Editorial
Professor Yunus has done us proud again!
He is our true ambassador of goodwill to the outside world
ALMOST to a man or woman, Bangladeshis should feel honoured by Professor Md. Yunus' receiving the US highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal. This tops up his having received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, another of the highest civilian awards of the United States.
That he is in the company of Norman Borlaug, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel, Aung San Suu Kyi and Mother Teresa -- personalities who received two US gold medals as well as the Nobel peace prize -- exults us as a country. The image of Bangladesh has been enhanced by his magnificent deeds of popularising micro-credit as a socio-economic tool for progress worldwide. Also, his concept of social business is breaking new grounds with each passing day as the world gets beholden to his practical set of ideas. He has remarkably bridged the conventional gap between the precept and the practice.
The spirit of the award ceremony comes with a resounding resonance through the citation of the House Speaker John Boehner. Said he, "Professor Yunus set out to do what may be the biggest thing of all, and that is liberating people to seek a better life. And not just any people, but men and women who had only known misery, who had been told they were no good."
Regrettably, however, there has been a marked dissonance between how the world looks at him and appreciates his works and the way he has been treated domestically -- thanks to the leadership. People are uppermost in his mind and like in the case of Nobel prize he has dedicated the present awards to the people of Bangladesh. This is a manifestation of a robust sense of belonging on the part of a world achiever to his motherland.
He merits unreserved respect and consideration of all quarters in the country. More than that perhaps, his services need to be utilised.
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