From jurist to general & cleric, here's Muhammad Yunus' 16-member team to run Bangladesh

Amid nationwide looting and violence, Bangladesh has finally entered the post-Sheik Hasina era.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took oath as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday evening.

Yunus was selected by the Bangladeshi military and student groups’ leaders that waged the protests against Hasina. He will be joined by 16 more persons in the new de facto cabinet. None of the team-members is a politician even though some of them have served in the government before in executive role.

Following weeks of mass-movement against her 15-year rule which climaxed on Sunday in which nearly 100 people were killed, Hasina resigned on Monday and fled Bangladesh for her life. Shortly after she fled her official residence in Dhaka, mobs stormed it and plundered it.

Since Hasina’s flight from Dhaka, mobs have been running amok in Bangladesh and are going about attacking political rivals of her Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) party and Hindus among other religious minorities. Across the country, the mobs have been attacked homes of Hindus, including prominent public figures, and reports have also emerged of attacks on temples. At least two Hindu councillors have been killed.

The first and foremost challenge of Yunus will be to put a stop on such violence and re-establish order in the country.

Here’s Yunus’ 16-member team

Formally, Yunus holds the designation of Chief Advisor to the interim government and the 16 team-members hold the designation of Advisors.

Of the 16 advisors, only 13 took oath on Tuesday evening along with Yunus, according to Prothom Alo newspaper.

Three advisors could not take oath as they were not in Dhaka, said the newspaper, adding that the appointment of all 16 have, however, been formalised.

Here are the 16 advisors part of Yunus’ team, according to The Daily Star.

1. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
2. Farida Akhtar, Women’s rights activist
3. Adilur Rahman Khan, founder of human rights organisation Odhikar
4. AFM Khalid Hossain, Hefazat-e-Islam nayeb-e-ameer and Islami Andolan Bangladesh adviser
5. Nurjahan Begum, Grameen Telecom trustee
6. Sharmeen Murshid, freedom fighter;
7. Bir Pratik Faruk-e-Azam;
8. Nahid Islam, Dhaka University (DU) student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement
9. Asif Mahmud, DU student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement
10. Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank
11. Prof Asif Nazrul, Dhaka University law professor
12. Hasan Arif, former Attorney General
13. Brigadier General (Retired) M Sakhawat Hossain
14. Supradip Chakma, Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB)
15. Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry
16. Touhid Hossain, former Foreign Secretary

Elections to be held soon, said Yunus

Ahead of taking oath, Yunus had said that elections will be held in the coming months in Bangladesh.

Yunus had said that lasting peace in Bangladesh would only come from elections.

“I am honoured by the trust of the protesters who wish for me to lead the interim government. If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it. The interim government is only the beginning. Lasting peace will only come with free elections. Without elections, there will be no change,” said Yunus to AFP.