The father of microcredit takes justice - March 4, 2011
Professor Yunus, Nobel Peace 2006, renowned economist and pioneer of microfinance, plan to stay at the head of the Grameen Bank he founded in 1983. No offense to the authorities of Dhaka who dismissed Wednesday the influential humanist of his duties, "Professor Yunus has brought an action challenging the legality of the decision of the Bank (Central) of Bangladesh," said Attorney General , Mahbubey Alam.
The Nobel Prize is supported by the Grameen Bank itself. Yesterday evening, the institution whose mission is to provide small loans to more than 8 million poor said that "the founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus is still in office."Moreover, Muhammad Yunus on Thursday, ignoring the decision of the State, was present as usual at the headquarters of the bank, whose board he is loyal.
The "Banker to the Poor" and its employees are challenging a decision based on occult reasons. According to the Central Bank, the founder of the Grameen Bank would be in violation because he is older than seventy years. Now the age limit for bank officials would be set at this particular age. Another reason given by the prospective head of the Grameen Bank, Muzammel Huq, wants the appointment of Professor at the head of the bank pioneer of microcredit in 1983 and renewed in 2001, would not comply with the rules.In short, nothing new but a law governing the banking sector in 1991, gives wide powers to the Central Bank of Bangladesh, including the right to end the duties of officers of private sector establishments.
Cabal policy
The lack of justification in any case reinforces the impression that the professor is the victim of a political vendetta. And everything goes back to 2007. Shortly after receiving the Nobel peace in 2006, Muhammad Yunus founded his own political party free instant credit score. A decision that has provoked the ire of Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Government of Bangladesh, which has not always want to destabilize the "banker of the poor."
After a complaint for libel, Dhaka has opened an investigation into the Grameen Bank after a report aired on Norwegian television saying that the bank used the funds of foreign investors for purposes other than funding for microcredit.An attack then denied. Whatever, Sheikh Hasina accused the Grameen Bank to "suck the blood of the poor."
International support
The charges involved the Prime Minister just as the microcredit sector is weakened by recent scandals in India, causing a wave of suicides on the subcontinent. And even if Muhammad Yunus has strongly condemned the drift, the relentlessness of Dhaka towards the founding father of microfinance could be a blow to the sector.
For now, supporters flock. Norway, which participated in the creation of the Grameen Bank, held Wednesday by the voice of Erik Solheim, Minister of International Development, that his removal was "a very sad news. We are witnessing a brutal struggle for power in Bangladesh. " The U.S. embassy in Dhaka has expressed its "deep trouble" and asked Dhaka to treat Muhammad Yunus with respect.Martin Hirsch compares him "this attempt to bayonne a Nobel prize for peace in what happened in Burma, with another fighter for peace and freedom", referring to Aung San Suu Kyi.
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