Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir
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Dr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir (born 1942) is a prominent economist, civil servant, writer, and a controversial convicted political leader in Bangladesh.
Dr. Alamgir holds a Master's degree in economics from Dhaka University, a Master's 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.
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[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. During 1971 war, he served the Pakistan Government as the Additional District Commissioner of Mymensingh.According to a book by Freedom Fighter Shamsul Arefin, he worked for the Pakistan Government in 1971.
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 Trddacts. He retired in 1997 after 32 years of civil service.
[edit] Other Appointments
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 an unprecedented 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.
[edit] Research and Writing
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 hundreds of 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.His "My Days in Jail" was also a bestseller, with three sold-out editions published between 2003 and 2004.
[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 an 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.[1] BNP intimidated thousands of Hindu and minority voters, who were sympathetic to Dr. Alamgir, and prevented them from casting their votes.[2] The US-based watchdog group, Freedom House, labelled this election as "Bangladesh's most violent election to date".[3]
[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.[4] [5] 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."[6]
A large international campaign played a crucial role to pressure the government to stop the torture and release Dr. Alamgir. United States Senator Edward Kennedy, United States 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.[citation needed]
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. In December 2002 the BNP government filed a sedition case against Dr. Alamgir for his role during a 1996 popular revolt against an illegitimately elections.[7]
[edit] Re-Imprisonment and Release
On February 4, 2007, Dr. Alamgir was arrested from his home by civil and military police, operating under a state of emergency in Bangladesh. Eventually charges of corruption were brought against him based on a wealth statement that he was forced to write while in jail and without access to lawyers or any documents.[8] In addition, seven prominent persons, including well-known economists of Bangladesh and the United States, testified in court that he is an honest man.[citation needed] In July 2007, a summary tribunal set up by a military-led caretaker government convicted him to 13 years imprisonment.[9] All in all, the government filed six cases against Dr. Alamgir between February 2007 and October 2008.[10]
On October 21, 2008, Dr. Alamgir was released on bail after being held in prison for 20 months by the military-backed caretaker government of Bangladesh.[11]
He became a MP, while he was on bail.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ "MK Alamgir Challenges Milon's Candidature", New Age, 30 December 2006
- ^ Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Jailer Kotha Manusher Kotha (My Days in Jail), Dhaka: Subarna, 2003, pp. 9-10.
- ^ Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2002
- ^ Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Jailer Kotha Manusher Kotha (My Days in Jail), Dhaka: Subarna, 2003
- ^ Asian Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh: Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Dr. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, 11 April 2002
- ^ AAAS Human Rights Action Network
- ^ "The Janatar Mancha Case", The Independent (Bangladesh), December 27, 2002
- ^ "The Plot Against MKA", The Daily Star, May 10, 2007
- ^ "MK Alamgir Handed 13 Years Over Graft", The Daily Star, July 27, 2007
- ^ The Independent (Bangladesh), October 22, 2008
- ^ "MK Alamgir Freed on Bail", New Age, October 22, 2008
