Grameen Bank

The Bangladesh Government recently ‘sacked’ Nobel laureate Prof. Md Yunus from Grameen Bank, the bank he founded nearly 30 years ago. The “banker to the poor”, whose microcredit system has been replicated all over the world, is estimated to have given credit to more than eight million of the world’s poor, a majority of whom are women. At home he is recognised for founding the only financial institute completely centered around women. Last week, a high court order ousted the pioneer of microcredit as head of Grameen Bank. Utterly disgraceful, right?

Not according to the government of Bangladesh. It has been probing Grameen’s affairs for months and reviewing it for wrongdoing. The bank came under scrutiny late last year when a Norwegian documentary alleged it had wrongly transferred $100 million donated by the Norwegian government to another nonprofit affiliate of Grameen. Documents revealed that Prof. Yunus diverted the grant money to another company - Grameen Kalyan – which was not involved in microcredit. Grameen denied all charges and Yunus announced he made these transfers only to avoid tax payments. A Norwegian investigation acknowledged the funds had been moved but later transferred back to its rightful place. A few days later Bangla PM Sheikh Hasina accused Md Yunus and microcredit of “sucking the blood of the poor” and stated that “business in the name of the poor will not be allowed.” Immediately rumours suggested her remarks stemmed from a personal grouse. She felt she deserved the Nobel for her peace treaty work in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Others pointed to Yunus’ attempts at forming a political party during the brief 2007-2008 military regime during which the main objective was the “minus two formula”– to get rid of the two battling begums and their respective political parties. The government has brushed aside these accusations and an e-mail to the media from the PM’s son Sajeeb Wazed stated: “Politically, he is a nonentity.”

On March 3, Bangladesh Bank ordered Yunus’ removal as Grameen Bank head saying his reappointment did not have its approval and that he had been MD illegally since 1999. More importantly, it pointed out that under the law, the retirement age for executives at private banks was 65 and Yunus was well beyond that. The Nobel laureate challenged his dismissal in court. However, the order was upheld by the high court.

Yunus’ removal ruffled the feathers of the international community. Support for him has poured in. Friends of Grameen, a organisation led by former Irish President Mary Robinson has come to his defence. This committee includes prominent figures such as JS Verma, former Chief Justice of India and James D. Wolfensohn, former President of World Bank. US Senator John Kerry expressed his ‘deep concern’. Lord Avebury, vice-chairman of the UK Parliamentary Human Rights Group along with some other British MPs and academics voiced their support. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is said to have personally called Sheikh Hasina to voice her concern. 

Yet the government hasn’t budged. And why should it? Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has a two-third majority of votes. She has the right to make an NGO accountable to the land on which it exists. Bangladesh is a sovereign state. Hasina’s administration certainly deserves credit for upholding the state’s policy sovereignty and also the rule of law. The global community has every right to state its opinion on ‘Yunusgate’, but as the EU ambassador to Dhaka has stated: Md Yunus’ removal is an internal affair. Prof Yunus, instead of calling on so many of his high-powered international friends, should have encouraged local Grameen Bank members and employees to speak out in his support. The impact of having hundreds and thousands of local supporters would have moved the hearts and minds of Bangladeshis much more than hearing and reading about influential phone calls from Washington. We are a nation that takes pride in remembering that we did not ask for US permission when we fought for independence.

This month, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of international Women’s Day, perhaps we should take a moment to reflect back to the remote villages of Bangladesh, far from the country’s capital and the media circus that is shaking up the international community and the intellectual elite alike and wonder: what are the wishes of the eight million Grameen Bank borrowers, poor, rural, and 97 per cent women and why have we not heard from them? As we wait to hear their voices over the bickering of leaders, laureates and lawyers, we live with the reality that Bangladesh’s Nobel Peace Prize has brought it anything but peace.

(The views expressed by the author are personal)