Yunusâ€™ writ verdict today

Staff Reporter

The High Court is going to decide today whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus could stay behind the steering wheel of the global micro-credit giant Grameen Bank, as its managing director, or not.

Meanwhile, a series of protests, mainly by the small borrowers, staged across the country yesterday, a day before the court is due to deliver verdict on separate writs filed by Professor Yunus and nine other directors of Grameen Bank challenging the legality of the central bank, Bangladesh Bank, order.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the central bank fired professor Yunus from the celebrated microfinance lender he founded.

BB alleged that GB had failed to seek its prior approval when Dr Yunus was reappointed managing director in 2000, violating the rules and regulations.

On contrary, GB, which is 25 percent state-owned, disputed that Yunus had been forced out, saying it had “complied with the law in respect of appointment of the managing director”.

According to sources, Dr Yunus has been under tremendous pressure from the government to quit his post.

Besides, the government high-ups are also determined not to stay aside from its present stance against theÂ micro-finance pioneer, sources added.

The micro-finance legend was locked in a conflict, which has multiplied in recent weeks, is thought to stem from 2007, when he briefly proposed setting up a political party Janatar Shakti, irking the most powerful premier of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and her political allies.

Requesting anonymity a senior leader and minister of the government told The New Nation, “Professor Yunus has earned enmity due to a couple of ‘political blunders’.”

“Dr Yunus showed his political interest when he became the adviser of the caretaker government though he was not supposed to hold the post of an ‘adviser’ which was far ‘poorer’ regarding his career and connections,” he said, adding, ” Yunus had been lobbing to get the post of chief adviser, but the decision-makers did not agree with him.”

“Yunus again did a blunder trying to float a party during the tenure of recent past army -backed caretaker government, which simultaneously angered Awami- League, BNP and other mainstream political parties,” the leader added.

He said, “Yunus became friendless in the political circle when he criticised country’s politicians including Hasina and her rival, BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, accusing them of corruption, misrule and being apathetic toward democracy.”

According to political analysts Dr Yunus tried to exploit the Grameen Bank’s position which currently operates 1,143 branches providing credit to over 2.4 million poor people residing in 39,501 villages in the country.

Dr Yunus, however, came under direct attack from the government since November 30, 2010, after a Norwegian documentary alleged the bank of dodging taxes though the GB officially denied any financial irregularities.