Moriarty commented, `Despite, or perhaps because of, Yunus' international reputation, many among Bangladesh's political elite regard the Nobel Laureate with suspicion. In the atmosphere of Bangladesh's cult-of-personality politics, Sheikh Hasina and others likely view Yunus' achievements and stature as a threat to their authority; in their minds, his very brief attempt to establish a political party in the early days of the 2007-2008.'
Wow! No wonder US Ambassadors have superstar status amongst Deshi journalists and politicians :)
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bdmailer@...> wrote:
>
> *Hasina's stand is `you're either with me or against me': Yunus*
>
> A leaked US embassy cable has observed that a prophet has no honour in his
> own country, at least as far as Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus and the
> Awami League-led government attitude towards him is concerned.
>
> The cable sent to Washington from the US embassy in Dhaka on November 30,
> 2009, said, `Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and foreign minister Dipu Moni
> made clear their distrust and suspicion of Yunus in several recent meetings
> with senior US government officials.'
>
> WikiLeaks on August 30, 2011 released a number of diplomatic cables which
> had noted that while the government claimed Yunus was engaged in corrupt
> practices at Grameen Bank, his ties to the military-controlled interim
> administration and his brief contemplation of a role in
>
> Bangladesh politics were more likely the reasons for Awami League's disdain.`No
> one in Bangladesh can escape politics, however,' said the November 30, 2009
> cable.
>
> One of the cables said Yunus wanted to resolve whatever `misunderstanding'
> existed with Hasina over his efforts and organisation Grameen Bank and asked
> the US government to assist him in urging Hasina to change a long-standing
> rule that gave the government control over his position as Grameen Bank
> chairman and sought US help to resolve the problems.
>
> Hasina signalled her displeasure with Yunus by refusing to ratify the
> interim regime's ordinance that had empowered the Grameen Bank board of
> directors to appoint its chairman, said the November 30, 2009 cable sent by
> the then US charge d' affaires Nicholas Dean.
>
> `Fearing [that the] government displeasure with him would jeopardise Grameen
> Bank and his other initiatives, Yunus requested the US ambassador to put in
> a good word with Sheikh Hasina on behalf of Grameen and Yunus,' the cable
> read.
>
> On November 5, 2009, when the US ambassador at a meeting with Hasina raised
> the Yunus issue, `the prime minister theatrically rolled her eyes and shook
> her head. She spoke at length about her estrangement from Yunus and nodded
> her agreement when an advisor in the meeting characterised Yunus as
> ungrateful for the Grameen Phone deal that the prime minister had made
> possible.'
>
> On November 11, 2009 ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues Melanne
> Verveer met with Hasina, when the former was also interested in meeting with
> Yunus. `Most keenly, the prime minister felt Yunus had exercised poor
> judgment by courting military officers who had presented Yunus the
> possibility of coming to power through military backing in early 2007,' the
> cable said.
>
> `Perhaps we don't work together. But we don't stop him. When I was in
> Sweden (recently), Yunus was there and we exchanged hands. It is our family
> tradition.' Hasina was quoted in the cable to have said. When ambassador
> Verveer met with foreign minister Dipu Moni the next day, however, the
> latter had a litany of complaints against Yunus. Dipu Moni presented a range
> of allegations against Yunus and Grameen. `She complained about the high
> interest rates Grameen charges its customers and alleged that the bank used
> "vicious practices" to recruit customers and obtain loan payments,' the
> cable read.
>
> Dipu Moni said, `Yunus broke rules and Grameen didn't comply with Bangladesh
> law, including auditing requirements. Many people in Bangladesh were upset
> when Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize given his corrupt practices.'She also
> said government leaders understood the power of Yunus' international
> reputation and therefore `bit our tongues' when accolades were heaped upon
> him.
>
> According to the cable, on a personal note, Dipu Moni the foreign minister
> also complained that Yunus did not visit Sheikh Hasina in the hospital after
> she was injured in a 2004 bomb attack.
>
> Ambassadors Verveer and James F Moriarty met with Yunus on November 11,
> 2009, when Yunus disputed all the allegations and said he and Grameen
> complied with all laws, including annual audits.
>
> Yunus agreed that the prime minister likely viewed him as part of the
> caretaker government that tried to remove her and her rival, Khaleda Zia of
> the opposition BNP, from Bangladesh's political scene. Yunus said Hasina's
> attitude was, `you're either with me or against me.'
>
> This dispute also raises questions about the long-term future of Grameen
> Bank. Yunus is 69 years old. Yunus told Moriarty and Verveer that he had
> offered to retire on a number of occasions, but the bank board had refused
> his offers, claiming there would be a run on the bank if he left.
>
> Yunus said he had been grooming a successor, but claimed government leaders
> had wooed that person into their camp and now he was working against him
> within the bank.
>
> Another cable sent to Washington on August 12, 2009 by the then US
> ambassador James F Moriarty in Dhaka, said when the ambassador had met with
> Yunus on August 9, 2009 to congratulate him on winning the presidential
> medal of freedom, Yunus reported that tensions between him and the prime
> minister continued, but he hoped to meet with her soon to clear any
> misunderstandings over his efforts and organisation.
>
> Yunus said he had not yet received an appointment with Hasina despite his
> sending in an urgent request in late July 2009. Yunus perceived that even
> supportive government officials felt pressured to distance themselves from
> his recommendations and proposals.
>
> Moriarty in another cable he sent to Washington on May 11, 2009 disclosed
> that Yunus had asked that the US assist him in urging Sheikh Hasina to
> change a long-standing rule giving the government control over his position
> as the Grameen Bank chairman.
>
> Bangladesh's 2007-2008 caretaker government passed an ordinance removing the
> GOB's authority to select the bank chairman, but the parliament has not yet
> ratified that ordinance, the cable said.
>
> In a May 10, 2009 meeting with the ambassador, `Yunus requested our input on
> the best way to request the PM reconsider her refusal,' Moriarty said in the
> cable.
>
> Yunus also discussed with the ambassador his disappointment over the AL
> government. He said the new government had to focus on the nation's power
> needs and improve the quality of government bureaucracy in order for
> Bangladesh to weather the current economic turmoil, it said.
>
> During the meeting Yunus said parliament had refused to approve an amendment
> to legislation that established Grameen Bank in the early 1980s; the
> amendment would have given the bank's board of directors, rather than the
> government (as has been the practice), the authority to select the chairman
> of Grameen Bank, a position held by Yunus since the bank's inception and
> renewed every two years.
>
> In order to create Grameen Bank in 1983, Yunus sought support from the
> government to transform his micro-credit venture from a charitable
> organisation to a full-fledged bank, the cable said.The government of
> Bangladesh passed an ordinance creating Grameen Bank, that decreed that the
> government would own 60 per cent of the bank and would have the authority to
> appoint its chairman.
>
> `Since 1983, the GOB's share of Grameen Bank has gradually declined; now the
> government only owns 5 per cent of the bank.'The GOB has also continued to
> re-appoint Yunus the bank's chairman. However, Yunus has long desired to
> change the rule giving the GOB control of his position as chairman, the
> cable said.
>
> Over the years, Yunus told the ambassador, he had applied repeatedly to the
> GOB to amend the rules regarding the selection of the chairman.The
> ambassador and Yunus went on to discuss more generally the prime minister's
> performance during her first four months in office.
>
> Yunus was critical of Hasina's actions to strengthen the central government
> at the expense of local government. He also criticised the AL government
> for exacting petty retributions against the opposition Bangladesh
> Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Khaleda Zia. `This is a divisive
> strategy,' Yunus said. The prime minister `must build bridges.'
>
> Moriarty commented, `Despite, or perhaps because of, Yunus' international
> reputation, many among Bangladesh's political elite regard the Nobel
> Laureate with suspicion. In the atmosphere of Bangladesh's
> cult-of-personality politics, Sheikh Hasina and others likely view Yunus'
> achievements and stature as a threat to their authority; in their minds, his
> very brief attempt to establish a political party in the early days of the
> 2007-2008.'
>
> `Yunus and his supporters, including the United States, need to convince the
> prime minister that an independent Grameen Bank is in her interest,' he
> concluded.
>
> http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/34641.html
>
------------------------------------
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