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Tribute to a social warrior

Eminent economists eulogise Muzaffer Ahmad

Star Business Report
The downfall of a society begins when people lose the will to protest the injustices transpiring in front of their eyes. And the number of such individuals who fight for the betterment of the society and the lives of people is declining.
This view was shared by eminent citizens at a memorial lecture on Muzaffer Ahmad yesterday.
"He did not shy away from protesting wrongs. If there was no one with him, he would stand up alone to
protest. That was why he was a well-accepted personality," said Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, a former deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank, while recalling Ahmad at an event held at the MIDAS Centre in Dhaka.
Eminent economists Rehman Sobhan, Wahiduddin Mahmud and Anisuzzaman, and Ahmad's wife Rowshan Jahan were present at the event, where Atiur Rahman, former BB governor, gave a memorial lecture on Ahmad, who died seven years ago.
Bom in Kolkata on March 27, 1936, Ahmad joined the Dhaka University's
departmentofeconomics after completing his PhD from the University of Chicago. But he left the job in 1967 protesting the tyrant Ayub Khan's follower's attack on a lecturer, Rahman said.
He returned to Dhaka University as director of the Institute of Business Administration.
Ahmad was not just a teacher but also a social thinker and worker: he led various civic rights campaigns, ranging from saving the environment and the Buriganga river to fighting corruption and ensuring good governance. He was the chairman of the Transparency International Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, and was also involved with Sushasoner Jonnya Nagorik (Sujan) to establish good governance.
"Ahmad was a nationalist economist and he was biased toward the marginalised people of the society," Rahman added.
He wanted a state free from poverty and discrimination, said Anisuzzaman, adding that Ahmad suffered on many occasions for criticising the government but he never retracted from his views.
Khaled said Ahmad was an honest person in all respects and his honesty gave him the strength to stand strongly.
Sobhan said Ahmad was a more serious economist than him.
"He was a genuine teacher. But he was also a man of action."
He said the most remarkable phase
of Ahmad's life was the one dedicated to activism.
"When people withdraw into a retired life to spend time with grandchildren, Muzaffer was active. He was a public citizen of our generation."
Ahmad did not stop standing in public sphere with placards even after his health took a turn for the worse.
"He left us with a life well lived. He did not end up getting Nobel or Magsaysay but he lived well," Sobhan added. Mahmud said Ahmad was a 'complete man'.
"He worked a lot in various fields and made a lot of contribution. He was a public citizen and such type of personality is hard to find," he added.
Ahmad's widow Rowshan Jahan said the initiatives taken by him are still on and this shows that his fight did not end in vain.
Architect Iqbal Habib moderated the discussion.