Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today urged the international community to continue and deepen engagements with Bangladesh to help meet its people’s quest for democracy, rule of law, equality and prosperity so that it can emerge as a just and inclusive democratic society.

“I call upon the international community to engage with ‘new Bangladesh’ anew that aims to realise freedom and democracy, beyond letters, for everyone,” he said while addressing the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) here.

Delivering his speech in Bangla, the chief adviser of the interim government said the country’s youth and commoners together entrusted him and his council of advisers with enormous responsibilities to reconstruct a decaying state apparatus.

“As we took to the office, to our utter shock and dismay, we discovered how endemic corruption turned a ‘functioning democracy’ into a farce, how key institutions were ruthlessly politicised, how public coffers were reduced to rubble, how oligarchs took over business, how ‘chosen few’ concentrated wealth in their hands and amassed and laundered wealth out of Bangladesh,” he said.

In all, justice, ethics and morality, almost at every level, reached a low, he added.

Under such circumstances, Prof Yunus said, his government was asked to rebuild Bangladesh and give back the country to the people, while it was also asked to correct the ills of the past and build a competitive and agile economy, and a just society.

In a drastically changed scenario, he said, all political parties are now free to voice their views and opinions.

A key priority for his government is to make all in public positions and institutions accountable for their decisions and actions, he added.

“We are committed to promote and protect the fundamental rights – for people to speak in freedom, to assemble without fear or inhibition, to vote whosoever they choose, to uphold the independence of the judiciary and freedom of press, including in the cyber domain,” the chief adviser said.

He said the government prioritises allocation in education and health sectors instead of grandiose infrastructure development so that children of a farmer or worker can scale the highest in the society. “We also aim at ensuring good governance, across all sectors.”

The 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate assured that his government will adhere to all international, regional and bilateral instruments that Bangladesh is party to. “Bangladesh will continue to remain an active proponent of multilateralism, with the UN at the core,” he added.

He said Bangladesh is open to nurture friendly relations with all countries based on mutual respect, upholding its dignity and pride and shared interests.

About the reform agendas, Prof Yunus said his government has initiated several actions in just seven weeks of assuming power.

Responding to the request of the Bangladesh government, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has dispatched a Fact-Finding Mission to probe the gross human rights violations during the recent student-people movement and to suggest for sustainable course correction, he said.

He informed that this mission has already started work on the ground in Bangladesh and expressed his deep appreciation to High Commissioner Volker Turk to this end.

Referring to the enforced disappearances took place in Bangladesh, the chief adviser said his government acceded to ‘the International Convention for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance’ within two weeks in office.

Formulation of the required national legislation is underway so that “we can effectuate its early implementation”, he said, adding that an Inquiry Commission has started probing into all the cases of enforced disappearances reported during the past decade and a half.

“In order to restore people’s trust and confidence, and to ensure that the tragic past never recurs in future Bangladesh, we have initiated reforms in certain prioritised sectors.

“In that direction, we launched independent commissions to reform electoral system, constitution, judicial system, civil administration, law and order sectors. A few more commissions are on the cards to reform other sectors, including press and media,” Prof Yunus said.

Affirming not to let any foreign business interest to be affected, he said the government rolled out extensive reforms in banking and financial sectors to create a conducive environment for business.

“Beyond rhetoric and numbers, we aim to establish effective safeguard mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of these reforms and create an enabling environment towards conducting free, fair and participatory elections,” the chief adviser said.

About the student-led revolution that paved the way to build a new Bangladesh free from discrimination, Prof Yunus said he stood in this assembly of nations thanks to an epochal transformation that Bangladesh witnessed this July and August.

“The ‘power of the ordinary people’, in particular our youth, presented to our nation an opportunity to overhaul many of our systems and institutions,” he said.

“The uprising led by the students and youth was initially aimed at ending discrimination. Progressively the movement evolved into a people’s movement. The world eventually saw how people-at-large stood against autocracy, oppression, discrimination, injustice and corruption, both on the streets and online,” he told the audience at UNGA.

The chief adviser said the country’s people, particularly youth, gained independence from an autocratic and undemocratic regime with their exceptional resolve and capability.

“That collective resolve should define Bangladesh of the future and place our nation as a responsive and responsible State in the comity of nations,” he added.

This was indeed a movement that primarily brought together people who were long left in politics and development and those who asked ‘prosperity’ to be shared, he said, adding that the people aspired for a just, inclusive and functioning democracy for which new generations made supreme sacrifice.

“We were moved by the wisdom, courage and conviction our youth showed. Even braving bullets, bare chest. Young girls were fiercely vocal against the illegitimate State power. School-going teenagers laid down their lives. Hundreds lost their eyes, forever,” Prof Yunus said.

Mentioning that mothers, day labourers and scores of people across cities lent their shoulders for their children, he said defying sweat, rain and fear of death, they defeated all the evil designs and machinations of the few who manipulated the state machinery against truth and just aspirations of people for years.

He said the student-people movement left an estimated over 800 martyrs in the hands of the autocratic regime.

“Bangladesh was born because of her people’s profound belief in liberalism, pluralism, secularism. Decades later, our ‘Generation Z’ is making us re-visit and re-imagine the very values that our people Bangladesh stood for back in 1971. As our people also did in 1952, to defend our mother language, Bangla,” the Nobel Laureate said.

He said they believe, the ‘monsoon revolution’ that the world witnessed in Bangladesh in the span of a few weeks may inspire many across communities and countries to stand for freedom and justice.

About global peacekeeping, he said Bangladesh views that maintaining peace and addressing conflicts is central to peoples’ progress.

“During the recent Revolution, our valiant armed forces have once again shown their commitment to peace by standing firmly with the people in fulfilling their aspirations for freedom during a most difficult time in our history,” he said.

Prof Yunus said, “This was possible thanks to our commitment to place human rights at the core of peacekeeping”.

“Bangladesh remains equally committed to peace-building, from the inception of the UN Peace-building Commission. We look forward to promoting and enhancing Bangladesh’s value-driven contributions to the UN peace-keeping operations,” he added.

As the third largest troop contributing country to the UN peacekeeping, he said, Bangladeshi peacekeepers had served across 63 Missions in 43 countries, to date.

“168 Bangladeshi peacekeepers had laid their lives, from Bosnia to Congo. We do hope that Bangladesh defense forces would continue to be called upon in the future UN peace operations, regardless of the challenges or circumstances,” the chief adviser said.