Two from Bangla interim govt started career in Kol
Times of India | 10 August 2024
Kolkata/Dhaka: Former Bangladeshi foreign secretary Mohammad Touhid Hossain, who was on Friday entrusted with the charge of the foreign ministry in the Muhammad Yunus-headed interim govt, had started his diplomatic career in Kolkata. A F Hassan Ariff, who will look after local government now, had also started his career as a lawyer in the Calcutta High Court.
Hossain was the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata from 2001 to 2005 and served as the foreign secretary of Bangladesh from 2006 to 2009. Restoring law and order was the key priority of the interim govt of Bangladesh at the moment, other things would be back on track once the first goal was achieved, foreign affairs adviser Hossain told reporters. Bangladesh needed to have good relations with all the countries, the UNB news agency quoted Hossain. “We want to keep good relations with all. We need to maintain a balance of relations with the big countries,” Hossain said, without naming any country.
Till last report came in, He had not responded to a detailed query that TOI sent him on the India-Bangladesh relations.
Like Hossain, Ariff began his career at the Calcutta High Court in 1967. After that, in 1970, he moved to Dhaka and began working as a lawyer at the high court there.
Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as the chief adviser—a position equivalent to that of a prime minister of a country. Other advisers were selected in consultation with student leaders, the military, and civil society representatives. According to an official announcement, Yunus will oversee a broad array of ministries, keeping to himself 27 portfolios, including that of the defence, public administration, education, energy, food, water resources and information.
Two coordinators of Students Against Discrimination inducted in the interim cabinet, M Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, were given the charge of telecommunications and information technology and youth and sports ministries respectively.
The group had launched the street movement to reform the quota system for govt jobs last month that later escalated into a public upsurge, leading to the ousting of Sk Hasina’s 15-year regime. The interim govt was formed, reportedly backed by the military.