প্রথম আলো: সরকারের ভালো কাজে বাধা ইউনূস

[shuziburo]

অর্থমন্ত্রী আবুল মাল আবদুল মুহিত বলেছেন, ‘এ দেশে এত ভালো কাজ হচ্ছে, এটা পৃথিবীর কোথাও প্রাধান্য পায় না। এর একমাত্র কারণ হচ্ছেন ইউনূস।’
More here. What a character!

[shuziburo]

Ittefaq reports: ইউনূস দেশবিরোধী প্রচারণায় লিপ্ত

"গ্রামীণ ব্যাংকের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা ড. মুহাম্মদ ইউনূসের বিরুদ্ধে বিষোদগার করে অর্থমন্ত্রী আবুল মাল আবদুল মুহিত বলেছেন, বাংলাদেশের অগ্রগতি বিশ্বে গুরুত্ব না পাওয়ার জন্য তিনিই দায়ী।" Dr. Yunus must be really powerful.

[AsifTheManRahman]

No more Abuls, pleaseeeeee. Mathar chul to shob chirsi, buk er chul gula rakhte den!

[shuziburo]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
No more Abuls, pleaseeeeee. Mathar chul to shob chirsi, buk er chul gula rakhte den!

You should send this petition to Apa...

[oronnya]

Abulder haatei desher orthoniti, desher cricket... no wonder amader desher konodikei unnotir kono chhaya nai

[Equinox]

Thread title should clarify that it's the FM who made the comment and not PA.

[HereWeGo]

Emon ki bhalo kaaj korse I am thinking abt that!!!
Disillusioned politicians...
Previous Democritically elected Finance minster had a super corrupt family and this one is super crazy.... Not sure which is worse, but general people suffer...

[Navo]

As usual our politicians are horrible at expressing their thoughts in a considered, balanced manner.

Anyway, at the moment, I am trying to write a dispassionate article on this Grameen Bank imbroglio, starting from its inception to the Norwegian documentary through to the petition(s) before the Supreme Court and finally to its aftermath, including the departure of Dr. Yunus and the setting up of an independent inquiry commission to investigate the purported irregularities GB's subsidiaries have been involved in.

Having met Dr. Yunus and Monica Yunus when I was young, having a copy of 'Banker to the Poor' signed by him personally and looking up to him throughout my adolescence and teenage years, I find it hard to think that he could be involved in anything illegal. But the more I delve into this complex legal-financial web of Grameen, the more that I feel something is awry...[to be continued]

[Naimul_Hd]

Abul, Nazim, SN der team e deikhe mathar chandi emnitei gorom hoye ache...ekhon arek Abul er kotha shunle mathar chul ektao thakbe na !!!

[HereWeGo]

Originally Posted by Navo
As usual our politicians are horrible at expressing their thoughts in a considered, balanced manner.

Anyway, at the moment, I am trying to write a dispassionate article on this Grameen Bank imbroglio, starting from its inception to the Norwegian documentary through to the petition(s) before the Supreme Court and finally to its aftermath, including the departure of Dr. Yunus and the setting up of an independent inquiry commission to investigate the purported irregularities GB's subsidiaries have been involved in.

Having met Dr. Yunus and Monica Yunus when I was young, having a copy of 'Banker to the Poor' signed by him personally and looking up to him throughout my adolescence and teenage years, I find it hard to think that he could be involved in anything illegal. But the more I delve into this complex legal-financial web of Grameen, the more that I feel something is awry...[to be continued]

And you may be right but a seasoned politician must be careful when making accusations without much to substantiate that accusation against a figure who is a national pride.

Case in point, if Hansie Cronje did not come to the open and claimed of wrong doing I dont think anyone would have put any weight on the Delhi Police claims, just because of the enormous respect that people had for Cronje...

[simon]

shikkhito hok ba oshikkhito hok, amader desh er politician ra shob i shala hypocrite and bunch of jealous freak.

[MohammedC]

When will this jealousy end ?

The way things are going wont be surprised if Professor is soon classed as war criminal by BAL politicians.

[Navo]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
And you may be right but a seasoned politician must be careful when making accusations without much to substantiate that accusation against a figure who is a national pride.

Case in point, if Hansie Cronje did not come to the open and claimed of wrong doing I dont think anyone would have put any weight on the Delhi Police claims, just because of the enormous respect that people had for Cronje...

Ironically, just such a statement was made by the FM himself in March 2011 when he said, "They [the United States] said they want us to treat him [Yunus] with respect. We told them that Yunus is the pride of Bangladesh" However, much has changed since that statement was and much more has been gleaned about the history and operation of GB. It has been, for instance, established conclusively by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh that GB is a statutory public authority rather than an NGO or an ordinary Bank given the particular provisions of the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983. (I would encourage everyone to read it, it's in pretty simple English) This casts a long shadow over the entire operations of GB as they have functioned in a manner totally independent of this statute, thus exposing themselves to further litigation. It is from this that all the issues concerning his retirement age, appointment of MDs, creating subsidiaries like Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Fund, etc. arises.

At the same time, the successive Governments of Bangladesh as well as the Bangladesh Bank are at fault for not noting these discrepancies earlier and not undertaking a thorough financial and legal investigation back in the late nineties when the Norwegian Government through their Embassy raised concerns about the arbitrary, unannounced transfer of aid money, in the millions of dollars, from Grameen Bank to Grameen Kalyan.

And then there is the issue of "if its all in the greater good, why not just let these 'legal technicalities' slide?" or "what have these politicians given us, compared to the name and fame garnered by Dr. Yunus?" versus "is micro-credit successful at all in alleviating poverty?" [But more on this another time]

With regard to the particular accusation against Dr. Yunus that he has 'powerful friends', I believe the FM is referring to the close, personal relationship Dr. Yunus has to the Clintons, Richard Branson, Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times, etc as evidenced by the number of sensational articles and statements they've made on his behalf in the global press. At home, he has the weighty support of eminent intellectuals and civil society members like Rehman Sobhan, Dr. Kamal Hossain, etc. He is able to leverage the 'social capital' of this international and domestic support, dovetail it with our long-held belief in his integrity and posit it against our deep distrust of the State and all its weak, decrepit structures. Any investigation of Grameen Bank - which happened in 2011 for the first time since its inception - is thus summarily dismissed as politically motivated and we'll never really know the truth.

[BANFAN]

Ha ha ha ....

AL is axing their own foot.... It's really hard to defame such a figure...it's like banging your head against a wall....you know which one breaks...

[shuziburo]

Originally Posted by Equinox
Thread title should clarify that it's the FM who made the comment and not PA.

It was the PA headline. I don't think I should have changed their headline.

[Sohel]

And now Muhit Shaheb is putting words into Amartya Sen's mouth!

Amartya refutes Muhith
Urges him to withdraw wrong attribution made to him

Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen has expressed surprise at Finance Minister AMA Muhith's comments that he made on Thursday attributing to him about Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus.

In a written reply to a query from The Daily Star, Sen hoped that Muhith would withdraw his wrong attribution to him about Yunus.

Quoting Sen Muhith on Thursday told reporter in Dhaka, "Professor Sen told me that so many good things are happening in this country but they are not highlighted anywhere in the world only because of Professor Yunus."

But Sen yesterday said: “I am particularly surprised -- indeed astonished -- to see his attributing to me a view that is not mine. Indeed, the alleged utterance is not close to anything I told Muhith when we met briefly at the VIP lounge in the Bangkok Airport last month.”

***

"Among the principal factors behind this widespread global reluctance to say good things about Bangladesh's progress is a shared resentment by a large section of influential intellectuals across the world of the harsh official treatment of Dr Yunus in Bangladesh.

I was not at all accusing Yunus of preventing the recognition and praise that Bangladesh deserves (as Mr Muhith seems to be saying). Rather, I was pointing to the fact that the treatment of Yunus -- and its interpretation in the outside world -- have been strongly inhibiting factors working against the justified acclaim that Bangladesh's stellar achievements could otherwise be expected to get in the world.

I hope Mr Muhith will withdraw his wrong attribution to me, in the light of my reminding him of exactly what I told him."

READ MORE

Talk about twisting words! It's time for him to go. What a disgraceful exit this'll turn out to be.

[BANFAN]

Does this man have any shame ...!! And the PM seems to have fun, unleashing her dogs behind defaming Younus... And thinking thet she is doing a great job...world should be amazed at the display of her intellect and power...she thinks, she is more knowledgeable than Younus, because she probably has more Phds than the professor. Why people don't give her a Nobel Prize for being the most jealous character on universe??

[Zunaid]

Well Muhith needs to be taken out to a retirement home.

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/thoughts/?p=156

[shuziburo]

But not before he gets Apa the Nobel Peace Prize that was stolen by the cunning Dr. Yunus!

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Well Muhith needs to be taken out to a retirement home.

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/thoughts/?p=156

[shuziburo]

Originally Posted by BANFAN
Does this man have any shame ...!! And the PM seems to have fun, unleashing her dogs behind defaming Younus... And thinking thet she is doing a great job...world should be amazed at the display of her intellect and power...she thinks, she is more knowledgeable than Younus, because she probably has more Phds than the professor. Why people don't give her a Nobel Prize for being the most jealous character on universe??

Anyone knows how many Ph.D. she has? She must have worked extra hard for each of them.

[Navo]

Originally Posted by Sohel
And now Muhit Shaheb is putting words into Amartya Sen's mouth!

Talk about twisting words! It's time for him to go. What a disgraceful exit this'll turn out to be.

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Well Muhith needs to be taken out to a retirement home.

http://www.virtualbangladesh.com/thoughts/?p=156

As Amartya Sen's response letter has only been excerpted partially by Sohel bhai, for greater clarity I'll paste it in its entirety:

"SEN'S FULL STATEMENT
I have known Mr Muhith for a long time and like him a lot (and I also think he is an excellent finance minister), and in view of all this, I am particularly surprised -- indeed astonished -- to see his attributing to me a view that is not mine. Indeed, the alleged utterance is not close to anything I told Muhith when we met briefly at the VIP lounge in the Bangkok Airport last month.

What I told him included the following:

1) Bangladesh has made extraordinary progress on economic and social matters at a very rapid pace in recent years -- a subject on which I have written in American and Indian newspapers and periodicals (I have also commented on the fact that Bangladesh has overtaken India in most of the standard indicators of living standards);

2) Prime Minister Hasina, whom I much admire, can certainly claim great credit for her leadership in the transformation of Bangladesh into a powerfully progressive modern society, and this does deserve hugely more global recognition;

3) The constructive roles of Bangladeshi NGOs, including the positive parts played by BRAC and Grameen Bank in the progress of Bangladesh, deserve emphatic recognition;

4) I am saddened by the fact that Bangladesh's achievements get far less acknowledgement and praise in the world media than they should get;

5) Among the principal factors behind this widespread global reluctance to say good things about Bangladesh's progress is a shared resentment by a large section of influential intellectuals across the world of the harsh official treatment of Dr Yunus in Bangladesh.

I was not at all accusing Yunus of preventing the recognition and praise that Bangladesh deserves (as Mr Muhith seems to be saying). Rather, I was pointing to the fact that the treatment of Yunus -- and its interpretation in the outside world -- have been strongly inhibiting factors working against the justified acclaim that Bangladesh's stellar achievements could otherwise be expected to get in the world.

I hope Mr Muhith will withdraw his wrong attribution to me, in the light of my reminding him of exactly what I told him."

Source

[Navo]

I think people are blaming the Government of Bangladesh for the wrong reasons here. Forget petty jealousies and seeking revenge for daring to float a new party:

If Grameen Bank has violated the law - and there is no reason to doubt that there has been, with some of the reasons outlined here - then successive Governments of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Bank as well as the Supreme Court are responsible for not catching this sooner. At the same time, it is a well-settled legal principle that just because the responsible authority failed in their duty initially, that does not absolve the suspected party of all alleged wrongdoing. Even with the time lapse, if the legal harm is still continuing then the ordinary rules of limitation don't apply.

[BANFAN]

Sure, government violations of laws might cost us in billions, but that doesn't justify violation by Younus...

People thought government would change the laws to allow Younus to remain in his place till death .. .. That probably wouldn't have destroyed Grameen as an organization that received the Nobel prize for this man...and made everyone proud as a nation. But why should she do it..? What's her benefit?? People's expectation was un lawful.

[Jadukor]

the application of the law seems to vary between incidents. Government would have more credibility if it wasn't picking and choosing when to apply the fullest extent of the law. Where is the same amount of diligence while tackling the issue of Limon, the corruption in railway and bridge financing?

[shuziburo]

Originally Posted by Navo
I think people are blaming the Government of Bangladesh for the wrong reasons here. Forget petty jealousies and seeking revenge for daring to float a new party:

If Grameen Bank has violated the law - and there is no reason to doubt that there has been, with some of the reasons outlined here - then successive Governments of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Bank as well as the Supreme Court are responsible for not catching this sooner. At the same time, it is a well-settled legal principle that just because the responsible authority failed in their duty initially, that does not absolve the suspected party of all alleged wrongdoing. Even with the time lapse, if the legal harm is still continuing then the ordinary rules of limitation don't apply.

If laws have been broken, then the proper mechanisms should be used to bring the lawbreakers to justice. Not what has been going on. Plus, even in Bangladesh, "innocent until proven guilty" applies. Clearly, the media circus has nothing to do with justice.