Renowned economist Prof Nurul Islam dies

Economist Professor Nurul Islam, who was the key architect of Bangladesh's Planning Commission as its first deputy chairman, passed away on Monday in Washington, D.C., United States. He was 94.

As a close aide to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then prime minister, Prof Islam led a team of young economists who shaped the reconstruction and development policy for the war-torn, newly independent country.

He left the country for Oxford on a one-year leave, months before the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, and never returned since then. "I left the country in March and Bangabandhu died in August. There was no question of returning after that," he said in an interview with The Business Standard in January 2021.

Dr Islam moved to Rome to work at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, where he served as an Assistant Director General. From there he moved to International Food Research Policy Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, where he was living until his death.

Though his long absence from the country made him barely known to the new generation, the senior economics professor has always been remembered and revered in circles of economists.

Dr Islam was at the forefront of a group of economists who profoundly articulated the economic discrimination against Bangalis by the West Pakistani rulers in the decades preceding the 1971 Liberation War.

Soon after the independence, he refused a meaty role to head the Development Research Center at the World Bank in Washington and opted to became deputy chairman of the newly founded planning commission with Bangabandhu acting as the chairman.

In the interview with TBS over phone, he recalled his days at the Planning Commission and his experience in approving or rejecting development projects, his encounters with politicians.

"To be honest with you, I have not had a connection with the country for a very long time," said Dr Islam.

Though away from home for 50 years or so, he followed the country's journey towards development, achieving a steady growth in GDP and substantial decline in poverty.

In the five decades, the little connection Dr Islam has had with the country is through the publication of a number of books, including – 'Making of a Nation Bangladesh: An Economist's Tale' (2003), 'An Odyssey: The Journey of My Life' (2017) and 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Kache Theke Dekha' in 2018.

A major part of all three books deal with his time at the Commission, the economic decisions taken at the time - including the nationalisation of the industries, as well as significant events that impacted the economy then, including the 1974 famine. The books also carry a lot of fascinating anecdotes from his time spent with Bangabandhu.

He had words of appreciation for Bangladesh's progress.

"Bangladesh has performed rather well. Rate of growth has been high, poverty has been reduced, all the indicators of development, in terms of social indicators, have improved. We have done very well," he said, with some concerns over rising inequality, which he viewed not unusual.

The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) expressed its condolences over the demise of veteran economist Professor Nurul Islam. 

It is an irreparable loss to all concerned with the country's economy and economic research, BIDS said in a statement.