He became prime minister of Bangladesh at 84: Who is Muhammad Yunus?

The 84-year-old academic is supported by student leaders who have been organizing the weeks-long protests that have left more than 100 people dead.

So who is the experienced social entrepreneur who will lead the effort to restore order and stabilize Bangladesh’s democracy?

Muhammad Yunus first made his name in the 1970s as the pioneer of a microfinance system that helped the country’s poorest escape the tide.

The initiative was inspired by his visits to impoverished villages near Chittagong University. He helped small entrepreneurs who were reluctant to lend to traditional banks by lending as little as $10 to some villagers.

Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur, banker, economist, politician and civil society leader, who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh since August 2024. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance.

By the late 1980s, the initiative had become successful and had tens of thousands of members, becoming the Grameen Bank.

Grameen Bank supported some for-profit and some not-for-profit projects across Bangladesh, including textiles, telecom, and broadband internet.

After his success and international recognition, Prof Yusuf was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

The microfinance model he created became a model for similar projects in the developing world.

Within months of receiving the Peace Prize, Prof Yunus became increasingly involved in politics.

"I am not a person who is comfortable in politics. But if the situation demands it, I will not hesitate to get involved in politics," he said at the time.

However, in a country with intense political instability, his vocal criticism of the government made him an enemy.

In 2007, he launched a political movement called Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power), attempting to create a third alternative to the system that had been dominated for decades by Hasina and her rival Khaleda Zia.

In the following years, his relationship with the government became increasingly bitter.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who came to power in 2008, accused Yunus of “sucking the blood” of the poor through his business activities and launched a series of investigations into him.

Yunus and his supporters insisted the investigations were politically motivated.

Last year, the UN criticized the Bangladesh government for its treatment of political opponents.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “We are very concerned about the ongoing intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders, including Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.”

Political tensions continued to rise. In July last year, the Bangladesh High Court ordered Prof Yunus to pay more than $1 million in taxes on a donation he made.

He was later jailed for six months along with three colleagues at Grameen Telecom for violating the country’s labor laws.

All four denied the charges and were released on parole while the case is appealed.

Following the dramatic end of Sheikh Hasina’s government, Prof Yunus was chosen by the leaders of the student protests to stabilize Bangladesh.

Prof Yunus had reacted to the news of Hasina’s resignation by saying “Bangladesh has been liberated”.

Yunus told Indian media that people were celebrating across the country.

Yunus had said:

“As long as Hasina was there, it was an occupied country. She was acting like an occupying force, a dictator, a general, controlling everything. Today, the people of Bangladesh feel liberated.”

“Now we want to start over and build a beautiful country for ourselves. That is the promise we want to make to the students and the young people who will lead our future.”

Prof Yunus’ first task will be to form a transitional government to quickly fill the power vacuum that could lead to more incidents.

Yunus’ ability to gain international support could play a vital role here.

Who is Muhammad Yunus?

Muhammad Yunus stands out as a significant figure in Bangladesh’s recent history. Born in Chittagong in 1940, Yunus returned to his country after completing his doctorate in the US and started working as an economics professor. The great famine that hit the country in 1974 was a turning point in Yunus’s life. Observing how poor villagers were suffering due to high-interest debts, Yunus rolled up his sleeves to find a solution to this problem.

Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank in 1983, provided small loans to the poor, especially women, who were left out of the traditional banking system, thus helping them become economically empowered. This innovative “micro-credit” approach helped millions of people escape poverty and inspired similar projects around the world. Yunus’s work earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

But Yunus’s successes and growing popularity have also brought him into the political fray. His attempt to enter politics in 2007 led the Hasina administration to launch a series of investigations against him. Yunus was accused of corruption and illegal activities, but he has always denied these allegations and maintained that they were politically motivated. This process has made Yunus one of the most prominent opponents of Hasina’s administration. Yunus, who has a number of criminal cases against him, has been living abroad.