We must take forward the ideas Prof Nurul Islam stood for
Professor Dr Nurul Islam, former deputy chairman of Bangladesh’s first planning commission, passed away on Monday in the United States. Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), reminisces about the pioneering economist’s role and contribution to Bangladesh’s economy and economists
Professor Nurul Islam's legacy can be approached from multiple angles. However, I believe the single most important angle would be his contribution to the articulation of the economic rationale for our country's Independence and his active involvement in the Independence movement. He, along with his other colleagues, worked very closely with the then political leadership, particularly with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to create the economic manifesto laying out the logic of liberation of the Bengali nation from Pakistan.
Professor Islam's efforts were instrumental in taking the war effort to foreign lands and international organisations and explaining not just the rationale but also the plight of the Bangladeshi citizens as refugees, freedom fighters, and entrapped citizens in the occupied territory. He epitomised the most gainful alignment between the civil elites and political elites of our country. For this significant contribution to the nation, Professor Islam will be remembered in the time to come.
As we know, Professor Islam was the Deputy Chairperson of the first Planning Commission (which was headed by Bangabandhu), he and three other eminent economists, namely Professor Rehman Sobhan, Professor Mosharraf Hossain, and Professor Anisur Rahman, had led the collective of people who authored the first Five-Year Plan (1973-78). This exceptional group, led by Professor Islam, developed the policy framework of the newly independent Bangladesh under the leadership of Bangabandhu and Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed. This Planning Commission document is an extraordinary example of the political economy of policy-making, particularly how policy negotiations were done, balancing the technocratic or academic approach with the political requirements of the day. Standing on the ruins of war-ravaged Bangladesh, the Five-Year Plan dreamt of creating a prosperous, inclusive and fair Bangladesh.
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Furthermore, Professor Nurul Islam will be remembered as a teacher and a mentor. He has groomed generations of economists not only in Bangladesh but also overseas. In the Pakistan days and afterwards, in independent Bangladesh, he had been looked up to as one of the sterling doyens of the profession. He enjoyed not only academic or intellectual excellence but also the personal gravitas which garnered him respect across the board. And even those who did not have the privilege of being his direct student, like me, looked upon him as a mentor and always tried to follow his writings and talks to guide our own research and analytical pursuits.
I would also like to recall another aspect of Professor Nurul Islam's legacy as an institution builder. Possibly the only central government organisation, inherited by independent Bangladesh, was the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). This institution is currently known as the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), where I worked for 16 years. BIDS' biggest treasure is its library, which was transferred from Islamabad to Dhaka prior to Independence under Professor Islam's guidance.
Professor Nurul Islam, along with eminent economists like Dr Swadesh Bose and Professor Rehman Subhan, helped create and advance this institution which served as the incubator of the new generation of Bengali economists. The alumni of the BIDS have gone on to play a significant role in different capacities – at home and abroad - in recent decades.
In many ways, he became the global face of Bangladeshi economists as the Assistant Director-General of FAO in Rome. Professor Islam ventured into his career through contributions to international trade. However, in the last leg of his career, his significant contributions were to food policy research at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC.
Thus, Professor Islam's lasting legacy would not only be as an architect of the economic rationale for Independence but also as a development philosopher, practising academic, and institution builder.
His contributions are well documented in his autobiography 'The Making of a Nation: An Economist's Tale' and his speeches on planning issues in the early to mid-70s. I think all these are very bequeathal for future generations to know Bangladesh's economic history and evolution of thought.
Even in his last days, he remained curious, sharp, active and in touch with Bangladesh's realities.
Like many of my peers, I have many fond personal memories of intense interaction with Professor Nurul Islam. This is a personal loss for me, as it is for many. I am definitely going to miss his laser-sharp analytical pushbacks.
Thus, our joint task would be to take forward the ideas he stood for in this current critical juncture of our nation.
Finally, I sincerely regret that no government of my country found it convenient not to recognise the contribution of Professor Nurul Islam by bestowing on him the Independence Award.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya is Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
