Below is the English translation of a press release issued after a rally that was held in Dhaka on September 8 in support of Professor Muhammad Yunus by national leaders from civil society, academia, and politics.
Date: September 8, 2023
Press release
Dr. Yunus is the country’s pride; Prominent people call on the government to stop the harassment
On Friday, September 8 in the afternoon the Dhaka Reporters United and the Bangladesh Professional Rights Council held “Judicial Harassment and a Discussion on Muhammad Yunus.”
In the meeting, President of Public Rights Council Nurul Haque Noor said, “As a person from a remote area, I have seen that many poor children of my village have got the opportunity of higher education because of Grameen Bank’s education loan, the people of the village have got the benefit of mobile. He made significant contributions to the country including women empowerment. But sad, a respectable person like him is being harassed by the government. Dr. Yunus is being called a usurer; in our modern banking system, people are charged some interest normally. As the talented do not come forward in politics, the bad people are in in charge of the state, occupying an important place. So the youth should come forward in politics to change the country.”
Referring to the tastelessness of editors and teachers from Dhaka University speaking against Dr. Yunus for the benefit of the government, Noor said, “We all have to be vocal about the judicial harassment of Dr. Yunus. Otherwise Yunus today, me tomorrow, all of you may have this same fate.”
Bangladesh Welfare Party Chairman Major General Syed Muhammad Ibrahim said, “Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a victim of personal outrage. I request the government to stop harassing Dr. Yunus.”
Advocate Subrata Chowdhury, General Secretary of the Gano Forum, and a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, said, “The judicial league is now being created to control the judicial system of the country. The people of the country will have to burn a lot of wood to fix the mismanagement in which Sheikh Hasina is leaving the country.”
Referring to the 700 articles by anonymous authors praising the government, Shahidul Alam said it is our plight. Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a respected person all over the world. If you go outside the country, you can understand how respected he is in the international arena. I protest against his harassment. I always respect him.
Barrister Kaiser Kamal, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said, “Just like Begum Khaled Zia and Tariq Rahman, Dr. Muhammad Yunus has admitted to judicial harassment. Everyone should stand against it.”
Sharmin Murshid, executive director of Brati, said, “There is no objection to being a usurer like Dr. Yunus. It is good to be a usurer like Dr. Yunus, as Dr. Yunus has played a role in changing society through the concept of social business and eliminating poverty through small loans.”
Political scientist Nurul Amin Bepari, the president of the alternative party, said that what the government is doing to Dr. Yunus is unfair. It has been doing to the opposition for the last 14 years. The discussion meeting was chaired by Zafar Mahmud, convener of the Professional Rights Council, and the following leaders spoke: member secretary Md. Nizam Uddin, General Secretary of Public Rights Council, Muhammad Rashed Khan, Senior Leader of Professional Rights Council, Advocate Khalid Hossain, Mr. S. Alam, Mr. Tanveer Yusuf, Journalist Roknuzzaman, and Monirul Mawla.