Need time to address people’s long grievances: Yunus

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has said that time is needed to address people’s long grievances and the interim government have to resolve it systematically overcoming the difficult situation.

In an exclusive interview with NPR, Muhammad Yunus said that “Look this is 15 years of your grievances. We cannot solve it in 15 days. Give us some time so that we can go back. You have a very difficult situation and we have to resolve it so that it’s done systematically.”

National Public Radio (NPR, stylized as npr) is an American public broadcasting organisation headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, Asked whether he can redirect people to focus on reform rather than revenge, the Nobel Peace laureate said revenge period was only a couple of weeks maybe.

“But then normalcy started coming back so we are running the country. But there are demonstrations, not revenge demonstrations,” he said.

The chief adviser said most of the demonstrations are about demanding their pay rises, demanding their jobs, which they were fired from before by the regime.

“So they said, we are mistreated by the past government and we lost our jobs for nothing – because we happened to belong to another political party,” he said, adding that everybody is trying to settle their scores because they were deprived.

“We were trying to convince them,” Prof Yunus said.

Asked about different options on election time frame, the chief adviser said people are throwing out these numbers - how many months, how many years as they feel are needed.

“Some say it should be done quickly because if you go longer and longer, you’ll be so unpopular and everything will be messed up. Some say no, you have to finish the reform. So you stay this long period because we don’t want to get to Bangladesh 2.0 without fixing everything. So this is the debate going on,” he said.

The questioner said it is almost like he is talking about an entire rebuilding of civil society.

In reply Prof Yunus said, “That’s precisely what version 2 means. We don’t want to go back to the old style. Then what is the meaning of giving all these lives? It has no meaning because everything that we did, we destroyed everything. So we have to begin to build a new one.”

Prof Yunus also said it is very exciting. “You look at the negative. I look at it in a very positive way. I said this is the greatest opportunity this nation got. Never, ever, all these people, the country is unified on one thing: We need change.”

Asked whether he will see Bangladesh become the country that he hoped it will be in his lifetime, Prof Yunus said, “Not the ultimate. But I will be very happy, it’s on the way. Institutions are right. Policies are right.”
He said young people are committed to changing the world that they belong to and they play a role within the country and a global role.

“When we talk about climate change, we are the victims of climate change. But we have to work together,” Prof Yunus said.

The chief adviser said he always gives importance to the youth because they are the ones who will be building the future and they should be in the leadership position anyway, because this is the planet they have to inherit.