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BUET and WB: Erasing Bangabandhu's legacy?

M. FIROZE
AS the first Chancellor of Buet,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appointed Dr. Abdur Rashid as the first vice-chancellor of Buet in independent Bangladesh. Dr. Rashid was never an Awami Leaguer, he was chosen for his impeccable credentials as the best engineering mind in the country and a man of proven integrity and outstanding public service. It was a wise choice; Dr. Rashid ruled with humility and consensus and never permitted divisive teacher politics to vitiate the academic ambience of the university. He left behind a legacy of excellence and learning and service to the nation which, till the other day, was the pride of the nation. The choice was no accident. In 1973, Bangabandhu appointed the most outstanding Bengali physicist, Dr. Abdul Matin Chowdhury as the vice-chancellor of Dhaka University. Professor Chowdhury was never an Awami Leaguer either. Buet was one of our few success stories of postindependent Bangladesh which we could be rightly proud about. It was a success for which the present ruling party could rightly claim credit; instead it has unwittingly set itself on a course of dismemberment of this great institution and undermining the legacy of Bangabandhu. The government has chosen to back to the hilt a man of incompetence and pettiness as the vice-chancellor.
The office of the vice-chancellor is one of trust where moral authority supersedes administrative authority. Late Dr. Rashid knew this dictum by heart, but the present VC does not care as long as he has the home ministry and police behind him.
In another episode of consummate egotism the ruling party is set to undermine yet another sterling achievement of Bangabandhu. It has locked horns with the country's leading development partner for the last 40 years, to defend a minister whose contribution to the nation is at best unknown to ordinary citizens like me. By contrast, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gracefully eased out finance minister Tajuddin Ahmed to build a long term relationship with the World Bank. Tajuddin Ahmed was not just another minister;
he was the prime architect of our liberation struggle, a tireless and humble worker in the Mujibnagar government. He was a man of immaculate character, and deep intellect and a trusted friend and colleague of the Bangabandhu. Tajuddin Ahmed was also a socialist by conviction. In 1974, with the Cold War at its pinnacle, to many educated and idealist minds, Cuba and North Korea were role models for development. Bangabandhu, a pragmatist at heart, instinctively knew Bangladesh's prosperity lay in relationship and trade with the western world. He knew about Tajuddin's reluctance to meet the then World Bank president, Robert McNamara, and his socialist leanings were directly at odds with the World Bank's free market and entrepreneurial prescriptions. As a leader Bangabandhu made a painful choice, in the best interest of the nation.
A ministerial position, too, is an office of trust. In democratic and civil societies mere suspicion or perceived misdemeanour is sufficient ground for stepping down from high office. None of the ministers and aides in David Cameron's government was criminally indicted in the wire tapping scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's media empire. They stepped down from their offices, immediately on press and TV news reports alone. In a very recent episode, Neil Diamond, head of Barclay's Bank's investment arm, stepped down immediately once his name cropped up in the LIBOR rate fixation scandal press reports. If our concerned minister had resigned earlier there would not have been a bone of contention with the Bank.
The damage from the Padma episode goes beyond the bridge. It is a relationship issue and how the outside world perceives us. If we fail to receive the loan from the World Bank the consequences will be long-term; the outside world will perceive Bangladesh as a state incapable of interacting with international institutions. Foreign direct investors will become even more wary about the country. Ultimately, this will have a foreign policy consequence as we will be perceived as a risky country to do business with. The grim reality is we need the World Bank far more than they need us. The world's second largest economy, China and the sixth largest economy, India, are both hefty recipients of the World Bank's largesse. Corruption is endemic in both the nations. They do not make it to top of the list in the corruption index largely because they do not go into a denial mode, as we do.
Financing the bridge with our own resources will be a victory for our Bengali sense of abhiman, but the nation will be the loser. Resource mobilisation for the bridge will deprive investment in all other sectors of the economy. The economic benefit from the bridge will be lost.
Leadership is about taking painful decisions and sacrificing personal preferences. Bangabandhu was a giant among men and a visionary who could see beyond petty party squabbles and interest. If Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is to stake a claim on the mantle of her illustrious father's name she has to act fast and put men of character and competence in high office. Awami Leaguers will say they are reversing the politicisation and partisanship of past governments. They are dead wrong. The only way to stem the rot in our institutions is not by filling top positions by the party faithful but by putting men of character and proven competence in top positions, as the late Bangabandhu did.