BANGLADESH

Professor Rehman Sobhan’s 2nd memoir launched

Eminent economist Professor Rehman Sobhan’s memoir titled “Untranquil Recollections: Political Economy of Nation Building in Post-Liberation Bangladesh”, was launched on Saturday.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and The University Press Limited (UPL) jointly organized an event marking the launching of the volume which has been published by UPL.

“Untranquil Recollections: Political Economy of Nation Building in Post- Liberation Bangladesh” is the second volume in the Untranquil Recollections series.

The author mentions in the Preface that this volume is “a memoir of an activist who was himself a part of the historical process”.

This volume captures the unique challenges faced by Bangladesh in the years immediately after liberation war, when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to his homeland and assumed the responsibility as the head of the government, said a press release.

Professor Sobhan sheds light on many challenges that the war-devastated country was confronted while establishing new institutions from the ground up.

The newly set up Planning Commission of Bangladesh, of which Professor Sobhan was an integral part and a key member, was entrusted with the responsibilities of providing guidelines to Bangabandhu in laying the
foundations of a socialist economy in Bangladesh.

Professor Rehman Sobhan's 2nd memoir launched

The book provides a frame narrative as to how the Planning Commission dealt with policy issues, how the political economy played the cut, how the first Five-Year Plan was formulated, and how foreign relationships were built, till the time of the killing of Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975.

The book is divided in 16 chapters featuring various phases of Professor Sobhan’s life till 1975.

Professor Rounaq Jahan, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, moderated the launching event.

Dr Kamal Hossain, Former Law and Foreign Minister, joined the event as the special guest. M Syeduzzaman, Former Finance Minister and Planning Secretary and Member, CPD Board of Trustees, chaired the event.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, the author of the book and founding Chairman of CPD, recalled some of his practical experiences and obstacles that he and the Planning Commission faced, and how Bangabandhu guided them and provided them with political support.

He stated that Bangabandhu was the architect of the policies in the newly emerged country, and they tried to implement his directives.

Mahrukh Mohiuddin, Managing Director, UPL, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, Professor Abdul Bayes, Former Vice Chancellor and Professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University, and Former Director, Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC, Dr Ahrar Ahmad, Director General of Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Bidyapeeth, Professor Habibul Haque Khondker, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zayed University, Dr Meghna Guhathakurta, Executive Director, Research Initiatives,
Bangladesh (RIB), Mahfuz Anam, Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star spoke, among others, on the occasion.

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