Unique-Bangladesh’s excessive development beneath ousted PM Hasina was ‘faux’, interim head Yunus says

By Una Galani and Peter Thal Larsen

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – The pinnacle of Bangladesh’s interim authorities, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, mentioned on Thursday that his nation’s excessive development beneath ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was “faux” and faulted the world for not questioning what he mentioned was her corruption.

Yunus, 84, an economist and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, took cost of the South Asian nation’s interim authorities in August after Hasina was pressured to flee to neighbouring India following weeks of violent protests.

Hasina has been credited with turning across the economic system and the nation’s large clothes trade throughout her 15 years in energy, though critics have accused her of human rights violations and suppressing free speech and dissent.

Hasina, who had dominated Bangladesh since 2009, is being investigated there on suspicion of crimes in opposition to humanity, genocide, homicide, corruption and cash laundering and Dhaka has requested New Delhi to extradite her.

Hasina and her social gathering deny wrongdoing, whereas New Delhi has not responded to the extradition request.

“She was in Davos telling all people find out how to run a rustic. No one questioned that,” Yunus informed Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Financial Discussion board’s annual assembly within the Swiss Alpine resort. “That is not an excellent world system in any respect.”

“The entire world is answerable for making that occur. In order that’s an excellent lesson for the world,” he mentioned. “She mentioned, our development fee surpasses all people else. Faux development fee, utterly.”

Yunus didn’t elaborate on why he thought that development was faux, however went on to emphasize the significance of broad-based and inclusive development, and the necessity to scale back wealth inequality.

Annual development within the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million folks accelerated to just about 8% within the monetary yr 2017/18, in contrast with about 5% when Hasina took over in 2009, earlier than the influence of COVID-19 and the warfare in Ukraine pulled it down.

In 2023, the World Financial institution described Bangladesh as one of many world’s fastest-growing economies.

“Since its independence in 1971, Bangladesh has reworked from one of many poorest international locations to attaining lower-middle earnings standing in 2015,” it mentioned.

HURT BY STRAINED INDIA TIES

The scholar-led motion in Bangladesh grew out of protests in opposition to quotas in authorities jobs that spiralled in July, frightening a violent crackdown that drew international criticism, though Hasina’s authorities denied utilizing extreme power.

The scholar protesters really useful Yunus because the chief adviser within the interim authorities tasked with holding contemporary elections.

Yunus, who has promised to carry elections by the top of 2025 or early 2026, mentioned he was not all in favour of working.

Referred to as the “banker to the poor”, Yunus and the Grameen Financial institution he based gained the Nobel for serving to raise hundreds of thousands from poverty with tiny loans of lower than $100 provided to the agricultural poor, too poor to achieve consideration from conventional banks.

“For me, personally, I am not very pushed by development charges,” Yunus mentioned. “I am pushed by the standard of lifetime of the folks on the very backside degree. So I might moderately carry an economic system which avoids the entire concept of wealth focus.”

Ties between Bangladesh and India, who’ve sturdy commerce and cultural hyperlinks, have grow to be fraught since Hasina was ousted and he or she took refuge in New Delhi.

Yunus has demanded that India ship Hasina again to Bangladesh so she will be able to face trial for what it says are crimes in opposition to protesters and her opponents, and crimes she is accused of committing throughout her tenure.

Calling India’s rival China a long-term pal of Bangladesh at this tough time, Yunus mentioned the strained relationship with New Delhi “hurts me lots personally”.

“Bangladesh-India relationship must be the strongest potential. You recognize, you can not draw the map of India with out drawing the map of Bangladesh,” he mentioned, referring to how Bangladesh’s land border runs nearly fully alongside India’s.