunus said.

Slamming the previous “facist” government of Hasina and its “tyranny, misrule, corruption”, he announced that the deposed premier’s official Ganobhaban residence will be turned into a museum as a mark of the “centre-point of autocracy”.

The Ganobhaban became the focal point of public fury after Prime Minister Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana fled Bangladesh with military support, with an enraged mob inflicting extensive damage on the building in the hours that followed.

Yunus, however, also appreciated the armed forces for standing by the people’s side instead of the "tyrannical" government and protecting the country’s sovereignty.

He also praised their acts in maintaining law and order during the chaotic situation and also their role during the recent unprecedented flooding in the northeastern, eastern and northwestern region of the country.

Yunus said his government recently signed an UN convention against enforced disappearance. He said his government has already formed a commission to investigate incidents of enforced disappearance during the past 15 years of the "fascist rule, shutting down all secret jails dubbed as 'aina ghar'".

Multiple media outlets have reported that numerous individuals, including former military officers, who held dissenting views, were abducted by plainclothes agents and detained for years in secret facilities without their families' knowledge. Although some were released after the collapse of Hasina's regime, many remain unaccounted for, and are feared to have died or been killed while in captivity.

Yunus further said the restoration of a “destroyed public administration” system was his major but most challenging achievement in the past one month as it required a thorough restructuring through removing and appointing officials at the top positions to fulfil people's will.

At the same time, he said restoring order in the economic system remained as a major challenge for the country while “we took initiatives to bring back the money which were looted and smuggled abroad” as well as formed a banking commission to re-establish discipline in the banking sector.

“We have just done major works in the first month, many more remains to be done,” Yunus said, adding controlling the unprecedented inflation was one such major task.

He said to stabilise Bangladeshi currency Taka against US dollar, the foreign exchange rate was made market-based and “enethical permission” for whitening black money was withdrawn.

Yunus said the country’s forex reserve is in a poor condition and budget support has been sought from development partners to enhance the reserve.

“Requests have been made to reduce the interest rates on loans from Russia and China alongside extension of the repayment period...an additional USD 3 billion has been sought from the International Monetary Fund, and additional USD 1 billion each from the World Bank and JICA,” he said.

Yunus said the national revenue authorities were asked to consider reducing taxes on essentials to reduce pressure on consumers alongside expanding safety nets for most vulnerable people.

“In line with the peoples’ expectations, all ongoing negotiations, project selection process and procurement process in power, energy and mineral resources sector have been halted temporarily...in the past one-and-a-half decade, tens of millions of taka was looted from the sector using a law,” Yunus said.

The interim government chief said his administration is in line with the task entrusted to them by the people who want to carry on reforms “but my ardent request to you (people), don’t take the spectators gallery, giving us the heavy duty”.

“Be with us. We will carry on the reform works together. A nation’s reform cannot be done with the reform of the government alone. If you are a businessman, bring reform to your business...If you are a labourer, do the required reform in your field...if you are a political leader or activist, do the reform in your field. I appeal all to take it as an opportunity as we want to proceed afresh through reforms,” he said.

Yunus, however, gave no deadline on the tenure of his government but said after massive sacrifices by millions a "fascist government" was ousted, simultaneously warranting a national reform with its centre point being introduction of a proper electoral system and good governance.

“I will not tell you to keep patience at all. We all became impatient pondering when all these tasks will be finished...but we will have to work correctly, we will keep no mark of impatience in our works,” he said.

(with PTI inputs)