On the occasion of the 100 days of the interim government, the Chief Adviser addressed the nation. Muhammad Yunus. He gave a speech on Sunday (November 17) at 7 pm.
Here is the Chief Adviser’s speech to Time News readers:
Dear countrymen, children, teenagers, young people, students, elderly, old, men, women, I greet everyone.
Assalamu Alaikum,
At the beginning, I remember the millions of martyrs of the liberation war and all the martyrs who were killed in the uprising of student workers against fascism in July-August. My best regards and respect to all. Remembering also those who were injured, maimed, blinded, fighting against the fascist forces. Those who stand with nine points, those who stand with one point. Who saved the country from a brutal dictatorship. Gratefully remembering you, your brothers and sisters, your children who participated in this revolution.
We have passed the first 100 days of the interim government. You know what a difficult situation we had to take responsibility for. When the head of the fascist government fled after the unprecedented mass uprising of the students-workers-crowd, the country was temporarily without a government. An alarming situation is created when the police administration is completely inactive at this time. We all have to rebuild this country, which has suffered from dictatorship.
After the July-August Revolution, we got a country that was in chaos everywhere. Law and order forces were placed in front of the people to maintain the dictatorship. During the revolution, about one and a half thousand students and workers were martyred. Our government is collecting data on every death with great care. 19,931 people were injured in this revolution. Arrangements have been made for the injured in various specialized hospitals including 13 hospitals in Dhaka. Every day more and more martyrs are added to the list who have left this world due to the outrage of dictatorship. We will judge every murder. The initiative we have taken to prosecute the July-August murders is progressing well. We will also want the return of the fallen dictator Sheikh Hasina from India.
Not only the July-August murders, we will prosecute all the crimes committed in the last 15 years. Many people have disappeared, murdered during this time.
We have constituted a commission to investigate the disappearance. The head of the commission told me they had received 1,600 missing persons reports as of October. They expect this number to exceed 3,500. Many are afraid to report a missing person to the commission thinking that they may be victimized again by the accused persons. I want to assure you that you should report your complaint to the commission without hesitation. No one can lay hands on you again.
The accounts of the victims that we have received from the members of the Disappearance Commission are very shocking. After the July-August revolution, students wrote their thoughts on the walls of the port city. Those who have gone missing before them, have written on the walls of each hideout, poignant accounts of their suffering. Our hearts are shaken by hearing about their sufferings. We will bring those involved in this to justice. No matter how powerful the accused, no force can spare him. Not only in the country, we have also taken the initiative to prosecute those involved in the disappearances, murders and July-August massacre in the international court. I have already discussed this matter with Karim Khan, the chief strategist of the International Criminal Court.
We have signed the International Convention against Disappearance so that no member of the law enforcement agencies or anyone else can be involved in any such crime including murder, disappearance. You have seen, United Nations High Commissioner for International Human Rights, Falker Turk recently visited Bangladesh. The United Nations extended its cooperation to the investigation of the July-August killings. They have promised to hand over their report to us in the first week of December itself. We have been keeping in touch with them regularly in the investigation of past disappearances. They have offered to increase their manpower in Dhaka to help protect human rights. We have accepted this offer.
Dear Countrymen,
I have said before, and I will say it again, the families of all the martyrs will be rehabilitated in the mass coup. No one will be left out. The government will bear the full cost of treatment of all the injured students-workers-people. A comprehensive list has been prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Health for long-term and expensive treatment of the injured and visitation of the families of the martyrs. Each martyr’s family is being given 30 lakh rupees by the government. Arrangements have been made to bring corneas from Nepal for the treatment of those who have lost their eyesight due to bullet injuries. Those who need it are being sent abroad for treatment by the government. No martyrs and injured student workers of the July coup will be excluded from the medical care and rehabilitation plan. This is the commitment of the interim government.
The “Julai Shahid Smriti Foundation” formed to preserve the memory of the martyrs of this mass uprising has started their work quite maturely. The government has given a grant of 100 crores to this foundation. In addition, an allocation proposal of 5 million USD has been sent to the World Bank through the Department of Economic Relations by the Ministry of Social Welfare to ensure the rehabilitation of the families of the martyrs and the best treatment of the injured in the July-August revolution.
The fallen dictatorship treated the police like party workers. Many of them were forced to participate in the genocide. As a very natural reaction, they have been subjected to public outrage. This reduces their morale a lot. We are trying to bring back the morale of the police and make them work again to maintain law and order. There have been many visible improvements in this regard. The Bangladesh Army has also been given some executive powers to maintain law and order, which has helped visibly improve the situation.
I thank you all, you all have shown immense patience during this difficult time. I thank the leaders of the political parties of the country. They urged their workers to remain calm. He urged that no one indulges in revenge and get involved in violence. All of you have responded to this call. Fascist forces threatened that millions would die in the country if they left power. Despite the complete inaction of the police administration for seven consecutive days, large-scale violence was avoided.
When we took over, Bangladesh was a completely insecure country. Meanwhile, an attempt has been made to spread unnecessary fear among the religious minorities. In some cases they have also been subjected to violence. But all the hype about it was completely exaggerated. What little violence there was was mainly political. But these incidents have been tried to destabilize Bangladesh by covering them with religion. We have handled this situation firmly with the help of all of you.
After two months of our assumption of responsibility, Durga Puja has been celebrated in about 32 thousand puja mandaps in the country. On the occasion of Durga Puja, an additional day holiday was declared by executive order which added many folds to the mood of the festival. We do not have extensive security preparations around Durga Puja. As a result, the Hindu community of the country celebrated their festivals without any disturbance. We are investigating every incident in the few cases where they have been subjected to violence since we came into charge. We have tried our best to ensure that not only the Hindu community, but also the people of the country do not suffer any kind of violence. And he will always try.
As you know, there have been six floods in different parts of Bangladesh this year. With the help of all of you, we have weathered this flood. Bangladesh’s patriotic armed forces have worked shoulder to shoulder with the people to deal with the floods. Over Tk 100 crore has been raised through a World Bank grant of USD 250 million and local donations for flood relief and post-flood rehabilitation.
The floods have caused crop losses in many places, disrupting the supply chain. After the flood, the prices of daily necessities including vegetables have increased in the market. As a result, you suffered. We are trying our best to keep the price of everyday products at affordable level. We have allowed the import of nine and a half million eggs to increase the supply of eggs in the market. Necessary duty exemption has also been given for this. Initiatives have been taken to reduce the violence of middlemen so that egg producers can supply eggs directly to the market.
Some government products are being sold at various spots including the capital so that people can buy agricultural products at low prices. Out of 1 crore low-income family cards, 5.7 lakh have been converted into smart cards through TCB. Due to disruption of rice production due to floods, import duties on rice have been exempted. Various authorities of the government are holding regular meetings with traders to ensure that the supply and prices of daily necessities are normal in the coming Ramadan. We have no secret about product prices. Full information on inflation is being presented to the public. Several policy decisions have been taken to curb inflation, including setting higher interest rates, removing LC limits on grain imports and shortening the supply chain.
Fuel oil prices have been reduced slightly. Initiatives have been taken to increase the supply of gas to industrial plants so that production at the local level is not disrupted and exports are not affected. It has also been decided not to increase the price of electricity and gas by executive order without public hearing. Efforts are being made to stop extortion in the transport sector. We hope it will contribute to reducing the price of products in the market. Arrangements have been made to bring hydropower from Nepal to Bangladesh.
Apart from the day-to-day management of the state, we also have to think about the development of Bangladesh in the future. As you all know, our most important task is to hand over responsibility to an elected government by holding free and fair elections. We have continued our regular communication with political parties. Taking their views on various issues. These views are being reflected to a large extent in the decision-making of the government. Each of their views is being actively taken into account in the ongoing reform process. We hope that the reform commissions will be able to submit their recommendations to the government in due time, by December-January. We will continue to discuss their recommendations with the political parties. We will finalize the reform proposal on the basis of everyone’s consensus.
The question of when the elections will be held is in your mind. We are always on our minds. You have noticed that we have started taking necessary steps to organize elections. The Election Commission will be formed in a few days. From then on all the responsibility of organizing the election will fall on them.
The Election Commission can undertake other tasks, including updating the voter list, which are directly related to a free election. For the first time, the government is working to enable expatriate Bangladeshis to exercise their right to vote through postal ballot.
However, we do not think that our duty to organize elections is over once an Election Commission is formed. Reform in the state system is one of the promises of our government. You have given us this mandate. The six reform commissions that we formed in the beginning have already progressed their activities a long way. You are also seeing updates of their activities in various media. Several reform commissions have formed digital platforms. I request you to continue to express your opinion enthusiastically on this platform.
One of the first six reform commissions was the Electoral Reforms Commission. The recommendations of this commission are very important for conducting elections. Go to their platform. Express your views openly. You own the country. Tell me what you want. how do you want
Feel free to speak your mind about the election. Express everyone’s thoughts. Also tell me about my request reform. Don’t skip reforms. Talk about elections along with reforms in elections and other areas. Reforms are the long-term life force of a nation. Reforms will give the nation, especially our youth, the opportunity to create a new world. Do not deprive the nation.
The opinion of the political parties and all the people of the country is essential in the recommendations of the reform commission in organizing the elections. The commission is the Constitution Reform Commission. The Electoral Act should be amended based on which part of these recommendations will be acceptable to all. In parallel, the process of updating the voter list will continue.
I am not sure how much we will get to implement the reform proposals. But I promise you, we will organize your desired elections after completing some necessary reforms if you give us the opportunity. Till then I request your patience. We would like to create an electoral system that will be followed for ages. As a result, our country will be saved from the political crisis. I am asking you for the necessary time for this. Once the electoral reforms are decided, you will get the election roadmap very soon.
The interim government was created out of a strong desire to bring politics into the framework of policy, and to create a new environment for politics. Do not deprive the nation of fulfilling this desire.
The election train has started. It won’t stop. But we have a lot of work to do as we go along. When this train reaches its final station will depend on how soon we can lay the rail lines for it and that will be through the consensus of the political parties.
In the meantime, discussions will continue on the recommendations of other reform commissions. Additional time may be needed to build consensus on more important reforms beyond elections. We will continue to ask the people, especially the political parties, what reforms you want to do before the elections. Some reforms may take place during the election process. Elections may also be delayed by several months for reforms.
We will leave in two days. But I am calling on everyone regardless of party, men and women, religion, young and old, students, businessmen, workers and farmers to be firm about the historical opportunity that has been created for the nation through us. I hope you will accept my request.
Thousands of prosecutors have been appointed in different districts of the country to speed up the prosecution of other organized crimes in the country. 23 new judges have already been appointed in the High Court. All possible efforts are being made to make the Judiciary free from bribery and corruption.
The Supreme Judicial Council has been reinstated to take systematic disciplinary action against judges. We are trying to protect not only the judiciary, but all sectors of the country from totalitarian corruption. The work of restructuring the Anti-Corruption Commission is almost at its final stage. A list of 150 influential persons accused of corruption and money laundering has been prepared and investigation has started against 79 people. The provision to whiten undeclared assets i.e. black money by paying income tax at the rate of 15 percent has been abolished.
19,084 officers-employees at various levels have been promoted, 13,429 have been transferred and 12,636 have been disciplined to speed up government activities. The constitutional body Public Service Commission has been reconstituted. A policy decision has been made to repeal the infamous Cyber Security Act. The cases under this Act relating to the right of expression of the people have been withdrawn. Also 133 laws, regulations were made and amended and 353 important policy decisions were taken.
According to the demands of the students, the age limit for government jobs has already been increased to 32. We know we have many more demands from you. A lot of anger has accumulated in your mind as a result of long-term misrule, tyranny, lawlessness. As there is no freedom of speech in the country, none of us could express our opinions and demands. We are sympathetic to your every demand. We want to listen to you patiently. But because of that, if you block the road and create public suffering, it will be difficult for all of us. We sincerely request you to maintain specific channels and present your demands.
The garment industry, our major export product, has been in turmoil for the past few days. A number of garment owners who benefited from the fascist regime fled, creating uncertainty over workers’ wages. In many other factories too, workers were deprived of fair wages and other benefits. Workers took to the streets to protest their long-term deprivation and seek relief from uncertainty. We listened to them, brought them to the table. We are very happy that a comprehensive 18-point agreement has been signed between the employer and the workers. We were able to quell labor unrest without any major violence. They are back in production. Bangladesh’s export-oriented industry has also regained its life. In spite of various adversities, our exports have grown by 21 percent in the month of October.
When we started working, the country’s economy was in turmoil. Foreign exchange reserves are at rock bottom. Hopefully, this reserve situation is now improving. In the last three months, we have been able to repay nearly $2 billion in foreign debt without touching our reserves. We have reduced the accumulated arrears in fuel oil import from 478 million dollars to 160 million dollars. We are making every effort to restore the economy. Various donor agencies including the World Bank, IMF have already pledged about $8 billion in loans and grants, which will enable us to mobilize our fragile economy.
The National Board of Revenue is struggling to speed up revenue collection in the fragile economic situation that the deposed government has left us. In spite of this, a quarter of 9 percent growth has been achieved in revenue collection till October from the negative situation in July. The revised budget of the previous financial year had a huge revenue deficit. That is why the target of revenue collection has increased from the beginning. This resulted in a deficit of more than 23 percent against the target, despite a 9 percent increase in revenue in the three months following the fall of the dictatorship. I now encourage online filing of income tax returns to speed up revenue collection.
I also had long meetings with heads of international aid agencies, World Bank, IMF, UNDP, etc. They also expressed their eagerness to help Bangladesh in a new and comprehensive manner. In a private meeting with the Foreign Minister of China, he assured all help from China.
100 days ago, the financial mess we started from — that is now history. In this hundred days, the economy has come to a strong position. It has its own set of rules. Needless to say, the help that has been arranged from our friends has not yet started to arrive. Not only are the friendly countries bringing us huge amounts of aid, but they have also promised me that this aid will start coming as soon as possible. Once this aid starts flowing in, our economy will become a very strong and attractive economy. Foreign investors will also come forward with various investment incentives.
We have already started discussions with investors. We have now reached the status of respected and admired country in the United Nations Assembly of the world. Due to this, the defeated forces are not able to draw attention to them despite using various strategies. They are trying to be your favorite with different looks. Keep yourself free from the conspiracies of defeated powers, keep the country free. Be firm about it. Don’t do anything that encourages them. Disappoint them in every way. If we can confirm that, we don’t need to doubt anything else. On behalf of the government, I assure you that despite all the constraints, we will give you a strong economy, make the future easy, and ensure civil rights. No matter how powerful the opposing force, no matter how outlandish the plan of sabotage — be prepared to thwart it all. Be ready at all times so that no one can take away from us the freedom that we have now achieved.
As you know, the fallen government and its cronies have smuggled 12-15 billion dollars out of the country every year. Anti-corruption organization Transparency International, Bangladesh recently provided this information. We have taken all possible initiatives to bring back this money that has been smuggled. If we succeed in this work, our economy will get more speed. We are taking the help of various international aid organizations in this work.
I also want to thank the world leaders. Almost all of them have extended a helping hand in this critical time of Bangladesh. When I attended the UN General Assembly session in September, I had the opportunity to meet with the heads of government of many countries around the world, including the United States, the European Union, Canada, Italy, Holland, and the UN Secretary General. They have spontaneously pledged their full cooperation to us. I also had meetings with heads of government of several neighboring countries including Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan where I spoke about reviving SAARC.
After returning to the country, the ambassadors of these countries who voluntarily met me in Dhaka reiterated the commitment of their heads of government. They have started a new table of support for us from scratch. All the ambassadors who work in Delhi visited from Delhi. 20 ambassadors from 20 EU countries reside in Delhi. Seven ambassadors of seven countries are in Dhaka. A total of 27 ambassadors, including 20 ambassadors from Delhi, are collectively coming to Dhaka in the next few days to meet with me. Never before have 27 ambassadors of the European Union come together to negotiate with the government. A large number of ambassadors from Delhi did not come to meet together. The purpose of the joint venture is to express the EU’s support and build high-level cooperation in the economic field. Ambassadors of many countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Finland, Singapore, Libya, have already met me. They assured to increase trade and investment along with bilateral cooperation.
We also call upon expatriate Bangladeshis to invest in the private sector in the country. The private sector is at the root of Bangladesh’s economic development and youth employment. The Executive Chairman of our Investment Board has held individual meetings with CEOs, entrepreneurs and investors of more than two hundred private companies. Lack of policy consistency, lack of public-private dialogue, complex bureaucratic processes and above all corruption, have left existing investors in trouble. We have done many things to address the concerns of investors. A true one-stop service has already been launched, an inter-ministerial committee has been formed to solve investment-related challenges. Steps have been taken to carry out the necessary work without coming to the government office through private sector advisory councils and digitization. The Investment Development Agency is updating everyone on our progress on a monthly basis.
We are working for the welfare of expatriates. On my request, the UAE has released 57 convicts and other Bangladeshis. These Bangladeshis protested against fascism at the risk of imprisonment. Bangladeshis have protested like this in many other countries. We are grateful to them.
A few days ago I had a talk with the President of the United Arab Emirates Mr. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Baku. I thanked him on behalf of Bangladesh. He said, I should inform him if any help is needed for Bangladesh. Our government is taking all possible initiatives for the welfare of expatriates. As you know, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently visited Bangladesh. 18,000 Bangladeshis, who could not go to Malaysia due to the mismanagement of the autocratic government despite following all the formalities, he assured to open the doors of Malaysia again for them. We have started working for this purpose.
As you may know, Malaysia is going to take over the chairmanship of Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation Organization (ASEAN) next year. We have already applied for ASEAN membership. The Prime Minister of Malaysia has assured to actively consider our application. We have received similar assurances from Indonesia. Indonesia has requested me to go on a state visit to that country. Many other countries of the world, including Saudi Arabia, have offered to increase cooperation with us. For the first time, we are appointing ambassadors permanently at OIC headquarters. I had a telephone conversation earlier with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This time he and his wife went to the COP29 conference and had a very intimate discussion. He has repeatedly expressed his special support for Bangladesh. A Turkish trade delegation has already visited Bangladesh. Türkiye has announced the establishment of an office of the Turkish Investment Authority (TICA) in Dhaka for the development of economic relations with the country. Through this initiative will be taken to increase Turkey’s investment and trade. For this purpose, a high-powered team is coming to Bangladesh from Türkiye this month.
Dear Countrymen,
New Hajj Package Announced It has reduced the cost of Hajj by more than one lakh rupees. Besides, we have taken this decision that no one will be sent for Hajj this year at government expense.
We have taken the initiative to make new Bangladesh an eco-friendly and bio-diverse country. This is the desire of the youth. We all have desires. Toward that end I have taken a small step first. We have banned the use of plastic water bottles in the entire secretariat. Initiatives have already been taken to stop the use of polythene shopping bags in super shops. We have taken initiatives to stop the amount of river pollution that has occurred in the last few decades
As you all know, how climate change is threatening our way of life. In the last one year, Bangladesh has suffered about 15 natural disasters. We have to fight against these natural disasters in addition to various man-made disasters. I expressed our concerns to world leaders at the climate conference in Azerbaijan. There I have met with the UN Secretary General, many heads of governments of Europe, Asia, Africa. As far as the discussion is possible, I have asked everyone for cooperation in Bangladesh’s progress on the path of democratic transition, including dealing with the adverse effects of climate. They all promised to cooperate
In the last 100 days we have done many other welfare works which cannot be described here in a short scale. Our government believes in transparency and accountability. I have therefore directed all the Government Ministries to publish their respective working details on their websites and social media. I have also told my office the details of all the works of the government so that people can know that necessary steps can be taken.
A master plan is in operation at every moment, globally and in every place of the country, in every institution, to thwart this government, to make it ineffective. One of their major efforts is to create division among us. The leaders of the fallen government who have smuggled huge amount of money out of this country are trying to return to the country after becoming rich with that money. Don’t let them succeed at anything. Their success means the death of the nation. The end of us as a nation. be careful Let us thwart all their nefarious efforts through our unity. The way he thwarted their gunshots. Their mirror room. Every foot in the chain of their iniquity. Everyone should agree on this, stay united. You all will be fine.
My greetings to all the children, teenagers, young people, students, elderly, old men, women of Bangladesh. Assalamu Alaikum. May God Almighty help us. God is Hafez.