Finance minister should resign in protest
New Age 17/3/11
I, ON behalf of myself and many friends and colleagues, both at home and abroad, am deeply shocked and dismayed by the disgraceful manner in which our Nobel laureate, Dr Yunus, has been dismissed from Grameen Bank. Throughout the world, patriotic citizens are lost for words when asked why we would treat Dr Yunus this way. My colleagues in the Middle East report that powerful and influential people are asking about it and that this damage to our reputation has a negative impact on our already shrinking labour markets. No one says that he should head Grameen Bank forever, but everyone expects us to conduct ourselves with minimum decorum. More dangerously, this incident has alerted the international community to the most unpleasant aspects of our political culture. Fellow countrymen know very well what we are talking about.
The finance minister, honourable AMA Muhith, has served the nation well his whole life. Mistakes in politics are inevitable, but we believe that this is a mistake too far for the good minister. He has, time and again, to his great credit, done his best to tone down the rhetoric and temper the situation. This time he has failed. We believe that he has been forced into an embarrassing and unconscionable situation by the foolhardiness of his peers.
In the best interests of his conscience and his legacy, I hereby request the honourable AMA Muhith to resign his position as finance minister in protest at the vindictiveness and jealousy that have fuelled this action against Dr Yunus. By resigning, he would set the noblest example for his peers, the like of which we have not seen in some three decades. By resigning he would create an example and a legacy for all politicians, present and future, in Bangladesh and regionally, that would shine as a beacon of hope for decades to come. By resigning, he would help our current government, and the opposition, to understand the errors of their ways. He would resign to a thundering crescendo of applause and love for him. In making this call for him to resign, we are expressing our expectations of a man who has led a patriotic life of service, defined by integrity, honesty and decency. I wish him the best of good fortune at this difficult time.
Ehsan Rahman
Saudi Arabia
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