Mohammad Yunus: A well-known critic of Sheikh Hasina now heads Bangladesh's interim govt
Professor Mohammad Yunus, a well-known critic of Sheikh Hasina and persecuted by her regime, when the Nobel laureate became the head of the caretaker government after she resigned and fled to India. The 84-year-old economist, globally recognised as 'The Father of Microfinance,' who flew down from Paris earlier in the day, was declared as the head of the interim government by President Mohammed Shahabuddin after dissolving Parliament Tuesday, a decision prompted by a demand by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Yunus had announced plans to form a political party in 2007 when the country was run by a military-backed government and criticised Bangladeshi politicians alleging they were only interested in money. He, however, did not follow through on that plan.
By a quirk of fate, on Thursday he took oath to lead a non-partisan, non-military caretaker government.
Yunus, who started as a Professor at national and international Universities, earned the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984 among scores of other international recognitions.
But back home, the founder of the Grameen Bank had been in a protracted row with Hasina's government due to obscure reasons while authorities initiated a series of investigations against him after she came to power in 2008.
Bangladesh authorities launched a review of the Grameen Bank's activities in 2011 and fired Yunus as its founding managing director on charges of violating the government retirement regulation.
Over the years, he was charged under
