Former finance minister breathed his last.
Could it mark a shift from the past?
Treatment to our former politician
Seldom hints we are a civilized one.
An illustrious bureaucrat and former finance minister AMA Muhith breathed his last recently. He held the portfolio of Finance for a very long time and had the opportunity to present 12 budgets before the Parliament.
He had wished to continue in this role for few more years but the ruling regime had someone else in their mind in that capacity. He was of sturdy build at that ripe old age,as strong as a Turk. During time of his departure, he had not manifested any age-related complications. However, COVID worsened his health conditions and he gave in to COVID complications, as reported by the press.
If his natural death is true(doubt will be justified few lines later),he will be the first Finance Minister of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh who met a natural end since Bangladesh came into being.
Fate of our former finance ministers offers some indication how turbulent and violent Bangladesh politics is. I wrote a piece about it on my site https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com back in 20181. Bangladesh’s first finance minister Tajuddin Ahmed was shot dead in prison along with other political leaders by renegade soldiers in 1975. Poster boy of liberalization of Bangladesh economy M Saifur Rahman died in a tragic road accident in 2009. He lost the grace of a major party after he had accompanied then World Bank president to then Prime Minister to complain about her elder son's interference in a project. Another finance minister Shah AMS Kibria was succumbed to injuries of a grenade attack in Sylhet in 2005. He secured an IMF loan and played a role in leading the country to food sufficiency. Mr Muhith also survived a road accident 1.
A common thread that can be traced among the dead finance ministers is that they were all committed to economic reforms and held democratic values.
Among the living ones, very few held that position for a significant period except Mr Abul Maal Abdul Muhith. Mr Wahidul Huq went back to his academic profession. Mr Syeduzzaman is founding director of a private bank and a trustee board member of a local NGO. Though Mr Muhith is subject of intense criticism, he is also an avid reformer. Many try to single him out for the dilapidated condition of the economy. He is just tip of the iceberg of economic mismanagement where many actors remain invisible from public eye. Despite some crucial wrong decisions, it is not reasonable to put all the blame squarely on him for bringing the financial sector on the verge of collapse 1.
He garnered lots of attention when he called Hal-Mark Group’s embezzlement of public banks’ Tk 40 billion “a peanut”. He was criticized left and right. But I think he was echoing the words he heard in inner circles of power corridor which often remain hidden to public. A sensible bureaucrat like him could not make any such slip of tongue.
As he had been posted in Economic Relations Department of Ministry of Finance, he maintained correspondence with various multilateral organizations. Later he also held key positions in those organizations. He knew well where to focus on development issues. When he was economic advisor to Ershad government, he formalized the microfinance operations in Bangladesh by formulating the Grameen Bank Ordinance,as Prof Yunus wrote in an obituary piece 2.
In a country like ours where narrative making machinery is capable enough to turn day into night ,Muhith's inclination towards reform would often antagonize such machinery. And it did not even spare him. Like others, he was misconstrued and unjustly criticized.
Last year , I read Jung Chang's “Wild Swan: The Daughters of China”, memoir of a daughter of a dissident communist apparatchik in China. The book is replete with anecdotes and incidents took place during Cultural Revolution that claimed millions of innocent lives. There has been remarkable resemblance to what has been going on in Bangladesh, where Maoism is still strong and shaped other political activities and state organs 3.
Treatment to our former politicians and leaders seldom hints we are a civilized race. Fate of our former finance ministers particularly manifests the undercurrent of savagery that flows deep under our politics. If Mr Muhith passed away naturally, then it would mark a paradigm shift in the way we treat our former finance ministers.
Notes And References:
1“Fate Of Our Former Finance Ministers”,Rezaul Hoque,https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com,October 12,2018. For more read at https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com/2018/10/12/fate-of-our-former-finance-ministers/
2”Days With Muhith Bhai Were Unforgettable”,Dr Yunus,Daily Star ,May 01,2022. For more read at https://online.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/days-muhith-bhai-was-jubilant-full-pride-dr-yunus-3016381
3 “A Colleague Deserves Better -II”,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com,November 27,2021. For more read at https://hoquestake.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-colleague-deserves-better-ii.html?m=1
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