Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus Ordered to Pay $1 Million in Taxes amidst Feud with Bangladesh's Prime Minister

Bangladesh's top court has ruled that Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus must pay over $1 million in taxes on a $7 million donation made to three charitable trusts.

This decision comes amid a long-standing feud between Yunus and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has accused him of exploiting the poor. Yunus, who founded Grameen Bank and is credited with lifting millions out of poverty through his microfinance loans, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work promoting economic development.

However, his relationship with the government has deteriorated, with Bangladesh's anti-graft watchdog launching a probe into firms that he chairs. The court's ruling affirms a previous decision by a lower court, which concluded that the law does not provide tax exemptions for donations to trusts.

The court has ordered Yunus to pay a total tax bill of 150 million taka ($1.4 million), of which he has already paid 30 million taka. Yunus' contributions to alleviating poverty in Bangladesh have been significant. Through Grameen Bank, he has provided microfinance loans to tens of millions of rural women, helping to eradicate extreme poverty in the country.

However, his efforts have been met with criticism and personal attacks from Prime Minister Hasina. She has blamed him for the World Bank's withdrawal from a corruption-tainted bridge project, and when the bridge was finally completed, she stated that Yunus should be "dipped in a river" for jeopardizing its completion.

In March, a group of 40 global figures, including former UN chief Ban Ki-moon and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, published a joint letter calling for an end to the "unfair attacks and harassment" of Yunus. It remains to be seen how this latest ruling will impact his ongoing work and the relationship between Yunus and the government.