Ex-Naval commando, fmr Election Commissioner, and more: Meet Bangladesh’s interim govt

According to the BBC, a meeting between Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin, military leaders and students led to Yunus’s selection as the chief adviser to the government, a role similar to that of the Prime Minister. “The students had been clear they would not accept a military-led government, but wanted Prof Yunus to lead,” the BBC report said.

Here is what we know about members of the interim government.

1. Mohammad Yunus (Chief Advisor)

Yunus will hold key ministries, including the defence ministry, the armed forces division, ministries for education, land, textiles and jute, power, and information and broadcasting, to name a few. The economist and Nobel laureate has shared a frosty relationship with Sheikh Hasina and saw several legal cases lodged against him during her tenure.

2. Dr Salehuddin Ahmed (Finance and Planning Ministries)

Ahmed is a former governor of the country’s central bank, the Bangladesh Bank, where he served between 2005 and 2009. He has previously worked as a civil servant, academician, and advisor to international agencies, such as the UNDP and UNESCO.

3. AF Hassan Arif (Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives)

Enrolled at the Calcutta High Court in 1967, Arif later shifted to Dhaka and became a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court. He was appointed the Attorney General of Bangladesh between 2001 and 2005. Arif has also worked in dispute resolution, and arbitration, and represented clients such as Grameen Phone (a company Yunus founded) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange.

4. Brig Gen Muhammad Sakhawat Hussain (retd) (Home Ministry)

Hussain was commissioned into the army in 1966, when Bangladesh was still a part of Pakistan. From 1981-82, he studied at the United States Command & Staff College (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Later, he served as a Commissioner of the Election Commission of Bangladesh (2007 to 2012).

5. M Touhid Hossain (Portfolio not announced)

Hossain is a former foreign secretary of Bangladesh. He joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1981. From 2001 and 2005, he served as the Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata, and later as the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.

6. Adilur Rahman Khan (Industries Ministry)

Khan began his career as a lawyer and was later appointed to the post of Deputy Attorney General from 2001 to 2007. Since the 1990s, he has also worked as a human rights activist, co-founding the NGO Odhikaar (meaning ‘rights’). In 2022, the government cancelled its license, accusing it of tarnishing Bangladesh’s image, according to an AFP report.

7. Dr Asif Nazrul (Law Ministry)

He is currently a law professor at the University of Dhaka and has worked as a researcher and civil society activist. Nazrul completed his PhD in international law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. As a consultant and advisor, he has worked with the European Union, the Asian Development Bank, and other international organisations.

8. Farida Akhter (Fisheries and Livestock Ministry)

Akhter is a prominent human rights activist and has advocated for biodiversity-based ecological agriculture. Currently, she is the executive director of UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), an NGO formed in 1984 to promote equality, justice, diversity, social rights, and responsibilities. Akhter holds a degree in economics.

9. Sharmeen Murshid (Social Welfare Ministry)

Murshid is the chief executive officer of Brotee, a non-profit organisation that monitors elections and has worked for the rights of marginalised groups and indigenous people since 2001. During the 1971 Liberation War, she was part of a cultural troupe which visited refugee camps and other areas to perform patriotic songs, puppet shows, and stage dramas to inspire people.

10. Syeda Rizwana Hasan (Environment Ministry)

Hasan is an environmentalist and a Supreme Court lawyer. In 2012, she was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for her campaign for environmental justice. Hasan has also been named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time Magazine. Currently, she is the chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), a nonprofit legal organisation formed in 1992 to support efforts to protect the environment.

11. Nurjahan Begum (Health Ministry)

Begum is one of the earliest associates of Muhammad Yunus and helped establish the Grameen Bank Project in 1976. She played a pivotal role in bringing rural women under its fold. After Yunus retired in 2011, Begum became the acting managing director of the bank. She retired the next year and went on to work as an honorary managing director of Grameen Shikkha and as director of several companies under the Grameen umbrella.

12. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder (Portfolio not announced)

Podder is a psychiatrist. He is a director and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Dhaka. He practises in Mymensingh, a city around 111 km from the capital.

13. Faruk-e-Azam (Portfolio not announced)

Azam is a Liberation War veteran. As a naval commando, he participated in the Mukti Bahini attack on Pakistani personnel and assets at Chattogram port as part of Operation Jackpot in August 1971. He was honoured with Bir Pratik, Bangladesh’s fourth-highest gallantry award.

14. AFM Khalid Hossain (Religious Affairs Ministry)

Hossain is a Deobandi theologian. He is a key leader of the far-right Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, an allegedly Saudi-funded Islamist pressure group that led massive street protests in 2013 demanding a more Islamic government, anti-blasphemy law, segregation of genders, etc.

15. Supradip Chakma (Portfolio not announced)

As a career diplomat, Chakma has served in various foreign capitals, including as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Vietnam and Mexico. He is the first ethnic Chakma to rise to the Secretary post in the Bangladesh government. Since July 2023, he has been chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board.

16. Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyian (Youth and Sports Ministry)

Bhuyian is a Master’s student at Dhaka University. He was a key coordinator of the student movement and participated in the 2018 anti-quota protests as well. He is the convenor of the Gonotantrik Chhatra Shakti (formed in October 2023) and alleged he was tortured by police during protests.

17. Nahid Islam (Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology)

A student leader, activist and senior member of the Gonotantrik Chhatra Shakti student organisation, he was a key organiser of the street protests against Hasina’s government. In 2018 too, he participated in the anti-reservation protests. He too allegedly suffered torture by police during the protests.

Source: The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, Dhaka Tribune, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha