The Hasina-Yunus Saga: The Real Issue
By Obaid Chowdhury, USA
In a press briefing on March 8, 2011, following the court dismissal of Prof Mohammad Yunus' Writ Petition, the Attorney General (AG) of Bangladesh Mahbubey Alam, asserted that if anyone in Bangladesh deserved Nobel Prize, it was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, not Professor Yunus. So, that was the issue!
Earlier on the day, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition filed by Prof Mohammad Yunus challenging his removal from the post of Managing Director of the Grameen Bank (GB), disregarding the fact that the government-submitted arguments remained somewhat unconvincing. The hierarchy of the present judiciary is composed mostly of partisan elements of the ruling Awami League, where 'kortar hukume kormo' (act as dictated) seems to be the guiding principle. The lawyers of Yunus did in fact fear that they would not get justice when the court avoided issuing the procedural Show Cause Notice to the government.
Professor Mohammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, needs little introduction. He is perhaps better known and admired abroad than in his own country Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina, for whatever reasons, never lost an opportunity to ooze out slander at the Nobel Laureate, even terming him as a goriber rokta chosha shud khor (interest extracting bloodsucker of the poor). The AG, perhaps unwittingly, revealed what bugged Hasina and why she harbored the hatred for the man. She could not assimilate the 'insult' she received in the form of his winning the Nobel Prize even as it brought name and pride for the nation. Apart from the Nobel, Prof Yunus also won many other prestigious awards that included Ramon Magsaysay, King Abdul Aziz Medal and US Presidential Medal of Freedom. One may remind the PM that the Nobel is not an Honorary Doctorate; it takes more than cash to earn it.
In November last year, a Norwegian documentary went through a suspected irregularity of Norwegian grant fund to the GB in the 1990s. A month later, its government clarified that there was no irregularity in the transaction. Bangladesh Finance Minister A M A Muhit too said so. But, Sheikh Hasina found a renewed opportunity to vilify Yunus. A barrage of write-ups, both for and against the microcredit guru, kept hitting the media since, leaving many people confused.
During the 2- year quasi-military rule in 2007-08, Yunus showed political ambition by announcing to form a party alternative to Hasina's Awami League and the BNP of Begum Khaleda Zia, which were much humiliated at the time for exposed corruptive practices. However, the reality of Bangladesh's politicking did not allow his latest brainchild to see the living daylight. Many analysts find this as additional reason for Hasina to bring Yunus down in public eye.
Has Prof Yunus's image really affected by the silly government action? For the past few days, the media focus shifted from World Cup Cricket to Yunus saga, both nationally and internationally. Most reports depicted it as a case of pure political victimization, generating a sympathy factor for the Nobel winner, away from the administrative or legal merit, if any. The public in general, which included many Awami supporters, were outraged at the way a person of national stature and pride was humiliated. A former president of Ireland formed a "Friends of Grameen" and condemned the Bangladesh government's action against Yunus. Earlier in January, media reported that US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton called Sheikh Hasina to express the US concern and displeasure for her orchestrations to discredit the micro-credit founder. James Morierty, the US Ambassador in Dhaka said after the court decision that the US was deeply troubled and it was "an unusual way to handle a Nobel Laureate."
The GB itself is unwilling to accept the government decision. Its 26 thousand workforce and 8 million borrowers are deeply concerned about the future of the bank, which uplifted rural poor of the country above the threshold of $1.25 a day by 2008, according to the US-based Microcredit Summit Campaign. 640 million people---130 million being the poorest---the world over benefitted from the microloans in 2009. US Ambassador for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer said, "Microcredit has very effectively lifted millions of poor women and their families out of poverty."
The issue or the controversy of Professor Mohammad Yunus vs. the government of Sheikh Hasina is far from over. It will be interesting to see who has the last laugh!
Obaid Chowdhury
NY, USA
E Mail : ranu51@hotmail.com
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=350172
Earlier on the day, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition filed by Prof Mohammad Yunus challenging his removal from the post of Managing Director of the Grameen Bank (GB), disregarding the fact that the government-submitted arguments remained somewhat unconvincing. The hierarchy of the present judiciary is composed mostly of partisan elements of the ruling Awami League, where 'kortar hukume kormo' (act as dictated) seems to be the guiding principle. The lawyers of Yunus did in fact fear that they would not get justice when the court avoided issuing the procedural Show Cause Notice to the government.
Professor Mohammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, needs little introduction. He is perhaps better known and admired abroad than in his own country Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina, for whatever reasons, never lost an opportunity to ooze out slander at the Nobel Laureate, even terming him as a goriber rokta chosha shud khor (interest extracting bloodsucker of the poor). The AG, perhaps unwittingly, revealed what bugged Hasina and why she harbored the hatred for the man. She could not assimilate the 'insult' she received in the form of his winning the Nobel Prize even as it brought name and pride for the nation. Apart from the Nobel, Prof Yunus also won many other prestigious awards that included Ramon Magsaysay, King Abdul Aziz Medal and US Presidential Medal of Freedom. One may remind the PM that the Nobel is not an Honorary Doctorate; it takes more than cash to earn it.
In November last year, a Norwegian documentary went through a suspected irregularity of Norwegian grant fund to the GB in the 1990s. A month later, its government clarified that there was no irregularity in the transaction. Bangladesh Finance Minister A M A Muhit too said so. But, Sheikh Hasina found a renewed opportunity to vilify Yunus. A barrage of write-ups, both for and against the microcredit guru, kept hitting the media since, leaving many people confused.
During the 2- year quasi-military rule in 2007-08, Yunus showed political ambition by announcing to form a party alternative to Hasina's Awami League and the BNP of Begum Khaleda Zia, which were much humiliated at the time for exposed corruptive practices. However, the reality of Bangladesh's politicking did not allow his latest brainchild to see the living daylight. Many analysts find this as additional reason for Hasina to bring Yunus down in public eye.
Has Prof Yunus's image really affected by the silly government action? For the past few days, the media focus shifted from World Cup Cricket to Yunus saga, both nationally and internationally. Most reports depicted it as a case of pure political victimization, generating a sympathy factor for the Nobel winner, away from the administrative or legal merit, if any. The public in general, which included many Awami supporters, were outraged at the way a person of national stature and pride was humiliated. A former president of Ireland formed a "Friends of Grameen" and condemned the Bangladesh government's action against Yunus. Earlier in January, media reported that US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton called Sheikh Hasina to express the US concern and displeasure for her orchestrations to discredit the micro-credit founder. James Morierty, the US Ambassador in Dhaka said after the court decision that the US was deeply troubled and it was "an unusual way to handle a Nobel Laureate."
The GB itself is unwilling to accept the government decision. Its 26 thousand workforce and 8 million borrowers are deeply concerned about the future of the bank, which uplifted rural poor of the country above the threshold of $1.25 a day by 2008, according to the US-based Microcredit Summit Campaign. 640 million people---130 million being the poorest---the world over benefitted from the microloans in 2009. US Ambassador for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer said, "Microcredit has very effectively lifted millions of poor women and their families out of poverty."
The issue or the controversy of Professor Mohammad Yunus vs. the government of Sheikh Hasina is far from over. It will be interesting to see who has the last laugh!
Obaid Chowdhury
NY, USA
E Mail : ranu51@hotmail.com
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=350172
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