For your kind approval

Finance Minister A M A Muhith could not have dreamt of a more unenviable task. The septuagenarian bureaucrat-turned-politician had to draw on the depth of his skills from both sides of the table when he faced up to a bunch of gloomy-faced diplomats to 'explain' or 'inform in detail' the government's decision to remove Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus from the helmsman ship of Grameen Bank. He was careful enough to read from a prepared script and from what we could make out from the media coverage, engage in a fairly animated discussion when it came to questions and answers (Q&As). He informed them that the decision was not 'vindictive' or 'politically motivated' and that the government had no other alternative. He also said that the decision would not tarnish the image of the country in any way. If that is so and if it is a matter of fact that the government shouldn't be answerable to anyone but the people of the country on any decisions that relate to internal matters, it begs the obvious question: Why was the briefing of diplomats required in the first place? The Chinese never briefed anyone about their less than public condemnation of the Nobel prize being awarded to a Tien an Men square dissident. And they made no secret of how they leaned on their 'friends' to boycott the ceremony. Nor did the Soviet Union react much differently in the case of Solzhenitsyn. Or, maybe we are to get ready for another round of diplomats visiting several political dignitaries to drive home a point akin to what we saw during the last days of the caretaker government. But then perhaps the fact that Yunus is no longer just the property of Bangladesh but an international figure has something to do with it. Perhaps the model he developed and that which has been much maligned but replicated with enthusiasm in many countries is of international interest. Perhaps it was required to wait for the outcome of the 'review' ordered to look in to all the misdeeds reported by an obscure Norwegian channel. Perhaps the truth really needed to be made public. Yunus has gone public in his assertion that he wants a transition that would ensure that the Bank sustains itself. That would mean grooming of a successor that the Bank has been guilty of not identifying. An overnight handing over would probably not ensure such sustainability. Age is always a factor when it comes to running of institutions such as Grameen Bank but then again so is experience. And let's not forget the ultimate in endeavours that seek to enrich people's lives-the much sought after human quality of passion. (The writer can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)