DHAKA: Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has agreed to be the chief advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh, hours after student protesters proposed his name for the post.
According to a report by The Daily Star, a source quoted Yunus as saying, “When I was contacted on behalf of the students, I didn’t agree at first. I told them I had a lot of work to finish. But the students repeatedly requested me."
Earlier today, student protesters from the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) pushed Yunus’ case for the post, saying, “We have decided that the interim government would be formed in which internationally renowned Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who has wide acceptability, would be the chief adviser.”
Responding to students’ requests, Yunus said, “I also considered that these students had protested so much, they had to pay so much for it.”
“If the students can sacrifice so much, if the people of the country can sacrifice so much, then I also have some responsibility. Then I told the students that I could take the responsibility,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yunus is currently abroad for medical treatment and is expected to return to Bangladesh “as soon as possible.” He also went to Paris at the invitation of the Olympic Committee. Yunus, 84, a respected economist, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but earned the enmity of Hasina, who accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.
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