Politicians, teachers, women leaders oppose Yunusâ€™ removal

Staff Reporter

Leaders of different political parties, social and cultural organizations and some noted persons yesterday strongly protested the removal of Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank.

BNP Standing Committee Member Moudud Ahmed criticised the government for removing Muhammad Yunus as the managing director of Grameen Bank and said the government is conspiring against the microfinance institution.

“The bank will be hit hard if the government takes full control of it,” he said while addressing a programme at the National Press Club on Saturday.

Terming Yunus a pride son of the soil, the BNP leader said the entire nation got humiliated with the removal of Yunus. The government’s attempt to ‘destroy’ Grameen Bank was a manifestation of its autocratic attitude, he added.

He also said many poor women of the country, who were the beneficiaries of Grameen Bank, would be affected with the destabilisation of the institution. Such a ‘vilified move’ of the government sparked widespread protests across the world, he said.

Senior Joint Secretary of BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir deplored the government for removing Dr Yunus from the top post of the bank and said none could escape the government’s retribution and not even the world famous Nobel Peace Award winner Prof Yunus.

“Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus could not escape the vendetta. He has been removed in a very harsh way,” he said while addressing a human chain as the chief guest in front of the National Press Club on Saturday.

While addressing the same programme, President of Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JAGPA) Shafiul Alam Prodhan said government decision over the removal of Dr Yunus not only destroyed his reputation but also of the nation.

Meanwhile, some 250 teachers of Dhaka University in a joint statement on Saturday protested the indignified way of ousting GB managing director Muhammad Yunus.

The teachers, however, demanded immediate withdrawal of the central bank order.

Terming the government move against Dr Yunus as very painful, they said government showed ‘disrespect and insult’ to the country’s only Nobel laureate.

Such behaviour of the government manifested its personal vengeance, they claimed.

The signatories to the statement included Prof Sadrul Amin, Prof Tazmari M Islam, Prof Akther Hossain Khan, Prof Mozammel Haque, Prof Anwarul Islam, Prof Abdus Sattar, Prof Shamsuddin Ahmed and Prof Zahidul Islam.

Around 17 more educationists and cultural personalities under the banner ‘Zia Parishad Central Committee’ in a separate statement on Saturday expressed their concern over the government move of removing Prof Yunus from Grameen Bank.

Some 20 women leaders under the banner of ‘Naripakkha’ yesterday in another statement termed the government decision of sacking Dr Yunus as ‘disrespect’ and warned that millions of women of Bangladesh would not tolerate this insult.

They said Prof Yunus contributed a lot to the empowerment of the poor, especially poor rural women through alleviation of their poverty. About 20 million poor women of Bangladesh empowered themselves through micro-credit and contributed to the development of the country, they added.

The signatories to the statement included former Adviser to Caretaker Government Rasheda K Chowdhury, Tahrunessa Abdullah, Prof Rawnak Jahan, Shireen Haque, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Prof Amena Mohsin, Salma Ali, Hamida Hossain and Prof Mahmuda Islam.

On Wednesday, Bangladesh Bank ordered the removal of Yunus as Grameen Bank head, saying that his reappointment did not have its prior approval.

Meanwhile, Yunus filed a Writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the central bank order. The High Court will issue its order on the Writ on Sunday.