The Hindu : Front Page : Yunus says Bangladesh's new found unity must extend to political arena

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 15, 2006
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Yunus says Bangladesh's new found unity must extend to political arena

The nation rejoices the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the "banker to the poor"

— Photo: AP

THEIR PRIDE: Well-wishers congratulate Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus in Dhaka on Saturday.

Dhaka: As Bangladesh cheered its first Nobel laureate, Mohammad Yunus, the "banker to the poor" said on Saturday the country's new-found "unity" should extend to the political arena and he was ready to help end the standoff between the two main alliances.

"We want the same kind of unity in politics like the unity that has been created by the Nobel prize award," Mr. Yunus, who along with the Grameen Bank he founded, was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, told journalists at the bank's office in the suburbs of Dhaka.

The 66-year-old economist said, ``the politicians have to ensure smooth elections unitedly."

Asked if he would help the ongoing talks between the two main alliances on the contentious issue of electoral reforms, a smiling Yunus said: ``if needed and if they [politicians] want I will try to help the process ... I think they will be able to come out with a positive result."

Mr. Yunus started his day placing wreaths at the Bengali-language martyrs memorial on the Dhaka University campus and at suburban Savar's National Martyrs' Memorial dedicated to those who died in the 1971 Independence War against Pakistan.

Source of inspiration

"The martyrs are the source of all our inspirations," Mr. Yunus said.

Pictures and stories on Mr. Yunus' achievements dominated Saturday's newspapers. — PTI

Haroon Habib reports:

The entire nation went euphoric as soon as international media reported the great news. People from all walks of life greeted the news with joy. President Iajuddin Ahmed, congratulated Mr. Yunus and praised his innovative micro-credit concept for serving the poor.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said: "This is a much awaited prize. It is not only a great honour for Yunus himself, but also a pride for Bangladesh."

The leader of the main Opposition alliance and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina too congratulated Mr. Yunus.

Leading Bangladesh economists said the prize would give a momentum to the nation's struggle for poverty alleviation.

Telephone calls from the international media and world dignitaries started coming congratulating the father of the micro-credit campaign.

Further responsibility

A beaming Yunus, who started the bank for small credit to the rural poor over three decades ago, said the Nobel Prize "burdened us with further responsibility ... Bangladesh must now remove poverty and also put in more efforts to eradicate poverty from the world."

When the news came, Mr. Yunus went to the Grameen Bank headquarters at Mirpur, where thousands of admirers and friends gathered to share the great moment.

"This is a very happy moment for me, my family, colleagues and for my country," Mr. Yunus said. "I did not expect the prize this year because every year these kinds of rumours go on but this year I did not hear any discussion, so I was not hopeful ... "

"We [Bangladesh] have taken many things from the world, now we have given the world something. We have placed a model before the world," remarked the Nobel laureate, adding: "Now I dream of Bangladesh as the first country to be free from hunger."

Recipe for peace

Asked by reporters if the prize was appropriate for peace, Mr. Yunus said: "I was not astonished to get the Nobel Prize in Peace ... Hunger is one of the main reasons of anarchy. If poverty is reduced, peace will prevail on earth."

A long way

Mr. Yunus was born in an obscure village, Jobra, in Chittagong on June 28, 1940. He was the third of the 14 children of Sufia Khatun and Mohammed Dula Miah, a jewellery merchant.

After attending preparatory school in Chittagong, he studied in Chittagong Collegiate School and Chittagong College. He completed B.A. and M.A. from Dhaka University, and received Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University in 1969 after getting a Fulbright scholarship. He taught in Colorado University for some time.

Returning home, he joined Chittagong University as professor of economics.

Mr. Yunus first involved himself in fighting poverty during a famine in 1974. The first loan he gave was to the tune of $27 from his own pocket. He lent it to 42 women basket weavers in Jobra. After some time he discovered that they could repay the amount quickly.

In 1976, Mr. Yunus initiated the Grameen Bank and started giving loans to the poor.

In 1983, he officially formed the Grameen Bank on the principles of trust and solidarity. In 1997, Mr. Yunus led the world's first micro-credit summit in Washington, DC.

He is also a campaigner for the information superhighway and believes that information technology can play a great role in the fight against rural poverty.

The Grameen Phone and Palli Phone he founded already brought about a revolution in Bangladesh in introducing low-cost mobile telephone even in the remotest village.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page