Close relatives, neighbours and brother-in-law and his family are excited as the celebrity jamai (son-in-law) of this non-descript Paschim Para in Laskar Dighi area (near Raniganj Bazar) in Burdwan town of West Bengal is all set to take charge today of the new interim government in Bangladesh.
Though the neighbourhood in epar Bangla (West Bengal) looked deserted and the black main gate of the in-law’s building remained closed throughout the day, most of them voiced their concern for Bangladesh. The family of younger brother-in-law Ashfaq Hossein, the younger brother-in-law of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has stayed here since a long time in his ancestral house.
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Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner in 2006, is now all set to restore peace in Bangladesh. He arrived from Paris to Dhaka today afternoon and is all set to take charge of the new caretaker government in the next few hours.
Dr Afrozi Yunus, second wife of Muhammad Yunus, hails from Laskar Dighi in Burdwan town and has been born and brought up in this house.
She studied from Class III-X in Municipal Girls School in Burdwan town. She married Mohamad Yunus, when she was a researcher at Manchester University in 1980. She was a professor at Jahangir Nagar University in Dhaka and taught magnetic physics.
His second wife along with their daughter Deena Yunus were present along with Muhammad Yunus when he went to receive his Nobel Prize for peace at Oslo in 2006.
Her younger brother, Ashfaq Hossein, has settled in Burdwan town and his family resides in the house at Laskar Dighi.
Ashfaq Hossian told The Statesman that his younger sister (chotdi) is presently ill and has retired as a physics professor from a University in Dhaka. Recently, he has come back from Dhaka after a heart operation.
“I have huge expectations from our jamai babu (brother-in-law). He should restore peace and prosperity and also cement the strong bonding between the two neighbouring countries. Of our two brothers and two sisters, only didi (Afrozi) and I are still alive while the other two have already passed away,” he added.
He further said that due to illness, his sister has been unable to visit her birthplace since past few years and had planned to provide more funds for development of her alma mater in Burdwan. The last time Muhammad Yunus came to Asansol was by railways from Howrah to Burdwan and he accompanied him though he stayed for a very short period, Ashfaq Hossein added.
However, her neighbours said that they are happy that the ‘parar jamai’, has been entrusted by the agitating students, army and the President to head the interim government and bring back stability.
“We were really happy when we heard his name in the news that he had agreed to return and take charge of Bangladesh. I met Muhammad Yunus several years ago when he had come here and he was very polite and behaved like a thorough gentleman,” said Abdul Rob, a local political leader.
“We have never been to Bangladesh though and Muhammad Yunus has come here a couple of times after his marriage. We wish him success in bringing the country back on its path of progress,” Sheikh Kalimuddin, who is the son of her father’s elder sister.
In 1986, the couple had a daughter, Deena Afrozi Yunus, and they used to stay in a modest three bedroom apartment in the Grameen Bank Headquarters in Dhaka before he resigned as the CEO.
Muhammad Yunus married Afrozi Yunus of Burdwan town after his first marriage failed. He has one daughter from his first wife, who was a Russian and presently resides in the US.
