Student leaders issue appeal, demand 'new Bangladesh' under Nobel laureate Yunus

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) Amid ongoing protests in Bangladesh, student movement leaders Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmood, and Abu Bakar Majumdar released a video message on Tuesday, demanding that Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus be given the role of advisor to the interim government.

In a video appeal, Nahid Islam urged fellow student leaders and members to remain vigilant against an alleged conspiracy aimed at discrediting their movement.

He accused the mobs of targeting Hindu communities in Bangladesh, engaging in looting and vandalism.

He urged his supporters to remain alert and requested the current President to appoint Yunus as the advisor to the interim government.

Islam revealed that the students’ union already had a conversation with Yunus, who agreed to support their call for a ‘new Bangladesh.’

The student leaders have rejected any government led by the military and urged the President to swiftly establish a new government and restore law and order in the country.

Nahid Islam is currently a student in the Sociology Department at Dhaka University and is known for his work as a human rights activist.

He serves as one of the national coordinators for the 'Students Against Discrimination Movement’, a student-led protest demanding reforms to the quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh.

On the other hand, Yunus also criticised former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country, stating that the nation was under a form of slavery during her regime.

He described Sheikh Hasina’s rule as tyrannical, asserting that people were feeling free for the first time.

During the Awami League’s rule, 190 cases were filed against Yunus. He accused Hasina of ruining her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's legacy and justified the current unrest, asserting that the students and youth involved were acting out of frustration.

Yunus expressed the hope that these students would lead the country in a positive direction.

He also criticised former PM Hasina for manipulating elections and creating a political environment where answering to the people was difficult.