[NYTr] Not Everyone is Cheering for Dr. Yunus's Nobel Prize
ny...@olm.blythe-systems.com
sent by Sandeep Vaidya - Oct 14, 2006
My Comments on the Nobel Peace Prize for Dr Yunus and
Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
by Taj Hashmi
In response to Mirza A. Beg's article on Dr Muhammad Yunus's getting the
Nobel Peace Prize, I have the following comments:
This award proves again the Goebblian dictum that a lie uttered a thousand
times becomes more credible than the truth. This Nobel Peace Prize for Yunus
and his bank, on a "Friday the 13th" is a slap in the face of those who have
been trying to bring the Third World out of the strangling grip of the
global hegemons -- the IMF, World Bank and others -- who hate to see the
Third World slipping out of their grip to become self-reliant with good
accountable governments, rule of law and respect for human rights.
This NGO business is the biggest business in the Third World. The IMF and
World Bank, and most multi-nationals do not want too many Chinas, Taiwans,
Malaysias, Thailand, Venezuelas, or even Singapores and South Koreas. They
love countries like Bangladesh, Philippines, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan.
who either buy arms, technology and expertise from the West, or do not build
industrial infrastructure and good governance.
There is NO substitute for good (honest and efficient) and accountable
government. Why the Asian dragons and tigers did not adopt NGOs and
microcredit for development is the billion dollar question.
Having written this, I am happy for Bangladesh; this Nobel Prize (given for
the wrong reason though) will bring a good name for the country, which is
unfortunately only known for its poverty and corruption.
I pose the following questions to those who unnecessarily glorify Dr Yunus
and his bank:
Do you know in most cases it is the husband/father/elder brother who
controls the Grameen loan taken in the name of his wife/daughter/sister? Do
you know the bank charges around 30% interest? Do you know that Grameen
borrowers lend the borrowed money at 80% to 100% interest to fellow
villagers? Do you know any other business where someone can still make a
living by borrowing at 30% in some villages (especially in Sylhet), men take
three/four wives to get Grameen loan to run their lucrative money lending
business? Do you know that the poorest of the poor (as touted by Yunus,
Clintons and others) are not eligible for Grameen loan as they cannot repay
their loans in 52 instalments at 30% interest? Do you know that only middle
peasants (having some lands or assets) are eligible to the credit?
Had there been such business one would have borrowed thousands of dollars
through credit cards to become rich overnight. I would like to recommend
Nobel Peace Prize (why not the Economics prize?!) for all the credit card
companies as they charge around 18-20% and nothing happens to the
defaulters. There are many people in the lower income group who somehow
survive through credit cards, by borrowing and paying off the debts. And we
have no reason to celebrate the performance of the Amex, Visa or Master Card
companies for their "noble and humane" acts of "empowering the poor through
credit". It is a "shame" that credit card companies, charging less than 20%
interest on the average, are never considered for any prize anywhere in the
world!
While Grameen defaulters have to part with their ornaments, tin sheds, goats
or cattle or even utensils, many credit card defaulters simply get away with
by paying nothing. After staying four or five years in the state of
bankruptcy, they again become creditable. All these assertions by me are
buttressed by hard evidences from my field work and personal experience in
Bangladesh.
Why do you think Monsanto, the giant US corporation, engaged in marketing
genetically modified seeds (disastrous in the long run as peansants will
have to buy the seeds before every sowing season) is a big promoter of
microcredit? Why does Grameen Bank pay NO income tax to Bangladesh? Why did
Grameen Phone (a joint Bangladesh-Norway cell phone company) pay no income
tax till this year? This is the largest cell phone company in Bangladesh,
charging for local incoming calls as well.
Is there a lin (Dr Yunus's cell phone company) partnership with the
Norweigian telephone company, Nortel? Do you know that the Nortel has been
siphoning off millions of dollars to Norway without paying any income tax to
Bangladesh? And all of this money laundering is done in the name of charity?
What a shame, what a disgrace!
Instead of jointly robbing Bangladesh through this Shylockian project of
mega lending to rip off the poor in Bangladesh, in collaboration with the
Grameen Bank, donor agencies (the real vultures in the
production-growth-development arena), had they been really sincere in
developing poor countries like Bangladesh, would have helped to modernize
Bangladesh government run telecommunication system. But the Nortel, for the
obvious reason, found it convenient to invest in the Grameen cell phone
company in Bangladesh. And sadly, this happened through the active
collaboration of Dr Muhammad Yunus.
Why did Dr Yunus try to introduce Monsanto seeds in Bangladesh? And finally
he had to scrap this project due to opposition.
If micro-credit could alleviate poverty, why on earth hundreds of thousands
of Bangladeshis are going to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Singapore,
borrowing hundreds of thousands of takas (two lakh per head on the average)
to work as menials? If borrowing fifty or sixty dollars could alleviate
poverty, why are they doing so? Are they stupids?
Cheers
Taj Hashmi
Canada
Email: taj_h...@hotmail.com
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