Hard-Hitting Coverage from the Financial Times

Visas given to foreign journalists for travel to Bangladesh and report on its various crises—mostly caused by government corruption, abuses, and incompetence—have been increasingly hard to come by in recent months.  But somehow, the Delhi bureau chief of the Financial Times was able to secure one to cover “Made in Bangladesh Week 2022” late last year. 

His just-published article — which is titled “In Dhaka, a Prime Minister’s ‘vendetta’ is shaping politics” — mainly covers the Prime Minister’s campaign against Professor Yunus, which the article argues represents a “troubling sign for the country’s near-term future.”  The author explores how her campaign against Professor Yunus and organizations he is connected to is alarming diplomats and discouraging potential foreign investors. 

One of the remarkable parts of the article is how fearful almost everyone in the country is of talking negatively about the PM and commenting on her conflict with Professor Yunus.  He writes, “Several Bangladeshis I spoke to called [the campaign against Yunus] a ‘vendetta,’ though most did not want to be quoted or even meet in person for fear of attracting the attention of Bangladesh’s security services or causing trouble for their co-workers.”

The article correctly states that despite the Prime Minister’s contention that Professor Yunus sabotaged World Bank financing for the Padma Bridge project, the evidence points in a different direction.  It reports, “When the Washington lender declined to loan the project money in 2012, it cited corruption concerns.”  It further notes that “her invective [against Yunus] has ramped up lately, and on at least one occasion [has] been laced with what sounded like a violent threat.”

A ruling party Member of Parliament, the only person connected with the government willing to speak to the reporter, said that “there is an unarticulated conspiracy theory that anyone who criticises the government is taking part in some kind of conspiracy to oust the government,” which the MP added was “hardly true.”

The article concludes with the observation that social innovation in Bangladesh has been at a world class level, and that people around the world have been eager to learn from the country’s dynamic civil society leaders, such as Professor Yunus.  But instead, they are scared away by the violence, abuses, and vendettas of the current government.  As a result, a major opportunity for Bangladesh is being lost.