‘Harassment’ of Yunus to impact US-Bangladesh ties: US senator

US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) yesterday said Bangladesh government’s failure to end a “seemingly personal vendetta against Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus” will negatively impact US-Bangladesh partnership.

He made the comment during a meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Muhammad Imran.

The meeting follows a letter Durbin sent along with US Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina calling for the end of Yunus’ harassment.

In a statement after the meeting, Durbin said he met Muhammad Imran to discuss the “persistent harassment” of Prof Yunus.

“As such, in today’s meeting with Mr Imran, I again called for an end to the harassment of Professor Yunus.”

The statement said, over the last decade, Professor Yunus has faced more than 100 unsubstantiated cases in Bangladesh.

The harassment campaign against Professor Yunus has been denounced by more than 100 Nobel Prize winners, including former President Obama.

Durbin led the effort in the US Congress to award Professor Yunus the Congressional Gold Medal in 2013, recognising his pioneering contributions in the fight against global poverty.

“The United States values its longstanding relationship with Bangladesh, and I appreciate its early help to Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Burma,” said Durbin.

“But a failure to end this seemingly personal vendetta against Muhammad Yunus will negatively impact that partnership. As such, in today’s meeting with Mr. Imran, I again called for an end to the harassment of Professor Yunus.”