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.
Amin Bhai demonstrated an exceptional notion of ‘dual accountability’ – i. the obvious accountability to the institution and (more importantly,) ii. the accountability to the people whom BRAC has been working for. Many of us fail to practice the latter in reality.
ReplyDeleteLate Amin Bhai played an important role in innovating activities and ways to improve life of hundreds and thousands of BRAC organized poor families in rural Bangladesh.
ReplyDeleteI am remembering this late leader of BRAC with respect and gratitude and paying homage to him.
Thanks to Afshan Bhai for his attempt to recall him on this beginning of a new year 2013.
Gunendu Roy
Country Representative, BRAC Tanzania
Amin Bhai's unwavering commitment for improving the lives of the poor and untiring efforts towards fulfilling his commitment was vividly visible - he will remain a source of inspiration for us who had the luck to know him and also for those who will learn about him.
ReplyDeleteAbbas
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As a former a BRAC Employee, I want to say that he was a great leader who defined his creativity all over the organization. We learnt to recognise important issues from his perspective and ideology, which will not be forgotten.
ReplyDelete-Debobroto Goswami
Former BRAC Employee.