Govt still has time to reach respectable solution

The government still has time to correct the steps it took against Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and reach a respectable solution, observed speakers at a meeting yesterday.
They were speaking at a discussion styled “Dr Yunus and image crisis of Bangladesh” at Jatiya Press Club in the city.
Group 2009 (G9), a support group for Prof Yunus, organised the event.
Former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hassan Chowdhury termed the issue on Yunus undesirable and unnecessary. “I wonder whether a group of selfish people enveloped the prime minister.”
He said Bangladesh could have utilised the expertise of the Grameen Bank founder in solving many existing problems of the country and reach out to developed nations to expand the domestic market. “The time to do this is however not over.”
He hoped that the government would be able to leave behind the issue and take correct steps.
Asif Nazrul, professor of law at Dhaka University, said nobody gained out of the Yunus crisis. “Rather, it dented the country's image.”
He said a vested quarter is trying to isolate the prime minister. “They are trying to establish negative ideas on the international community against her.”
Nazrul said there is still scope to mitigate the damage and urged the prime minister to make decisions rationally.
Public health activist Zafar Ullah Chowdhury said, “I have never thought that we would have to set up a committee and organise meetings to protect the honour of Prof Yunus.
“About 83 lakh borrowers benefited from Grameen Bank in some way or another. It will not be wise to destroy the bank.”
Zafar said the government could have waited until its probe committee filed a report on Grameen Bank and its management before taking any action, which caused global uproar.
“Nobody will benefit from dishonouring the Nobel laureate,” he said.
Senior Journalist Shafiq Rehman said the country lost a role model for its young generation by disrespecting Prof Yunus. “But we can still make things right.”
Sayeeful Islam, president of G9, and M Asaduzzaman, secretary general of G9, also spoke. Shakhawat Hossain Sayantha presented a keynote paper on Prof Yunus, his achievements and the current crisis.
Yunus was unceremoniously relieved of his duties as managing director of Grameen Bank on claims the “Banker to the Poor” flouted rules that govern the microfinance bank while being reappointed a decade ago.