Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir (b. 1942) is a prominent economist, civil servant, writer, and political leader in Bangladesh.
Dr. Alamgir holds a Masters in economics from Dhaka University, a Masters in development economics from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Boston University.
He began his professional career in 1962, by joining the economics faculty at the University of Dhaka, after completing a Masters degree in economics at the same university. He taught at the university until 1965.
Contents |
[edit] Civil Service
In 1965 he joined the erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan. Among other posts prior to the independence of Bangladesh, he served as the Subdivisional Officer at Naogaon. He returned to Bangladesh from Karachi, Pakistan, in March, 1971, and joined the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
After 1971, he worked in the Finance Ministry, and played significant roles in drafting the initial budgets of independent Bangladesh. From 1976 to 1979 he served as the District Commissioner of Jessore. Later he served in various capacities in the Finance Ministry. In 1993 Dr. Alamgir was appointed Secretary of Science and Technology, and later, as a Member of Planning Commission.
From 1996 to 1997 he served as Secretary to the Prime Minister. During that time, he led the negotiations in renewing the historic Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India. He also played a leadership role in negotiating and signing a Peace Treaty with separatists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. He retired in 1997 after 32 years of civil service.
[edit] Other Appointments and Activities
In a project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme in 1980, Dr. Alamgir was one of the architects of Uganda's economic rehabilitation plan, after a brutal civil war.
As part of government service, Dr. Alamgir was Managing Director of Bangladesh Shilpa Banks (Industrial Bank of Bangladesh), where he began a move to recover a large number of pending debt of the bank by filing lawsuits against loan defaulters. He also served for many years as Executive Director of Islamic Development Bank, where he represented a number of countries including Bangladesh.
In the late eighties and early nineties, Dr. Alamgir served as President of Bangladesh Economic Association. In 1989 Dr. Alamgir spent a semester at Pennsylvania State University as a Visiting Scholar on an Asia Foundation fellowship.
Dr. Alamgir has authored numerous books, journal articles, and newspaper articles on the economy and current affairs of Bangladesh. His Development Strategy for Bangladesh (three editions) has been used as one of the textbooks in advanced development economics courses at different universities in the country.
[edit] Early Political Controversy
From time to time, Dr. Alamgir has been outspoken about his politically progressive ideas, which landed him in a number of controversies. In the eighties, when Bangladesh was under the military rule of General H. M. Ershad, Dr. Alamgir was the first civil servant to openly question the role of civil servants under a military regime. He propounded the view that civil servants, by constitution, are servants of the state, and thereby the people, and therefore they are not obliged to serve under a non-representative undemocratic government.
In 1995, when a government led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) staged one-sided national elections, which were boycotted by the opposition, and proceeded to form a government on the basis of the rigged election results, Dr. Alamgir joined a mass uprising that considered the tenure of the government illegitimate. He eventually led civil servants to withhold cooperation with the illegitimate government, and the government fell.
[edit] Politics with the Awami League
In a administration led by the Awami League, in 1997, Dr. Alamgir was invited to join the cabinet as the State Minister for Planning. He also served stints in charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry. He was the initiator of the Fifth Five Year Plan, which shaped Bangladesh's development policy from 1997 to 2002.
In 2001, Dr. Alamgir ran for the position of Member of Parliament, and was defeated in a controversial election marred by widespread violence. In his constituency, the Election Commission allowed a US citizen nominated by BNP to compete, even though it is illegal for citizens of other countries to compete in elections. BNP intimidated thousands of Hindu and minority voters, who were sympathetic to Dr. Alamgir, and prevented them from casting their votes.
[edit] Imprisonment and Torture
After BNP was elected to power in 2001, the party decided to seek revenge for Dr. Alamgir's role in bringing down the government in 1995. Dr. Alamgir was arrested in 2002 and detained without charges. He was tortured in police custody. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the organizations that fought for his release, Dr. Alamgir reported in court that "every evening at midnight, the police would enter his cell and blindfold him. He was taken to a separate room where masked men interrogated and tortured him. They beat him with lathi (bamboo sticks) and glass bottles filled with water. He reported that he was beaten severely on his buttocks, feet and other muscular parts of his body, and was sodomized with the bottle. In addition, he was denied fresh water and his diabetes medicine. He reported that the police demanded that he sign a typed document. When he refused to sign, they continued to beat him."
A large international campaign played a crucial role to pressure the government to stop the torture and release Dr. Alamgir. Senator Edward Kennedy, US Representative Frank Pallone, Jr., and others urged the government for his release. Other organizations that played a strong role to secure his release include American Association for the Advancement of Science, Amnesty International, Asian Human Rights Commission, Committee of Concerned Scientists, New York Academy of Sciences, Organisation mondiale contre la torture (World Organisation Against Torture), 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Physicians for Human Rights, Scholars at Risk, and South Asia Forum for Human Rights. In addition, thousands of individuals from around the world wrote letters to the government demanding his release.
Unconvinced of the government's arguments to keep him detained, the High Court eventually took an unprecedented step and issued an ultimatum to the government demanding that it release Dr. Alamgir or risk having the High Court itself free him by force. The government released Dr. Alamgir only one hour before the court ordered deadline was set to expire on 18 September 2002.
[edit] Re-Imprisonment
On February 4, 2007, Dr. Alamgir was arrested from his home by civil and military police, operating under a state of emergency in Bangladesh. He has been detained since without charges, though it is likely that some charges will be brought against this prominent economist again to justify his continued imprisonment.
[edit] External links
- 2002 Torture Case Summary by the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2002 Worldwide Appeal by Amnesty International
