Bangladesh on the boil? After Army chief's ultimatum, Muhammad Yunus mulls resignation. Nhid Islam says...

After Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman's ultimatum to interim government chief Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Laureate is considering putting his boots down. Yunus is mulling resignation as he finds it difficult to work since political parties failed to reach a common ground, student-led National Citizen Party CP party chief Nhid Islam told the BBC Bangla service. 

"We have been hearing news of sir's (Yunus) resignation since this morning. So I went to meet sir to discuss that issue . . . He said he is thinking about it. He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work," Islam told the BBC Bangla.

The leader, who became a phenomenon in Bangladesh due to Yunus' blessings, said he told the interim government chief “to stay strong for the sake of the country's security, and future, and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising”.

At a closed-door military durbar this week, General Zaman reportedly gave a direct warning to Yunus to hold national elections by December.

He also shut down the Yunus government's proposed "humanitarian" corridor to Myanmar's Rakhine State, calling it a "bloody corridor" and a threat to national sovereignty, according to Dhaka Tribune. 

"The Bangladesh Army will never be involved in any activity that is harmful to sovereignty. Nor will anyone be allowed to do so," the Bangladesh Army chief was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune. 

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain unilaterally announced the corridor in April, claiming it was pushed by the United States and supported by the United Nations.

In light of the continued violence in Myanmar, it sought to provide help to Rakhine via Bangladesh's Chattogram Division, where more than a million Rohingya refugees had already made their home. Opposition parties such as the BNP and Left organisations swiftly criticised the idea, calling it "unilateral and illegal".

Muhammad Yunus' government has faced several challenges in the past two days, with the main challenge being Bangladesh's consolidated military forces, which played a critical role in last year's student-led uprising. 

The movement led to the toppling of the Awami League government and Sheikh Hasina's exit, installing Yunus to power. During the protest, the army preferred not to launch a crackdown on the protestors despite being called out. 

Even though the army was reluctant to strike down on protesters, the Students against Discrimination (SAD) asked that Yunus be appointed as the chief adviser and that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina be allowed to safely leave for India.

However, he has angered the military by delaying elections and releasing almost 300 Bangladesh Rifles mutineers and hundreds of convicted Islamist extremists.