Dr Yunus and Nobel peace prize
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam has said that Dr Yunus having worked in economics and receiving a Nobel prize in peace is proof enough that something is really wrong. This may sound very convincing to the general mass. We are a very gullible nation and a population deeply divided into two camps.
Without giving much thought and trying to know the facts, we just voice whatever our leaders say because we belong to one party or the other and try to prove our allegiance.
Being a nutritionist, I can instantly cite two persons who had a profound role in the field of nutrition and received Nobel prizes in peace. One was Linus Carl Pauling. He became famous in the field of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. His experiments in mega dosing with Vitamin C and preventing flu like symptoms became controversial and repeated research throughout the world could not prove his theory unanimously. But that did not stop his receiving not one but two Nobel prizes (1954) including one for Peace (1962).
He also received the Lenin Peace prize in 1968. The second person, also an American, was Norman Ernest Borlaug. He was an agronomist and is considered the father of the Green Revolution. He invented the high yielding variety of wheat which saved billions from hunger and helped remove poverty amongst the poor farmers. He received his Nobel prize in 1970 in Peace and not Chemistry although his major work was in genetics. He was also given the Padma Vibushan award by India in 2006.
Their long list of world awards is a matter of envy for any Nobel laureate and some of us feel proud to find Yunus as one of the contenders. Let our political leaders do some homework before they cry hoarse over wrong issues.
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