Rise of Muhammad Yunus, from Nobel Prize to Bangladesh's chief adviser

Muhammad Yunus is a distinguished social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader, credited to be the 'banker to the poor' for establishing Grameen Bank

After the hurried resignation of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed as the chief adviser for the interim government, as announced by the coordinators of the student protests on Facebook early Tuesday.

According to the Bangladesh national-daily Daily Star, Nahid Islam, a prominent figure in the movement, mentioned that Prof Yunus accepted the role at the behest of the students to “save the country”. He stated, “Although we planned to present a framework for the interim government in 24 hours, the urgency of the situation necessitates this immediate announcement.”

Islam also emphasised that the interim government would include Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate with widespread recognition, as the chief adviser.

 

In an interview with a news channel, Yunus underscored the need to restore law and order in Bangladesh, warning of potential regional repercussions. He cautioned, “Destabilising Bangladesh could have consequences for neighbouring countries, including India and Myanmar.”

Also Read: Bangladesh Army to meet student leaders today on interim govt formation

Who is Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus?

Muhammad Yunus is a distinguished social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader born on June 28, 1940, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He studied at Dhaka University and later received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University, US. 

 

As noted on the Nobel Prize website, Yunus earned his PhD in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and subsequently became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. He later returned to Bangladesh to lead the economics department at Chittagong University. Yunus gained international fame in 2006 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in microcredit and microfinance.

Yunus’ Grameen bank experiment in Bangladesh

In 1983, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which provided small loans to underserved entrepreneurs, empowering them to achieve social and economic development without access to traditional banking services. The Nobel Peace Prize 2006 was awarded jointly to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to boost economic and social development from the grassroots.

Believing that credit is a fundamental human right, Yunus turned to help impoverished people escape poverty by offering loans under suitable terms and teaching sound financial principles. The Grameen Bank, which began with small loans to destitute basket weavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, has since become a global model for micro-lending, with replicas in over 100 countries.

“The unique feature of Grameen Bank is that no collateral is required to get the credit from the bank. Unlike mainstream commercial banks that bring their clients to their shiny branch premises where the poor are afraid to be trampled, Grameen Bank carries its services to the comfort zone of its clients’ doorsteps,” the bank’s website mentions.

Awards and recognitions of Bangladesh’s new chief adviser

Between 1993 and 1995, Yunus was part of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women. He has also contributed to the Global Commission on Women’s Health, the Advisory Council for Sustainable Economic Development, and the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance.

His numerous awards include the Mohamed Shabdeen Award for Science (1993) in Sri Lanka, the Humanitarian Award (1993) from CARE, US, and the World Food Prize (1994) from the World Food Prize Foundation, US. He also received Bangladesh’s highest honour, the Independence Day Award, in 1987.

Additionally, Yunus has been awarded the King Hussein Humanitarian Leadership Award (2000) from the King Hussein Foundation in Jordan, the Volvo Environment Prize (2003) from the Volvo Environment Prize Foundation in Sweden, and the Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth (2004) from Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Japan. 

He was also honoured with the Franklin D Roosevelt Freedom Award (2006) from the Roosevelt Institute of The Netherlands and the Seoul Peace Prize (2006) from the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation in Korea.

Yunus founded a political party called ‘Nagarik Shakti’ in 2007 but chose not to contest elections. He served as Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland from 2012 to 2018 and was a professor of economics at Chittagong University. He was a board member of the United Nations Foundation from 1998 to 2021.

Arrest and bail of Muhammad Yunus

In January this year, Yunus was sentenced to six months in jail for violating labour laws but was granted bail in March. He was also implicated in a $2.3 million embezzlement case involving the workers’ welfare fund of Grameen Telecom, a major stakeholder in Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor. 

The charges alleged the embezzlement of over 250 million takas (Bangladesh currency) and money laundering, with the money reportedly given to trade union leaders instead of the workers, thus depriving ordinary workers of their rightful earnings.

Meanwhile, after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin ordered immediate release of former PM and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is currently imprisoned. 78-year-old Khaleda Zia was jailed in 2018 after she was sentenced to 17 years in prison in a graft case.