Is BRAC the greatest ever success of the Bengali people?

I teach history of Bangladesh at the BRAC University. I start with the history of the area known by many names over time. During the North India based imperial Maurya and Gupta period we were –at least parts- was known as Chandrabhukti. Later Gaud, Vanga, Somotata etc were others areas which together formed the later Bengal. It was during the Ilyas Shahi period that all lands came under one ruler and began to be called Bangala.

Our rulers after the Mauryas were Sashanka- a chief of feudal words who could be called the first independent ruler because he fought off invaders. After his death came a period of great anarchy called Matsanyam during which nobody knew who ruled. It ended when the feudal chiefs decided to install Gopala of the Palas as the first dynastic ruler of Bengal. He was followed by the Senas and then came Bkahtiyar Khaliji or the Turko-Afghans followed by the Mughals after whom came the British and then in the final innings it was Pakistan.

What is interesting is that none of the above rulers were local people. None were Bengalis. The first Bengali to rule Bengalis was Sk. Mujibur Rahman in 1971.

The period between the 13th to the 16th century was the period of high economic development and Bengal became one of the richest parts of the world.  But research shows that the traders who made Bengal so rich were mostly foreigners; the Dutch, the Portuguese, the English etc. But Bengalis didn’t participate in that trade.  We didn’t become rich or successful, foreigners did. We have historically speaking achieved nothing.

Yet after 1972, in Bangladesh we see the emergence of BRAC which in 2013 has become the leading NGO of the world.  We have never in our history been at the top of anything globally. BRAC has not just gained a space in history to be shared with others but it has created history.  It is in my opinion, the greatest success of the Bengali people that has been globally recognized. There is no other recognized evidence.

This victory belongs to all of including its founder Fazle Hasan Abed.

Abed bhai and Amin bhai: An interesting common history

As I read various archive materials and interviews on Abed bhai an interesting fact emerges about the man. That he was a fellow traveler of Marxism particularly in his London days in the late 50s. Delivering the Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed lecture, he remembers, “ We regularly attended Sunday meetings of the Marxist Study Circle organized by the late Tasadduq Ahmed and Hamza Alavi.”

Ian Smillie in his book “Freedom from Want” says on Abed in London, “Most of his friends were Marxists and he attended regular Sunday meetings with them. One friend ran for the parliament and he campaigned for them….”

Young, idealist and bright with a deep anger against injustice, it was natural for a man of his time and age to find Marxism as both an explanation of global misery and a solution to it. 

Almost a decade later, far away from London, another young man was into Leftist politics in Dhaka with the same ideals. He too believed in Marxism as an answer to the national and international problems of the world.  He was Aminul Alam and a student of  Physics in the Dhaka University.

Yet both ended their relationship with Marxist politics soon after ending their studies and in the 70s. Abed bhai set up BRAC in 1972 and  Amin bhai joined soon after. These two were two idealists but very practical people who chose a lifetime in BRAC. It maybe a puzzling question because NGOs have often been criticized by the socialists as anti-poor slowing down the revolution. That criticism may seem naive but it also reveals the deep conceptual conflict between the two.

Looking at their lives, it’s obvious that it’s the heart, the compassion and the will to fight injustice that brought them to socialism. But it was their commitment to do something that brought them to BRAC. Socialism may be fine ideologically but its inability to deliver goods to the poor was obvious to both. Abed bhai considered them too ‘marginalized’ and to Amin bhai the socialist future in Bangladesh didn’t seem possible.  BRAC was an immediate and as it turned out a better idea. Socialism has collapsed here but BRAC is the top social service organization in the world.

Both were pro-poor rather than pro- ideological. So efficiency rather than speeches and clandestine activism made sense to them.  They wanted to do something for the poor and not wait maybe for ever for a socialist world to be born and then do something. BRAC offered a way out, an opportunity to do something real for the poor rather than spend time waiting for history to happen. It was much better making history. 

A time to remember Amin bhai

Happy new year to everyone. As we begin 2013 its time to remember our friends and close ones who have made a great difference in our lives and that of others.  We call such people the significant ones. Few people have been as important to BRAC as the late Amin ul Alam, or Amin bhai to all who did so much to take BRAC to where it is now. He was one of Abed bhai’s most trusted lieutenants.

Amin bhai came from the womb of Bangladesh’s radical politics and his spirit was deeply rooted in pro-poor ideas and sentiments. He joined BRAC in 1975 to manage a feeding programme in  Rangpur but then went on to work in Manikganj where the footprint of BRAC was becoming deep and the reputation of a poverty alleviation organization established. Amin bhai was at the forefront of that mission.

Amin bhai and his colleagues are also credited  for taking  BRAC services to scale, a critical component of BRAC’s success and delivery capacity strategy. If Abed bhai dreams big and provide the structure and leadership of that dream , then it was Amin bhai who would operationalise that vision with his growing army of workers through the BRAC Development Program (BDP).

By the time the last century was ending BRAC had become a huge force globally and beginning to take off internationally. So it was no accident that Amin bhai was entrusted with the task of taking BRAC to the rest of the world. He visited Afghanistan first in 2002 and then on to many part of the world where BRAC is now an established presence.

Amin bhai’s management style was somewhat abrasive and there are many stories of his administrative firmness but there is also no doubt in any mind that every decision he took was in the best interest of BRAC. Few knew BRAC better than him or loved it more. But he never had a public profile and didn’t want it. He preferred to pour all his energies into the institution which he and others had turned into a global powerhouse.

Abed bhai had this to say about him. “an exceptional person with an exceptional commitment to rural development. BRAC would not be what it is without him.” 

 I would like to think that his commitment came significantly from his Left politics and in the end he may have changed his battlefield but he never switched his cause. In the purest sense he was a revolutionary.

On this day let us remember this man with gratitude and pay homage to him.

A man called Abed

There are so many versions of the man called Abed that we all may describe him and find out that they are different description of the same person.  So when I decided to write a blog I thought I would talk about him as well as other topics. Some of them will be on development issues, some on personal encounters, a few on myself and of course as far as possible all linked to BRAC , one way or other.

I met Abed bhai first in 1986 when I was working for Unicef and  BRAC was one of the partners. He was already a famous person, known for having set up an alternative track to development.  I admired him like many others but many also disliked him. These were the pro-government types who thought development activities should be conducted only by the government even if the government wasn’t doing anything.  I suppose I belonged to the Opposite camp which argued that when governments don’t act, somebody does and both can party together.  I would call us the pro-partnership group.

In 1988 Cole P.Dodge joined Unicef and the organization became closer to BRAC than ever before. Cole believed in this partnership model and soon there were several joint activities.  My fondest memory was pushing the case for special treatment of the girl child in health and education which the then Secretary of the concerned Ministry (MOWCA) was refusing to endorse. Unicef  began a barrage of pr activities and lobbying including holding the first ever Festival of the Girl Child. BRAC was the lead partner.

We danced, sang, performed theatre, published a special situation analysis of the Girl Child and author Selina Hossain was commissioned to write a book that continues to be updated and published regularly even after 25 years. It was a success and the resistance to the GC programmme was washed away by the positive social vibes flowing out from the festival.

Years later as we chatted in Abed bhai’s office in the evening, I asked him why  he had chosen women as the vehicle of change in his life’s work. He said ,“When I started visiting villages after starting BRAC I saw young girls, five six year olds looking after their siblings while the boys played in the field. I realized that later these girls would grow up to become custodian of the household in their husband’s home. The men would never get work regularly so she would have to manage her sangsar through extra work, borrowing whatever. So I wondered that if women were managing poverty why they should not be managers of development. And so it happened .”

It was simple observation on how things work and what works most efficiently. It  has led to such a world changing organization like BRAC. It began by looking at a girl child.