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Lest we Forget

Remembering Md. Nurul Islam

Md. Matiul Islam
A career civil servant, joining the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1950, Mr. Nurul Islam spent thelast 10/11 years of his career as the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, which post he voluntarily relinquished due to ill-health at the age of 61, though he could still serve for another 4 years.
This was perhaps in his character. He was the only civil servant who volunteered to join the judiciary, leaving the glamour of the executive branch, but was not selected on the ground that the government could ill-afford to lose him. He was perhaps the only civil servant who twice declined to become advi-sor/minister in charge of finance -- once in 1982 immediately after the imposition of Martial Law, and again in 1991 when Justice Shahabuddin offered him a post in the cabinet of the interim government.
A self-effacing person, he struggled against financial odds for higher education prior to his joining the civil service in 1950. Graduating with distinction from Barisal BM College in 1946, he went to Calcutta to join the Presidency College, but was unable to do so as financial support from the family was not available.
He was forced to take up a minor job in the A.G's Office and, to supplement his income, took up evening tuition of the children of Khan Bahadur Mahbubuddin Ahmed.
He always suffered from indifferent health, and the Calcutta life also did not suit him. He decided to go to a hill station, gave up his job and proceeded to Darjeeling where he stayed during the next 8-9 months as the guest of the caretaker of the Government House, in lieu of tutoring his children.
On the eve of partition in 1947, he returned to Barisal and back to square one, but did not give up. He became a teacher in Barisal Zilla School, and saved enough to take admission in M.A in Economics in the Dhaka University in 1949. But, as luck would have it, he was selected for Civil Service of Pakistan in 1950 and could not complete his Masters.
In his service career, he became the symbol and epitome of honesty, integrity, courage and brevity. As Controller of Imports & Exports in Chittagong he pursued a policy of helping the Bengali businessmen who aspired to go into industry by issuing them liberal import licenses. But that did not make him unpopular with the West Pakistani business community.
As Chief Controller of Imports & Exports in Islamabad, he put in an application for reassignment when serious disagreement arose between him and the commerce secretary, who wanted to proceed against a Bengali civil service officer. The Nawab of Hoti, the commerce minister, not only refused to let him go but also tried to soothe his temper by sending gifts of bags of sugar from his own sugar mill.
In 1972, Sheikh Mujib appointed him as the Chairman of TCB. I, as the finance secretary, needed somebody to organise the NBR, and the choice fell on Nurul Islam because of his experience in the Central Board of Revenue in Islamabad. But the prime minister refused to trust anybody else with this job. A compromise was worked out. Mr. Islam worked as Chairman, NBR, in addition to his duties in TCB.
With his commerce background, Nurul Islam immediately realised that unless the flow of imports of essential raw materials and consumer goods was maintained, the country would face a serious crisis of closure of industrial undertakings and shortage of essential items. But the foreign exchange reserve was not large enough to maintain the flow of imports. He, on his own, embarked on a massive import program under "Deferred Payment’ and averted the crisis.
His last assignment, as Bangladesh Bank Governor, possibly suited his tempera-ment most. In 1 9 76,
Bangladesh Bank launched a massive program of financing 90% of the cost of small flats upto 1500 sft in multistoried buildings, with 5% interest and 30 years repayment.
The NBR was also persuaded to complement the scheme by allowing tax exemption on income from such flats measuring upto 2000 sft. The scheme, to a large extent, met the growing demand of the middle classes for affordable housing in the metropolitan cities.
For sometime past, his health was failing. On December 19, 2007, he was moved to Square Hospital in a semi-conscious state, and died there on the December 22 without regaining consciousness. In his death. 1 not only lost a brother but also a guardian and a benefactor.