Yunus departs as the Empire strikes back

Afsan Chowdhury
Published : 3 March 2011, 02:47 AM
Updated : 3 March 2011, 02:47 AM

It is over for Prof. Yunus at Grameen. Bangladesh Bank has done the papers and his removal is done too. He has been ousted by the government supported by all those who have been baying for his blood for years. This victory will be considered one against Yunus, Grameen Bank and microcredit to boot. It culminates in a triumph of a three-decade-old campaign initiated first by Marxists and Mollahs both seeing credit as a haram, secular or religious. The World Bank had opposed Yunus at that time as well. They were joined over time by a large group of private bankers and those fond of government control amongst others but increasingly by politicians who saw in bringing down Yunus an opportunity to assert their supremacy.

Forty years after 1971, unable to offer anything concrete to the poor, the political empire in the end did strike back sending a message that innovation and initiatives must take a backseat to bureaucratic niceties and official procedures. It is not just the bureaucrats within the government who shall chortle in happiness but within the bank too along several foreign agencies who would much like Bangladeshi development agencies happy to be told what to do. In Grameen Bank itself several small-minded people, hurt because Yunus ignored them once, now can run Grameen forgetting that the man who has the vision to initiate something like Grameen and make it a global brand is fundamentally different than the men who carry out orders no matter how well. But over time, mediocre people often do win and so the day belongs to them now.

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Once the word, 'siphoning' was used by the Norwegian video on GB – a deliberately misleading product which was embraced greedily by many Bangladeshis because it was made by a Caucasian Westerner, the case was virtually sealed for Yunus. For Bangladeshis, inadequate understanding of English turned 'siphoning' into a personal criminal act by Yunus, or was it deliberate by BD media as well? What followed was a build up of the 'Get Yunus' movement which received a huge boost at the hands of the government led by Sheikh Hasina and her political minions. Since it couldn't be proven that Yunus had stolen money, it was necessary to go after administrative and management issues which every organisation has, to bring him down. Since what was wanted was his humiliation and departure, it was possible to demonise Yunus with a co-operating government helping on.

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Yet the end of the removal process is comical, with the Bangladesh Bank saying that Yunus had passed the retirement age and so must go. Age was pitted against competence and that too for a man who had established a global institution. I quote what the Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman himself had said on microfinance which was reported in Daily Star March 1, 2010, "The rural and urban poor benefit from the microfinance regulations, with reliable access to microfinance on fair and equitable terms. In Bangladesh, MFIs accounted for financial services to around 24 percent of the adult population, against around 44 percent and 10 percent served by banks and cooperatives respectively in 2008." He also added that the high interest rates were a serious matter "albeit more from populist political authorities rather than from the actual borrowers"

So Yunus was too old to serve though there is no problem with his operations or his outfit according to the BB Governor himself.

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For those who have any confusion, microcredit is a supervised loan giving programme where the money is given without collaterals to group members. It is simply a loan system and the loans are given for economic activity. However, the poor have other needs as well so microcredit supplies credit needs particularly in the rural areas for many things such as marriages, house building etc. Microcredit in one form or other has always existed but Bangladeshi NGOs turned it into a structured service replacing the traditional money lenders.

Those who have any idea can take a micro loan and do business to become better off though the number of how many does do vary. Some become better economically than before and some can protect themselves from becoming poorer the next year which is common in our rural economy. Many fail to pay the loan and the rules of loan collections apply which applies in case of all banks. Grameen is a bank so it functions like one.

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Because microcredit helped many to escape high poverty, it was presented particularly by Yunus as a poverty alleviation model. This is not entirely accurate. It's more correct to say that it is one of the tools of any poverty alleviation effort and not a total self sufficient package. However, Bangladeshi economists have always been balanced in their assessment saying it was part of a big package while recognising its contribution. Dr. H Zillur Rahman wrote in 2004 about the role of microcredit:

"In Bangladesh, the most visible changes have been in reducing the everyday uncertainties of food, livelihoods and shelter for the rural poor. Household incomes have been supplemented and critically extended. With access to liquidity, the ability to cope with crisis and shocks in everyday lives has been strengthened. Spill-over effects on housing, health-care and education have followed."

"Poverty remains but the experience of poverty is today on a qualitatively different plane. Certainly micro-credit has not been the only factor at work here but whether in terms of researched knowledge or casual observation, one would be hard put to deny its critical contribution" He has echoed the same thoughts in 2011.

But then are we really interested in evidential reasoning when it comes to this issue?

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Several of my journalist friends have said that Yunus supported the Fakhruddin government so Hasina is after him and Yunus deserves it all as he became cosy with the military-backed caretaker regime and went against politicians. Yunus had also started a political party which was seen as a challenge to the mainstream though it fizzled out due to lack of support.

It would have been wonderful if Yunus' party had worked out because after 40 years it should be obvious that our politicians –AL, BNP and the army– can't deliver much. Which government initiative has even tackled poverty alleviation seriously? A government which can't even provide TB treatment medicines to the affected and has to depend on NGOs to do so is hardly capable of handling any major challenges of poverty.

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As we travel towards post-modernity in underdevelopment this conflict is inevitable as governments and politicians fund themselves less and less able to cope and manage new situations. Since efficiency can no longer be produced by the governments, striking down those it sees as challengers is necessary for surviving longer. By humiliating Yunus, a message on behalf of the ruling elite has been sent out to all to toe the line.

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Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist and researcher.