Staff Correspondent

Senior Indian opposition politician Sharad Pawar has said that Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, is “staunchly secular” and will not allow any divisions among communities in the country based on religion or language.

“Yunus is staunchly secular. He will never support any steps that create division based on religion, language, or other issues. Bangladesh needs balanced leadership like his to improve the situation, and India should assist in bringing normalcy to the neighboring country,” said Sharad Pawar, who leads his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, in response to a question from reporters in Pune on Monday.

Sharad Pawar said, “As per my information, he (Yunus) is secular and he will never work to create rift between different communities and different linguistic groups. It is the need for Bangladesh to have a balanced stand and it seems the situation will improve (there).”

Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, has already promised to address incidents of attacks on minorities in that country in recent days.

Yunus had visited Pune and Baramati in Maharashtra in 2007 when Pawar was India’s Agriculture Minister.