B’desh interim leader Yunus urges people to emulate student leader Abu Sayed stood during anti-govt protests

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Saturday urged the people of the violence-hit country to emulate the way student activist Abu Sayed stood valiantly during the anti-government demonstrations that led to the toppling of Sheikh Hasina’s government.

Sayed, 25, of Rangpur’s Begum Rokeya University, was among the first protesters to be killed in police firing on July 16 during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

Bangladesh recently witnessed violent clashes between the police and mostly student protesters demanding an end to a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

The 84-year-old Nobel laureate, who was sworn in on Thursday as the head of an interim government, met with Sayed’s family members in Rangpur’s Pirganj upazila, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

“We have to stand the way Abu Sayed stood… Abu Sayeed’s mother is everyone’s mother. We have to protect her, protect her sisters, protect her brothers. Everyone has to do it together,” he told reporters after meeting Sayed’s family.

Younus’s first task is to bring stability to Bangladesh after he responded to a call by student protesters for him to temporarily lead the country. Yunus is a longtime critic of Hasina, who fled to India following the political turmoil in Dhaka.

Yunus said that the responsibility of building a new Bangladesh is for every Bangladeshi.

“We will remember him (Abu Sayed) through this. Therefore, we should ensure that we do the work (needed),” he said.

“Abu Sayed is no longer a member of just one family. He is the child of all families in Bangladesh. The children who will grow up and attend school and college will know about Abu Sayed and will say to themselves, ‘I too will fight for justice.’ Abu Sayed is now in every home,” Yunus added.