Tribute to a builder: Professor Rehman Sobhan
Friday, 19 March 2010
Mamun Rashid
THIS man significantly contributed in 'the birth of a nation' -- Bangladesh, the man emerged as a 'conscious of the society' during all transitions of our country or economy, came out loud to remind the civil society that they also do have a role to stand up during all crisis and all along tried to build a broader consensus on development priorities of the country. He was born with a golden spoon' yet remained glued to engage the people 'at the bottom of the pyramid' in the nation's decision making process. Yes, I am talking of Professor Rehman Sobhan.
I am one who can't claim to have known Professor Rehman Sobhan so well. It was not also possible for a humble executive like me, who earns his living by serving others morning to evening, to attend his public lectures or dialogues his institution often organises. However, as a student of Economics I am privy to lot of his write-ups, good works and more importantly aware of his ability to think 'beyond the boxes' during tough times and ability to arouse second thought. Yet, I attended few of his talks and was almost hypnotised by his articulateness, ability to connect and attack the underlying issues and provoke thoughts on any issue that warrants discussion and shared vision. Most importantly, I got to learn about him a lot from my morning walk partners, many of whom, fondly remembers their pupil ship or association with professor Rehman Sobhan and his ability to rise up in need.
Last Friday, the 12th March was his seventy fifth birthday. I went to his house with a friend and a bouquet of flowers. The man came out, with childlike smile on his face to thank us and how much pleased he was with our presence and greetings.
It is said, Professor Sobhan who fled from East Pakistan once the 1971 Pakistan massacre started, was the first person, to brief Mrs. Gandhi in Delhi about the Pak military crack down on freedom loving people in this part of the world. In 1974 Professor Rehman Sobhan was working at Bangladesh Planning Commission. He was one of the core members of the committee that formulated the first five year plan for Bangladesh, which was influenced by collective principles. Dhaka University had four economists of high esteem during sixties. They were Professor Nurul Islam, Professor Anisur Rahman, Professor Mosharraf Hossain and Professor Rehman Sobhan. All of them were exceptional personalities for their very distinct qualities. Among them Professor Rehman Sobhan was renowned for his true patriotism and commitment to the people. Although he was drawn by the socialist idealism, but he could not possibly ignore the ground realities. Hence, he always tried to bridge the gap between communist romanticism and pragmatism. He became the mentor of the young economists who were influenced by the values of the collectivism and inspired to do something for the society.
We all know that "He is a successful man, who is greater than his works." This saying indeed represents Professor Sobhan, who, only at the age of twenty six wrote the article on 'Two Economy" theory, what is meant to have paved the philosophical base of our independence. The very article made the then autocratic leader Ayub Khan to comment "Who is this Chap?".
And this 'chap' afterwards earned the respect of an 'Institution builder'. He immensely contributed to develop a number of renowned institutions in Bangladesh. He was Director General of "Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)" and made BIDS into a truly respectable research institution in the public sector. Over the years he developed "Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD)" into a respectable civil society think thank. He is currently the Chairman of CPD and as mentioned, still involved in many forward looking research works and a friend, philosopher and guide to many young economists, researchers and civil society torch bearers in the developing world.
In March 2007 CPD published selected works of Professor Sobhan in three volumes on the occasion of his 73rd birthday. In the introduction paragraph of the book the noble laureate economist and a close friend of Professor Sobhan Amartya Sen mentioned that Professor Sobhan's works are the valuable treasure for the "Political Economists" and "Historians".
Professor Sobhan's works represent the life of a rational and spirited soul based on which we get the opportunity to celebrate his life. As a human being he also has his share of critics like his followers. But we have never seen him to mention any self proclaiming comments about himself, rather he used to write a column in The Daily Prothom Alo titled "My Critics are My friends".
It was being discussed that Professor Sobhan had a tacit support to the immediate past interim military backed government. He along with his like minded group is also learnt to have championed the cause of putting a strong security council in place. These may be true or not, but the truest thing is - he was possibly the first person to focus on an 'exit strategy' for the caretaker government and sooner transition to democracy, while some of his deputies or disciples were still in search of capturing an ambassador role or a place in the advisory council.
Professor Sobhan carried many 'first' or 'first time' in his credential, first to identify the West Pakistan economic exploitation on East Pakistan, first among his friends to join the liberation forces, first to appreciate the cause of building a respectable resource base to drive the country to next trajectory of growth, first to try and build up a broader consensus on country's development priorities, first to give birth to a respectable 'Think Tank' in the country with private sector participation. A man with utmost simplicity yet having firm conviction to command a shared vision. We wish Professor Sobhan good health and many more contributing and engaging years.
Mamun Rashid is a banker and President, Bangladesh MBA Association. E-mail: mamun.rashid@citi.com
THIS man significantly contributed in 'the birth of a nation' -- Bangladesh, the man emerged as a 'conscious of the society' during all transitions of our country or economy, came out loud to remind the civil society that they also do have a role to stand up during all crisis and all along tried to build a broader consensus on development priorities of the country. He was born with a golden spoon' yet remained glued to engage the people 'at the bottom of the pyramid' in the nation's decision making process. Yes, I am talking of Professor Rehman Sobhan.
I am one who can't claim to have known Professor Rehman Sobhan so well. It was not also possible for a humble executive like me, who earns his living by serving others morning to evening, to attend his public lectures or dialogues his institution often organises. However, as a student of Economics I am privy to lot of his write-ups, good works and more importantly aware of his ability to think 'beyond the boxes' during tough times and ability to arouse second thought. Yet, I attended few of his talks and was almost hypnotised by his articulateness, ability to connect and attack the underlying issues and provoke thoughts on any issue that warrants discussion and shared vision. Most importantly, I got to learn about him a lot from my morning walk partners, many of whom, fondly remembers their pupil ship or association with professor Rehman Sobhan and his ability to rise up in need.
Last Friday, the 12th March was his seventy fifth birthday. I went to his house with a friend and a bouquet of flowers. The man came out, with childlike smile on his face to thank us and how much pleased he was with our presence and greetings.
It is said, Professor Sobhan who fled from East Pakistan once the 1971 Pakistan massacre started, was the first person, to brief Mrs. Gandhi in Delhi about the Pak military crack down on freedom loving people in this part of the world. In 1974 Professor Rehman Sobhan was working at Bangladesh Planning Commission. He was one of the core members of the committee that formulated the first five year plan for Bangladesh, which was influenced by collective principles. Dhaka University had four economists of high esteem during sixties. They were Professor Nurul Islam, Professor Anisur Rahman, Professor Mosharraf Hossain and Professor Rehman Sobhan. All of them were exceptional personalities for their very distinct qualities. Among them Professor Rehman Sobhan was renowned for his true patriotism and commitment to the people. Although he was drawn by the socialist idealism, but he could not possibly ignore the ground realities. Hence, he always tried to bridge the gap between communist romanticism and pragmatism. He became the mentor of the young economists who were influenced by the values of the collectivism and inspired to do something for the society.
We all know that "He is a successful man, who is greater than his works." This saying indeed represents Professor Sobhan, who, only at the age of twenty six wrote the article on 'Two Economy" theory, what is meant to have paved the philosophical base of our independence. The very article made the then autocratic leader Ayub Khan to comment "Who is this Chap?".
And this 'chap' afterwards earned the respect of an 'Institution builder'. He immensely contributed to develop a number of renowned institutions in Bangladesh. He was Director General of "Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)" and made BIDS into a truly respectable research institution in the public sector. Over the years he developed "Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD)" into a respectable civil society think thank. He is currently the Chairman of CPD and as mentioned, still involved in many forward looking research works and a friend, philosopher and guide to many young economists, researchers and civil society torch bearers in the developing world.
In March 2007 CPD published selected works of Professor Sobhan in three volumes on the occasion of his 73rd birthday. In the introduction paragraph of the book the noble laureate economist and a close friend of Professor Sobhan Amartya Sen mentioned that Professor Sobhan's works are the valuable treasure for the "Political Economists" and "Historians".
Professor Sobhan's works represent the life of a rational and spirited soul based on which we get the opportunity to celebrate his life. As a human being he also has his share of critics like his followers. But we have never seen him to mention any self proclaiming comments about himself, rather he used to write a column in The Daily Prothom Alo titled "My Critics are My friends".
It was being discussed that Professor Sobhan had a tacit support to the immediate past interim military backed government. He along with his like minded group is also learnt to have championed the cause of putting a strong security council in place. These may be true or not, but the truest thing is - he was possibly the first person to focus on an 'exit strategy' for the caretaker government and sooner transition to democracy, while some of his deputies or disciples were still in search of capturing an ambassador role or a place in the advisory council.
Professor Sobhan carried many 'first' or 'first time' in his credential, first to identify the West Pakistan economic exploitation on East Pakistan, first among his friends to join the liberation forces, first to appreciate the cause of building a respectable resource base to drive the country to next trajectory of growth, first to try and build up a broader consensus on country's development priorities, first to give birth to a respectable 'Think Tank' in the country with private sector participation. A man with utmost simplicity yet having firm conviction to command a shared vision. We wish Professor Sobhan good health and many more contributing and engaging years.
Mamun Rashid is a banker and President, Bangladesh MBA Association. E-mail: mamun.rashid@citi.com