Younus initiative marks a lesson and an opportunity for Pakistan
03/10/2007 09:04 PM By Farhan Bokhari
Islamabad: Last week’s public offer by Mohammad Younus, the Bangladeshi Nobel prize winner, to set up a micro-credit bank in Pakistan, marks both a lesson and an opportunity for the south Asian country.
Yunus’ visit to Pakistan has caught the imagination of many of the country’s businessmen and key players from the financial sector and the stock market.
Unlike the big movers and shakers who have often taken the leading in setting the pace for large types of investments, Younus has exploited what he must characterise as the greatest bit of energy across the lowest tiers of society.
Should Pakistan accept his offer to establish a microcredit bank? The answer to that obvious question must only be in the affirmative. Pakistan has nothing to lose by allowing yet another initiative that is not only meant to help the poorest of the poor, but indeed driven by someone with as large a profile as Younus. His success and recent recognition have won him worldwide acclaim and respectability.
While there is no reason for Pakistan to ignore this opportunity just because Younus hails from Bangla-desh which was once part of Pakistan, it is also an occasion to reflect upon the history of Pakistan’s own initiatives to tackle the huge challenge of economic development.
Two success stories
Some of Pakistan’s own success stories in this area need to be remembered not only as a matter of record, but to illustrate the fact that the country has not been without its own track record which should have been a matter of pride.
The Karachi-based Orangi Pilot Project, founded by Akhtar Hameed Khan, the renowned Pakistani econ-omist who ironically began his work in the former East Pakistan and now Bangla-desh, has been recorded as an ideal initiative in this area. Similarly, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in Pakistan’s northern areas, is indeed yet another example of a commendable success story, recognised globally as an ideal model in this area.
The difference between Younus’ initiative known as the Grameen Bank and the two Pakistani cases may well be that the former was meant to rid the poor of the clutches of Bangladesh’s exploitative money lenders whereas the latter two in Pakistan took an all encompassing approach towards the challenge of development not just targeting the poor but indeed the poorest of the poor.
Tragically for Pakistan, the two success stories failed to translate themselves into a national movement which indeed makes the case different from Grameen’s example of becoming central to Bangladesh’s developmental identity.
The challenge for Pakistan therefore is not just an economic one which could be addressed with relative ease. The challenge in fact is more of a political one.
The writer is a journalist based in Pakistan.
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