A leaked US embassy cable has observed that a prophet has no honour in his own country, at least as far as Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus and the Awami League-led government attitude towards him is concerned.
The cable sent to Washington from the US embassy in Dhaka on November 30, 2009, said, ‘Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and foreign minister Dipu Moni made clear their distrust and suspicion of Yunus in several recent meetings with senior US government officials.’
WikiLeaks on August 30, 2011 released a number of diplomatic cables which had noted that while the government claimed Yunus was engaged in corrupt practices at Grameen Bank, his ties to the military-controlled interim administration and his brief contemplation of a role in
Bangladesh politics were more likely the reasons for Awami League’s disdain.
‘No one in Bangladesh can escape politics, however,’ said the November 30, 2009 cable.
One of the cables said Yunus wanted to resolve whatever ‘misunderstanding’ existed with Hasina over his efforts and organisation Grameen Bank and asked the US government to assist him in urging Hasina to change a long-standing rule that gave the government control over his position as Grameen Bank chairman and sought US help to resolve the problems.
Hasina signalled her displeasure with Yunus by refusing to ratify the interim regime’s ordinance that had empowered the Grameen Bank board of directors to appoint its chairman, said the November 30, 2009 cable sent by the then US charge d’ affaires Nicholas Dean.
‘Fearing [that the] government displeasure with him would jeopardise Grameen Bank and his other initiatives, Yunus requested the US ambassador to put in a good word with Sheikh Hasina on behalf of Grameen and Yunus,’ the cable read.
On November 5, 2009, when the US ambassador at a meeting with Hasina raised the Yunus issue, ‘the prime minister theatrically rolled her eyes and shook her head. She spoke at length about her estrangement from Yunus and nodded her agreement when an advisor in the meeting characterised Yunus as ungrateful for the Grameen Phone deal that the prime minister had made possible.’
On November 11, 2009 ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer met with Hasina, when the former was also interested in meeting with Yunus.
‘Most keenly, the prime minister felt Yunus had exercised poor judgment by courting military officers who had presented Yunus the possibility of coming to power through military backing in early 2007,’ the cable said.
‘Perhaps we don’t work together. But we don’t stop him. When I was in Sweden (recently), Yunus was there and we exchanged hands. It is our family tradition.’ Hasina was quoted in the cable to have said.
When ambassador Verveer met with foreign minister Dipu Moni the next day, however, the latter had a litany of complaints against Yunus. Dipu Moni presented a range of allegations against Yunus and Grameen.
‘She complained about the high interest rates Grameen charges its customers and alleged that the bank used “vicious practices” to recruit customers and obtain loan payments,’ the cable read.
Dipu Moni said, ‘Yunus broke rules and Grameen didn’t comply with Bangladesh law, including auditing requirements. Many people in Bangladesh were upset when Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize given his corrupt practices.’
She also said government leaders understood the power of Yunus’ international reputation and therefore ‘bit our tongues’ when accolades were heaped upon him.
According to the cable, on a personal note, Dipu Moni the foreign minister also complained that Yunus did not visit Sheikh Hasina in the hospital after she was injured in a 2004 bomb attack.
Ambassadors Verveer and James F Moriarty met with Yunus on November 11, 2009, when Yunus disputed all the allegations and said he and Grameen complied with all laws, including annual audits.
Yunus agreed that the prime minister likely viewed him as part of the caretaker government that tried to remove her and her rival, Khaleda Zia of the opposition BNP, from Bangladesh’s political scene.
Yunus said Hasina’s attitude was, ‘you’re either with me or against me.’
This dispute also raises questions about the long-term future of Grameen Bank. Yunus is 69 years old. Yunus told Moriarty and Verveer that he had offered to retire on a number of occasions, but the bank board had refused his offers, claiming there would be a run on the bank if he left.
Yunus said he had been grooming a successor, but claimed government leaders had wooed that person into their camp and now he was working against him within the bank.
Another cable sent to Washington on August 12, 2009 by the then US ambassador James F Moriarty in Dhaka, said when the ambassador had met with Yunus on August 9, 2009 to congratulate him on winning the presidential medal of freedom, Yunus reported that tensions between him and the prime minister continued, but he hoped to meet with her soon to clear any misunderstandings over his efforts and organisation.
Yunus said he had not yet received an appointment with Hasina despite his sending in an urgent request in late July 2009. Yunus perceived that even supportive government officials felt pressured to distance themselves from his recommendations and proposals.
Moriarty in another cable he sent to Washington on May 11, 2009 disclosed that Yunus had asked that the US assist him in urging Sheikh Hasina to change a long-standing rule giving the government control over his position as the Grameen Bank chairman.
Bangladesh’s 2007-2008 caretaker government passed an ordinance removing the GOB’s authority to select the bank chairman, but the parliament has not yet ratified that ordinance, the cable said.
In a May 10, 2009 meeting with the ambassador, ‘Yunus requested our input on the best way to request the PM reconsider her refusal,’ Moriarty said in the cable.
Yunus also discussed with the ambassador his disappointment over the AL government. He said the new government had to focus on the nation’s power needs and improve the quality of government bureaucracy in order for Bangladesh to weather the current economic turmoil, it said.
During the meeting Yunus said parliament had refused to approve an amendment to legislation that established Grameen Bank in the early 1980s; the amendment would have given the bank’s board of directors, rather than the government (as has been the practice), the authority to select the chairman of Grameen Bank, a position held by Yunus since the bank’s inception and renewed every two years.
In order to create Grameen Bank in 1983, Yunus sought support from the government to transform his micro-credit venture from a charitable organisation to a full-fledged bank, the cable said.
The government of Bangladesh passed an ordinance creating Grameen Bank, that decreed that the government would own 60 per cent of the bank and would have the authority to appoint its chairman.
‘Since 1983, the GOB’s share of Grameen Bank has gradually declined; now the government only owns 5 per cent of the bank.’
The GOB has also continued to re-appoint Yunus the bank’s chairman. However, Yunus has long desired to change the rule giving the GOB control of his position as chairman, the cable said.
Over the years, Yunus told the ambassador, he had applied repeatedly to the GOB to amend the rules regarding the selection of the chairman.
The ambassador and Yunus went on to discuss more generally the prime minister’s performance during her first four months in office.
Yunus was critical of Hasina’s actions to strengthen the central government at the expense of local government. He also criticised the AL government for exacting petty retributions against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Khaleda Zia. ‘This is a divisive strategy,’ Yunus said. The prime minister ‘must build bridges.’
Moriarty commented, ‘Despite, or perhaps because of, Yunus’ international reputation, many among Bangladesh’s political elite regard the Nobel Laureate with suspicion. In the atmosphere of Bangladesh’s cult-of-personality politics, Sheikh Hasina and others likely view Yunus’ achievements and stature as a threat to their authority; in their minds, his very brief attempt to establish a political party in the early days of the 2007-2008.’
‘Yunus and his supporters, including the United States, need to convince the prime minister that an independent Grameen Bank is in her interest,’ he concluded.
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