Recent comments by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus show that he is dabbling in politics, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has claimed.
“Dr Yunus is a covert politician; it is just that he does not want to be seen in the guise of a politician. It is wrong of him to speak like one.”
The former Managing Director of Grameen Bank said on Wednesday, “Those who intend to break the Grameen Bank to pieces, their love for the country is questionable. Is it reasonable to hand the country over to them?”
Muhith called a press conference in Sylhet on Thursday to respond to Yunus’ comment.
Yunus had also said at a press conference at the Yunus Centre on Thursday that “a fair, free and transparent election is not possible without the caretaker government. All political parties will have to participate in the forthcoming election.”
Yunus, thus, lent support to the BNP’s ongoing campaign for the formation of a caretaker government after his relations with the Awami League-led government soured because of his removal from the post of Grameen Bank’s managing director.
Yunus had announced the formation of a political group called ‘Nagarik Shakti’ when an army-backed caretaker government was in power in 2007, but later backed down.
Earlier, he had served as an advisor to the 1996 caretaker government, led by Chief Justice Habibur Rahman.
Many foresee unparalleled conflict ahead with the government and the opposition locking horns over the formation of a caretaker government to oversee the approaching parliamentary elections, but the Finance Minister believes the crisis will pass before the polls.
Muhith also criticised the main opposition, saying it was “trying to find excuses to press the caretaker issue”.
“No fair election ever took place during Khaleda Zia’s tenure. But the Awami League has always held free and neutral elections,” he asserted.
“What Dr Yunus is busy doing these days is exclusively the work for politicians. His unethical activities are attempts to destroy the Grameen Bank,” the Minister said
“The government is proud of Grameen Bank and has no intention of harming it.”
Yunus is claiming that the government is trying to break the bank he founded. The Central bank had cited end of Yunus’ term to remove him.
Yunus had challenged the decision in court, but himself resigned after losing the legal battle.
Source: Bd news24