6th August 2014, Dhaka.
On Monday, Bangladeshi Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman spoke to the nation. He said he was taking full responsibility for forming an interim government after Prime Minister Hasina resigned. Economist Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize winner, is the new transitional leader.
The new government will have members from all major political parties, Zaman said. He added that the country has suffered a lot with a damaged economy and many deaths. He hopes his speech will help improve the situation.
Zaman asked protesters to give the military time to calm things down and to go home peacefully. There are no plans for a curfew or state of emergency right now. Some protest leaders said they will not accept military rule.
Since early June, riots in Bangladesh have killed at least 93 people, including 14 police officers. Thousands more, including over 1,100 police officers, have been injured.
The unrest started due to changes in the government’s job recruitment system. It quickly turned into large anti-government protests. Western media called them “pro-democracy” protests, but India and China, which support Bangladesh joining the BRICS+ bloc, are wary.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina served from 1996-2001 and again from 2009. She has had strained relations with the United States. In April, she criticized US foreign policy in Muslim-majority countries under the guise of democratization.