More than 160 global leaders, including over 100 Nobel Laureates, have written an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressing their deep concern about the safety and well-being of Prof. Muhammad Yunus – Bangladesh's first and only Nobel Laureate. Addressed directly to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the letter is signed by Nobel Prize laureates, elected officials, business figures, and civil society leaders. The signatories applaud Bangladesh's remarkable progress since its independence in 1971. However, their collective concern arises from the “perceived threats to democracy and human rights” that have recently emerged within the country. Also read: Obama writes letter of support as pressure mounts on Dr Yunus “We write to you as Nobel Prize laureates, elected officials, and business and civil society leaders, and as friends of Bangladesh. We admire how your nation has made laudable progress since its independence in 1971,” the letter signed by, among others, Barack Obama, Jose Ramos-Horta, Mary Robinson, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad, Maria Ressa, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Juan Manuel Santos, Ban Ki-moon, Laura Boldrini, Bono, and Sir Richard Branson, reads. In the letter, the signatories called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to conduct the upcoming national election in a free, transparent and fair manner. “However, we are deeply concerned by the threats to democracy and human rights that we have observed in Bangladesh recently. We believe that it is of the utmost importance that the upcoming national election be free and fair, and that the administration of the election be acceptable to all major parties in the country. The previous two national elections lacked legitimacy,” it says. Also read: Petition dismissed, Appellate Division orders to continue labour law violation case against Dr Yunus, 3 others Calling the legal proceedings against Dr Mohammad Yunus “judicial harassment”, the signatories called for an immediate suspension of the current judicial proceedings against him. “One of the threats to human rights that concern us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment, the letter reads. “We respectfully ask that you immediately suspend the current judicial proceedings against Professor Yunus, followed by a review of the charges by a panel of impartial judges drawn from within your nation with some role for internationally recognized legal experts. We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal.”        Also read: Labour law violation case: SC orders disposal of rule on charge framing against Dr Yunus within two weeks This latest letter was a follow up to an earlier letter sent in March. It further adds: “As you know, Professor Yunus’ work, which has been inspirational to all of us, focuses on how social business can be a force for international progress resulting in zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions. He is a leading example of how Bangladesh and Bangladeshis have contributed to global progress in recent decades. We sincerely wish that he be able to continue his path-breaking work free of persecution or harassment.” “We hope that you ensure the resolution of these legal issues in an expedient, impartial, and just manner while also ensuring a free, fair, and participatory national election in the coming months, and respect for all human rights. We will join with millions of concerned citizens around the world in closely tracking how these matters are resolved in the days ahead.” On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (general) SM Arifuzzaman of the Inspection for Factories and Establishments Department filed a labour law violation case against four people, including Prof Yunus, with the 3rd Labour Court of Dhaka. Also read: HC issues rule on why charge framing against Yunus, 3 others should not be scrapped According to case documents in the public domain, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) visited Grameen Telecom and uncovered various violations of the labour law. They said 101 workers were supposed to be made permanent, but were not. Workers' and welfare funds were not constituted. Additionally, 5% of the dividends of Grameen Telecom was supposed to accrue to the workers, but that didn't happen, the case filed by the DIFE in September 2021 alleged. Obama over the weekend also wrote to Yunus separately, as a sole signatory, expressing his hope that the 'Banker to the Poor' can continue to do his 'important work'. Meanwhile, 34 eminent citizens of the country in a statement published on Sunday, called upon the government to stop all sorts of harassment against Dr Yunus. Also read: Appellate Division orders Dr Yunus to pay NBR Tk 12 crore tax on donations The letter notes his lawyers' contention that the allegations brought in the case are civil in nature, yet the government has pursued a criminal case. Prof Yunus is one of only seven people to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Congressional Gold Medal, and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The highest number of TV viewers during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was recorded when Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus delivered his “Three Zeros” speech, following his acceptance of the Olympic Laurel.  Yunus Centre in Dhaka shared the information on Monday quoting a Toshiba report published on Yahoo News Japan. According to the report, Japanese TV viewers were listening to his speech on 47 per cent of all TV sets in Japan. Also read: ‘Honoured and overwhelmed’: Dr Yunus after receiving Olympic Laurel Toshiba's viewer monitoring was based on the sample size of 340,000 TV sets in Japan.  This programme calculates the audience rating every second.  According to it, the audience rating rose to 10 per cent of TV sets in the first 10 minutes of the opening ceremony broadcast.  The number of viewers continued to rise until it reached the peak during Prof. Yunus's speech.  At the time Japanese audience were watching the ceremony on 47 per cent of all TV sets in Japan. The Yahoo News Japan report also says audience rating of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was three times that of the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.  Yuji Suzuki, a well-known Japanese journalist who specialises in analytics, reported on the size of audience during the opening ceremony in an article published on Yahoo News Japan on July 24.  Prof. Yunus, in his Olympic Laurel acceptance speech, urged all athletes to build a world of Three Zeros.  Also read: Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall He defined the Three Zeros as: Zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration to end poverty once and for all, and zero unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurs in everyone. If the whole world had the same percentage of tuning in to their television sets as in Japan (47%), that would mean 3.2 billion people all over the world were listening to his speech at the time. When the march past of country delegations of athletes began after his speech the audience rating, however, began to decline sharply, according to Yunus Centre. Athletes from more than 200 countries participated in the parade.