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Prof Yunus for participation of all parties
Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus on Thursday urged the government to hold the upcoming general elections with the participation of all political parties.
“We do not want chaos in the country. We want to cast our votes in a peaceful environment. We will not allow the election if all the parties do not take part in it,” he said.
Prof Yunus was addressing a gathering of female enthusiasts in arts, literature and education arranged by Nobel Joyi Yunus Suhrid (Friends of Nobel laureate Yunus) at the Ladies Club in the port city.
He said, “We do not want to find ourselves in hard times again, rather want to live in peace within the law.”
Terming the country’s condition very bad, he said everybody was in fear of what would happen after October 25.
The Nobel laureate urged the government to take effective measures to remove all confusion among the people while there is still time.
Criticising the Awami League-led government’s moves on the Grameen Bank, he said the microcredit bank had been established for the poor of the country, not for handing it over to or let it be grabbed by any government.
He alleged the government was trying to grab the bank of 84 lakh poor women.
To save the bank, he called upon all women to stand united against the government move.
“You, all women, should raise your voice to protect the bank. You should say: ‘Beware, do not try to grab Grameen Bank. We will break those hands that want to snatch it’,” he added.
“The government calls me a blood sucker, loan-shark. Since I am not the owner of the bank, how can I be a loan-shark?” said Prof Yunus.
He said the government was propagating that the Grameen Bank’s interest rate was high, but the interest rate in government-owned banks was 27 percent whereas it was 20 percent in Grameen Bank.
Vice-Chancellor of East Delta University Prof Md Sikandar Khan, President of Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce Kamrun Malek, Prof Anwara Alam and writer Runu Siddique also spoke at the programme.
Meanwhile, terming the recent statements of Nobel laureate Prof Yunus and BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka unfortunate, State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak yesterday said no ill-intention would survive in Bangladesh.
He was talking to reporters after placing wreath at the grave of Sheikh Russell, youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in Banani cemetery on the occasion of Russell’s 49th birth anniversary.
On October 14, Sadeque Hossain Khoka at a meeting in the capital had directed BNP leaders and activists to be ready with machetes and axes to counter any attacks on them while joining the party’s October 25 rally in Dhaka.
He said, “If the Awami League brings anything to kill people, we will face them at any cost. They should not be spared.”
In response, Nanak yesterday said Khoka’s instructions would ruin democracy and take the country to the path of conspiracy. The same way, the statement of Prof Yunus was also unexpected and unfortunate, he added.
Their words could terrify the people and disrupt their normal life. However, nobody will be allowed to implement any evil intention in Bangladesh, Nanak said.
-With The Daily Star input
