'He's a Man of the People, But...': Bangladeshis Welcome Yunus Govt With Caution

'If Muhammad Yunus prioritises people, then the whole of Bangladesh will support him,' a protester said.

"He is known as a man of the people," says a student protester in Bangladesh while speaking to The Quint, welcoming the interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. "But even a past hero can be misguided or may mislead," he adds with a note of caution.

Known as a "banker to the poor", Yunus heeded the call of protesters to take charge of affairs at a time when the country is still reeling from violent protests that have claimed the lives of hundreds and led to the ouster of the country's longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.

The 84-year-old was appointed leader of the government during a meeting chaired by President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday, 7 August. This came after protesters pressed their demands for Yunus to take over during talks with Bangladesh Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman the previous day.

'We Will Support Him If He Prioritises the People'

Despite prevailing over the army chief and getting Yunus appointed, Bangladeshi student protesters are still apprehensive about how effective the government will be.

"We are waiting to see how the new government acts and whether they will be a government for the people or not," 28-year-old Shafkat Mahmud, a student protester from Dhaka, told The Quint.

Mahmud listed out certain key priorities which he believes the government should focus on in its first days in power. They include law and order, the education system, administrative transparency, and a willingness to act towards public welfare – especially in economic decision-making.

"If this government prioritises the people, then the whole of Bangladesh will support them unanimously," Mahmud adds.

Twenty-five-year-old Sayed Hussian, another protester from Dhaka, agrees with him.

"We will apply a wait-and-watch policy with the new administration," he says, adding, "Our immediate aim was the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, and we have achieved that."

Speaking on the culmination of the protests, Mahmud says, however, that Hasina fleeing from the country was not the most ideal outcome for them.

"It would be best if we could bring Hasina to justice for all the atrocities she put the people through."

Shafkat Mahmud

Who Is Muhammad Yunus? 

The views people have about Muhammad Yunus are always on opposite sides of the spectrum. While some hail him as 'a national hero', others condemn him as a 'traitorous villain'.

A hero because of his work as a social entrepreneur that earned him the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. A villain because he was constantly at odds with the Hasina government, which heaped multiple charges of graft and tax irregularities upon him.

Born in Chittagong in 1940, Yunus studied at Dhaka University before going on to receive a Fulbright scholarship at the Vanderbilt University in the US, where he obtained a PhD in economics.

Following Bangladesh's victory in its war against Pakistan in 1971, Yunus returned from the US to teach at Chittagong University.

It was in 1974, however, that he found his true calling. That year, the country was afflicted with one of the worst famines of the 20th century which led to the deaths of around 1.5 million people.

Pressing into action to do his bit, Yunus started doling out small loans out of pocket to the most poverty-stricken of his community members. These efforts eventually led him to establish the Grameen Bank in 1983. The bank would provide loans to entrepreneurs who would otherwise not be considered financially viable to receive them.

The success of the project is said to have lifted thousands of people out of poverty and even inspired similar microfinancing operations in other nations.

Owing to the bank's success, Yunus was endowed with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

"I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom, in the backdrop of a terrible famine in Bangladesh," Yunus had said while accepting the award.

"Suddenly, I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me, even if it was just one human being, to get through another day with a little more ease."

Muhammad Yunus while delivering his Nobel Peace Prize speech in 2006

While on the one hand the global community hailed his efforts at redressing poverty, on the other several critics claimed that poor borrowers had become further impoverished due to the high interest rates charged by the Grameen Bank. The charge, however, was denied by Yunus.

Trouble With Hasina

The trouble between Yunus and Hasina began in 2007 when the former said publicly that he was mulling the idea of starting his own political party. The statement was condemned by Hasina, who said that political newcomers were "dangerous elements" who should be viewed with a degree of "suspicion".

After power was transferred from the military to Hasina's Awami League in 2008, the latter launched a number of probes against him. Among other things, Yunus's Grameen Bank was accused of using physical and other means to recover loans from impoverished women borrowers – charges which he unequivocally denied.

Three years later the government started reviewing the bank's activities and ordered the termination of Yunus as its managing director. The reason given was that he had surpassed the mandatory retirement age of 60.

In the coming years Yunus became embroiled in dozens of legal cases, ranging from corruption and non-payment of taxes to violation of labour laws.

In January this year, a Bangladesh court indicted Yunus on labour code violations and sentenced him to six months in prison. Yunus and his supporters decried the ruling, claiming that it was politically motivated and issued under pressure from Hasina. In June he was found guilty of embezzlement allegations – a case in which he is currently out on bail.

With the Hasina government now out of power, what will happen to the many cases against Yunus is anybody's guess. But for now, the octogenarian is the man chosen to tidy over one of the most trying times for the 53-year-old nation.