A man of integrity

Shah A. M. S. Kibria

CELEBRATED television host Aly Zaker was conducting an interview a few months back. It was asked as to why brilliant students were no longer inclined towards politics, thus risking the creation of an intellectual void in political leadership. Such was not the case during our time. Though I haven't been directly involved with student politics, I have seen many of our seniors and friends who, despite being on the streets or in prison, have achieved brilliant results academically.
Things have changed. We seem to be no longer respectful towards logical argument. Upon losing on rational grounds we resort to fascism. We attempt to force our opinions, despite our inherent biasness, upon others.
However, throughout history there have been exceptions to this norm, and possibly such exceptions still exist. One shinning paradigm of such an exception was Mr. Shah M.S. Kibria. In the event of difference of opinion he, with his serene personality, would sit with a pen and write logically to support his viewpoint or stance. He had never spoken loudly to humiliate the opposition. Every individual has flaws, but defining success despite the shortcomings and being positive are traits that set true leaders apart.
Born in 1931, S.A.M.S. Kibria, the brilliant student from Sylhet, went on to graduate from Dhaka University in economics. It was then that he actively participated in the language movement for which he was even arrested by the police. He later obtained further academic accolades from the US and UK.
Many of us are aware of his success stories and achievements -- GDP growth rate of 5.83%, low inflation, remarkable growth in exports and investment, great strides in infrastructure and the attainment of self-sufficiency in food production. Socio-economic indicators such as literacy rate and mortality rate also marked significant progress.
This shining beacon of hope was abruptly switched off on the tragic afternoon of January 27, 2005. I am sure all of us remember the horrid scenes -- the painful memories haunt us still. So much could have been done; perhaps this fate could have been avoided altogether. To this day so many questions remain unanswered -- the true killers are yet to be brought to justice.
In any country, especially in a country such as ours, the job of a finance minister is extremely difficult. Irrespective of involvement, the finance minister seems to be held responsible for everything, including price inflation of commodities, adverse exchange rate fluctuations, absence of adequate food supplies to famine hit regions, accidents occurring due to usage of old aircrafts, and insufficient fund placement for school infrastructure build-up. He is even blamed if farmers do not receive satisfactory amount of fuel or fertiliser.
We have been hearing for a long time that "the party is greater than an individual; the country is greater than a party." However, ironically, so far all the finance ministers of the elected governments have been criticised for prioritising the country's needs before the party's requirements. They even had to accept responsibility for the failure of public institutions, irrespective of their engagements. As a result, although there has been no dearth of talent, the destination of finance ministers of Bangladesh is, generally, insipidness.
The finance ministers in opposition to such scenarios became aggressive. If the minister has to seek fund endowment from the World Bank, he has to decide on the "level of privatisation" for receiving aid from IMF, he has to look after "value of BDT" and even has to notify the European Union whether allocated funds were properly utilised or were embezzled by corrupt officials. He also has to monitor unprofitable organisations and find out why the Anti-Corruption Commission is not competent or why the judiciary is not independent. For such activities the minister has to be aggressive to get things done.
How did the apparently very soft late finance minister Mr. Kibria manage under such extreme circumstances? How did this mild, sincere and rational person survive and succeed as a minister? He had sincerely administered all necessary responsibilities. Only the people who had worked with him can share how he had: 1) managed international trade with a foreign exchange reserve of a little over $1 billion; 2) prevented hike of oil and gas price etc; 3) directed the bureaucracy without raising his voice; 4) avoided giving businesspersons close to the party exclusive benefits; 5) kept Bangladesh's economy shielded from the currency crisis of South-East Asia; 6) become elected as representative of the people without resorting to unfair means and clever tricks; and 7) returned from Pakistan for building up an independent Bangladesh.
I do not know how he managed to do the seemingly impossible -- achieving so much without compromising his values -- and probably I shall never know. Perhaps true brilliance can comprehend a lot that a normal person cannot. Tagore didn't go to a postmaster's home for creating the character "Ratan," Amartya Sen didn't suffer the pangs of famine for creating famine related theories or action plans. The nation's brilliant people don't have to be shown what they have to accomplish. Their knowledge, talent and sincerity ultimately dictate their path to greatness.
I had the rare opportunity to get close to Mr. Kibria while he was our finance minister, and to share some of his thoughts regarding handling state owned banks, loss making public enterprises, corruption in civil bureaucracy and so on. He was an extremely talented Bengali, brilliant student of economics, responsible administrator, and a believer in logic, not fascism. He believed in Bangladesh's future. He, along with his colleagues, was actively involved in creating a respectable future for the country. He participated in active politics and got elected as a people's representative.
Perhaps if he didn't choose that path and didn't have to go to his constituency regularly, he would still be alive. We wouldn't have lost the brilliant, patriotic and sincere S.A.M.S Kibria. His commitment to his goal of creating a better future for us ultimately led to his sad demise. Lot of us were grieved by such an incident; fascism has triumphed over logic, rationalism and democracy.
Today, the people and the leaders of this nation have to decide how we can attract more Kibrias to run the country's affairs and take it to the possible destination. We remember Mr. Kibria and his contribution to this nation's emergence and progress with honour, reverence and above all gratitude.

Mamun Rashid is a banker and economic analyst. Views expressed are his own.