Editorial
Prof. Yunus' status before court
Manner of his removal demeans us all
The move by the Bangladesh Bank to strip Professor Muhammad Yunus of his position at Grameen Bank is now a matter for the judiciary to decide. The Nobel laureate has already filed a petition challenging his removal. We will await, along with the rest of the nation, the judgement the High Court means to deliver on the petition on March 6.
But while we wait to see the eventual outcome of a situation that has left people baffled in Bangladesh and outside, we are constrained to say that the manner in which Yunus was removed smacked of a lack of decency and therefore was in bad taste. The finance minister has informed us that there was no alternative to the move. The question, though, is whether the authorities should have given such short shrift to an individual whose contributions to the country, to a building of its image abroad have made all of us proud. Indeed, we are extremely surprised that when the government itself spoke earlier of the Yunus case being reviewed by a committee, it went ahead with axing the Grameen Bank founder on the ground that his reappointment had been flawed. Now, if the authorities did not act in these ten years, could they not have waited ten more weeks or months to enable Prof. Yunus to quit gracefully? Besides, rather than summarily serving a letter of dismissal on him, should the Bangladesh Bank not have served a show cause notice on him first, asking him to explain his position?
As a nation, we have simply damaged our self-esteem by going out on a limb to hurl indignities on our Nobel laureate. The attacks on him have been of a vindictive nature and were politically directed. The entire ugly situation now naturally raises the question of the future of Grameen Bank. The prime minister's negative opinion of micro-credit notwithstanding, the fact remains that it is Bangladesh's unique contribution to the world thanks to Dr. Yunus. It is our innovation, one that may not be perfect, that can be developed through trial and error and experience. Should our own political leadership have denigrated it? To our mind, to be dismissive of the micro-credit concept is basically to throw the baby out with the bath water. Such an attitude is folly at best and political opportunism at worst. That, at least, is what has emerged from the action against the Nobel laureate. And judging by the initial reaction of the diplomatic community in Dhaka, the move against Yunus comes through as a misstep that surely could have been avoided.
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