Abul
Hassan Mahmood Ali, the last finance minister of the ousted Awami League
government, took office after the 12th national election. This former professor
of economics at the University of Dhaka (DU) fled the country before the fall
of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5 and has been in hiding since. His
student, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, the former governor of Bangladesh Bank, has
since taken charge of the Ministry of Finance. In addition to handling finance,
Dr. Ahmed is also overseeing the ministries of commerce, science, and
technology as an adviser. Wahiduddin Mahmud, the interim government’s adviser
for planning and education, is another direct student of Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.
According
to sources, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali began his career as a lecturer in the
Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka in 1964. Both Salehuddin
Ahmed and Wahiduddin Mahmud enrolled in the same department in 1965. Another
student from their batch was BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Two years before them, Professor Dr. Mahbub Ullah from DU’s Department of
Development Studies also enrolled in economics.
When
asked about this, Professor Dr. Mahbub Ullah told Bonik Barta, “I enrolled at
Dhaka University in 1963. Wahiduddin Mahmud and Salehuddin joined two years
later in 1965. In that sense, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali was their teacher. I,
too, had him as a teacher at one point, but he never taught us any specific
course.”
After
completing his SSC in 1963, Salehuddin Ahmed enrolled in the science stream at
Dhaka College, while Wahiduddin Mahmud and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir chose
humanities. It was during this time that both Fakhrul and Salehuddin became
actively involved in student politics with the Students’ Union. In 1965, after
completing their higher secondary studies, Wahiduddin and Fakhrul enrolled in
the economics department at Dhaka University. Meanwhile, Salehuddin had the
opportunity to attend BUET and Dhaka Medical College but opted to join his
friends in the economics department at DU. During that time; Abul Hassan
Mahmood Ali was a faculty member at the department.
Reflecting
on his memories, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed told Bonik Barta, “We had Abul Hassan
Mahmood Ali as our teacher for about four to five months. He taught us about
money and banking.”
Abul
Hassan Mahmood Ali left academia in 1966 to join the Pakistan Foreign Service.
Throughout his career as a professional diplomat, he held various significant
roles both domestically and abroad. In 1971, he served as Bangladesh’s
representative to the United States under the Mujibnagar government. He also
played a role in the 1992 agreement with India for the implementation of the ‘Tin
Bigha Corridor’ and in negotiating the Rohingya refugee repatriation agreement
with Myanmar.
After
retiring as a professional diplomat, Mahmood Ali joined the Awami League in
2001 and became a member of the party’s election committee. In 2002, he was
appointed a member of the central advisory committee and later became co-chair
of the Awami League’s international affairs subcommittee. Running with the
party’s nomination, he was elected a Member of Parliament from the Dinajpur-4
constituency in the 2008 national election. In September 2012, he was appointed
Minister of Disaster Management and Relief. In November 2013, he became the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position he held after being re-elected in the
2014 national election.
Abul
Hassan Mahmood Ali assumed office as the country’s 18th finance minister
through the 12th National Parliamentary Elections. He was tasked with
addressing the multifaceted challenges of the country’s macroeconomy,
particularly inflation, foreign exchange reserves, the dollar crisis, revenue
collection, non-performing loans, and restoring good governance in the banking
sector. Additionally, he faced the pressure of meeting various conditions and
targets set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the ongoing loan
program. However, he was ousted from his position as minister following the
fall of the Awami League government on August 5. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali had
left the country even before Sheikh Hasina fled. Since then, he has remained in
hiding.
On
August 8, after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, Nobel laureate Dr.
Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as the chief adviser of the interim government.
That same day, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed was sworn in as an adviser in his
government. A day later, Ahmed took over the responsibilities of the Ministry
of Finance and Planning. Later, this economist was also given responsibility
for the Ministry of Science and Technology. About a week after Salehuddin Ahmed
assumed his role as the government’s finance and planning adviser, Dr.
Wahiduddin Mahmud was sworn in as the education adviser.
Their
friend, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, though not directly part of the power
structure, is currently one of the most influential figures in the country’s
politics. He serves as the secretary general of the large political party, the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
When
asked about Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told Bonik
Barta, “Sir was our direct teacher at the Economics Department of Dhaka
University. We attended his classes.”
Throughout
the political history of the country, there have been various changes in power,
leading to changes in governments. However, no finance minister or adviser had to
ever flee the country due to a change in the political landscape. The most
recent case occurred on August 5, just before the fall of the Awami League
government following a student and public uprising. The then-recently ousted
finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali left the country. His predecessor, A H
M Mustafa Kamal, also fled.
Experts
say that those who fled after the fall of the government lacked the courage to
remain in the country. They faced this fate due to their direct or indirect
support for fascism.
Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh
(TIB), sees the flight of these former government officials as a natural
occurrence. Without referring to anyone in particular, he told Bonik Barta, “I
won’t speak about anyone specifically, but their fleeing is entirely natural.
They brought themselves to this position. They played both direct and indirect
roles in the development of authoritarianism in the country. Now, they have no
choice but to face justice. If they had any courage, they wouldn’t have fled.
Apart from authoritarianism, they are also directly or indirectly accused of
involvement in killings and human rights violations.”