WE see today that brilliant students are no longer inclined towards politics, thus risking the creation of an intellectual void in political leadership. However, throughout history there have been exceptions to this norm, and possibly such exceptions still exist. One shinning paradigm of such an exception was Shah Kibria. He was well groomed, soft speaking yet extremely firm in his commitment towards Bangladesh.

Born in 1931, S.A.M.S. Kibria, a brilliant student from Sylhet, went on to graduate from Dhaka University in Economics. It was then that he actively participated in the language movement, for which he was even arrested. He later obtained further academic degrees from the US and UK.

Many of us are aware of his success stories -- GDP growth rate of 5.83%, low inflation, remarkable growth in exports and investment, great strides in infrastructure and the attainment of self-sufficiency in food production. Socioeconomic indicators such as literacy rate and mortality rate also marked significant progress.

This shining beacon of hope was abruptly switched off on the tragic afternoon of January 27,2005. The painful memories haunt us still. So much could have been done; perhaps this fate could have been avoided altogether. To this day so many questions remain unanswered — and the true killers are yet to be brought to justice.

In any country, especially in a transition economy like ours, the job of a finance minister is

extremely difficult. Irrespective of involvement, the finance minister seems to be held responsible for everything, including price inflation of commodities, adverse exchange rate fluctuations, absence of adequate food supplies to famine hit regions, accidents occurring due to usage of old aircrafts, and insufficient fund placement for school infrastructure build-up or even volatility in the capital market. He is even blamed if farmers do not receive satisfac-

tory amount of fuel or fertilizer.

We have been hearing for a long time that "the party is greater than an individual; the country is greater than a party." However, ironically, so far all the finance ministers of the elected governments have been criticised for prioritising the country’s needs before the party’s requirements. They even had to accept responsibility for the failure of public institutions, irrespective of their engagements. As a result, although there has been no dearth of talent, the destiny of finance ministers of Bangladesh is, generally, insipidness.

The finance ministers, in opposition to such scenarios, became aggressive. If the minister has to seek fund endowment from the World Bank, he has to decide on the "level of privatisation" for receiving aid from IMF, he has to look after "value of Bangladeshi Taka" and even has to notify the European Union whether allocated funds were properly utilised or were embezzled by corrupt officials or local leaders. He also has to monitor unprofitable organisations and find out why the AntiCorruption Commission is not competent or why the judiciary is not independent. For such activities the minister has to be aggressive to get things done.

How did the apparently very soft late finance minister Mr. Kibria manage under such extreme circumstances? He had sincerely administered all necessary responsibilities. Only the people who had worked with him can share how he had: 1) managed international trade with a foreign exchange reserve of a little over $1 billion; 2) prevented hike of oil and gas prices; 3) directed the bureaucracy without raising his voice; 4) avoided giving business tycoons close to the party exclusive benefits; 5) kept Bangladesh’s economy shielded from the currency crisis of South-East Asia; 6) become elected as representative of the people without resorting to unfair means and clever tricks; and 7) returned from Pakistan for building up an independent Bangladesh.

I do not know how he managed to do the seemingly impossible — achieving so much without com-

promising his values — and probably I shall never know. The nation's brilliant people don't have to be told what they have to accomplish. Their knowledge, talent and sincerity ultimately dictate their path to greatness.

I had the rare opportunity to get close to Mr. Kibria while he was our finance minister, and to share some of his thoughts regarding handling state owned banks, loss making public enterprises, corruption in civil bureaucracy and so on. He was an extremely talented Bengali, a responsible administrator, and a believer in logic, not fascism. He believed in Bangladesh's future. He was a great host too. When I visited his Dhanmondi house he personally looked after me and made sure I was entertained with very good homemade stuff.

Perhaps if he didn't choose that path and didn't have to go to his constituency regularly, he would still be alive. We wouldn't have lost the brilliant, patriotic and sincere S.A.M.S Kibria. His commitment to his goal of creating a better future for us ultimately led to his sad demise. Many of us were grieved by such an incident; fascism had triumphed over logic, rationalism and democracy.

Today, the people and the leaders of this nation have to decide how we can attract more Kibrias to run the country's affairs and take it to the next trajectory of growth. We remember Mr. Kibria and his contribution to this nation's emergence and progress with honour and reverence.

The author is a banker and economic analyst. Email: mamunl960@gmail.com