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A glimpse into post-war nation building challenges

2nd volume of Prof Rehman Sobhan’s ‘Untranquil Recollections’ launched
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
War-ravaged, Bangladesh faced crucial challenges of nation building just after its birth. The economy ceased to function, as non-Bangalees, who controlled trade and industries prior to independence, disappeared overnight after the nation’s victory on December 16, 1971.
Infrastructure was demolished. Two staple crops were affected and the country was on the verge of famine.
On top of that, except for a few, namely Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, no one had experience of running a government. Most of the people working with the Planning Commission did not have any experience of working inside the government.
The then leadership had to set up everything -- from planning and finance ministries to other institutions -- to get started, amid lots of constraints.
And Prof Rehman Sobhan, who was a member of the first Planning Commission after the liberation in 1971, vividly described all these events -- like the struggle to set up administration and fix the direction of the economy during the first three and half years of independence -- in his book.
In his memoir, “Untranquil Recollections: Political Economy of Nation Building in Post-Liberation Bangladesh,” Rehman candidly gives accounts of many events at that time inside the planning commission.
“We had to create a country of that time… There was no administration and no functioning economy, as non-Bangalees left trading, let alone heavy industry stores, just the day after liberation. This was the time,” said Rehman at the launch of the book at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) office yesterday.
CPD and publisher of the book The University Press Ltd organised the hybrid event.
“The entire infrastructure was destroyed during the war; the economy ceased to function. We were really on the verge of famine, as production of crops for two [staples] was not possible because of war,” he said.
This is the second volume in the Untranquil Recollections series.
In the new book, the author mentions unique challenges facing Bangladesh in the years immediately after liberation, when Bangabandhu on his return assumed the responsibility as the head of the government.
The newly set up Planning Commission, of which Rehman was an integral part and a key member, was vested with the responsibilities of providing guidelines to Bangabandhu in laying the foundations of a socialist economy in Bangladesh.
Divided in 16 chapters, the 407-page book features various phases of Rehman’s life till 1975. At the launching yesterday, he said the key challenge was putting policies into practices. “Policy making is the easiest part,” he said.
Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain said the memoir does not limit itself to economic dimensions only, rather it also reflects on the political difficulties in building the nation.
CPD Distinguished Fellow Prof Rounaq Jahan said the book is an “objective, frank and non-judgmental assessment of that period. Although he was a participant, it has self-criticism”.
The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam said Rehman said after liberation, political leaderships came to Rehman and others seeking cooperation on to how to build the country and its economic structure. “Bangabandhu wanted to a build an exploitation-free society”.
“It is clear that there was distance between the concept of socialism of Planning Commission and that of political leadership,” he said.
Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Foundation Director General Ahrar Ahmad said, “This book must not only be read, but also be studied.”
Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) Executive Director Dr Meghna Guhathakurta proposed that universities should take steps to have studies and study circles on such books.
Former Jahangirnagar University Vice Chancellor Prof Abdul Bayes said the book contains many unknown information and insights beneficial for both old and new generations.