Mohammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s Only Nobel Laureate, Sworn In As Interim Govt’s Head As Army Eyes Return Of Normalcy

Bangladesh News: Economist and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as the chief advisor to the interim government of strife-torn Bangladesh on Thursday evening. This came just hours after his arrival in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, following medical treatment in Paris. Yunus, along with 16 other members of the caretaker government, was administered the oath of office by President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

"The country has the possibility of becoming a very beautiful nation," he told reporters at Dhaka airport, where he was greeted by senior military officers and student leaders. The 84-year-old economist's name for the crucial post in the interim government was endorsed by the student leaders who led the agitation that resulted in the fall of Sheikh Hasina's regime earlier this week.

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'WHATEVER PATH OUR STUDENTS...'

The interim government has been tasked with holding elections for a new leader. "Whatever path our students show us, we will move ahead with that," Yunus said at the airport. "We had ended those possibilities, now again we have to rise up. To the government officials here and defence chiefs - we are a family, we should move ahead together," he added.

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Yunus is an arch nemesis of Hasina, whose Awami League party does not figure in the interim government. She resigned in the wake of a mounting unrest that saw about 300 people being killed and thousands others being injured in the weeks leading up to Monday (August 5). The student-led protests started off as demonstrations against a controversial government job quota before morphing into a massive anti-government agitation.

(With inputs from Reuters)