Bangladesh's interim leader appeals for unity amid attacks on Hindus

Retaliation against country’s minority community after PM’s ouster sparks fear

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Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus appealed for religious unity on Aug 10 as he embraced the weeping mother of a student shot dead by police, a flashpoint in mass protests that ended Ms Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule.

Dr Yunus returned from Europe this week to helm a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of ending disorder and enacting democratic reforms.

"Our responsibility is to build a new Bangladesh," the 84-year-old Nobel laureate told reporters.

Several reprisal attacks against the country's Hindu minority since the toppling of autocratic former premier Ms Hasina have caused alarm in neighbouring India as well as sparked fear at home.

"Don't differentiate by religion," Dr Yunus said.

He called for calm during a visit to the northern city of Rangpur by invoking the memory of Mr Abu Sayeed, the first student slain during July's unrest.

"Abu Sayeed is now in every home. The way he stood, we have to do the same," he added. "There are no differences in Abu Sayeed's Bangladesh." Mr Sayeed, 25, was shot dead by police at close range on July 16 at the start of a police crackdown on student-led protests against Ms Hasina's government.

His mother sobbed as she clung to a visibly emotional Dr Yunus, who had come to pay his respects alongside members of the "advisory" Cabinet now administering the country.

Fellow Cabinet member Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old sociology graduate who led the protests that culminated in Ms Hasina's ouster, wept by the leader's side.