Govt institution, not workers, sued us

"We are chasing a dream. We might have unintentionally offended someone by running after this dream."

— Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus

Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday said the workers of Grameen Telecom had not sued him and his three colleagues.

"The government is repeatedly saying, all levels of it are saying, that the case was not filed by the government. You are witnesses. But you are not saying anything. Did the workers do it? Or was it the government? Please give me the answer." Prof Yunus said, addressing reporters.

"It was done by the Department of Inspection for Factories, a government institution, not the workers. The workers are not in this," he added.

The chairman of Grameen Telecom said this after the Labour Appellate Tribunal granted bail to him and three directors of the company named Ashraful Hassan, Nurjahan Begum and M Shahjahan.

Chairman (acting) of the tribunal MA Awal also stayed a January 1 labour court verdict that Prof Yunus and the three others are guilty of labour law violations. The four accused were sentenced to six months in prison and fined Tk 30,000 each.

The bail will be in effect until an appeal they filed against the verdict yesterday is disposed of, said Abdullah-Al-Mamun, a lawyer for the accused.

The tribunal ordered the court concerned to submit the case dockets on March 3, the lawyer told The Daily Star.

The lawsuit against Prof Yunus and the others was filed by Labour Inspector (general) SM Arifuzzaman in 2021.

Yesterday afternoon, a reporter asked Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader for his take on Prof Yunus's comment that the government had sued him.

The minister replied that the workers had filed the case, not the government.

"He misappropriated poor people's money… The workers filed cases. The government had not filed a case against him," he told a press conference.

After the tribunal granted him bail, Prof Yunus said he dreamed of a world with net zero carbon emissions, zero poverty, and zero unemployment. "Eliminating the concentration of wealth is another goal. The upper class currently controls most of the resources. The underprivileged are being deprived. The wealth flows in one direction: towards the rich. All institutions, laws, policies, and structures are designed for this. Our goal is to break this cycle…."

In response to a question, he said, "We are chasing a dream. We might have unintentionally offended someone by running after this dream."

At one point, he said, "I cannot tell why the case was filed."

As a journalist asked if the matter would upset him, Prof Yunus said, "Hopefully not. We have a schedule filled with work. Globally, there is a significant amount of support for our cause. Universities and young people come to us. There are currently 107 universities with Yunus Social Business Centres. Yunus Centres have been established in 37 countries.

"The Social Business Centre is being opened in Russia. Every nation has a university-based social business centre."

His lawyer Mamun said, "His [Yunus's] organisation is under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Factories. A government institution created this fictitious case at the orders of higher authorities. The matter has already been resolved, and the [prison] sentence is invalid."

Referring to his colleagues who were also accused of labour law violation, Prof Yunus said, "I am one of the four accused. No one is talking about the three other accused. One of them is Nurjahan Begum. She is right here."

Grameen Bank's journey started "holding her hands. She joined as a volunteer… But no one remembers it. She has to appear at the court today. It makes us sad."

"The last time, she brought her medication with her, thinking we might have to head to jail directly from the court. It is our misfortune that the woman, who gave her whole life for this, has to make preparations to go to jail.

"Shahjahan has been with me since the inception of Grameen Bank. He is another accused. He can't walk; can't move. He had to be brought up and down to and from the sixth floor. That is our punishment."

"Ashraf is the other one standing here. Ashraf had just graduated from Buet when we took him in... We needed an engineer."