Nobel Laureate Yunus: Victim Of Sheikh Hasina's Retribution (@TamjidulH24v2)
Professor Muhammad Yunus, known for his microcredit organisation, Grameen Bank, which won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for its contribution to reducing poverty, is likely to be the chief advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh. The protesters that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign her post and flee the country, had reportedly demanded the formation of a new government with Muhammad Yunus as chief advisor. Reacting to the latest development in the country, Yunus today called it a “second liberation of Bangladesh.”
A long-standing fight has been existing between Sheikh Hasina and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. For a decade, Yunus has faced legal harassment from Hasina’s government, culminating in a six-month jail sentence in January this year. Many believe that Yunus’s 2007 announcement to form a political party angered Hasina, leading to targeted attacks on the economist, despite his later decision to drop his interest in entering politics.
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The case against Yunus began when Sheikh Hasina accused him of using force to recover loans from poor rural women as head of Grameen Bank, the microfinance lender Yunus founded, which earned him international reputation. The government in 2011 reviewed the Grameen Bank’s activities and put Yunus on trial on charges of receiving money without government permission.
Grameen Bank was lauded for helping unleash economic growth in Bangladesh, and its work has since been copied by scores of developing countries, earning him popularity at home. The 83-year-old Yunus, with his innovative microfinance bank, had helped lift the poverty of millions of people. The same reportedly earned him the hostility of the Prime Minister, according to many political observers.
International bodies and leaders had voiced concern against the judicial harassment of Yunus by the government. Many global dignitaries had published a joint letter denouncing the government’s action against Yunus. In January this year, ahead of the general election, the Nobel laureate was sentenced to six years jail term, which many called a “politically-motivated” move and that part of the government’s efforts to silence opposition voices.
As a powerful figure in the country that has no strong opposition party at present, the ruling dispensation is alleged to run after Yunus viewing his raising popularity as a threat to its political interest. However, many view the legal action against the Nobel laurate was following due procedures.
