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Abul Maal Abdul Muhith

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Abul Maal Abdul Muhith (25 January 1934 – 30 April 2022)[2] was a Bangladeshi economist, writer, civil servant, secretary, diplomat and politician. He served as the finance minister of the government of Bangladesh from January 2009 until January 2019.[3]

Abul Maal Abdul Muhith
আবুল মাল আব্দুল মুহিত
Abdul Muhith in 2015
Minister of Finance
In office
6 January 2009 – 7 January 2019
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byMirza Azizul Islam (acting)
Succeeded byMustafa Kamal
In office
27 March 1982 – 31 January 1984
PresidentA. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury
Hussain Muhammad Ershad
Preceded bySaifur Rahman
Succeeded byHussain Muhammad Ershad
Member of Parliament
In office
6 January 2009 – 7 January 2019
Preceded bySaifur Rahman
Succeeded byAK Abdul Momen
ConstituencySylhet-1
Personal details
Born(1934-01-25)25 January 1934
Sylhet, Assam Province, British India
Died30 April 2022(2022-04-30) (aged 88)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Resting placeSylhet
NationalityBangladeshi
Political partyBangladesh Awami League
Parents
Relatives
Alma mater

Early life and education

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Abdul Muhith was born on 25 January 1934, to a Bengali Muslim political family in Sylhet. His father, Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz, a judge by profession, was one of the founders of the Sylhet branch of the All-India Muslim League and took part in the Pakistan Movement.[4] His mother, Syeda Shahar Banu, was one of the leading women of the Bengali language movement. He was the third child in a family of fourteen children. His younger brother is AK Abdul Momen, former minister of foreign affairs for Bangladesh, and his sister is Shahla Khatun, a physician and National Professor of Bangladesh.[5][6]

Abdul Muhith passed the matriculation exam from Sylhet Government Pilot High School in 1949.[citation needed] He secured first place in his Intermediate examination in 1951 from Murari Chand College. He stood first class first in B.A. (Hons.) in English literature in 1953 from the University of Dhaka and passed his master's with credit from the same university in 1955. While in service to the government, he studied at the University of Oxford during 1957–1958.[7] He completed his Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard University in 1964.[8][9]

Early career

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Abdul Muhith served as the general secretary of the central committee of the Pakistan Civil Service Association during 1960–1969. He joined the Pakistan Embassy in the United States as an economic counselor in 1969. In 1966, he was honoured with the Tamgha e Khidmat award by the Pakistan government. During his service as the chief and deputy secretary of Pakistan Planning Commission, he made a report on the discrimination between East and West Pakistan and that was the first submitted report on that issue in Pakistan National Congress. He was the first diplomat of Washington Embassy who showed his consent in favour of Bangladesh giving up the side of Pakistan during the Independence War of 1971. He was appointed the secretary of planning in 1972 and secretary of the External Resource Department of the Finance and Planning Ministry in 1977.

Retirement and return

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Abdul Muhith went for self-retirement in 1981 from his service and then he started his second innings of his career as the specialist of economics and development in Ford Foundation and in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). He became finance and planning minister in 1982–83. Next, he worked as the specialist of different institutions of World Bank and the United Nations. He has been a recognised figure in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, IDB and in different organisations of United Nations. He was the visiting fellow of Princeton University in 1984 and 1985.[citation needed]

Abdul Muhith took oath as the Finance Minister of Bangladesh government on 6 January 2009 and in August 2009 he inaugurated the building of the Benapole Customs and Immigration Check Post.[10]

Abdul Muhith retired from the government and from his role as a Jatiya Sangsad member for the Sylhet-1 constituency at the elections of December 2018. His younger brother AK Abdul Momen succeeded him as the constituency representative.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Abdul Muhith was married to designer Syeda Sabia. Their daughter, Samina Muhith, is a banker and an expert in the field of monetary policy. Their elder son, Shahed Muhith, is an architect, and younger son, Samir Muhith, is a teacher.[5]

On 5 March 2022, Abdul Muhith was taken to Green Life Hospital in Dhaka due to illness.[11] He died on 30 April 2022 at United Hospital.[12]

His funeral (1st namaz-e-janaza) was held on the premise of Gulshan Azad Masjid in the capital of Dhaka.[13]

Criticism

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Abdul Muhith had faced criticism for his handling of the 2011 share market crash.[14][15] He admitted to his mistakes in decisions related to the stock market in addition to the mistakes of the Security and Exchange Commission.[16] Although the opposition leaders and protesting investors had called for his resignation, he refused and defended his position.[15] He had appointed a probe committee to investigate the allegations against the Security Exchange Commission, however this also attracted criticism towards him as he consequently refused to publicly disclose the names of those accused of chicanery by this committee. Abdul Muhith became the center of a criticism after he had commented on the Hallmark money scam that the Tk 4,000 crore embezzled was a "meager amount". He later apologized for his statement.[17] Abdul Muhith had been criticised for consistently insulting Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and terming his comments as "totally rubbish" and also for saying Yunus has no integrity over the Grameen Bank issue.[18] In September 2015, Abdul Muhith faced widespread criticisms for his remarks against the movement of public university teachers of Bangladesh seeking a separate pay scale. He later apologized for his remarks. At the same time, controversy was caused by VAT being imposed on the Bangladeshi private university education system:[19] During this time, he made remarks that private university students receives 1000 taka pocket money per day in order to justify the VAT on private university bill. This caused much uproar among the private university students. Abdul Muhith defended this decision.[20]

Works

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  • Abdul Muhith, Abul Maal (1978). Bangladesh, emergence of a nation. Bangladesh Books International. OCLC 5680759.
  • — (1981). Thoughts on development administration. Sabia Muhith. OCLC 11969817.
  • — (1996). American response to Bangladesh liberation war. The University Press Limited. ISBN 978-984-05-1361-1.
  • — (1999). Bangladesh in the twenty-first century: towards an industrial society. The University Press Limited. ISBN 978-984-05-1446-5.
  • — (2001). Issues of governance in Bangladesh. Mowla Brothers. OCLC 47630531.
  • — (2008). State language movement in East Bengal: 1947 - 1956. The University Press Limited. ISBN 978-984-05-1795-4.
  • — (2016). History of Bangladesh: a subcontinental civilisation. The University Press Limited. ISBN 978-984-8815-24-3.[21]

References

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  1. ^ একাত্তরে ঢাকা মেডিকেল এবং একটি প্রসবের ইতিবৃত্ত. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Former finance minister AMA Muhith no more". The Daily Star. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  3. ^ মন্ত্রিগণের জীবনবৃত্তান্ত [Cabinet Biographies]. Press Information Department, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (in Bengali). 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  4. ^ সংরক্ষণাগারভুক্ত অনুলিপি. Sylhet Sadar Upazila (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b জীবনটা নিয়ে আমি সন্তুষ্ট. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 25 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Momen: Economic diplomacy will be my focus". Dhaka Tribune. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Muhith's life entwined with Bangladesh". The Daily Star. 20 February 2016.
  8. ^ "A Brief Lifesketch of Finance Minister". Ministry of Finance, Government of The People's Republic of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Muhith wants to retire". Dhaka Tribune. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  10. ^ Padmanabhan, Mohan (10 August 2009). "Petrapole, Benapole Customs points to get facelift soon". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  11. ^ "Ex-finance minister AMA Muhith hospitalised". The Business Standard. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Ex-finance minister AMA Muhith passes away". The Business Standard. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  13. ^ jagonews24.com. "First namaz-e-janaza of Muhith held at Gulshan". jagonews24.com. Retrieved 24 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Muhith must resign for stock crash". The Daily Star. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  15. ^ a b "I won't resign: Muhith". bdnews24.com. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Stock crash: Muhith admits mistakes". The Independent. Dhaka. 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  17. ^ Juberee, Abdullah (7 September 2012). "Hallmark remarks Muhith offers apology". New Age. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Muhith terms Yunus's remarks totally rubbish". banglanews24.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  19. ^ "Private university students in Dhaka protest VAT on tuition fees". bdnews24.com. 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Universities, not students to pay VAT: Muhith". The Daily Star. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  21. ^ Alam, Shahid (19 September 2016). "Quest for knowing and understanding Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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