Muhith blames Yunus for \\\'horrible situation\\\' in GB

Finance Minister AMA Muhith Monday blamed Dr Muhammad Yunus for a 'horrible situation' in the Grameen Bank (GB) administration.
"The Grameen Bank is in a horrible situation, thanks to Mr Yunus. Because, he is a master in the art of managing the courts. I'm sorry to say that," the minister told newsmen while talking about expiry of the tenure of the board of directors of the GB.
Briefing newsmen at his Secretariat office after a meeting with a delegation of the Bangladesh International Arbitration Center, he said directors whose tenure is over won't be able to stay in the board unless they are elected anew by the Grameen Bank members.
When his attention was drawn whether the government's intervention in the bank has created the present situation, Mr Muhith said, "You should be very clear
that the government did not make any trouble there. Mr Yunus himself did it."
 "Mr Yunus made the rules as to how services will be governed in the Grameen Bank. He made the rule that everyone will retire at the age of 60. He followed it for all except for himself. He continued the office violating the rules which the central bank has pointed out. He did not take care of these," the minister said.
He also said supporters of Mr Yunus in the board have continued to repeat that he was staying there illegally.
 "I took a very simple action on that and requested Mr Yunus to leave the bank with honour. I also made a proposal that some connection should be maintained between him and the bank because he is the great founder of the institution," Mr Muhith added.
The minister said he has supported the bank a lot. Otherwise, it could not have come to the present stage.
 "Some credit should be given to me because the bank may not have come to this stage without my support. That also must be known better by Mr Yunus than everybody else. None, except me, has supported his proposals," the minister added.
 "At one stage, Mr Yunus told me that he will go to the court and he did it. After that, whenever I tried to do anything in this regard, he and his people go to the court," Mr Muhith noted.
Replying to a query regarding resignation of the chairman of the Grameen Bank, he said, "Yes, he resigned, but I did not remove him. This is because none wants to join the bank as chairman."
 "When I offer it to someone, he asks what he will do going there. There are no rules, no executive committee. Earlier, Mr Yunus himself was selecting the board of directors."
Mr Muhith said, "Mr Yunus is of course a great man. But he does not know to make a difference between an institution and a person. That's the unfortunate part of this great Nobel laureate whom we all admire for the things he has done for welfare of the poor and for the establishment of rights of the poor."
syful-islam@outlook.com