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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nNobel laureate Muhammad Yunus – a longtime political foe of Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina – has been named the country’s interim leader.<\/p>\n The 84-year-old was appointed a day after Ms Hasina fled the country following weeks of deadly protests calling for her resignation.<\/p>\n While Prof Yunus has been lauded for his pioneering use of microloans, Ms Hasina regarded him as a public enemy<\/a> – he is currently on bail, appealing a six-month jail term in what he has described as a politically-motivated case.<\/p>\n Students who led the massive protests that unseated Ms Hasina refused to accept a military-led government and pushed for Prof Yunus to lead the interim administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The decision to name Prof Yunus as chief adviser of the interim government followed a meeting between President Mohammed Shahabuddin, military leaders and student leaders.<\/p>\n “When the students who sacrificed so much are requesting me to step in at this difficult juncture, how can I refuse?” Prof Yunus had said.<\/p>\n He is returning to Dhaka from Paris where he is undergoing a minor medical procedure, his spokesperson said.<\/p>\n The protests in Bangladesh began in early July with demands from university students to abolish quotas in civil service jobs, but snowballed into a broader anti-government movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n In all, more than 400 people are believed to have died in clashes between government forces and protesters. <\/p>\n On Monday alone, more than 100 people died across the country, making it the single deadliest day in the movement. Hundreds of police stations were also torched. <\/p>\n Hours before protesters stormed and looted the former PM’s official residence in the capital Dhaka, Ms Hasina resigned and fled to neighbouring India. That brought a swift and abrupt end to her nearly 15-year rule.<\/p>\n Even as Bangldesh’s economy grew in the past decade, the former PM came under increasing criticism for smothering her critics and jailing her political opponsents. <\/p>\n Some of them, such as ex-PM Khaleda Zia and activist Ahmad Bin Quasem, were released soon after Ms Hasina’s hasty exit.<\/p>\n Ms Zia chairs the main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which boycotted elections in 2014 and again in 2024, saying free and fair polls <\/a>were not possible under Ms Hasina<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 78-year-old was imprisoned in 2018 for corruption – charges, she said, were politically motivated.<\/p>\n Rights groups say Mr Quasem was detained in 2016, one of hundreds of forced disappearances during Ms Hasina’s tenure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prof Yunus, who was sentenced to six months in jail<\/a> in January for violating labour laws, has said he too was a victim of Ms Hasina’s ire. <\/p>\n He has faced other allegations in the past, going back to 2011 when he was accused of defaming<\/a> Bangladesh’s politicians. <\/p>\n In 1983, he started Grameen Bank, which offers micro, long-term loans to help poor people start small businesses – a concept that has since taken off around the world. <\/p>\n