Bangladesh president holds discussion with key coordinators of students' movement

Bangladesh president Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday, 6 August met with the key coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement at the Bangabhaban to discuss the current situation and the shape of the interim government, media reports said.

Citing one of the coordinators, Bengali language daily Prothom Alo reported that the meeting started on Tuesday evening.

"A group of 13 members of the anti-discrimination student movement is holding a meeting with the President and the three armed forces chiefs at Bangabhaban regarding the current situation and the shape of the interim government," the paper said.

President Shahabuddin earlier in the day dissolved the parliament to make way for the formation of an interim administration.

Officials said a full-fledged interim government is expected to be announced later Tuesday.

In a video posted on social media early Tuesday, Nahid Islam, one of the key coordinators of the movement who is also present in the meeting with the president, proposed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of interim government.

He said they have already talked with 84-year-old Yunus, who has agreed to take the responsibility to save Bangladesh.

Yunus is currently out of the country but welcomed the ouster of Hasina’s regime, describing the development as the “second liberation" of the country. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his anti-poverty campaign through the Grameen Bank, a mode; which was replicated across continents.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon has urged authorities concerned not to issue a state of emergency in the country.

"There is a buzz about the issuance of a state of emergency. We don't want any government like that of Moeen U Ahmed and Fakhruddin Ahmed. No one, including students, wants the state of emergency. They will not accept the state of emergency. They will even protest if any initiative is taken to issue the state of emergency," he said.