Bangladesh Crisis: Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Is Back Home To Head Interim Government

Yunus is set to take on a significant role as head of the interim government, following a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

Yunus is likely to be sworn in as chief adviser along with a team of advisers today. (Image: PTI)

Source : PTI

Nobel Laureate economist Muhammad Yunus returned to Dhaka on Thursday, Bangladesh-based Dhaka Tribune reported. Yunus was in Paris for the Olympic Games. He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka via Dubai at 2.10 pm, as per the Dhaka Tribune report. 

Yunus is set to take on a significant role as head of the interim government, following a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin. A harsh critic of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Yunus is likely to be sworn in as chief adviser along with a team of advisers today.

This interim government will lead Bangladesh for a certain period and oversee the election to transition power to an elected government.

As per a report by news agency PTI, President Shahabuddin will administer the oath of office to the new government. Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman on Wednesday said the oath-taking ceremony will likely be held on Thursday evening in the presence of some 400 dignitaries. 

Bangladesh's only Nobel Laureate, Yunus, 84, is set to head the South Asian country's interim government after Hasina fled the country amid a mass uprising that left hundreds of people dead.

An economist and banker, Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets. He is also hailed for bringing thousands out of poverty through Grameen Bank, which he founded in 1983. The Grameen Bank gives small loans to businesspeople who would not qualify for regular bank loans.

His lawyers told the Guardian that a Dhaka court had overturned a conviction for labour law violations, one of the scores of charges against him, that Yunus called were part of a campaign of legal harassment prompted by Hasina.

Bangladesh authorities launched a review of the statutory Grameen Bank's activities in 2011 and fired Yunus as its founding managing director on charges of violating the government retirement regulation. Later, he was charged under dozens of cases during Hasina's regime.

In January, a court sentenced Yunus to six months in jail on charges of labour law violation. Many people believe Hasina became enraged when Yunus announced that he would form a political party in 2007 when a military-backed government ran the country and Hasina was in prison.