Hours after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement proposed an interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus. The student movement cited the emergency, including indiscriminate firing, attacks on temples and widespread looting, as the reason for announcing the proposal earlier than expected.
The anti-quota stir, which started roughly a month ago, slowly transformed into anti-government demonstrations. On Monday, the protesters, defying the nationwide curfew, stormed the Prime Minister's home and declared a win for the people of Bangladesh.
Here are some facts about Muhammad Yunus:
1. Muhammad Yunus was born in 1940 in Chittagong, a seaport city in Bangladesh. He pursued his early education at Dhaka University in Bangladesh. Later, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University in the United States, where he earned his PhD in economics in 1969.
2. After obtaining his PhD, Mr Yunus became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. In the mid-1970s, he returned to Bangladesh and took up the position of head of the economics department at Chittagong University. At the time, Mr Yunus started providing small personal loans to destitute basket weavers, and the idea later inspired him to establish the Grameen Bank in 1983.
3. The bank focused on providing tiny loans (as small as Rs 2000) to women in rural Bangladesh to start small businesses – poultry farming, weaving or selling goods. The loans were offered without collateral, and repayment was based on trust and peer pressure. This approach helped millions lift themselves out of poverty, earning Mr Yunus the nickname “Banker to the Poor”. The Grameen Bank model has since been replicated in over 100 countries worldwide.
4. Throughout his life, Mr Yunus received numerous international awards and held several significant positions. From 1993 to 1995, he was a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women, appointed by the UN Secretary-General. He also served on the Global Commission of Women's Health, the Advisory Council for Sustainable Economic Development, and the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance. Notable awards during this period include the Independence Day Award (1987), Bangladesh's highest award; the World Food Prize (1994); and the King Hussein Humanitarian Leadership Award (2000). In 2006, the Nobel Committee jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their groundbreaking work in microfinance and economic empowerment in the country.
5. In June 2024, Muhammad Yunus was indicted by a Bangladesh court on charges of corruption and embezzlement of 252.2 million taka (Rs 219.4 crore) from the workers' welfare fund of his telecoms company, Grameen Telecom. Grameen Telecom owns a 34.2 per cent stake in Grameenphone, the country's largest mobile phone company. Mr Yunus and 13 others were accused of misappropriating funds and engaging in money laundering. The 83-year-old denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges were politically motivated. In January, he was also sentenced to six months in prison for labour law violations but got out on bail.
Over the last month, since the beginning of the anti-quota protests primarily led by students, at least 300 people lost their lives after authorities took action against demonstrators across Bangladesh. The protesters argued that the government's job reservation policy for freedom fighters' families favoured the Awami League members. They demanded a merit-based system, instead.
