Comments about Prof. Abul Barakat's "Fundamentalist Economy" in Bangladesh
Ref: http://www.newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=264604
Thanks for sharing this old piece from Mr. Shah Abdul Halim on Prof. Abul Barakat's paper. As the analysis shows Dr. Barakat has not been thorough in his research work. He has either failed to offer supporting evidences for his claims or has exaggerated numbers for the Islamic sector of the economy. It is really sad to see the level of intellectual bankruptcy from an academic of one of the premier institutes of the country. That says a lot about one's academic preparation and the school one earned degree from.
I remember in the post-liberation period many of my class-mates opting out for an easy degree from the USSR rather than getting a hard-earned university degree from within Bangladesh. Some of these Bangladeshi students in the USSR continued their education beyond the BS/BA degrees to eventually obtain PhD degrees from schools like the Patrice Lumumba University that lack academic credibility, and are known to give 'soft' 'political' degrees to implant their brainwashed 'robots' to creep into important positions of the country that had sent them. No wonder, a classmate of mine, who was considered the worst student (with worst GPA) in my class in cadet college, was the first one amongst his batch mates to earn a PhD from one such USSR university and return home, and obviously holding now a good position in the public sector. I don't know which university did Barakat graduate from in the USSR, but if his research work is one barometer to judge his credibility, I am simply not impressed and am genuinely concerned.
Barakat's sloppy, unsubstantiated, below-standard work has only polarized our community against anything to do with Islam. Worse still, it has given ammo to people with ulterior motives to misuse implications of his work. If he had cooked up numbers deliberately, that would only prove that he is a disingenuous individual with an ulterior motive to unnecessarily create confusion and polarize people against Islam and Muslims. In another work, he falsely claimed that millions of acres of Bangladeshi land belonged to Hindus and that Muslims had grabbed such illegally. Again, he cooked up numbers to make a point around so-called victimization of Hindus. Soon that work was translated into every Indian language and distributed widely by activists of RSS/BJP/HM/Sangha Parivar, fueling much tension against Muslims in India. He was even nominated for awards in India for his 'earth-shattering discoveries', which, he wisely declined to accept.
But fact remains that he discovers 'fundamentalism' where it is absent. One wonders if he is under the payroll of some secular fundamentalist group! Unfortunately, with a secular and almost agnostic media and intellectual cadre behind him, all his sloppy works are treated like Vedic words. It is necessary that biased intellectuals like him are unmasked for their intellectual bankruptcy and catering to foreign interests that breed tension and hatred within our society.
Thanks for sharing this old piece from Mr. Shah Abdul Halim on Prof. Abul Barakat's paper. As the analysis shows Dr. Barakat has not been thorough in his research work. He has either failed to offer supporting evidences for his claims or has exaggerated numbers for the Islamic sector of the economy. It is really sad to see the level of intellectual bankruptcy from an academic of one of the premier institutes of the country. That says a lot about one's academic preparation and the school one earned degree from.
I remember in the post-liberation period many of my class-mates opting out for an easy degree from the USSR rather than getting a hard-earned university degree from within Bangladesh. Some of these Bangladeshi students in the USSR continued their education beyond the BS/BA degrees to eventually obtain PhD degrees from schools like the Patrice Lumumba University that lack academic credibility, and are known to give 'soft' 'political' degrees to implant their brainwashed 'robots' to creep into important positions of the country that had sent them. No wonder, a classmate of mine, who was considered the worst student (with worst GPA) in my class in cadet college, was the first one amongst his batch mates to earn a PhD from one such USSR university and return home, and obviously holding now a good position in the public sector. I don't know which university did Barakat graduate from in the USSR, but if his research work is one barometer to judge his credibility, I am simply not impressed and am genuinely concerned.
Barakat's sloppy, unsubstantiated, below-standard work has only polarized our community against anything to do with Islam. Worse still, it has given ammo to people with ulterior motives to misuse implications of his work. If he had cooked up numbers deliberately, that would only prove that he is a disingenuous individual with an ulterior motive to unnecessarily create confusion and polarize people against Islam and Muslims. In another work, he falsely claimed that millions of acres of Bangladeshi land belonged to Hindus and that Muslims had grabbed such illegally. Again, he cooked up numbers to make a point around so-called victimization of Hindus. Soon that work was translated into every Indian language and distributed widely by activists of RSS/BJP/HM/Sangha Parivar, fueling much tension against Muslims in India. He was even nominated for awards in India for his 'earth-shattering discoveries', which, he wisely declined to accept.
But fact remains that he discovers 'fundamentalism' where it is absent. One wonders if he is under the payroll of some secular fundamentalist group! Unfortunately, with a secular and almost agnostic media and intellectual cadre behind him, all his sloppy works are treated like Vedic words. It is necessary that biased intellectuals like him are unmasked for their intellectual bankruptcy and catering to foreign interests that breed tension and hatred within our society.
Nice Comment. JazakAllahu Khair
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