A bombshell investigative report has exposed shocking links between Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus\u2019 global Grameen network and financiers of Osama bin Laden\u2019s Al-Qaeda, raising grave questions about the integrity of the microfinance empire long hailed as a beacon for the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Bangladesh reels under Yunus\u2019 unelected interim government, the revelations coincide with mounting evidence of his administration\u2019s deliberate patronage of radical Islamist groups since August 2024\u2014from gutting counter-terror units to freeing jihadists and unleashing mobs against cultural icons and minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ex-NSI Officer: 50-year-old documents prove Yunus hijacked microcredit idea<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Published on November 27 by Bangladesh\u2019s Weekly Blitz, the report\u2014authored by editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury\u2014demands an international probe into Yunus\u2019 \u201ctransnational financial partnerships.\u201d It paints a picture of a \u201ccarefully polished global image\u201d masking a \u201cfar darker reality\u201d: Grameen\u2019s deep ties to individuals flagged by Western intelligence as terror funders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the centre is Grameen-Jameel Microfinance, a 2007 joint venture between Yunus\u2019 Grameen Foundation and Saudi billionaire Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel\u2019s Abdul Latif Jameel Group. Corporate records show it is headquartered in Dubai\u2019s International Humanitarian City, with an inactive website and deactivated Facebook page\u2014red flags in themselves. The venture, touted as the first \u201csocial business\u201d in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, claims to have funnelled $65 million to 2.2 million clients across 10 countries by 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Jameel\u2019s name appears on a March 2003 Wall Street Journal list of Al-Qaeda donors, drawn from CIA intelligence. The report branded him a \u201ckey funder\u201d of bin Laden, the architect of the 9\/11 attacks. Jameel\u2019s family faced lawsuits from 9\/11 victims\u2019 families, and a 2003 Sunday Times expos\u00e9 linked them to terror financing. In 2006, Britain\u2019s highest court upheld the WSJ\u2019s reporting as vital \u201cinvestigative journalism\u201d in the public interest. Yet Jameel, who received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for philanthropy, sat on Grameen-Jameel\u2019s board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baul songs banned, Wahhabi terrorism legal<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oikya Parishad demands BNP scrap Harun\u2019s candidacy for anti-Hindu rhetoric<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exiled journo Probir Sarker warns of mobocracy crushing Bangladesh media<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Zaher Al Munajjed, Grameen-Jameel\u2019s chairman and a Harvard alumnus, served as senior advisor to Jameel. The Blitz report alleges broader Grameen connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and even organ trafficking rings, where desperate borrowers were coerced into selling kidneys to repay loans. \u201cThis isn\u2019t charity\u2014it\u2019s a web of shadows,\u201d Choudhury writes, urging global counterterrorism agencies to scrutinise Yunus\u2019 empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These revelations land amid a surge in extremism under Yunus\u2019 watch, as documented in a November 28 report by the Canada-based Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG): \u201cResurgence of Extremism in Bangladesh during the Interim Government.\u201d The 42-page assessment warns of a \u201ccoordinated, multi-pronged Islamist revival,\u201d exploiting the post-Hasina \u201cinstitutional vacuum\u201d to push Bangladesh toward theocracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since capturing power last year, the regime has systematically dismantled safeguards. The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, credited with neutralising ISIS-linked Neo-JMB and Ansar al-Islam from 2016 to 2024, has been eviscerated. Funding was slashed 70%, experienced officers were purged or investigated for \u201cenforced disappearances\u201d (a charge ex-CTTC leaders call a \u201ccynical smear\u201d), and even its elite bomb-sniffing dogs\u2014Cory, Sam, and Finn\u2014were auctioned off for Tk 630,000 on November 24 at Mirpur Police Lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What took their place? The CTTC jailed the very militants they had previously detained. Over 700 hardcore jihadists escaped in August 2024 jailbreaks, with looted arms (1,300 firearms, 250,000 rounds) still circulating. Ansar al-Islam chief Jasimuddin Rahmani, who is al-Qaeda-linked, now lectures publicly. Jama\u2019atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya\u2019s Shamin Mahfuz was released before being rearrested for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ties. Hefazat-e-Islam firebrands Mufti Harun Izhar and Mamunul Haque openly preach anti-India jihad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) staged a defiant \u201cMarch for Khilafat\u201d in Dhaka in March 2025, drawing hundreds chanting for an Islamic caliphate. Tear gas dispersed them, but the GCDG report notes their \u201cextreme confidence\u201d\u2014amplified by campus recruitment and unchecked online radical videos. Al-Qaeda\u2019s As-Sahab media praised Bangladesh\u2019s \u201cvictory for Islam.\u201d Jamaat-e-Islami, delisted for 1971 war crimes the day Yunus took power, is now allied with Hefazat, demanding women\u2019s reforms be scrapped and music be banned from schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interview With India Today: Sheikh Hasina censures Pakistan-backed extremism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Extremism: India, Myanmar, Nepal should be cautious about Bangladesh<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n