Our attention has been drawn to a news carried in a Bangladesh news website referring to the IT professional son Mr Sajib Wazed Joy. His open letter dealt with disputed issues of Grameen Bank and Nobel Laureate Prof Mohammad Yunus. We are not aware what prompted him to volunteer such action when matters are under judicial process . We all should leave it to law to deal with it. Although High court bench has rejected two writs submitted against Bangladesh bank letter of removal of Prof from Grameen Bank position yet the legal battle is not over yet As the matter relates to the Nobel Laureate having extensive international exposure and respect of international community we tried to research on issues raised by Joy. Here are what we found from relevant sources. 1. Share of Government in Grameen Bank is less than 7 % now – not 25% as stated my Joy. 2. Government reduced the share from 60 % (not 65 %) slowly as they did not infuse further equity and allowed the poor to own the majority of shares. Prof Yunus did not do it. Prof Yunus acted to ensure that the poor benefit and owned this Bank. 3. Grameen Kalyan is not owned by Prof Yunus – it has been established for creating organizations and institutions, products and processes for the benefits of the poor – see what has been achieved so far. 4. Funds transferred to Grameen Kalyan was a part of a financial engineering and management strategy for optimum uses of the funds and not to grab it- Kalyan cant grab funds, it is, as already stated, a not for profit company, limited by Guarantee and not owned by any of the Directors and not to speak of, Prof Yunus. The misunderstanding has been clarified by the Norwegian govt. Talking about it is just nonsense. It is no longer an issue. 5. Grameen Bank is not an ‘ not for profit ‘ company (olavjonok prothistan) as stated by Joy. What an ignorance! It has been created under an Ordinance in 1983 – Grameen Bank Ordinance. The owner shareholders get dividends from it. 6. Grameen Bank had to request govt to temporarily exempt from paying taxes which the govt has done but not for ever. This was to ensure, among other issues, that during the expansion phase, the payment of tax could reduce its expenditure and the money redeployed into Grameen. 7. Ownership in Grameenphone by Grameen Telecom is 38 % and not 35 %. 8. Board of Directors appoint MD and not the Govt – see the amendment to Grameen Bank Ordinance in 1990. 9. There is not a single instance that Professor Yunus took any benefits from these companies – not to speak of not owning any one of these. 10. Perhaps Mr Joy is not ware how Grameen Bank (GB) operates – his comments on 30 % interest and forcefully collecting deposits or deducting salaries from the GB staff are all like novice and emanated from anti-Grameen propaganda of vested quarters. No instances were identified and found by the internal and external audit of such issues. 11. Grameen Bank has not given any loans to any of the sister companies of GB – it loans only to the GB borrowers. 12. All the financial transactions among the Grameen sister/peer companies were done through transparent and legally binding and valid agreements – no opaqueness there. 13. Government t does not have any veto in respect to Grameen - where is it written in GB Ordinance. Sajeeb Wajed is not a party to the dispute. He is not living in Bangladesh permanently. As such possibly he aware about Garmeen Bank ordinance. Writing an open letter on the matter he has now become a party to it. I any aggrieved person may take him to court for an attempt to defame a person of international reputation. Prof Yunus is an internationally reputed personality. World community knows Bangladesh as one of the most corrupt country of the world due to poor governance, state sponsored corruption, hostile politics and misrule of dynasty. Personality like Prof Yunus has brighten Bangladesh image to World Community We must take pride for the achievement of a person of Bangladesh which earned him enviable Noble Price for peace which is the highest international honor any Bangladeshi has ever earned. Many countries even India admires and adorns him. Those who are trying to tarnish his image for their own gains will soon be dumped into bins.
