Who Is Muhammad Yunus? Nobel-Winning 'Banker To The Poor' Set To Lead Bangladesh Now

Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winning economist, is set to lead the interim government in Bangladesh after former PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation and escape from the violence-hit country. As reported by Bangladeshi media, Bangladesh president's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin has made the announcement in this regard. The 'banker to the poor', as Muhammad Yunus is fondly called, has been a Sheikh Hasina critic and more than 200 cases have been filed against him during her rule as PM. Nobel laureates across the world have called it 'judicial harassment'.

Who is Muhammad Yunus?

Yunus was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his microfinance initiative which pulled lakhs of people in Bangladesh out of extreme poverty.

The 84-year-old was born in 1940 in Bangladesh's Chittagong. He attended Lamabazar Primary School and later Chittagong Collegiate School.

During his school years, Yunus was a Boy Scout and even travelled to many countries like India, Pakistan, the US and countries in Europe.

After attending Dhaka University, he received a scholarship to study at Vanderbilt University in the US where he completed his PhD in economics (1969). He began an academic career after that and taught at Middle Tennessee State University.

He returned to Bangladesh after its liberation from the Pakistani rule and began teaching at Dhaka University.

Muhammad Yunus and the iconic 'Grameen Bank'

In post-independence years, as Bangladesh struggled with poverty, Yunus carried out local experiments of microfinance in which he provided small loans to poor rural entrepreneurs who would normally not qualify for a bank loan.

After success of these local experiment, Yunus launched the 'Grameen Bank' in 1983 and increased the scale of microfinance.

As per a report by Bangladeshi news outlet Daily Sun last year, Grameen Bank has disbursed USD 30 billion to around 10 million people in the country. Recovery rate of these loans was 97 per cent.

As it awarded the peace prize, the Nobel Committee said Yunus was being honoured for his efforts "to create economic and social development from below"

Yunus' clash with Sheikh Hasina

Yunus, already a hugely respected figure in Bangladesh, planed to launch a political party following his Nobel win in 2006. This did not go down well with Sheikh Hasina who was in prison at that time.

Although Yunus abandoned the plan later, he remained in the crosshairs of Hasina and became a critic of her regime.

Hasina accused him of using force to recover money from people. Cases of money laundering, embezzlement and more were slapped against him.

His predicament raised concerns around the world. In a letter in August last year, 160 prominent international personalities signed a letter protesting “continuous judicial harassment” of Muhammad Yunus. Former US president Barack Obama and former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon were among the signatories.