Who Is Muhammad Yunus? The First Choice Of Bangladeshi Protesters To Lead The Interim Govt

84-year-old Muhammad Yunus, took oath as the head of the interim government of Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation following widespread unrest in the country. The Nobel laureate known as the “banker to the poor” will aim to bring stability to Bangladesh.Yunus is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the Nobel Peace Prize in2006 for his pioneering microfinance work that helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and was widely adopted around the world. Yunus was born in 1940 in Chittagong, in south-eastern Bangladesh.He studied at Dhaka University, later he received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to attend Vanderbilt University in the US; there he received a Ph.D. in economics. In 1972, he returned to teach at Chittagong University, a year after Bangladesh got independence from Pakistan. But a severe famine hit the country in 1974, which wiped out an estimated 1.5 million people. In order to help the people affected by the famine, he began lending small loans out of pocket to the poorest residents in the country– eventually founding the Grameen Bank in 1983, which became a world leader in alleviating poverty through micro lending. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus and the bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to create economic and social development from below. Amid the violence that led to Sheikh Hasina's resignation and escape from the country, there were reports that Hindus, their properties, and places of worship were being targeted. In view of the volatile situation, Muhammad Yunus’first challenge will be to re-establish law and order after the deadly protests of the past weeks.