Dr. Muhammad Yunus to remain a ‘VIP’ for one year

The government has declared Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the outgoing interim administration, as a “Very Very Important Person” (VVIP) for a period of one year starting from the date of the transfer of responsibilities.

As a result of this designation, he will remain under the stringent security coverage of the Special Security Force (SSF) during the specified period.

This information was given in a government gazette notification published on February 10. The gazette said that he has been given this status as per Section 2(a) of the Special Security Force Act, 2021.

The issue of giving VVIP status to the chief advisor after leaving office is not new in Bangladesh. The then chief advisor was given a similar status in 2006. At that time, under the ‘Special Security Force Ordinance, 1986’, there was a provision to declare the President, Prime Minister and the chief advisor of the non-partisan caretaker government as ‘VVIP’ for a maximum of three months after leaving office.

While the security and dignity was effective for three months during the 2006 gazette, the new gazette of 2026 has set the time limit for Dr. Muhammad Yunus for one year.

The new order, signed by Secretary Md. Saifullah Panna on the orders of the President, will come into effect immediately.