The Persecution of an Imperfect Man

Lydia Polgreen has just posted (if I can use that verb) a story for the New York Times on the political controversy around Muhammad Yunus. It is a subtle sketch of a situation that, while polarized, is hardly black and white. I was struck by how the quotes, though they come from various sides of the fight, generally rang true:

In an interview at his office here, Mr. Yunus seemed stunned and deeply stung.“There is some kind of misinformation,” he said, his voice trailing off. “I shouldn’t say more.”A pause.“Every word I say will be held against me,” he said finally.

“I think he is a good man with a small heart,” Mr. Huq said of Mr. Yunus. “He cannot give credit to anyone but himself,” he added, with a wan smile at his pun.

(This is the first time I've heard this sentiment in public.)

Mahbubul Mokaddem Akash, an economist at the University of Dhaka who has been critical of Grameen Bank, said that while Mr. Yunus might be personally incorruptible, the bank needed strong governing practices and transparency if it was to thrive once its charismatic founder departed.“The main focus should not be on personal corruption but on prudential management of the institution,” Mr. Akash said.

She [Prime Minister Hasina] is afraid that another military government will come and try to use Yunus as its face," said a retired senior government official who worked closely with Ms. Hasina but who feared being punished if identified. "She wants to tarnish his image so that he becomes less of a threat."

"This man has done so much for the country,” said Mahfuz Anam, editor of The Daily Star, a leading English-language newspaper. “He does not deserve to be treated this way because of dirty politics."

One quote seems strange though:

"I am riding the tiger," Mr. Yunus said. "I cannot just get off the tiger without drawing the attention of that tiger. So I have to very quietly do it."

Does Mr. Yunus mean that the Grameen Bank is a tiger that will devour him if he dismounts it wrongly? Does he believe it will fall apart without him? What does that say about its condition? More likely, I think: this is an expression of the psychological trap of founder's syndrome. He cannot separate his ego from the Bank. Another classic sign of that organizational ailment is that "long-serving internal candidates that might have replaced Mr. Yunus as the bank’s managing director after his retirement have departed acrimoniously."The irony is that Hasina may well do the Grameen Bank a favor by engineering a necessary succession in an orderly way even as she fails to eliminate a perceived political rival through defamation. So far she doesn't seem to have much dirt on him. Unless she really tarnishes his reputation, even if he leaves the Bank, Yunus will still be Yunus: still the founder of the Grameen Bank and the father of microcredit; the author of books on social business; the most famous Bangaldeshi; a man who has probably done more for the poor than the politicians, and that at much less material benefit to himself.