[ALOCHONA] Yunus’s removal sparks protests all over

Yunus's removal sparks protests all over

Politicians, university teachers, women activists, microfinance organisations, employees and clients of Grameen Bank on Saturday condemned the removal of Muhammad Yunus from the bank. Some organisations also staged demonstrations at places across the country in protest at the government's action. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member, Moudud Ahmed, at discussion on Saturday at the National Press Club said the government was conspiring to destroy the microfinance organisation by removing its founder Muhammad Yunus.

The bank would be hit hard if the government takes its total control, he said. Moudud called Yunus a 'pride for the country' and said humiliation of Yunus had hurt the nation. He said the government's attempt to 'destroy' Grameen Bank was a manifestation of its 'autocratic' attitude. Destabilisation of Grameen Bank would affect many poor women who were the beneficiaries of the bank, he said. He claimed that the government's 'vengeful' move had sparked widespread protests across the world. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal faction president ASM Abdur Rab called for a graceful resolution of the crisis of Gameen Bank arising from the government's unilateral decision to remove Yunus from the bank. He said the party would take to the streets if the government did not go for a graceful solution. Rab at a briefing at the party's office said that the finance minister had shown a 'colonial mentality of vengeance' by removing Yunus from his position which had tarnished the country's image. Rab questioned why the government had not noticed the issue of Yunus's age in past 11 years. The chairman of microfinance organisation BRAC, Fazle Hasan Abed, expressed concern at the recent development over the Grameen Bank. 'Grameen Bank is an extremely important institution serving about 8.3 million of Bangladesh's most underprivileged population. Welfare of these borrowers and continuous progress of the institution must be given the highest priority for any decision affecting the organisation,' he said. Abed said, 'A sudden exit of the founder and the managing director of Grameen Bank and a legal battle between the board and the government may potentially cause a loss of confidence among its borrowers putting the organisation's future in doubt.

For the sake of the millions of its members, we must take utmost care in not letting this happen. A carefully planned succession for Dr Yunus can help a smooth transition and give the organisation the stability that it needs to ensure the welfare of its members,' he said. 'We hope that for any steps concerning Dr Yunus or Grameen Bank, a due process will be followed – keeping in mind the integrity of the institution concerned and also how lack of due process may affect the reputation of our country globally,' added Abed. Two hundred and fifty teachers of Dhaka University in a statement Saturday denounced the removal of Yunus from the position of managing director his brainchild Grameen Bank. 'The disrespect and indecent attitude shown toward the lone Nobel laureate of the country is shocking and condemnable. We consider the government's action as totally unjust and an act of vengeance,' said the statement. 'Like millions of people across the globe, we are shocked and enraged at the decision. We demand immediate withdrawal of the decision,' it added. Nineteen women activists in a joint statement expressed concern at the harassment of Muhammad Yunus, who, they said, had contributed to the empowerment of the poor, especially poor rural women, through alleviation of their poverty. 'Today, nearly 20 million poor women of Bangladesh have been empowered through micro-credit and they contributed to the development of the country. It should be realised by all concerned that showing disrespect to the father of micro-credit is tantamount to disrespecting the 20 million women.

 Millions of women of Bangladesh will not tolerate this insult. We women of the country are shocked and offended by the government's action and demand an end to this situation in a proper and graceful manner,' said the statement. Taherunnesa Abdullah, Salma Khan, Maleka Begum, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Rounaq Jahan, Farida Akhtar, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Shireen Huq, Mahera Khatun, Firdous Azim, Najma Siddiqui, Amena Mohsin, Shaheen Anam, Nashid Kamal, Tasnim Azim, Simeen Mahmud, Salma Ali, Perween Hasan, Mahmuda Islam, Hamida Hossain, Shireen Q Dutta and Razia Qadir signed the statement. The joint convener of Samajik Shakti, Mohammad Habib Ullah, and member- secretary Mosharaf Hossain Montu in a statement condemned the removal of Yunus from Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank employees at places across the country staged demonstrations protesting at the ouster of its managing director Muhammad Yunus. In Patuakhali, the bank employees alleged that the police had obstructed their programmes when they gathered in front of its regional office at Sabujbagh around 10:00am to form a human-chain, bring out a silent procession and submit a memorandum to the deputy commissioner. 'We could not bring out the procession and form the human chain due to police obstruction,' said the bank's regional manager Panna Lal Datta. In Gazipur, over 100 Grameen Bank employees formed a human chain in front of the deputy commissioner's office at around 11:00am.

The bank employees also staged similar protests at Kapasia bus stop, College Road intersection and in front of Sripur upazila council. Employees and borrowers of Grameen Bank in Chittagong division formed a human chain in front of the Chittagong Press Club in protest against the removal of Yunus from the bank. New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that separate human chains were formed in Aditmari, Hatibandha and Patgram upazilas in the district in protest against the removal of Muhammad Yunus from the bank.

Grameen Bank members, borrowers and staff took part in the human chain and demanded that the government should review its decision and allow Yunus to run the bank for the sake of the poor. Members of the bank brought out a silent procession and submitted memorandum to the upazila nirbahi officer at Phulbari in Dinajpur.
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/feed/frontpage/10551.txt

__._,_.___

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___