In the earliest stages of a free Bangladesh, Tajuddin Ahmad made his views on the World Bank publicly known. The new country, having emerged to freedom through a tortuous War of Liberation, needed to find the way to the future on its own. That was Tajuddin's conviction. On a visit to Delhi for a conference in February 1972, as Bangladesh's finance minister and having been the nation's wartime prime minister, Tajuddin Ahmad was unwilling to meet Robert McNamara, the president of the World Bank who also happened to be there. It was Tajuddin's view that since McNamara had been a leading architect of American prosecution of the Vietnam War, it was inconceivable that Bangladesh should have any dealings with him. On a more fundamental assessment, he believed that since socialism was one of the four principles, enunciated in the countries constitution at the behest of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, underpinning the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the new country would need to chart its distinctive path to social and economic progress.
But that was not to be. By October 1974, Tajuddin Ahmad found himself in Washington seeking a meeting with Robert McNamara. In dire economic straits, Bangladesh was in need of World Bank assistance. It became part of the global lending agency's operational system. In the past forty two years, the World Bank has been, to use the euphemism, been an active development partner in Bangladesh's endeavours toward social progress. There have been all the happy prospects of cooperation, the prospects often being translated into reality. And then, of course, there have been the hiccups too. The uproar caused by the Bank's decision a few years ago to suspend promised aid to Bangladesh for the construction of the Padma Bridge, on grounds of allegations relating to a conspiracy involving bribery on the part of certain individuals in highly placed positions in the Bangladesh administration.
No degree of protest or denial by the Bangladesh government, from the prime minister to the finance minister to indeed anyone who mattered, could convince the WB authorities that the allegations were misplaced, were false and that no corruption was involved in the Padma Bridge project. The World Bank persisted in its stance, in the end leaving the government with little choice other than showing Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain the door, sending Economic Affairs Advisor Mashiur Rahman on leave and removing the secretary of the relevant ministry.
Meanwhile, legal proceedings were initiated in Canada on the bribery allegations. An entire Bangladesh government and indeed an entire nation, were left coping with the embarrassment. Abroad, the allegations of corruption in the Padma Bridge project made headlines. At home, loud voices were raised from all corners, savaging the government over the alleged role of its functionaries in the affair.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, came the judgment of the Ontario Superior Court. Its findings were simple. The whole case, noted Ian Nordheim, had been based on rumour and gossip. With that pronouncement, the government and the people of Bangladesh stood vindicated in their stand --- that there had been no conspiracy, that all allegations of attempted bribery and perceived corruption had been aimed at humiliating the country.
Responses to World Bank move on Padma Bridge
For purposes of the record, of who said what when the allegations of the World Bank surfaced, we present to our readers, to citizens concerned about the state of the nation, a gist of the statements and sentiments arising out of the corruption allegations raised by the World Bank over the Padma Bridge project.
In the opinion of BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the move by the World Bank was proof of the 'corruption of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members.' Noting that it was for the first time since the emergence of Bangladesh that the Bank had suspended funding for a development project on corruption allegations, the BNP chief made it known that the fate of the Padma Bridge project was uncertain for sure.
The BNP's secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was not far behind his party chief on the issue. In his comments on the resignation of Syed Abul Hossain from the cabinet, he asserted that it 'proves corruption in the Padma Bridge project. Mirza Alamgur was emphatic in his opinion that had the minister resigned as soon as the WB came forward with its allegations, funding for the Padma Bridge would not be cancelled. There were 'many others', he said, involved in the affair and warned that 'if this government does not investigate this, the BNP will do it once it comes to power.'
Apart from the political opposition, the country's civil society was pretty vocal in its view that corruption over the Padma Bridge had indeed corroded the image of the country. Akbar Ali Khan, who has served as an advisor in a caretaker government, made it clear that in light of the corruption allegations, any lending agency in future would be suspicious vis-?-vis corruption in Bangladesh in the matter of a financing of new development projects. Khan noted that the resignation of Minister Syed Abul Hossain had come too late, but he did believe that if the resignation had been late in coming, the government was in a position to exert some pressure on the World Bank (on the need for a release of funds for the Padma Bridge).
In the opinion of Hafizuddin Khan, another former advisor to a caretaker government, 'the incident has tarnished the country's image and there might be a problem in getting foreign aid in future if the government does not look into (the allegations) seriously.' If the allegations were proved, said Hafizuddin Khan, the government would need to conduct a thorough investigation and hand out exemplary punishment to those involved.
Imtiaz Ahmed, a leading commentator on strategic issues and a teacher in the Department of International Relations of Dhaka University, stated that the WB's allegations had created an image crisis for the country. If the government did not take effective measures against corruption, he noted, there would certainly be some impact on foreign aid coming into the country.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, a leading light of the civil society platform Shujon, was more emphatic in his assessment of the situation. In his view, the WB's allegations were 'another example of corruption pulling us behind and retarding the pace of national progress.' He demanded that those involved in corruption in the Padma Bridge project be properly punished.
In the opinion of ASM Shahjahan, another former caretaker government advisor and former inspector general of police, there was a need for the government and the World Bank to engage with each other over the issue. 'The government,' said Shahjahan, 'should not think of the World Bank as its rival. We should rather bear it in mind that the relationship between the two parties does not get affected.'
Former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, chief of Bikalpadhara, was certain that the resignation of Syed Abul Hossain was proof that the graft allegations made by the World Bank had been correct. However, he did express the hope that the 'World Bank will reconsider the cancellation so that the bridge can be built without further delay.'
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haque Inu, now Minister for Information, felt that Syed Abul Hossain's resignation was a belated one and it would have been 'better for him and the nation if he had resigned earlier.' In his response to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's praise of Abul Hossain as a patriot, Inu noted that only the people were in a position to certify whether or not a political leader was a patriot.
In his reaction to the minister's resignation, Manjurul Ahsan Khan, President of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) thought it would 'now be easier to probe the allegations of corruption.'
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said the resignation of the minister might end up as being too little and too late. 'It should have happened several months ago when the World Bank brought the allegations of corruption,' he stated. Urging the WB to consider reopening negotiations with the Bangladesh government over the financing of the Padma Bridge project, the TIB official added that the government needed to demonstrate its commitment to handling corruption with a heavy hand.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convenor of Nagorik Oikyo, was disturbed by the prime minister's characterization of Syed Abul Hossain as a patriot and that too while she was in London on a visit. If the former communications minister possessed any courage, he would have submitted his resignation when the corruption allegations were first laid at his door, said Manna. The Nagorik Oikyo leader wondered why the prime minister did not similarly describe Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj as a patriot when he quit the government and followed it up by his resignation from parliament.
Abdul Kader Siddiqui, chief of Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League, in his response to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's comments on Abul Hossain's resignation, said that the people of Bangladesh had not expected them from the head of government. 'Her comments', said Siddiqui, 'show a lack of accountability in our democracy.'
In an article in a newspaper, Ali Imam Majumdar, a former civil servant, was critical of the Anti-Corruption Commission over its failure to investigate the allegations made by the World Bank. Had the ACC played its due role, wrote Majumdar, the WB would not have pulled out of the funding.
Communications between Bangladesh government and World Bank
For its part, the government if Bangladesh took a number of moves to engage positively with the World Bank on the Padma Bridge issue. At the same time, such leading figures in the government as Finance Minister AMA Muhith did not fail to notice the impediments the WB had put up over the issue. Muhith, in a session of parliament, publicly let it be known that (then) World Bank President Robert Zoellick had not taken into cognizance any of Bangladesh's proposals to put an end to the stalemate.
In a move clearly aimed at keeping the nation in the loop over the entire Padma Bridge-World Bank affair, the government released in the public domain a series of letters exchanged between it and the Bank on the issue. Iqbal Mahmood, senior secretary in the Economic Relations Division, noted that the WB President for South Asia had informed Finance Minister Muhith that the WB would resume funding the Padma Bridge project if two officials and the communications minister were moved out of their positions in the government. In response, the government assured the global lender that action would be taken against those allegedly involved in corruption.
The finance minister, whose office released the letters of the Bangladesh government to the WB, noted that Dhaka had 'refrained from disclosing the letters from the World Bank' since it was waiting for the global lender 'to reconsider its decision and also for the sake of the on-going ACC probe.'
In his letter to Robert Zoellick, dated 18 October 2011, Finance Minister Muhith assured him that Bangladesh would act promptly on the allegations raised by the WB's Integrity Vice Presidency. Dhaka expected the WB's cooperation in resolving the matter quickly.
In another letter to Zoellick, on 12 June 2012, the finance minister informed him that the government was ready to have external experts associated in providing assistance and advice in the process of investigations. The suggestion was made in line with the proposal of the World Bank itself.
On 26 June 2012, Secretary Iqbal Mahmood, writing to Isabel M. Guerrero, WB Vice President for South Asia, said that existing laws relating to the operations of the Anti-Corruption Commission precluded any involvement by any agency in the inquiry process of the ACC. However, the ACC was agreeable to extending its full support to the WB through giving it full access to all materials, documents and other information collected by the ACC in accordance with rules.
On 28 June 2012, in a last-ditch attempt to arrive at a solution, Iqbal Mahmood informed Isabel Guerrero of the prime minister's move to reshuffle the cabinet 'to adjust the portfolios to meet the Bank's demand.' The three-page letter noted, 'As there is no time to be lost and the matter is one of life and death to our people, and since it seems to me that there has developed distrust between the two parties, I shall be candid and perhaps more blunt than is normal.'
The next day, 29 June 2012, Iqbal wrote again to Guerrero to inform her that the government had agreed to take action against all individuals believed or alleged to have been involved in corruption in the Padma Bridge project on the basis of the inquiry and recommendations of the ACC. The government, he told the World bank official had agreed to accept the Bank's three-member expert panel as also the terms of reference for the panel.
In a clear move aimed at seeing the back of Minister Syed Abul Hossain, the World Bank suggested a freeze of the bank accounts of Syed Abul Hossain. ACC Chairman Ghulam Rahman made the disclosure at a news conference.
The World Bank persisted in its allegations of graft in the Padma Bridge project and vowed that no funding for the bridge was forthcoming from it if the government did not act against those the Bank wanted removed from their positions.
Finance Minister Muhith at that point dismissed the WB's allegations of graft, describing them as frivolous. The project, he told the media, was clean and transparent.
