DHAKA, April 9, 2022 (BSS) - Eminent economist Professor Rehman Sobhan's
memoir titled "Untranquil Recollections: Political Economy of Nation Building
in Post-Liberation Bangladesh", was launched today.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and The University Press Limited (UPL)
jointly organized an event marking the launching of the volume which has been
published by UPL.

"Untranquil Recollections: Political Economy of Nation Building in Post-
Liberation Bangladesh" is the second volume in the Untranquil Recollections
series.

The author mentions in the Preface that this volume is "a memoir of an
activist who was himself a part of the historical process".

This volume captures the unique challenges faced by Bangladesh in the years
immediately after liberation war, when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to his homeland and assumed the responsibility
as the head of the government, said a press release.

Professor Sobhan sheds light on many challenges that the war-devastated
country was confronted while establishing new institutions from the ground
up.

The newly set up Planning Commission of Bangladesh, of which Professor Sobhan
was an integral part and a key member, was entrusted with the
responsibilities of providing guidelines to Bangabandhu in laying the
foundations of a socialist economy in Bangladesh.

The book provides a frame narrative as to how the Planning Commission dealt
with policy issues, how the political economy played the cut, how the first
Five-Year Plan was formulated, and how foreign relationships were built, till
the time of the killing of Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975.

The book is divided in 16 chapters featuring various phases of Professor
Sobhan's life till 1975.

Professor Rounaq Jahan, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, moderated the launching
event.

Dr Kamal Hossain, Former Law and Foreign Minister, joined the event as the
special guest. M Syeduzzaman, Former Finance Minister and Planning Secretary
and Member, CPD Board of Trustees, chaired the event.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, the author of the book and founding Chairman of CPD,
recalled some of his practical experiences and obstacles that he and the
Planning Commission faced, and how Bangabandhu guided them and provided them
with political support.

He stated that Bangabandhu was the architect of the policies in the newly
emerged country, and they tried to implement his directives.

Mahrukh Mohiuddin, Managing Director, UPL, Professor Mustafizur Rahman,
Distinguished Fellow, CPD, Professor Abdul Bayes, Former Vice Chancellor and
Professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University, and Former
Director, Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC, Dr Ahrar Ahmad, Director
General of Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Bidyapeeth, Professor Habibul Haque
Khondker, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zayed
University, Dr Meghna Guhathakurta, Executive Director, Research Initiatives,
Bangladesh (RIB), Mahfuz Anam, Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star spoke,
among others, on the occasion.