Remembering Salahuddin Ahmed, a mentor and friend
Bangladesh's former Attorney General, Salahuddin Ahmed, my teacher, colleague, and mentor, passed away in Dhaka in the early hours of September 21. While I have lived abroad for the last 48 years, Sal B, as we fondly called him, and I have been in touch through thick and thin, and the credit goes to him. His evergreen personality and likeability, which shone through his strong sense of discipline and forthrightness, were a big draw for my wife Rumi and me.
In my book—A Fairy Tale: Autobiographical Stories—written three years ago, I mentioned him as "one of my teachers, whom I have now known for almost half a century, and now proudly call my friend, is Salahuddin Ahmed". Those who knew him only as a lawyer probably missed the charming versatility of this brilliant man.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Sal B became our teacher at the economics department of Dhaka University (DU) after the independence. He taught us microeconomics (paper I) in honours in 1972-73. After I joined the same department as a lecturer, he and I bonded socially and intellectually. I went to his wedding in May 1977 as part of a bridal procession from Dhaka to Chattogram, and he was in my wedding a few months later.
I have many stories to share, but I will recount only two here.
Once during his lecture, I sneaked out of the classroom through the rear exit. I was my father's chauffeur, and I would take him to the Supreme Court every morning after my class was over. One morning, the class went past the hour, and I left without permission. Sal B noticed but said nothing to me, but later told the classroom, "Please ask him to see me in my office". I went to him after dropping off my father at his workplace and explained, he was sympathetic and did not hold it against me. He even helped me during my BA exams in December 1973. He was a proctor for paper I, and while passing by my desk, he asked me how many questions I had already answered. When I informed him that I was still working on my first one and almost two hours had already passed, he advised me to keep an eye on my watch and finish all five questions on time!
After we became colleagues, he also became my friend, and I would frequently visit his house on Larmini Street, where he'd entertain us by playing the sitar, which he learned as a student of Ustad Abid Hussain Khan. Of course, we'd occasionally have sumptuous meals thanks to the hospitality of his gregarious family, including his two younger brothers (Sayeed and Shahid) and four younger sisters (Nasreen, Saeeda, Zakia and Shahin). We did not see much of his elder sister, Niloo, who was married to Kafiluddin Mahmud. Sal B was my companion when I went to the party in Mohammadpur, where I met Rumi, my would-be wife, for the first time. He was a source of guidance during my year-long romantic relationship and helped finance my wedding and subsequent trip to the US for higher studies.
Over the years, I followed his career in Bangladesh, as an attorney, in the government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and academia. He served first as additional attorney general, and then as the attorney general during the caretaker government of 2007-2009. Then he became the managing director of Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (Kafco). After that, he became the head of the Department of Law and director of the Law School at the University of Asia Pacific.
He had a career that only a few can imagine. However, his humility was his shining armour. When asked by the media, Sal B, while serving the caretaker government, said: "At the moment, this is a job with great responsibility. Due to the present political situation, it would be more difficult than before to discharge the responsibility. Time will say whether I will be able to perform the duties."
During a casual conversation, I once asked him about the experience in the caretaker government, and pressed him to share some tidbits. He confided, "Once we were before a High Court bench, and the attorney general's office was tasked to engage the court until we had all the ducks in a row lined up. So, as the additional attorney general, I had to stand there and address the court for a non-stop twenty-four hours!" I congratulated him on his successful filibuster tactic.
He was the eldest son of Sultanuddin Ahmed, former governor of East Pakistan. He had his higher education in the UK, a BA from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MA from the University of London, and passed the last civil service examination of Pakistan in 1970 with distinction. However, after independence, he chose to teach at DU. And then, regardless of his enormous popularity at DU, he went ahead to join the UNDP, Dhaka. After a two-year stint there, he became a lawyer at Kamal Hossain & Associates in 1980 and earned an LLM from Columbia University. When he resigned as attorney general after the Awami League assumed power in 2009, Sal B was appointed as the chief executive officer (MD) of KAFCO, where he was on the board of directors. He finally came back to academia in 2017, and appeared to be very glad when Jamilur Reza Choudhury invited him to join UAP.
He was buried in Azimpur Graveyard in his father's final resting place. He is survived by his widow, Selina, two sons and a daughter, and their spouses and children.
As Dr Shahdin Malik said in a tribute in Prothom Alo, "To my knowledge, Salahuddin Ahmed is the only person with degrees in two different disciplines (economy and law) from the world's top two academic institutions". I might add that he was a brilliant individual with diverse interests, and he was my hero.
Dr Abdullah Shibli is an economist and employed at a nonprofit financial intermediary in the US. He previously worked for the World Bank and Harvard University.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.
Comments