Bangladeshi media reported Tuesday that the “Nobel Prize-winning” economist Muhammad Yunus has been appointed as Bangladesh’s transitional leader following mass protests which forced the former prime minister to resign and flee. Organizers of student protests had ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and stormed her residence Monday as the country has fallen under military control.
Hasina had been the longest serving female prime minister in the world, having served from 2009 until now and previously from 1996 to 2001. According to British media Hasina’s term showed success in delivering developmental and economic growth, but critics claim the wealthy benefited disproportionately. Hasina was taken from Dhaka to India and will reportedly seek asylum abroad.
KJ Noh, a scholar, journalist and analyst who specializes in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific, joined Sputnik's Political Misfits Tuesday to discuss Yunus’ sudden rise to power.
“I [do not think it’s] credible that a group of students could bring down a government in such a short time. We do know that the NED has been pouring millions of dollars to NGO groups in Bangladesh – $4 million in 2021 alone,” Noh explained. “That in itself is necessary, but not sufficient.”
Noh added that the US has voiced its opinions publicly regarding the political system in Bangladesh. In early January of this year the US said Bangladesh’s election was “not free or fair” after Hasina won her fifth term.
“Yunus [has] never had any electoral success or really any experience as a political leader. He's just been essentially a banker, an economist and a professor. So the call for him to lead the interim government is already highly suspect, but it starts to take on another dimension when you realize that Yunus is a US favorite,” Noh explained.
“[Yunus] had a Fulbright scholarship. Anybody who knows about Fulbright scholarships in the third world, you know that that's where the CIA screens for potential bright young future prospects,” the analyst said. “He had US training, US university positions and tenure, US connections, US medals of honor – presidential and congressional. And, most importantly, he reinforces US geo-economic policy with microlending.”
According to the US State Department Yunus was offered a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US in 1965. He then received his PhD in economics from Vanderbilt University in the US state of Tennessee through its graduate program in Economic Development (GPED) in 1971. In 2006 he and his colleague received the Nobel Peace Prize for “efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below. [sic]”
“The pretext of microlending is that you're going to do poverty alleviation by saddling the poor with more debt. Now, that already is wrong headed. But essentially what you're doing is you're kind of introducing debt into the poor sectors of society. It's like a granular micro INF for the really, really poor,” Noh explained. “It's a form of micro loan sharking and it is extraordinarily, you know, vicious. But it fits in the logic of this kind of alienation of capitalist contradiction.”
“And this is why the ruling imperial neoliberal class love him. You know, he was named and described favorably in WikiLeaks documents. You can see that the US consul general is [seeking] him out for potential. And, now it seems like his time has come. He's come of age. So I think he's definitely the favorite. It's very strange that these students who are supposed to have Islamist propensities are asking for Mr. Microfinance,” he added. “Because, remember [...] microfinance is not halal. You know, it's usury.”
President Mohammed Shahabuddin has dissolved Parliament by the deadline demanded by protestors. At least 99 people were killed in protests between Monday and Tuesday, a US news outlet reported. The estimated death toll now stands at over 400 following the violent protests.