Amidst the political turmoil in Bangladesh, following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has put forward Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as their choice for the head of the interim government. The student leaders, who have been at the forefront of a movement initially targeting job quota reforms, declared their preference for Yunus in a video early Tuesday morning.
Nahid Islam, a prominent figure in the movement, stated unequivocally, “Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted. We wouldn’t accept any army-supported or army-led government.” Islam further stated that Yunus had agreed to take on this responsibility. Dr. Muhammad Yunus will be appointed as the chief advisor to the interim government formed in response to the student-citizen uprising. “We have decided that internationally renowned Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus will be appointed as the chief advisor in the interim government, and we have also spoken with Dr. Muhammad Yunus. He has agreed to take on this significant responsibility in response to the call of the students and public to safeguard Bangladesh,” he said.
Muhammad Yunus was born on June 28, 1940, in the coastal city of Chittagong, Bangladesh. He grew up in a well-off family, with his father being a successful goldsmith. Yunus’s early life was reportedly influenced heavily by his mother, who was known for her generosity towards those in need. Yunus pursued higher education in the United States on a Fulbright scholarship, where he earned a PhD in economics. He returned to Bangladesh shortly after the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1971. He became the head of the Economics Department at Chittagong University but soon found himself troubled by the severe poverty and famine affecting the nation. “Poverty was all around me, and I could not turn away from it,” Yunus once said. “I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom… I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me.”
Yunus’s desire to make a tangible impact led him to experiment with providing small loans to impoverished people, primarily women, who lacked access to traditional banking services. This experimentation gave birth to the Grameen Bank in 1983, which offered microloans to help individuals invest in small businesses and improve their living conditions. Grameen Bank’s innovative model has since been replicated in numerous countries, proving to be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation. As of 2020, Grameen Bank had over nine million clients, with more than 97 per cent of its borrowers being women. Yunus’s philosophy was simple yet revolutionary: even the poorest could work to bring about their development. This approach earned him and the bank the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, with the Nobel Committee acknowledging their efforts to create economic and social development from below.
Beyond the Nobel Peace Prize, Muhammad Yunus has received several other prestigious awards, including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010. In 2011, Yunus co-founded Yunus Social Business – Global Initiatives (YSB) with Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann, and Hans Reitz. YSB works to create and empower social businesses worldwide, aligning with Yunus’s vision of a humane capitalism.
Yunus also served as the Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland from 2012 to 2018 and has been involved with several organisations, including serving on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation from 1998 to 2021.
Despite his global acclaim, Yunus has faced significant challenges in his home country. His relationship with Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina has been notably strained. Hasina has publicly criticised Yunus and Grameen Bank’s microfinance practices, once referring to him as a “blood-sucker of the poor.” In 2011, Yunus was removed from his position as the managing director of Grameen Bank on the grounds of exceeding the legal retirement age, a decision he contested but was upheld by Bangladesh’s top court. Yunus has been embroiled in several legal issues, including accusations of embezzlement and failing to establish a workers’ welfare fund, for which he and three colleagues were sentenced to six months in jail—a sentence immediately stayed pending appeal. These charges have been widely criticised as politically motivated, with figures like Irene Khan, a former Amnesty International chief, describing the conviction as “a travesty of justice.” In 2022, Grameen Telecom, a firm chaired by Yunus, faced a graft probe over allegations of embezzling employee funds. Critics argue that these legal battles are part of a broader effort to discredit Yunus due to his potential political influence and his previous attempts to establish the Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power) party in 2007, which posed a challenge to Bangladesh’s political elite.
Amidst the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh, Yunus has remained a prominent figure. Despite the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s call for him to lead an interim government, Yunus has publicly expressed reluctance to enter active politics. In an interview with news outlet The Print , Yunus stated, “I am not the type to enter politics.” However, with his agreement to serve as the chief advisor to an interim government, as stated by the student movement leaders, Yunus’s role in shaping the future political landscape of Bangladesh remains a subject of keen interest and speculation. With the only question remaining – Can Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus steer Bangladesh through its crisis?
