Inside Muhammad Yunus-Led Bangladesh Interim Government: Who Are Its Key Members

Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, days after student-led protests ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.

The 84-year-old was sworn in as the chief advisor – a position equivalent to prime minister. He swore to “uphold, support and protect the constitution”, in front of political and civil society leaders, generals and diplomats at the presidential palace in the capital Dhaka.

More than a dozen members of his cabinet — given the title of advisers, not ministers — also took the oath. The caretaker administration is a civilian team, bar one retired brigadier-general.

Bangladesh Interim Government Members

A 16-member council of advisers was announced in the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, which will lead the crisis-stricken Bangladesh for a certain period and oversee the election to transition power to an elected government.

Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, women’s rights activist Farida Akhtar, right-wing party Hefazat-e-Islam’s deputy chief AFM Khalid Hossain, Grameen Telecom trustee Nurjahan Begum, freedom fighter Sharmeen Murshid, chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board Supradip Chakma, Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy and former foreign secretary Touhid Hossain are also among the advisory council members.

Besides Md Nazrul Islam, Adilur Rahman Khan, AF Hassan Ariff, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Supradip Chakma and Farooq-e-Azam, the group also included two top leaders of the Students Against Discrimination group that led the weeks-long protests against the Sheikh Hasina government, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, 

Violent Protests In Bangladesh

The new interim government was formed after the country witnessed weeks of violence and clashes, forcing Sheikh Hasina, a five-time prime minister, to resign and flee to India on Monday.

Trouble had been brewing in Bangladesh since before the January 7 elections, which was won by Ms Hasina’s Awami League in a landslide, but the electoral exercise was widely seen as being far from free and fair.

A fresh wave of protests led by students began in June – in which over 450 people have been killed so far –  after a Bangladeshi high court reinstated 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for family members of freedom fighters and veterans from Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence. 

The quota was later scaled back by the country’s Supreme Court but Ms Hasina’s handling of the protests and her alleged use of an offensive label for the protesters infuriated students. 

Protests continued with students demanding that Ms Hasina step down and clashes between agitators and the police left over 100 dead and dozens injured across the country on Sunday. A day later, lakhs of students flooded the streets and headed towards the prime minister’s official residence, Ganabhaban, forcing Ms Hasina to resign and flee to India.