Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has agreed to a call by students in Bangladesh for him to be chief adviser to an interim administration promised by the military following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister.
“When the students who sacrificed so much are requesting me to step in at this difficult juncture, how can I refuse?” Mr Yunus said.
Mr Yunus, who is in Paris at the moment, will head back to Dhaka shortly, Lamiya Morshed, the executive director of the Yunus Centre, told the BBC.
Bangladeshis are waiting to see what unfolds, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country
Parliament was dissolved on Tuesday – a key demand of student protest leaders, who have also said they will not accept a military-led government
The country’s army chief has promised an interim government and said new elections will be announced.
Huge crowds stormed Hasina’s official residence in Dhaka on Monday, and there was looting and disorder in the capital, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people – overtaking Sunday as the deadliest day of violence
Hasina is in India, but it is unclear where she might end up more permanently.
The student protests began in July with calls to abolish civil service job quotas, but spiralled into demands for Hasina to quit after 15 years in power
