Manmohan said nothing
The Indian high commission in Dhaka yesterday said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had not made any comments about Prof Muhammad Yunus or Grameen Bank of late.
In a statement on a local news report involving Manmohan and Yunus, the high commission's spokesperson said, “The reports that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh criticised Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus are false and erroneous. No such comments have been made by the prime minister of India.”
Citing Indian newspapers, an online Bangla news agency on Monday reported that Manmohan had criticised Yunus for “funds anomalies” at Grameen Bank.
The agency, however, did not mention which papers had published the “comments”.
The Daily Star last night browsed through some key Indian newspapers online, but did not find any recent Manmohan comments on Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said the allegations of funds anomalies at Grameen Bank should be investigated properly, as people want to know the truth.
On queries from journalists at her office, the minister said it is more important to unearth facts than protecting an individual's reputation. No one is above the law, no matter how influential he or she is, she added.
Last week, a Norwegian television documentary alleged that Grameen Bank had diverted nearly $100 million aid money to its sister concern Grameen Kalyan.
On Friday, Grameen Bank denied any wrongdoing, saying it had transferred 96 million dollars of aid to Grameen Kalyan and had it back as loan the same day to enlarge funds for micro-borrowers.
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