Nobel Prize-winning ‘banker of the poor’ nominated to replace toppled PM in Bangladesh

Muhammad Yunus front-runner to replace Sheikh Hasina who fled yesterday amid violent unrest

A Nobel Prize winner known as the “banker of the poor” has emerged as a front-runner to lead Bangladesh after weeks of violent unrest forced the prime minister to resign.
Mohammed Shahabuddin, Bangladesh’s president, dissolved the parliament on Tuesday, clearing the way for new elections after Sheikh Hasina resigned her 15-year tenure and fled the country.
Ms Hasina reportedly had just 45 minutes to prepare before she fled by helicopter to India as protesters defied military curfew orders to march on the capital.
Thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family, looting furniture, paintings, flower pots and chickens.
Muhammad Yunus, the 74-year-old Nobel Prize winner who is currently in Paris for the Olympics, has since been nominated by a key student leader to lead the interim government.
Mr Yunus is an economist credited with pioneering micro-lending to help lift millions in Bangladesh out of poverty by allowing people to start their own businesses.
Nahid Islam, the principal leader of Students Against Discrimination, said in a video message: “We have decided that the interim government would be formed in which internationally renowned Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, who has wide acceptability, would be the chief adviser.”
Gen Waker-uz-Zaman, the military chief, said on Monday he was temporarily taking control of the country as soldiers tried to stem unrest. The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since independence in 1971.
But Mr Islam, 26, made it clear that the students would not accept any government led by the army.
“Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted,” he said.
He said the protesters would propose more names for the cabinet, and suggested that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.
Bangladesh witnessed weeks of mass protests that left around 300 people dead, most of whom were students from colleges and universities. The protests began on July 1 over job quotas and soon escalated into a revolt against the rule of Ms Hasina who is now likely to head to the UK.
Mr Shahabuddin said in a televised address on Monday that an interim government would be formed soon after dissolving the parliament. The president also ordered the release of Begum Khaleda Zia, the former prime minister, from her house detention.
Mr Yunus has faced scrutiny from Ms Hasina’s government since she returned to power in 2009. A longtime opponent of the ousted leader, Mr Yunus was accused of corruption and tried on charges that he said were politically motivated.
In January he was sentenced to six months in jail by a court for violating the labour laws but was granted bail in March.
Midway through the protests, Mr Yunus had urged the international community to help end the violence in Bangladesh.
“I urgently call on world leaders and the United Nations to do everything within their powers to end the violence against those who are exercising their rights to protest,” he said. “There must be investigations into the killings that have taken place already.”
Sanjida Islam Tuli, a human rights activist and co-ordinator of Mayer Dak, a missing people organisation, told The Telegraph: “He [Yunus] is neutral. It’s new Bangladesh and we expect him to align with the aspirations of youth and students of Bangladesh and put an end to the enforced disappearances and torture.”
Ala Uddin, a professor of anthropology at University of Chittagong, said: “The name of the student movement was Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, so there should be no discrimination at any level,” Ala Uddin said.
“We want the spirit of liberation war to be fully materialised in society; where democracy, equality, and religious freedom will be guaranteed. Where there will be no discrimination in society; and there will be no religious or ethnic conflicts,” he added.
At least 109 people have died in the violence, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured, according to media reports, which could not be independently confirmed.
In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and detainees escaped from a jail after an attack on the facility Monday evening, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday urged people to exercise restraint in what it said was a “transitional moment on our democratic path”.
Tarique Rahman, the party’s acting chairman, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “It would defeat the spirit of the revolution that toppled the illegitimate and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina if people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process.”