Bangladesh's Yunus names student leaders in interim cabinet

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus confirmed the country's new cabinet on Friday, shunning the Awami League that has vowed to remain involved in politics.

Cabinet members — who were given the title of advisors, not ministers — were selected in consultation with student leaders, the military, and civil society representatives.

Who will join the interim cabinet?

Two leaders of the group Students Against Discrimination, which led the weekslong protests, were included in the new cabinet.

Nahid Islam will head the country's Telecommunications Ministry, while Nasif Mahmud was chosen to lead the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Prominent rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan, who was sentenced to two years in jail during Hasina's rule, will take the helm of the Ministry of Industries.

Other members of the new cabinet included a former head of Bangladesh's central bank, a former foreign secretary, an environmental lawyer and a retired brigadier general.

The cabinet also includes one member from Bangladesh's minority Hindu community as well as one indigenous person hailing from the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Hasina to return to Bangladesh, son says

The son of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina said she would one day return to Bangladesh.

"For the time being, she [Hasina] is in India. She will go back to Bangladesh the moment the interim government decides to hold an election," Sajeeb Wazed Joy told the Times of India newspaper.

Earlier on Thursday, he told DW: "She has not made any decision to go anywhere at all."

Joy also said the Awami League would remain in Bangladeshi politics.

"If we want to build a new Bangladesh, it is not possible without the Awami League," he said. "The Awami League is the oldest, democratic, and largest party in Bangladesh."

The Awami League does not feature in the new interim government.

World leaders weigh in

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his best wishes to Yunus but also alluded to reports that Hindus had been targeted by violence in the Muslim-majority country in recent days.

"We hope for an early return to normalcy, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities," Modi said on social media.

"India remains committed to working with Bangladesh to fulfill the shared aspirations of both our peoples for peace, security and development."

The prime minister of Pakistan also congratulated Yunus on Friday. The state of Bangladesh came into being in 1972 after a bloody independence war fought between Bengali forces in East Pakistan and the Pakistani military. 

"Wishing him great success in guiding Bangladesh towards a harmonious and prosperous future. I look forward to working with him to deepen cooperation between Pakistan and Bangladesh in the days ahead," Shehbaz Sharif said on social media.

Meanwhile, China also said it had "noted the establishment of an interim government of Bangladesh and welcomes this."

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Beijing had "always upheld the principle of not interfering in other countries' internal affairs" and "respected the development path independently chosen by the Bangladeshi people."

zc/ab (AP, AFP, Reuters)