Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the chief advisor, was sworn in on Thursday evening by President Mohammed Shahabuddin. This came just three days after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government, which was ousted by student-led anti-quota protests that grew into a mass movement and forced her to leave the country. Yunus will be supported by a 16-member advisory council in this caretaker government. Among the members are Asif Mahmud and Nahid Islam, two key organizers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The advisory council members are:
- Syeda Rizwana Hasan
- Farida Akhtar
- Adilur Rahman Khan
- AFM Khaled Hossain
- Nurjahan Begum
- Sharmeen Murshid
- Faruk-e-Azam
- Nahid Islam
- Asif Mahmud
- Salehuddin Ahmed
- Prof Asif Nazrul
- Hasan Arif
- Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain
- Supradip Chakma
- Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy
- Touhid Hossain
Three members – Chakma, Roy, and Azam – were absent from the ceremony as they were outside Dhaka, according to The Daily Star. The oath-taking event took place at Bangabhaban, the official residence and primary workplace of the President of Bangladesh, located in the capital.
