Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to head Bangladesh interim govt

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus the chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday, a day after a massive student movement forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee the country. 

The president’s office made the announcement after Shahabuddin met student leaders and chiefs of the three military services, local media reported. 

The other members of the interim government will be finalized after consultations with various political parties,  the president’s press secretary said.

On the orders of the president, several jailed opposition leaders, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia, have been released from prisons.

Yunus, 84, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his anti-poverty campaign through his microcredit organization Grameen Bank, which granted small loans of under $100 to the rural poor of the country. This model was later replicated across the continent and other parts of the developing world. 

Earlier, student leaders who spearheaded the protests against job quotas said they had already spoken with Yunus, who consented to taking over the role.

Yunus, a critic of Hasina’s politics, called her resignation the country’s “second liberation day”. He was in France at the time of the unrest, undergoing a medical treatment, and is soon to return to Dhaka. 

Under Hasina, Yunus faced several corruption accusations and was put on trial. 

Hasina resigned from her post on Monday and fled the country following a massive protest over job quota. She landed in India the same day and is believed to be seeking asylum in London. 

Soon after Hasina fled, army chief General Waker-Us-Zaman said the army was temporarily taking control of the country. In a televised address, the general said that an interim government will be formed soon even as he requested protesters not to “indulge in violence”.

Meanwhile, Hasina, who is reportedly headed West, may stay on in India for a few days. The former Bangladesh premier is exploring options, including Finland and the US, after the UK effectively ruled out asylum for her

Though there were signs of normalcy returning to Dhaka, The Times of India on Wednesday reported unrest in some parts of that country.

Temples, houses and shops belonging to the minority Hindu community were vandalized and an Awami league politician murdered as mobs went on a rampage in 27 districts of the country since Hasina’s ouster, the ToI report said.