Muhammad Yunus
Fourteen citizens including rights activists, advocates and an economist in a statement on Friday expressed concerns over the recent conviction of Nobel laureate professor Muhammad Yunus by a labour court in Dhaka.
‘We are deeply concerned at the recent plight of professor Muhammad Yunus and his three colleagues of Grameen Telecom. They have been sentenced to six months imprisonment and fine, for alleged violation of labour law provisions through criminal prosecution,’ read the statement
As citizens, they called upon all concerned to follow the due process in an objective, transparent and non-motivated way.
They said that the case against professor Yunus as chair, two other board members and managing director of Grameen Telecom on workers’ contractual and benefit issues, was deemed to be a criminal offence resulting in jail terms for them through expedited proceedings.
‘When the victims of Rana Plaza still await justice but legal proceedings in this case are concluded in incredible haste against a non-executive chair of a board with no direct involvement in daily operations, the same can hardly be seen as being motivated by concern for workers,’ said the statement.
‘This is rightly perceived as weaponising public systems for harassment which only conveys a negative message about the state of shrinking civic space in Bangladesh and shakes people’s confidence in the justice system which often is their last resort for redress,’ it also observed.
The citizens urged the authorities to stop motivated and biased use of laws to harass professor Muhammad Yunus.
‘We also urge upon all to recognise the importance of protecting the civic space and halt all ongoing harassing actions against the civil society groups and their leadership for Bangladesh’s journey on inclusive prosperity,’ said the statement.
Signatories to the statement includes economist Hossain Zillur Rahman, rights activists Hameeda Hossain, Khushi Kabir, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Shaheen Anam, Shireen P Huq, Shamsul Huda, Khairul Islam, Faruq Faisel, Syeed Ahamed, advocates Shahdeen Malik, ZI Khan Panna, Syeda Rizwana Hasan and educationist Shahnaz Huda.
Meanwhile, ‘White Panel’, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party-backed Dhaka University teachers’ platform, said on Friday in a statement that professor Yunus did not get justice from the court.
The statement was sent to the media, signed by white panel convenor professor Lutfar Rahman, joint conveners’ prof Mohammad Siddiqur Rahman Khan, and prof Abdus Salam, urging to cancel the verdict.
The Dhaka labour court 3 on January 1 convicted professor Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials for labour law violation and sentenced them to simple imprisonment for six months in a case decried by different quarters as politically motivated.
The court also fined Tk 30,000 to Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, its former managing director Ashraful Hasan, and directors Nur Jahan Begum and Mohammad Shahjahan each.
New Age