Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk
A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.
Called “Protect Yunus”, the campaign has been initiated by 40 global leaders, including former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former Mexican president Vicente Fox, musician Peter Gabriel, former NASA astronaut Ron Garan, former CEO, Rockefeller Foundation and International Herald Tribune Peter C Goldmark Jr, former US vice president Al Gore, Rotary International CEO John Hewko, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Kerry Kennedy, 8th secretary general of the UN Ban Ki-moon, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Asking people to write to elected representatives at the federal level (such as Congressperson and Senators if one lives in the US) and urging them to take action in support of Prof Yunus and human rights in Bangladesh, the campaign seeks individuals to write a letter to the editor of local newspapers support him on social media.
Initiating the campaign, the 40 top global leaders from the fields of politics, diplomacy, business, the arts, and academia in their open letter to the Bangladesh Prime Minister, published as a full-page ad in the Washington Post, insist that “positive steps” be taken to support and recognize the great contributions Prof Yunus.
The letter comes amidst running campaign against Prof Yunus supported by the Bangladesh establishment to allegedly denigrate his contributions.

Text:

We write to you as friends of Bangladesh who admire the courage and ingenuity of the people of your country. We are public servants and businesspeople, civil society leaders and philanthropists. We are among the tens of millions of global citizens who have been inspired by the innovations that have been developed in Bangladesh and adopted around the world. It is out of this deep respect for your country that we write to urge you to take positive steps to support and recognize the great contributions one of your most notable citizens, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
We have deep concerns for Professor Yunus’ well-being and his ability to contribute to humanitarian advancement in Bangladesh and around the world. As we are sure you are aware, Muhammad Yunus’ contributions to Bangladesh-especially to the very poor and the most vulnerable-as well as to the world, are recognized and honored around the globe. For example:

Professor Yunus is one of seven people in history to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential medal of Freedom, and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, a group that includes Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Elie Wiesel.
He founded Grameen Bank in 1976 and grew it to a world-renowned poverty-fighting institution of 9 million borrowers, 97 percent of them women, that has lifted millions out of poverty and been a model for other microcredit programs around the world.
In the mid-1980s Grameen Bank began offering housing loans of $200-$500 that have led to the construction of sturdy rural homes for more than 750,000 families.
Grameen Shakti, which Professor Yunus founded and chairs, has installed more than 1.8 million solar home systems and trained thousands of rural women to install and repair these systems.
The farsighted investment of Grameen Telecom, a nonprofit organization that he founded, in GrameenPhone, has allowed for the proliferation of social innovation throughout Bangladesh such as the establishment of Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing, the country’s largest private nursing college, four eye care hospitals that cater to the country’s poor, 150 primary health care clinics, and more.
He established Grameen America in 2008 to provide microcredit to low-income people in the United States, mostly in amounts under $2,500. It is about to cross the milestone of $3 billion lent, and it has a 99% repayment rate.

Muhammad Yunus has not benefited financially from his involvement in Grameen Telecom or GrameenPhone. Rather, he has devoted himself to the poverty-fighting missions of the many organizations he has established and lives modestly in Dhaka. It is therefore painful to see Prof. Yunus, a man of impeccable integrity, and his life’s work unfairly attacked and repeatedly harassed and investigated by your government.
We believe one of the most important roles of government is to create an environment where traditional and social entrepreneurs can flourish.
We hope that Bangladesh will return to its role as a model for other developing nations of how a vibrant civil society can be nurtured to ensure sustainable progress. A good first step would be to recognize Professor Yunus’ achievements and allow him to focus his energy on doing more good for your country and for the world, rather than on defending himself.
We, and tens of millions of people around the world, hope that you will embrace this vision.
---

Click here for list of global signatories

Comments

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

Licy Bharucha’s pilgrimage into the lives of India’s freedom fighters

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement”, by Dr Licy Bharucha; Pp240; Rs 300; Published by National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular. — Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of the book by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true objective of India’s freedom struggle. It also in essence speaks for the multitudes of brave and courageous individuals who aspired to get themselves jailed for the cause of the country’s freedom. A jail term was a strong testimony and credential of patriotism for them. The book has been written by Dr Licy Bharucha, an academically trained political scientist and a scholar of peace studies and Gandhian studies, who was closely associated throughout her life with those who made the struggle for India’s independence the primar...

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Covid response? How, gripped by fear and groupthink, scientists 'failed' children

By Bhaskaran Raman* “Today’s children are tomorrow’s future”, “Nurture children’s dreams”, “A child’s smile is sunlight”. These are some cliches, rendered rather uninspiring through repetition and obviousness. However, for nearly 2½ years, society forgot these cliches, children suffered as science failed and groupthink prevailed. Worse, all of this has been swept under the rug.

Search This Blog