Workers did not sue us: Yunus
The Labour Appellate Tribunal today granted bail to Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom.
After securing bail, Prof Yunus told the reporters that the workers did not sue them.
"The government has stated time and again at all levels that they [government] did not file the case. You [journalists] are witnesses. But you are all silent on this matter. Did the workers or the government do it? Tell me in a nutshell?" he asked the reporters.
"This has been done by the Department of Inspection for Factories, a government institution. The workers didn't [do it]. They are not a part of it," he said after securing bail in a labour law violations case.
"A world with three zeros is what we aim to create. A world with zero net carbon emissions, zero poverty, and zero unemployment. Eliminating wealth concentration is another goal. The upper class currently controls the majority of the resources. The underprivileged are deprived. The wealthy attracts wealth. Every institution, rule of law, policy, and framework is created with the wealthy in mind. Our goal is to escape this cycle. Our goal is to create a world where those three zeros are the norm. Despite our limited time, we are committed to making a difference in the days to come so that these ideals will be associated with our legacy," Yunus explained.
In response to the question -- Why are you in this situation, what do you think? Yunus replied, "We are chasing a dream. We might have unintentionally offended someone by going after this dream."
"I cannot explain the reason behind this case," he said in response to another query.
When a journalist asked if these things were bothering him, Yunus said, "Hopefully not. We have a full schedule of work ahead of us. Globally, there is a significant amount of support for our cause. Universities and young people are coming to us. There are currently 107 universities with Yunus Social Business Centres. Furthermore, Yunus Centres have been established in 37 countries worldwide.
"Now the Social Business Centre is starting in Russia. As of now, every nation has a university-based social business centre," he said.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al Mamun, a lawyer for Yunus, told the reporters, "We filed an appeal and asked for bail in the court today. I would like to reiterate the remarks made by Professor Yunus. There is a widespread assertion, even among foreigners, that the workers, not the government, were the ones who started this lawsuit. But the facts aren't quite right. As you are aware, the government filed this case."
"His [Yunus] organisation is under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Factories. Among the false accusations are assertions that the workers' positions were not regularised, that they were not granted earned leaves, and not paid five percent of the dividend. A government institution created this fictitious case on the orders of higher authorities. The matter has already been resolved, and the verdict [six months' jail to Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials] in this case is invalid."
According to the lawyer, the court today granted their request for a hearing on their appeal. The lower court's entire judgement has been placed on temporary hold, and the date for receiving the lower court's documents has been set for March 3.
The Labour Appellate Tribunal granted bail to the four until the disposal of the appeal.
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