Tribute to Muzaffer Ahmad

It was in 1995 when we read in the newspapers that economist Robert Lucas was awarded the Noble Prize in economics for his 'rational expectations' theory. The name Lucas did not ring a bell, and as undergraduate students of economics in Dhaka University, naturally we were piqued to find out more about him and his theory. Back then, the internet was not available and had to rely on library and senior lecturers to source information.
But actually, we have heard of the name Lucas before. Earlier in the same year, our economics department organised a programme in TSC auditorium; in the inaugural session, Professor Muzaffer Ahmad was the chief guest. Probably, that was the first time I saw him in person. In that session, I came to know that Robert Lucas was one of his classmates during PhD at the University of Chicago.
After graduation, I started off my career as an economic journalist. This provided an opportunity to interact with Muzaffer sir. I can remember an event that was very helpful in the development of my career. One evening, I called Muzaffer sir on his landline to seek his opinion on a topic on the Bangladeshi economy. Sir became little annoyed as it was not an appropriate act of journalism. He clearly told me that he was not in a position to make any comment like few other economists (he mentioned a few names) without looking into statistics. Sir also advised me to bring an annual report of Bangladesh Bank and few other documents if I really want to use his analysis in my piece. No doubt I was somewhat shocked at the way sir refused to comment right away. But later on, I started viewing that incident as a learning experience. Since then, I have been in constant contact with Muzaffer sir for professional purposes.
Over the years, be it post-budget reaction, analysis on recent economic trends or future of national politics, I always turned to Muzaffer sir for his view -- and I had easy access to him.
When Transparency International ranked Bangladesh at the top of its Corruption Perceptions Index in 2001, it was met with a huge uproar, especially from the then government. There was a considerable amount of confusion surrounding the index, and sir, personally called me over to his Dhanmondi home to pass on some notes to clarify the matter. He asked me to write a brief piece on it, which I did.
I cannot fit into these pages all the interactions I have had with Muzaffer sir, nor can I select my most cherished ones -- but I still had to write something on him. I was fortunate to have known such an enlightened person, whose life and work transcends economics. He was an educationist, a social thinker and with the gumption to initiate whistle-blowing in this distorted society of ours. This is my tribute to him. I will be ever so grateful and proud knowing that Muzaffer sir had great affection for me.

The writer is the deputy business editor of Prothom Alo and can be reached [email protected]