External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, left, with Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Riaz Hamidullah during his visit for the funeral of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in Bangladesh. Photo: X/@hamidullah_riaz via PTI

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia looks upwards as she attends a rally of her supporters outside their party headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 12, 2012.
| Photo Credit: AP

A team of medical experts from the U.K. will visit Bangladesh to assess the treatment of ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who continues to remain in a critical condition at a private hospital in Dhaka, her personal physician said on Tuesday (December 2, 2025).

Speaking to reporters in front of Evercare Hospital, AZM Zahid Hossain said the U.K. specialists would join the international medical board already supervising Ms. Zia’s treatment.

“Experts from the U.K. will come today (Tuesday) to examine her,” he said, adding that India, China, the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan have also extended their medical assistance.

Mr. Hossain said a medical board comprising doctors from the U.K., the U.S., and Bangladesh is overseeing Ms. Zia’s care.

A five-member Chinese team arrived on Monday (December 1) and met the medical board, its head, Dr. Shahabuddin Talukder, told local media earlier.

Mr. Hossain reiterated that there was no scope to take the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson abroad at this stage.

“We have made all preparations, but the most important thing to remember is the current condition of the patient and, above all, we do not have any opportunity to do anything that is outside the medical board’s recommendations at the moment,” he said.

Ms. Hossain said the board was continuously monitoring Ms. Zia.

“She is properly receiving the treatment being administered to her. We hope she will recover this time based on the treatment she is receiving and the prayers of the whole nation,” said Mr. Hossain, also a member of the BNP Standing Committee.

The three-time prime minister was admitted to the private hospital on November 23 after being diagnosed with infections affecting her heart and lungs.

She was moved to the coronary care unit four days later as her complications worsened.

Her condition deteriorated further, and she was placed on ventilation on Sunday (November 30) night, BNP Vice-Chairman Advocate Ahmed Aazam Khan said on Monday (December 1).

Meanwhile, security was tightened around Ms. Zia on early Tuesday (December 2). Police erected a barricade at the main gate of Evercare Hospital around 2 am, with more than two dozen personnel deployed to regulate patients’ movement and reinforce security.

The heightened security followed after the interim government on Monday (December 1) declared Ms. Zia a “very, very important person”, enabling the deployment of the Special Security Force (SSF) for her protection.

Four SSF personnel inspected several sections of the hospital overnight.

Ms. Zia is currently staying in a cabin on the fourth floor, where surrounding cabins have been vacated as part of heightened security protocols.

Special prayers for Ms. Zia’s recovery are being held across Bangladesh, including in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Barishal, Sylhet and Mymensingh, by BNP units and supporters.

Many supporters also took to social media to post prayers and messages wishing her a swift recovery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (December 1) expressed deep concern over Ms. Zia’s health and offered all possible support.

Ms. Zia’s son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, in a social media post on Tuesday (December 2), expressed gratitude for the “remarkable outpouring of support” and prayers for his mother’s recovery from across Bangladesh and abroad.

“This collective support has been a source of immense strength for all of us. We continue to pray for her recovery and appreciate the unity, compassion, and solidarity shown during this difficult moment,” he said.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters late Monday (December 1) that Mr. Rahman, who has been living in self-exile in London for over a decade, “will return to Bangladesh soon”.

Published – December 03, 2025 02:08 am IST

Illustration of Khaleda Zia

Early morning of May 30, 1981, clouds from the Bay of Bengal lashed Chittagong. Through the heavy pitter-patter of rain on the roof of the Circuit House of Chittagong, President Ziaur Rahman heard the sound of gunfire. A man of action known for his bravery as a Pakistani soldier in the 1965 India-Pakistan war and later as a nationalist officer who rebelled against the Pakistani Army in 1971, Rahman was not someone to hide. Dressed in his night suit, Rahman came out to check the source of the gun fire and just then a hail of bullets literally sliced him into two halves.

The killers, however, failed in their plot to seize power as Abdus Sattar, a seasoned political figure, quickly took charge as President with Army Chief Hossein Mohammed Ershad’s support.

It was in this dramatic situation that Khaleda Zia, widow of Rahman, entered the political spectrum. She had reportedly fainted on hearing the news of the assassination of Rahman, but two and a half years later, Ms. Zia took over from Abdus Sattar. On January 13, 1984, Ms. Zia took charge of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) that was founded by Rahman.

The death of Rahman also came at a critical time for the volatile country. On May 17, Mujib’s daughter Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh.

Ms. Zia and Ms. Hasina came from different backgrounds. The former was the young wife of a Bengali officer in the Pakistani military and Ms. Hasina was the daughter of a firebrand anti-Pakistan figure. But in 1984, the two emerged as leaders of the two political alliances that opposed President Ershad.

Ms. Zia led a seven-party alliance and Ms. Hasina led a 15-party alliance against Ershad. In 1986, Ershad held a fraudulent election. Infuriated by the sham polling, the two alliances joined hands and finally dislodged Ershad from power in 1990.

After the fall of Ershad, the February 1991 election was won by the BNP and Ms. Zia, also known as Begum Khaleda, became the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh. But even as Ms. Zia was getting a grasp of the problems, a monstrous cyclonic storm killed nearly half a million people. Ms. Hasina sensed an opportunity and termed the BNP government incompetent. Despite the opposition, the BNP managed to win the 1996 election but had to give up power after the Awami League accused it of rigging the polls. Then Ms. Hasina became PM for the first time.

From 1991 till 2006, Ms. Zia dominated Bangladesh’s politics, along with her rival Ms. Hasina. She returned to power with the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at the turn of the century and remained in office till 2006.

Boycott of elections

Though Ms. Zia was kept out of power by Ms. Hasina during the next 15 years, the BNP remained strong on the ground. While Ms. Zia took a backseat during the Hasina era, the day-to-day affairs of the party were handled by Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Amir Khasru Mahmud Choudhury, who maintained the combative attitude of the party which boycotted election thrice — 2014, 2018 and 2024.

After being freed from detention following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, 2024, Ms. Zia reiterated that she does not harbour any ill-will towards the currently exiled Ms. Hasina, giving a hint that she is waiting and watching how long the interim government led by Mohammad Yunus would last. While the BNP boycotted polls in the past, it is also known that the Hasina regime did not stop doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital in the U.S. from flying into Dhaka to conduct a complex surgery on Ms. Zia in 2021.

With Hasina out of Bangladesh and the BNP enthused by the prospects of returning to power, Ms. Zia, 79, is once again in the limelight, but this time she is far more cautious. Earlier this month, an air ambulance from Qatar flew her for special medical care in London where she was reunited with her elder son Tarique Rahman who has been in exile since he was reportedly tortured by the military during the 2006-08 caretaker rule. Last week, Ms. Zia was acquitted in a 2008 corruption case, overturning a previous 10-year sentence.

In Bangladesh’s fractious politics, Ms. Zia has been seen as a survivor. And her tactics will be tested once again whenever the interim government calls for elections.

Dhaka:

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in the last remaining corruption case against her, paving the way for the BNP Chairperson to contest elections. Along with Ms Zia, the top court also cleared charges against Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, and all other suspects in their appeal over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

The verdict was delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed after reviewing 79-year-old Zia’s appeal against the High Court’s ruling on Wednesday.

Ms Zia had faced a total of 17 years in prison– 10 years in this orphanage case and seven in the other corruption case in which she was acquitted in November after the ouster of her longtime rival and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The verdict is the latest judicial victory for Ms Zia and BNP, the other main party that has dominated Bangladesh’s politics with Ms Hasina’s Awami League. 

Case Gainst Khaleda Zia

Khaleda Zia, the head of the largest opposition party in Bangladesh, was sentenced on February 8, 2018, by Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-5 to five years of imprisonment for alleged embezzlement of $250,000 government funds when she became prime minister in 1991.

The same verdict handed down 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for five other accused, including Ms Zia’s son Tarique and former chief secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui. Each of the accused was also fined.

The former Prime Minister appealed the trial court’s verdict to the High Court, but the sentence was increased to 10 years by a High Court bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman on October 30, 2018.

She subsequently filed a leave-to-appeal petition against this sentence. After years of delays due to legal procedural issues and a lack of initiative from lawyers, an Appellate Division of the Supreme Court accepted Ms Zia’s leave-to-appeal on November 11, 2024.

Delivering the verdict on Wednesday, the Supreme Court noted that the prosecution of the orphanage trust case was “malicious” and motivated by revenge, officially clearing Ms Zia of the charges in the case.

Zia was imprisoned at Dhaka Central Jail from 2018 to 2020, when her jail term was suspended by the Hasina government on health grounds, under the condition that the BNP leader would refrain from travelling abroad and participating in politics. After that, she was put under house arrest. Ms Hasina’s toppling in August prompted Ms Zia’s release from house arrest.

The verdict will enable Ms Zia to contest the next election, as Bangladeshi law prohibits anyone imprisoned for over two years from running for political office for the next five years.

Bangladesh’s Political Landscape

Bangladesh was plunged into a political and economic crisis in August 2024 after months of protests led by students toppled former premier Sheikh Hasina’s government, forcing her to flee to India and ending her 15-year rule.

The South Asian nation of around 70 million people is currently run by an interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who has indicated that the next general election could be held at the end of this year or the first half of 2026 but has been non-committal on a deadline for the democratic exercise.

Ms Zia’s party, however, has been pressing the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus for a clear plan to hold a national election soon. The BNP has demanded that the election must be held by August this year.

Ms Zia, who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006, is unwell and travelled to London earlier this month for medical treatment.

The BNP chairperson is ailing and travelled to London earlier this month for medical treatment.
| Photo Credit: AP

Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 15, 2025) acquitted former Prime Minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case, overturning the High Court’s earlier 10-year prison sentence.

The verdict was delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed after reviewing 79-year-old Ms. Zia’s appeal against the High Court’s ruling on Wednesday (January 15, 2025), the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Supreme Court acquitted Ms. Zia, the party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, and all other suspects in their appeal over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, the report added.

The Appellate Division noted that the case was motivated by revenge.

Ms. Zia was sentenced on February 8, 2018, by Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-5 to five years of imprisonment for alleged embezzlement of government funds in the name of the Zia Orphanage Trust.

The same verdict handed down 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for five other accused, including Ms. Zia’s son Tarique and former chief secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui. Each of the accused was also fined Tk2.1 crore.

Among the accused, Tarique, Siddiqui, and Ziaur Rahman’s nephew Mominur Rahman have remained absconding.

Ms. Zia appealed the trial court’s verdict to the High Court, but the sentence was increased to 10 years by a High Court bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman on October 30, 2018.

Ms. Zia subsequently filed a leave-to-appeal petition against this sentence.

Following years of delays due to legal procedural issues and a lack of initiative from lawyers, the Appellate Division accepted Ms. Zia’s leave-to-appeal on November 11, 2024.

The Court also stayed the High Court’s 10-year sentence pending the final hearing of the appeal.

After concluding the hearing, the Appellate Division announced its decision to acquit Ms. Zia, officially clearing her of the charges in the case.

Ms. Zia is ailing and travelled to London earlier this month for medical treatment.

Ms. Zia served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.

Dhaka:

The High Court here on Sunday scrapped the lower court’s verdict and acquitted all accused, including former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman and former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, in a 2004 grenade attack in ousted premier Sheikh Hasina’s rally.

“The High Court annulled the trial court verdict and acquitted all convicts including Tarique Rahman,” a spokesman for the attorney general’s office said.

Tarique Rahman, 57, is the acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Two cases — one for murder and another under the Explosives Act — were filed after a grenade attack on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka left 24 people dead and nearly 300 injured.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain acquitted all 49 accused and observed that the trial court’s verdict in the cases was “illegal.” The High Court’s verdict comes after the bench heard the death references and appeals related to the cases filed over the attack.

The trial court had delivered the judgement based on a confession by Mufti Abdul Hannan, the top leader of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) outfit who was accused in the case.

Mufti Abdul Hannan has been executed in connection with another case.

The High Court said the confessional statement had no evidential value as it was taken on force and not examined properly by the magistrate concerned.

On November 21, the bench kept the death references (trial court documents for confirmation of death sentences) and the appeals filed by the convicted accused in the cases as curia advisari vult (meaning the verdict will be delivered any day) after it concluded a hearing on those matters.

During the hearing on the death references and appeals, the defence lawyers for the accused requested the High Court to scrap the trial court verdict as there was no specific allegation against them.

Meanwhile, appearing for the State, Deputy Attorney Generals Md Jashim Sarker and Md Russell Ahammad requested the High Court bench to uphold the lower court verdicts in the cases as the allegations against the convicted accused were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Hasina, then opposition leader, narrowly escaped the attack on August 21, 2004, but 24 people were killed as several grenades were hurled when she was addressing a “rally against terrorism”.

A Dhaka court on October 10, 2018, sentenced 19 people, including Babar, to death in the two cases filed in connection with the attacks.

Nineteen others, including Rahman, now in London, were given life imprisonment and 11 were handed different terms in prison.

Analysts previously said the incident changed Bangladesh’s politics forever. In contrast, the Business Standard newspaper at the time said that “it was a premeditated barbaric act designed to wipe out the whole leadership of Awami League, including Hasina”.

The FBI was called from the US to investigate the attack in which the assassins used grenades.

A former chief of Bangladesh’s spy agency DGFI testified as a witness later in the trial court and said the perpetrators were protected under directives of the higher authorities.

The High Court decision comes nearly four months after Hasina’s Awami League regime was ousted in a student-led mass upsurge and she fled to India on August 5.

Three days later Professor Muhammad Yunus took oath as the chief adviser of the interim government.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson and former PM Khaleda Zia
| Photo Credit: ANI

Tax authorities in Bangladesh on Monday (August 19, 2024) decided to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, 17 years after banks were ordered to block them.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has instructed banks to unfreeze the accounts of BNP Chairperson Zia, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

In August 2007, the NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell directed banks to freeze the accounts of the BNP Chairperson, who has been elected Bangladesh’s prime minister twice since 1990.

The decision was based on a recommendation of a panel formed during the then Army-backed caretaker government, said a senior official of the NBR.

Since then, her accounts have remained blocked. The BNP has on several occasions demanded that they be unfrozen.

The latest move comes after a mass uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina, a long-time rival of Khaleda, on August 5, ending the Bangladesh Awami League’s 15-year rule. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.

Ms. Zia, 79, was released from jail after Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5.

Ms. Zia served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.

The NBR said they received an application from Khaleda’s lawyer seeking to unfreeze the accounts.

“As there are no tax-related issues pending investigation relating to her, we have advised banks to unlock all her accounts. We have asked them to take immediate action and provide a compliance report,” the official was quoted as saying.

A week of fast-paced developments in Bangladesh, which saw Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, widespread violence and the formation of an interim government, has been capped off with the country’s chief justice agreeing to step down on Saturday. While it is unclear when elections will be held, what is certain is that the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the two big political parties in the country, will be playing a key role in them.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Saturday, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the general secretary of the BNP, said that the stepping down of the chief justice was brought about by student protests because he was known to be closely associated with Ms Hasina’s regime, which “killed many people” in the country.

In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Alamgir said that Ms Zia will lead the BNP in the elections if she is fit enough to do so and that the party would work to improve the India-Bangladesh relationship if it comes to power. He said that the attacks on Hindus in the country were a result of some people trying to take advantage of the situation and stressed that they were not part of any “systematic agenda”.

The BNP leader also said he believes that the Bangladesh army will not interfere in the political process going forward and also claimed that no extremist elements were involved in the protests.

Asked about the chief justice stepping down, Mr Alamgir said, “The chief justice is known here as an associate of the former regime, which killed so many people in this country and extraordinary, unprecedented corruption was done during this period… So there was always a demand for his removal. He was not exactly free, fair and neutral and that’s why the demand was very high.”

“The judiciary in Bangladesh has totally been destroyed. It is an institution but, with the help of the last regime, it was totally politicised,” he added.

Election Timeframe?

While Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken oath as the head of an interim government and is seen as popular among the movement that led to Ms Hasina being ousted, the question on everyone’s mind is when elections will be held again in Bangladesh.

When Mr Alamgir was asked about this and the role 78-year-old Khaleda Zia, who was released from prison this week, would be able to play in the elections, he said, “She’s very sick. She’s in the hospital. She’s suffering from multidisciplinary diseases. Her treatment was not going well in this country and we we requested the judiciary as well as the government several times to send her abroad, but that didn’t happen… Doctors say she’s not fit to travel right now and we will have to wait for some time before taking her outside the country. If she’s physically fit, she will definitely contest the election.”

The BNP leader said that while his party is ready for polls at any point, the interim government would need more time to conduct them.

“The entire election machinery has become totally polluted and they are not in a position to hold a free-and-fair election. So they will have to bring some reforms in the election system as well,” he said.

Mr Alamgir also rubbished a claim made by Sheikh Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, that the prime minister had not resigned, as well as reports that she was removed at gunpoint.

“The President himself, in the presence of political parties and the army, said she had resigned. There was no coercion or anything… It was a revolution. When the mob of lakhs of people was moving towards Ms Hasina’s residence, her security forces and the armed forces told her she had two choices: stay here and be mobbed or leave the country. And, at the last moment, she decided to leave the country,”she said.

Ties With India, Attacks On Minorities

Mr Alamgir emphasised that the India-Bangladesh relationship would continue to be sound and said the BNP would strive to improve it if it came to power.

When the leader was asked about attacks on minorities in the country, including Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, and whether there was a systemic attack, he said, “This is not at all true. When there is a change in our country or any country, especially in third-world countries, there are some people who try to take advantage… In Bangladesh, unfortunately, with every revolution, leaders of the incumbent party are victimised, whether they are Muslims or Hindus. There may be some sporadic attacks (on minorities) but it was not at all a political or systematic agenda. Never,” he said, claiming that communal harmony in the country is “superb”.

UN Involvement

When the BNP leader was asked whether there would be a vendetta against the supporters of Ms Hasina’s Party – the Awami League – or a purge of former army and police officers seen as close to her government, he said that the United Nations has been asked to conduct an investigation.

“If anybody is found guilty of violating human rights, systematic killing of the opposition or enforced disappearances, naturally, their cases will be investigated and they’ll be taken to task,” he said.

Mr Alamgir also said that he did not believe that there would be any interference from the army in the political process going forward.

“People have confidence in the army that they are the saviours of the country. So I don’t think they will do anything which will go against the will of the people,” he said.

Extremist Elements?

The violence in the country has died down to a large extent, Mr Alamgir said, and sought to allay fears of extremist elements being involved in the movement against Ms Hasina’s rule.

“The Jamaat (Jamaat-e-Islami) is not an extremist political party, but there were other extremist groups in Bangladesh and I don’t believe they are in existence now… Extremist elements are not involved (in protests) in any way. Not at all. It is totally (led by) students and most of them are very progressive elements. Some of the people leading the movement are extraordinarily talented. I am certain and I believe that this revolution will definitely succeed,” he added.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who was recommended by Bangladeshi student leaders as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, waves at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France, France August 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Filling the leadership vacuum in Bangladesh, albeit temporarily, Nobel Laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus has taken oath as head of the interim government. The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer will head the government until fresh polls are held. The parliament has already been dissolved by the nation’s president Mohammed Shahabuddin.

“If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country and for the courage of my people, then I will take it,” Mr.Yunus said on Tuesday, a day after Ms. Hasina resigned and left the country.. He was called on by student coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement to head the interim government.

Banker to the poor

“In Dr. Yunus, we trust,” wrote Asif Mahmud, a key leader of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group, in a Facebook post, echoing the widespread acceptability Mr. Yunus has in Bangladesh’s fractious polity.

Born on June 28, 1940, in Chittagong, East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Muhammad Yunus, the third of nine children, completed his primary education Lamabazar Primary School and then Chittagong Collegiate School. After completing both B.A. and M.A. in Economics from Dhaka University, he started his teaching career as a lecturer in the same university in 1961. Obtaining a PhD in economics from Vanderbilt University, Dr. Yunus began his tenure as an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, U.S., in 1969.

As war ravaged his homeland’s struggle for liberation from Pakistan, Dr. Yunus lobbied the U.S. Congress to stop military aid to Pakistan. He also helped raise support for the Liberation movement by running a Bangladesh Information Center in Washington DC, a Citizen’s Committee in Nashville, Tenessee and published the Bangladesh Newsletter.

With the birth of Bangladesh, he returned home, joining the Economics Department of University of Chittagong in 1972. As the newly-separated Bangladesh suffered a famine in 1974, he forayed into rural economics, introducing the Nabajug Tebhaga Khamar to study economic aspects of poverty and urged his students to lend a hand to farmers in fields. In his visits to farming households in Chittagong’s Jobra region, he realised the necessity and effectiveness of small loans to women bamboo furniture makers, freeing them from claws of loan sharks. Initiating the first ‘small loan’, Dr. Yunus lent $27 to 42 families in Jobra to manufacture their items for sale.

This idea gave birth to microfinance in 1976, where Dr. Yunus offered himself as the guarantor and secured a credit line from Janata Bank to lend small loans to Jobra residents. In 1983, Grameen Bank was established, specialising on small loans, playing a pivotal role in eradicating poverty via micro-credit requiring no collateral. Over 100 nations, including India, have replicated this model. As of 2024, Grameen Bank has 2,568 branches across 81,678 villages with 10.61 million borrowers.

Dr. Yunus pioneering work in microfinance won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for lending a social conscience to capitalism and “their efforts to create economic and social development from below” in Bangladesh. However, it also attracted legal woes in Bangladesh.

Brief political foray

Ahead of the 2006 polls, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League (AL) failed to agree on a candidate to head the caretaker government, leading to imposition of a state of emergency in Bangladesh. With both Khaleda Zia and Kheikh Hasin incarcerated by the military-backed government for extortion charges, Mr. Yunus announced that he would contest in the next polls by forming the Nagorik Shakti party in February 2007. However, he dropped the plans within months due to lack of public support.

Clash with Hasina government

On taking power in 2009, Ms. Hasina’s government began scrutinising Mr. Yunus and Grameen Bank. In 2011, he was removed as managing director of the microlending bank, as he had passed the retirement age of 60. While he challenged his ouster, he lost the court battle accusing Ms. Hasina of targetting him. On multiple occasions, Ms. Hasina has accused Mr. Yunus for influencing World Bank which cancelled a $1.2 billion credit for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project in 2012 – a charge which he has refuted. Over 150 cases have been filed against Mr. Yunus as of 2023 by the Hasina government.

The micro-financing model itself came under the scanner after Mr. Yunus admitted that some organisations may have abused the system for profit. The lack of collateral in such loans have attracted high interest rates by some banks, leading to borrowers falling into more debt. In 2019, an arrest warrant was issued against Mr. Yunus for three alleged breaches under the Labour Act.

In May 2023, Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accused Mr. Yunus and several others of misusing the workers’ welfare fund of Grameen Bank and regularising 101 staff members. After a lengthy trial, Mr. Yunus and his colleagues were convicted in January this year, mere days after Ms. Hasina began her fourth consecutive term as Prime minister.

“We have incurred the annoyance of someone because of chasing the three zero dream (zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions),” said Dr. Yunus after his conviction as thousands pleaded the then-PM to pardon him.

Within six months, chaos and violence was unleashed in Bangladesh due to anti-quota protests, leading stringent crackdown by police. As student protestors sought one single demand – resignation of Sheikh Hasina, the 78-year-old politician fled to India, ending her 15-year reign.  Now Ms. Hasina, whose government sought to incarcerate him, is out of power and out of the country, while Mr. Yunus is heading an interim government, tasked with overseeing an orderly political transition.