|
I feel humbled and inadequate to bear the weight of the
Swadhinata Puraskar. Those of our generation who were
privileged to be associated with the liberation struggle
were part of a mighty army where ordinary people rose above
themselves to perform deeds which were beyond our
expectation. Peasants became warriors, bureaucrats became
commanders, majors became generals, housewives became part
of the supply chain for our war effort and some even took up
arms. Teachers such as myself became diplomats and advocates
arguing the case for Bangladesh before audiences who would
never have had reason to even be aware of our existence. We
were all elevated in our spirits and by our modest deeds and
saw ourselves as part of a historic process which culminated
in an independent Bangladesh. For those of us who
participated as footsoldiers in the liberation struggle and
survived to become citizens of an independent Bangladesh
this was, in itself, a reward beyond price and invested us
with a sense of fulfillment. The award which I receive today
I, therefore, receive not for myself but for my generation
who were singled out by history to participate in a great
event.
None of us should feel we did anything special. In my own
case, the award is related to my contribution to research
and teaching. Much of my earlier research was focused on the
background to the emergence of Bangladesh whilst my
subsequent work extended to the policies as well as
political economy which subsequently shaped an independent
Bangladesh. This work was given some coherence by my
unifying belief in the need to build a more just society.
The nature of my work as a teacher and researcher ensured
that it would be part of a shared enterprise. After all, a
teacher can only be singled out through the distinctions
earned by his or her students who should thereby be made
part of any honour visited on their teachers. My
contributions as a researcher were greatly enhanced by the
support of my associates, research assistants, professional
colleagues and friends whose labours and ideas provided
inputs and added value to my own work. My family, who shared
the tensions and occasional hazards of my unorthodox life
and unconventional views, should also be recognized as
contributors to my work. My family, along with my colleagues
who were, thus, involved in my research endeavours or worked
with me to build the institutions with which I have been
associated, the Dhaka University Economics Department, the
Bangladesh Planning Commission, the Bangladesh Institute of
Development Studies, the South Asia Centre for Policy
Studies and my home for the last 13 years, the Centre for
Policy Dialogue, should rightfully be recognized as partners
in this award I receive today.
This great honour which I choose to share with all those who
have contributed to elevating me to this stage today at
Osmany Milayanatan is also being bestowed today on more
heroic figures and organizations than myself who have
already been enshrined in our history. Professor Shamsuzzoha
was martyred on the streets of Rajshahi bravely confronting
the Pakistan army during the first phase of the unfolding
struggle for national liberation. My gentle and beloved
colleague at Dhaka University, Professor Gobindo Chandra Deb
who dedicated his life to non-violence, was gunned down by
the Pakistan Army on the infamous night of 25th March 1971
during their massacre of students and staff of Jagannath
Hall. This heinous crime was one of the first signals of the
genocidal nature of the war unleashed on the people of
Bangladesh at the orders of Yahya Khan and his cohorts. The
warriors of the BDR, in their earlier incarnation as the EPR
(East Pakistan Rifles), were one of the first to shed their
blood valiantly in Peelkhana and elsewhere across Bangladesh
resisting the aggression on our sovereignty by the Pakistan
army. They continued to play a valiant role as part of the
Mukti Bahini, throughout the course of our war of national
liberation.
So many other martyrs and heroes, including the unnamed
millions who invested their blood, their sweat and their
tears, so that we could live in a free Bangladesh, have left
us the living, with unpaid debts which remain outstanding
after 37 years of our national existence. Our failure to
bring to account those who were responsible for the genocide
has exercised a malign influence over our history. It has
cost us the lives of the father of the nation and his
family, his closest associates, and eventually some of the
heroes of our liberation war. It has distorted our
historical memories, deviated us from the founding
principles of our state and has continued to infect and
divide our contemporary politics.
We not only remain accountable to history but also to the
living. Let us not forget that Bangladesh originated in our
struggle to build a democratic, just and equitable society
where people of all faiths and beliefs could live in harmony
with one another. Those of us who first joined this struggle
once argued that Pakistan’s policymakers needed to recognize
the reality of two economies co-existing within a nation
state. Having achieved an independent Bangladesh, with a
single national economy, we now find our nation state is
inhabited by two societies divided between an elite minority
enjoying First World life styles and a deprived majority
struggling for survival on the margins of subsistence.
Bangladesh has undoubtedly made significant gains during its
life as a nation state. Our small farmers have tripled our
food production. Our migrant workers are bringing in close
to 7 billion dollars in remittances. Our garment
entrepreneurs and workers, mostly poor women, have together
contributed to the emergence of a globally competitive
export industry. Our micro-credit revolution has established
that our resourceless millions can be both creditworthy and
productive. We have registered significant advances in our
human development indicators. Yet these very gains
registered by Bangladesh serve to remind us of how much more
we could have achieved and how much more justly we could
have distributed the fruits of our independent existence.
Our political history established the prospect of Bangladesh
emerging as a model of democracy in Asia, with a stable two
party system where extra-constitutional interventions would
have become historical memories. The relatively egalitarian
social order we inherited could have been used to build a
more equitable society through providing a greater stake for
our deprived majority in the development process. Our
exposure to a genocide committed by abusing the name of
religion should have educated us to the importance of
building a more inclusive society. I do not need to remind
anyone here as to how far we have deviated from the vision
of a society which motivated so many to stake their lives.
Today as we stand on the path towards yet another political
transition it is surely important to reaffirm our faith in
the beliefs which inspired our liberation struggle. It is,
thus, imperative that we restore our democratic process
without delay and allay any uncertainty about the road map
to this cherished goal. We need to ensure that this
democratic renewal will be sustained by committing ourselves
to attain some of the other neglected, yet no less
important, goals of the liberation war which were designed
to strengthen the foundations of democracy by providing the
ordinary people of Bangladesh with a direct stake in
protecting our democratic institutions. To this end we need
to project a credible vision of a Bangladesh freed of the
injustice of poverty, where the less privileged majority are
invested with a broad range of opportunities which enhance
their capacity to participate in the development process and
derive a more equitable share in its rewards. We need to
commit ourselves to establish a political order where money
and muscle no longer remain the currency of power and
ordinary people, our deprived, our women, our minorities,
can thereby aspire to be more substantively represented in
our various elective bodies. The people of Bangladesh may
once again be inclined to pledge their commitment, as they
did in the course of the liberation war, to ensure the
sustainability of our democratic system, if they can be
motivated to believe that such a system will serve to create
a more just and inclusive society.
Rehman Sobhan
25th March 2008
|
