another misguided, “topsy-turvy” piece from kristof. micro-finance is NOT what it’s made out to be in western media. have u read about india’s micro-finance suicide epidemic? get real dude.
typical nyt reporting – we know what’s best for u and by god, we’ll shove it down ur throat. he doesn’t even mention how micro-finance, for the most part, has enslaved women into a never-ending cycle of debt, not liberated them.
he uses words like “scorched-earth offensive” to describe hasina’s “persecution” of yunus. the cia backed a scorched earth campaign in guatemala in which more than 400 villages were destroyed, 150,000 people killed and one million displaced. women were raped as a deliberate policy – in order to decimate guatemalan society. this horrible legacy still haunts guatemala, where the murder and rape of women remains incredibly well-entrenched. extremely offensive for kristof to make such a comparison, esp since he’s a self-appointed defender of women’s rights all over the world.
his explanation of why hasina might be going after yunus: “One theory is that she is paranoid and sees Yunus as a threat, especially since he made an abortive effort to enter politics in 2007. Another theory is that she is envious of his Nobel Peace Prize and resentful of his global renown.” lol. yeah, she’s also emotionally unstable and suffers from frequent bouts of hysteria. and she keeps her smelling salts handy in case she’s overwhelmed by fainting spells. seriously.
kristof’s article here and more about india’s micro-finance suicide epidemic here.