Sheikh Hasina: I was misguided by Yunus’ sweet talk on poverty alleviation

Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that Muhammad Yunus made a fortune through illegal means after getting the job of managing director at Grameen Bank against a salary of Tk6,000.

“It is a big question how Yunus has become the owner of thousands of crores of taka. Where did he get the money? How did he donate to the Clinton Foundation?” Sheikh Hasina asked during a virtual discussion on Saturday.

“Once upon a time, I also supported him. I was misguided by his sweet talk on poverty alleviation through microcredit…he falsely claimed that people were getting a better life. But audit reports found that he had transferred Grameen Bank funds to a newly formed organisation named Grameen Kalyan. Then he sought funds from the government. I gave Tk400 crore to strengthen the bank. He embezzled the money.

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“When I floated tender to launch a digital telephone, he used to request me every now and then. I gave him a license for Grameen Telecom under which he was supposed to provide rural women with mobile phones to earn money. He never gave any phone to the village women. He tricked me.

“When Bill Clinton visited Bangladesh [in 2000], Yunus brought some women, teaching them what to say. He took out a phone from his pocket, gave it to a woman and told her what to say in front of Bill Clinton. After the meeting ended, he put the phone back into his pocket.

“It happened in front of me, and others present at the event.

“This is how he made a mountain of cash through treachery, but he has never invested a single penny in Bangladesh.”

Sheikh Hasina said that investigators found Tk118 crore in three banks in his name. Moreover, he set up trusts and foundations to transfer money and spend it himself. He has always evaded income tax and also refused to pay profit share to his employees.

After capturing power using the students and jihadists last year, Yunus has dismissed all his cases, waived taxes worth Tk666 crore, ensured tax waiver for the next five years, and reduced government ownership in Grameen Bank from 25% to 10%. He also gave approval of Grameen University for personal branding, established exclusive control over manpower export, secured permission for Grameen Telecom to launch a digital wallet, transferred social security funds worth Tk700 crore to Grameen Trust and appointed his relatives and close associates in the administration.

On the other hand, Yunus is filing false cases against the Awami League leaders and spending money on making AI-generated audio files and the media to publish propaganda, Sheikh Hasina said.

“What has he done for Bangladesh? There is no freedom, democracy, rule of law, press freedom, or freedom of expression. Even the lawyers are barred from speaking up and are arrested and sent to prison. At least 1,50,000 Awami League leaders and workers have been arrested, and cases have been filed against 5,00,000.”

She described how the Yunus supporters had looted and torched hundreds of thousands of houses of the party supporters across the country. “This man does not know anything but looting.”

Women, religious minorities, journalists, government officials, and Armed Forces officials are being tortured and killed, and justice is denied. Even the jail inmates are being killed.

Yunus has also given impunity to the perpetrators who torched government establishments and killed the police and Awami League leaders and workers during the anti-government movement and afterwards, Sheikh Hasina said.

She also criticised the revision of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) in executive orders, whereas it is mandatory to pass the amendment through parliament.

Yunus has dragged the country near destruction through treachery, conspiracy and his greed for money, she added. He is destroying the economy, social safety schemes and the four principles of the Constitution to take Bangladesh back to the Least Developed Country status and turn it into a terrorist country.