Banker To The Poor في يوم المرأة العالمي، في زمن الفقر اليومي، كن قوياً لأجلنا لأجلهن!

Quote: Yunus’ petition rejected Dr Muhammad Yunus Star Online Report The High Court (HC) on Tuesday rejected Prof Muhammad Yunus’ writ petition filed challenging the legality of a central bank order “removing” him as managing director (MD) of Grameen Bank. The court said the Nobel Laureate's serving as the MD of Grameen Bank since 1999 was illegal as he crossed 60 years then. Bangladesh Bank cited the same explanation in its letter that relieved Yunus from the microcredit organisation. The MD of the Grameen Bank is an official who cannot hold the office for an unlimited period, the HC bench of Justice Momtaz Uddin Ahmed and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore said as it passed its order after three-day hearing on the sensational writ petition. The board of directors of the Grameen Bank is the authority to appoint the managing director with approval from the BB. But it did not happen in Yunus’ case since 1999, the court said. The HC bench said there was no substance in the submission of the petitioners’ counsels. Earlier during the third day’s hearing on the petition Monday, Yunus’ counsels expressed no confidence in the HC bench during a hearing of the microfinance guru's writ petition. The expression of no confidence was prompted by the court's delay to issue a rule upon the government and Bangladesh Bank to explain why their decision to "remove" Yunus should not be declared illegal. Counsels for Dr Yunus and the attorney general placed submissions before the court. "We apprehend that Dr Muhammad Yunus will not get justice from you, since you are holding hearing on his petition for so long without issuing any rule," said Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud, one of the counsels for the Nobel laureate. He said they are apprehending that the petition will be rejected. "We have come to you for something. If you don't give us anything, then just reject the petition, and we will leave," Rokanuddin said, adding that there is no scope for holding such a long hearing before issuing the rule. He said it is a matter of few minutes for the HC to issue a rule following a writ petition. In reply Justice Momtaz Uddin Ahmed said, "We will also be deprived of justice, if you leave." The bench said it did not reach a decision on the petition yet. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam opposed the writ petition, saying the decision of the Grameen board of directors that Yunus may hold the office of MD as long as he wishes was malafide. BACKGROUND Yunus was unceremoniously relieved of his duties on Wednesday through a Bangladesh Bank letter sent to Grameen Bank Chairman Khondoker Muzammel Huq. The central bank said Yunus failed to seek its approval when he was reappointed as the managing director in 2000, violating one of the statutes of the partly state-owned Grameen Bank. Prof Yunus on the next day filed a writ petition challenging the central bank order as the wider international community showed its displeasure at the way the Nobel Prize winner for Bangladesh was treated. The bench on Thursday fixed Sunday for giving order on Yunus' petition. With Yunus’ forced exit, the microfinance institution's journey of over 30 years enters a different stage. He had started his lone campaign to provide loans to the poor, who had always been overlooked by the traditional banks, from his home village of Jobra in Chittagong. Defeating all sceptics, he not only proved that the poor are bankable, but also that he could turn it into an international movement. Countries across the world, including the USA, China and India embraced his model of microfinance. Foreign diplomats in Bangladesh sharply reacted to the government's move and none of them took it positively. They said they never thought that the government could make such an extreme move against an internationally reputed personality like Yunus. US Ambassador to Bangladesh in Dhaka James Moriarty on Thursday said the United States is deeply troubled by the government removing Yunus from Grameen Bank and termed it “an unusual way to handle a Nobel Laureate”. The government move surprised many of Grameen’s borrowers, who dubbed Yunus the pathfinder in elevating them from poverty. Economists with huge policy-making experience denounced the way the government decided to remove Yunus from the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank. ‘Friends of Grameen’, a newly established group headed by Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, who denounced the ‘new attempt of destablisation against Professor Yunus’ also expressed concern.