The father of nation – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a root-exploring great leader of Bangladesh. In general, the philosophy of Bangabandhu was – progression-development, life, political, economic sovereignty as well as hunger, poverty and communal free Bangladesh. To establish a discrimination free society and economy, assimilation of thoughts is relevant for this article– such as Rousseau, Shakespeare, Plato, Thucydides, George Hegel, Oliver Gold Smith, Noam Chomsky, Marcus Tulius, Cicero, George Orwell, Joseph Stiglitz, and Van Schendel. For example, Fidel Castro said– I haven’t seen Himalayas but Bangabadhu’. David Frost mentioned– Where is your power, Sheikh Mujib said, ‘I love people’ again where is your weakness, and he said, ‘I love people’.

There are three basic outlooks of our father of the nation. Such as;

1.    Global (all men are equal, men creates history),

2.    Political( socialism, democracy, secularism and nationalism),

3.    Development (discrimination-inconsistency free welfare state).

Faland came to meet Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh and demanded to take lease of Saint Martins Island (situated 150 miles away from Chattogram). Our Father of Nation directly refused him referring responsibility for military coup in Indonesia and Argentina that time. Regarding this article, I may try to explain three basic questions. First, what Bangabandhu wanted for collective welfare, his progression strategies? Second, strategies to renovate war-scratched economy. Third, global outlook of Bangabandhu − is it possible to build welfare state.

Seeing as the beginning of Pakistan, the government never treated Bangladesh equally. Bangabandhu realized that along with social and political dimensions this inequality had economic dimensions as well. He strongly condemned the 'Federal Control of Industries Act' which virtually gave full control of the industrial sector to the central government bypassing the provincial authorities. In between 1953 and 1956, the central government allocated 350 million (35 crore) taka for 150 large industrial units in West Pakistan, and only 20 million (2 crore) for 47 such units in Bangladesh. While East Pakistan had better agricultural growth potential, the then central government was spending more on agricultural development in West Pakistan, 1.98 billion taka was allocated for agricultural development of West Pakistan. The farmers of Eastern Province of Pakistan produced excellent quality jute and yet more than 90 per cent of the foreign exchange earned through export of jute and jute goods went to West Pakistan to pay their import bill. Even large industrial units in East Pakistan (e.g. Karnaphuli Paper Mill, Platinum Jubilee Jute Mill etc.) were being handed over to West Pakistani owners. Pakistan was then an oligarchy (only 22 families getting all the business) and industrialization and development of Eastern Province of Pakistan was the last thing in their mind.

The phrase 'Sonar Bangla' was very common in speeches and writings of Bangabandhu well before the independence of Bangladesh. He was always thinking about reestablishing 'Sonar Bangla'. But this was not a mere political rhetoric for him. This aspiration was based on his consciousness about the past glory of this land. He knew that only a few centuries back Bangladesh was really a land of prosperity, a golden country. This country was famous for its agricultural production. It was famous for its exports like muslin, silk, cotton, spices and even ship building. Bengal was a real trade hub during that era. It is because of these that the British East India Company chose to build a base here in Bengal. In the 18th century the living standards of Bengal was comparable with that of the Great Britain. Bangabandhu was aware of this glorious past, and strongly believed that the past glory could be revived through a proper struggle for economic emancipation of the people.

Bangali economists led by Professor Nurul Islam in the Planning Commission echoed the discrimination that Bangabandhu had been saying so long. But the commission's report was quickly sent to the light and it did not look at the light of light. As a reaction to these, Bangabandhu started a long political movement aimed at the independence of Bengal. The central place of this movement was a 6-point demand.

And the main point of this 6-point was the removal of discrimination. Bangabandhu was essentially a politician and economist. Yet, he first proposed two separate economic proposals for West and East Pakistan. He said that 'the gap between fifteen hundred miles between East and West Pakistan is geographically true. Therefore there is no alternative for two separate economies for these two regions.

"The ambition of Bangabandhu's economic independence for the people of this country and the lack of reluctance of the Pakistani authorities played the role of catalyst for the liberation war of 1971 and independence of Bangladesh. Freedom fighters dreamed of equitable economy. Their belief was that economic disparity would decrease if Bangladesh achieves independence. Subsidy will be given to the farmer. Social protection will increase. The constitution of 1972 saw a great reflection of the people's repentance. Bangabandhu wanted to build a society free from exploitation, a movement to build playground for the boys and girls and expand agricultural field. Through hard work, the country may be rebuilt.

Let us all assemble together to try to make Sonar Bangla laugh again, we can build new Bengal again. From here it is understood that Bangabandhu gave priority to agriculture and industrialization as well. He realized exactly that agriculture would not only provide food for the people but also would continue to be the main source of income for this country for many more years. Besides, along with poverty reduction, the strong agricultural sector will provide necessary raw materials for the country's expanding industrial sector.

After the liberation, as already indicated in the beginning of this piece, Bangabandhu got a war-ravaged country with infrastructural backbone broken, economy in a shambles, millions of hungry people, and challenges arising out of a very difficult geo-politics as the US opposed directly our struggle for freedom. On the first anniversary of independence he uttered: "We will turn this war-ravaged country into a golden one. In the Bengal of future, mothers will smile, and children will play. It will be a society free of exploitation. Start the movement of development in the fields and farms and in the factories. We can surely rebuild the country through hard work. Let us work together so that the Golden Bengal shines again."

As evident here, Bangabandhu rightly prioritised agriculture and industrialisation as the forces to rely on. He understood that agriculture will not only provide food to feed the people, but also will remain as the main source of income for majority of the people for many years to come. A vibrant agriculture can also ensure supply of raw materials for a burgeoning industrial sector. Immediately after the independence of the country, Bangabandhu took some prudent initiatives to ensure agricultural growth. Some of these initiatives are: rebuilding the war-ravaged agricultural infrastructure, ensuring supply of agricultural equipment on emergency basis free of cost or at concessional rates, ensuring adequate supply of seed, cancelling 1.0 million certificate cases for loan default against farmers filed during the Pakistan period, fixing minimum fair prices for agro-products, ration facilities for poor and marginal farmers etc.

Bangabandhu was also conscious about the complementarily between agricultural and industrial sectors. For example, fertilizers are critically important agricultural inputs and so he prioritized establishment of fertilizer factories across the country. Bangabandhu knew there was no alternative to industrialization. Industrial expansion was needed on the one hand, for producing goods to consume internally and to export; on the other hand, industrialization would ensure employment for a growing population. However, just after the independence, with no foreign reserve, no foreign investment, very little backward and forward linkages, and above all, very few people with entrepreneurial experience, industrialization perhaps was the biggest challenge that Bangabandhu had to face.

Entrepreneur-friendly Bangabandhu was always for facilitating businesses to grow. Even when he was the provincial minister for industry, he proposed initiatives that would reduce cost of doing business. During that time, he encouraged entrepreneurs from home and abroad to invest in East Pakistan and committed full support to them from the provincial government. But in the post-liberation era, the situation was entirely different.

Due to reasons mentioned above, there was little to no scope for private sector to grow. In the newly liberated country, Bangabandhu rightly chose to go for state-led industrial growth. He nationalized major banks and insurance companies, all jute mills, sugar mills and textile mills as all the Pakistani owners and managers left these enterprises, often taking away with them all the money and inputs. In the first year since independence, the jute mills were producing at 56 per cent of their capacities. The same ratio for textile mills, paper mills and fertilizer factories were 60 per cent, 69 per cent, and 62 per cent respectively. All these factories were doing better than they were during the Pakistan period.

The writer is an Environmental Analyst & Associate Member,

Bangladesh Economic Association.