34 eminent citizens condemn harassement of Dr Yunus

Staff Reporter :
Some 34 eminent citizens of the country have protested the government for filing criminal case against Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus and harassment by various government agencies on the plea of violation of labour law.

They expressed their deep concern by terming the case against Professor Yunus as ‘motivated’, they said in a statement issued on Sunday.

The eminent citizens also urged the government to refrain from such activities.

The signatories to the statement are-educationist Abul Quasem Fazlul Haque, former advisor to caretaker government Hafiz Uddin Khan, human rights activist Hamida Hossain, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, economist Debapriya Bhattacharya, secretary of Sujon Badiul Alam Majumdar, legal expert Shahdeen Malik, human rights activist Sharmeen Murshid, environmental lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Professor Ali Riaz, Dr. Asif Nazrul, photographer Shahidul Alam, Professor CR Abrar, Professor Parveen Hasan, Professor Firdous Azim, human rights activist Shirin Haque, Rehnuma Ahmed, researcher Dr. Bina de Costa, Professor Swapan Adnan, Professor of Dhaka University Shahnaz Huda, Professor Tasneem Siraj Mahbub, Rushad Faridi, Chittagong University Professor R. Razi, Jahangirnagar University teacher Sayema Khatun, Dr. Naila Z Khan, Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Subrata Chowdhury, Tabarak Hossain, environmentalist and development worker M. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, researcher Dr. Sadaf Noor, Dr. Nova Ahmed, Rozina Begum, Nasser Bakhtiar Ahmed, writer Mahbub Morshed and Rakhal Raha.

They said in the statement, “Recently a criminal case has been filed in the Labor Court against Professor Muhammad Yunus and some of his colleagues at Grameen Telecom for violating labor laws.

His lawyers said that although the charges raised are civil in nature, but criminal cases have been filed by the government.

The government’s role in disposing of this case with extraordinary speed is now becoming noticeable.”

Regarding the complaint of harassment to Professor Yunus, they said, Professor Yunus was harassed by various institutions of the government in the name of summoning bank account, investigation and interrogation.

Apart from this, there are various kinds of complaints raised against him from different levels of the government.

In view of all these, we feel that there is reason to believe that the incident of filing a criminal case against him in the Labor Court is intentional.

We are deeply concerned about this.”

They said in their statement, Professor Dr. Yunus has established himself as a respected person in the world for working to improve the condition of the extremely poor and neglected people of the society.

He has brought a rare honor to Bangladesh by winning various medals and awards including the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

He is being harassed and given a negative message to the world through legal and administrative action.”