The most generous way to explain the errors contained in statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that their fact checkers are not especially active or diligent. Previously, the Protect Yunus Campaign reported on the grossly inaccurate claims by the Foreign Minister about the cost of the full-page ad we placed in the Washington Post in March 2023, reproducing an open letter to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister (that was later followed up by another open letter).
Now, in a statement criticizing a U.N. report on human rights abuses in Bangladesh, the Ministry refers to Grameen Telecom being “owned” by Professor Muhammad Yunus. Even the most basic understanding of Bangladeshi law would reveal that nonprofit companies like Grameen Telecom have no owners. One would think that in a response to the serious charges being leveled by the United Nations, the Ministry would be at pains to avoid misstatements of any kind.
Grameen Telecom issued a rejoinder in response to the Ministry’s statement, and called on it to issue a correction. Grameen Telecom’s rejoinder appears below.
Rejoinder to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rejoinder to the UN Rapporteurs
On November 21 and 22, 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a rejoinder to various newspapers and online portals against the statements of three rapporteurs on human rights in Bangladesh. It is mentioned in the related news that, “The case of Dr Muhammad Yunus is pending before the court for depriving the workers of a company owned by him for their fair dues”. A company owned by him is referred to as “Grameen Telecom”. This information is completely false and baseless. We strongly protest against the Government’s false statement in their Rejoinder to the UN.
It should be noted that Dr. Muhammad Yunus has no ownership of any of the organizations he created, including Grameen Telecom. Prof Yunus is an honorary chairman of Grameen Telecom. He takes no honorarium or financial benefits for this service.
Grameen Telecom is a not-for-profit company registered under Section 28 of the Company Act 1994. Its dividend is not distributable as per the Companies Act. Being a not-for-profit company, its earned profits are not distributed as it has no shareholders. It should be noted that no company has been established in Bangladesh or elsewhere which is owned by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
We request the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide a correction to the information previously provided to the United Nations.