GUWAHATI: After long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday, the student leaders, who spearheaded a movement against job quotas, have proposed the formation of a new interim government with Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as its chief advisor.
Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but was accused of rigging elections in January.
Muhammad Yunus, born on June 28, 1940, in Chittagong, Bangladesh, is a distinguished social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader.
He rose to prominence in 2006 when he and the Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering work in microcredit and microfinance.
He initiated long-term loans to help individuals start their own small businesses, which led to the establishment of the Grameen Bank and the broader movement of microfinance. This innovative approach has helped countless people escape poverty and improve their quality of life.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Yunus has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010. He co-founded Yunus Social Business – Global Initiatives (YSB) in 2011, which focuses on promoting social businesses worldwide.
Yunus served as the Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland from 2012 to 2018 and was previously a professor of economics at Chittagong University.
Professor Yunus has an extensive educational background, having studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh before receiving a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1969.
He began his academic career as an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University and later returned to Bangladesh to head the economics department at Chittagong University.
He has also played a significant role in Grameen America and the Grameen Foundation, which continue his efforts in microcredit. From 1998 to 2021, he was a board member of the United Nations Foundation, contributing to a range of UN initiatives.
Known as the “banker to the poor”, he faced corruption accusations in Bangladesh and was put on trial during Sheikh Hasina’s rule, but maintained the charges against him were politically motivated.
Yunus was sentenced to six months in jail by a court for violating the labour laws in this year’s January but later in March he was granted bail.
He was also jailed in a USD 2.3 million embezzlement case.
Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin announced that the interim government would hold new elections as soon as possible.
