Staff Reporter:
The interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus was sworn-in on Thursday night. A total of 13 advisors also took oath but three advisors will take oath later. President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath.
Profiles of the 16 Advisors
1. Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed
Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed is a distinguished economist and served as the 9th Governor of the central bank of Bangladesh. He assumed the role of Governor on 1 May, 2005, after Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed stepped down, and held the position until 30 April, 2009.
He was born in the village of Srirampur (Darishrirampur) in Nabinagar Upazila of Brahmanbaria district. Dr. Ahmed completed his SSC from Dhaka Collegiate School in 1963 and his HSC from Dhaka College in 1965, both in the science stream. In 1968, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Economics from the University of Dhaka and completed his Master’s in Economics in 1969 from the same university. In 1970, he joined the University of Dhaka as a Lecturer in Economics. Later, he joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) cadre in the central administration of then Pakistan. In 1978, he earned his Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
2. Dr Md Asif Nazrul
Asif Nazrul was born on 12 January, 1966. He is a writer, novelist, political analyst, constitutional expert, and columnist. He is also a professor in the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka.
Asif Nazrul completed his undergraduate degree in 1986 and his postgraduate degree in 1987, both from the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka. In 1999, he earned his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. Later, he received a post-doctoral fellowship from the Environmental Law Center in Bonn, Germany. He has also worked as a Commonwealth Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies.
3. Adilur Rahman Khan
Adilur Rahman was born on 23 December, 1952. He is a human rights activist and the founder of the human rights organisation, Odhikar. He is also a lawyer and a former Deputy Attorney General of Bangladesh. Adilur studied law at the University of Dhaka. He was appointed as Deputy Attorney General by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami government.
4. Hasan Arif
Hasan Arif is a lawyer and former Attorney General of Bangladesh. He also served as an advisor to the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed. He was born in 1941 in Kolkata. He completed his secondary and higher secondary education at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, and obtained his bachelor’s degree and LLB from the University of Calcutta.
5. Md Touhid Hossain
Touhid Hossain was born on 1 February, 1955. He is a former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh and has also served as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to South Africa. Touhid completed his postgraduate degree in History from the University of Dhaka. He joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1981.
6. Syeda Rizwana Hasan
Rizwana Hasan was born on 15 January, 1968. She is a lawyer and environmental activist who received the “Environmental Award” from the Ministry of Forest and Environment. She is also the first Bangladeshi to receive the prestigious “Goldman Environmental Prize” and was recognised as one of the “Heroes of the Environment” by Time magazine in 2009.
7. Md Nahid Islam
Nahid Islam is one of the key coordinators of the Quota Reform Movement. He played a prominent role in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and called for the resignation of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as part of their non-cooperation program. Nahid was born in 1998 in Dhaka. His father is a teacher, and his mother is a housewife. He has a younger brother. Nahid completed his higher secondary education from Government Science College and is currently studying Sociology at the University of Dhaka.
8. Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan
Asif Mahmud is one of the key coordinators of the Quota Reform Movement. He was actively involved in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and called for the resignation of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as part of their non-cooperation program.
9. Brigadier General (retd) Dr M Sakhawat Hussain
Sakhawat Hossain was born on 1 February, 1948. He is a former Election Commissioner of Bangladesh, serving from 2007 to 2012. He is also a retired Brigadier General of the Bangladesh Army.
10. Supradip Chakma
Supradip Chakma is a former diplomat and served as the Chairman of the Hill Tracts Development Board. He was born in 1961 in Komolchhari, Khagrachari. Chakma studied Marketing at the University of Dhaka and joined the civil service through the 7th BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service). He has served as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Mexico and Vietnam.
11. Farida Akhter
Farida Akhter is a writer, researcher, and activist. She is the Executive Director of UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternatives), a non-governmental organisation.
12. Bidhan Ranjan Roy
Professor Bidhan Ranjan Roy completed his SSC from Sunamganj Government Jubilee High School in 1979 and his HSC from Dhaka College in 1981. He earned his MBBS degree from Sir Salimullah Medical College in 1988. He served as the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Before that, he was the Head of the Psychiatry Department at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
13. AFM Khalid Hossain
Abul Faiz Muhammad Khalid Hasan, commonly known as Dr. AFM Khalid Hasan, was born on 2 February, 1959. He is a Bangladeshi Sunni Deobandi Islamic scholar. He has served as the former Naib-e-Ameer of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, the Education Advisor of Islamic Movement Bangladesh, the Editor of At-Tawhid, the Assistant Editor of Balagush Sharq, and is a guest lecturer in the Department of Quranic Sciences and Islamic Studies at International Islamic University Chittagong.
14. Nurjahan Begum
Nurjahan Begum is a former Managing Director and Chairman of Grameen Bank. She was a student at Chittagong University. She was one of the key collaborators of Dr. Yunus at the beginning of the Grameen Bank project in 1976. She played a crucial role in organising and training poor rural women at the grassroots level for Grameen Bank. Additionally, she served as the Managing Director of Grameen Education, a non-profit educational institution associated with the Grameen family.
15. Sharmeen Murshid, civil society activist.
16. Farooq E Azam
Farooq was the deputy commander of the operational team formed for “Operation Jackpot,” the only coordinated military operation of the great Liberation War. This operation was aimed at attacking the Chittagong Port.
