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Radicals-run bodies fetch Tk 12 billion a year

Study finds; says 10pc profit is spent for politics

Staff Correspondent
Organisations in the country run by Muslim fundamentalists make a yearly net profit of around Tk 12 billion, said a leading economist yesterday based on a heuristic study.
At least 10 percent of the profit the fundamentalist forces use for organisational purposes like carrying out regular party activities, providing remuneration and allowances for party cadres, and running military training centres, said Abul Barakat, a professor of economics at Dhaka University (DU).
With this money the fundamentalists have the ability to, and they do, maintain about 500,000 party cadres, said Barakat, also general
secretary of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), in a memorial speech titled 'The Economy of Fundamentalism in Bangladesh'. "They are well aware of their political goal, which is to grab the state power through implementing their economic model," he noted.
The Samaj, Arthonity o Rashtra (society, economy and state), a research journal, organised the lecture in memory of former BEA president Dr Abdul Gafur at the DU Business Studies Faculty auditorium.
The profit was calculated in heuristic method, which according to dictionaries is a method of study using reasoning and past experience -- in this case, opinions of experts in sectors concerned, Barakat
explained, adding it's an approximate figure, the real one might be a bit more or less.
He also mentioned that, "In many cases, audit reports of the institutions run by fundamentalists were found to be either incomplete or false."
The study found the economy of fundamentalists to have grown by 7.5 to 9 percent a year compared to the 4.5 percent national economic growth.
Barakat said of the Tk 12 billion annual net profit financial institutions account for about 27 percent, or Tk 3.25 billion, and non-governmental organisations
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(NGOs) controlled by fundamentalists about 21 percent, or Tk 2.5 billion.
Apart from financial institutions and NGOs, the fundamentalist forces have businesses in at least a dozen sectors including pharmaceuticals, diagnostic centres, education, transport, real estate and media. He however did not name the fundamentalist organisations linked with the business and NGO bodies.
"All of these bodies are not profit-oriented. So, the fundamentalists give cross-subsidy to the non-profit organisations," the professor of economics said.
On the pattern of business activities of these organisations, he said, "They have highly qualified experts to manage operations of these organisations that work with a political goal," adding, "The political leadership controls the policymaking activities of these bodies."
According to Barakat, it is not completely true that extremist groups in the country entirely depend on financial aid from outside. Rather, "they have established their own economic basein the country."
On the fundamentalists' share of the economy, he said, "It's about 1.53 percent of the total national investment, about 3.3 percent of total revenue income and 3.7 percent of total export earnings a year."
In the hour-long lecture, Barakat said extreme Islamist forces, divided in numerous groups and sub-groups, received huge foreign aid in 1970's and 80's. "They invested that money in
setting up financial institutions and reaped huge profits, part of which they spent for organisational activities in line with their political agenda," he elaborated.
He said there are around 450 NGOs run by the fundamentalists, which "they use as platforms to reach the masses and, after a certain period, blend their political goals with the economicinterests of the NGOs."
When mainstream NGOs are working for women empowerment, the fundamentalist NGOs are campaigning for 'empowerment of women under the veil', he noted.
Barakat presented a comparative set of data on growth of primary schools and Dakhil madrasas in the last 33 years to illustrate the fundamentalists' presence in the education sector. "While the number of primary schools has doubled over the period, that of the Dakhil madrasas has increased eight times," he informed the audience, adding the numbers of students in primary schools and madrasas also rose proportionately.
According to his study, while the government expenditure against a secondary school student is Tk 3,000 a year, it is Tk 5,000 per madrasa student.
Prof Shamsunnahar Gafur made the inaugural speech at the programme, chaired by Dr Jatin Sarker. Eminent economists like Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Dr MM Akash were also present.