Bangladesh finds an icon

Pending forthcoming general elections, Bangladesh is again in turmoil. Though a caretaker government – supposed to be neutral – is in place to oversee coming elections, rival political parties are at loggerheads in the run-up to it.

Yet, the picture was dramatically different until very recently, when Prof. Muhammad Yunus was declared winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The entire nation quite fittingly rejoiced at Prof. Yunus’ triumph, and he quickly became a national icon.

We, on the other side of ‘Bengal’, also felt ecstatic at Prof. Yunus’ winning the Nobel, because after all we share a common language and belong to a common cultural ethos.

As if to testify to this bond of commonness, the West Bengal government plans a civic reception for Prof. Yunus in Kolkata after he receives the Nobel award on December 10 this year. Also on the anvil is to invite Prof. Amartya Sen, our another Nobel laureate, in the same function.

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