Poverty: A face of injustice
Says Nobel laureate Amartya Sen at the launch of Prof Rehman Sobhan's new book
Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen (third from left) holds a copy of Prof Rehman Sobhan's new book “Challenging the Injustice of Poverty: Agenda for Inclusive Development in South Asia” at its launching ceremony at Brac Centre Inn in the city yesterday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, and Dr Akbar Ali Khan, among other distinguished personalities, are also seen. Photo: STAR
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen yesterday stressed the need to strike a fine balance between the idea of free market and the views against it, saying that it would be a mistake to consider market as the ultimate truth or simply deny its necessity. Prof Sen shared his views with an audience at the launch of a book by Prof Rehman Sobhan: “Challenging the Injustice of Poverty: Agendas for Inclusive Development in South Asia”. “Market is an economic necessity and there is nothing to be astonished about. But if we consider it as a profound achievement, it will reflect nothing but a lack of our consciousness.” “It will be a mistake to take market as the ultimate truth and brush aside other things. Similarly, it is wrong to think that everything will go well without the market mechanism,” said Sen. Market opens opportunities, but a lot of other things are needed to allow all to enjoy the opportunities, said Sen, citing education, health, and people's purchasing power as examples. “There should be an opportunity to access the market.” He stressed the roles of state, non-governmental organisations and political parties to address these issues. Sobhan, a friend of Sen and also chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), unveiled the book in a packed auditorium of Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka. The author dedicated his book to Amartya Sen, “whose enduring commitment to end poverty and challenge injustice has been an inspiration to all of us”. The 486-page book published by Sage Publications has been priced at Tk 670 for sale in Bangladesh. “Poverty remains endemic across South Asia. In spite of some progress in every country in reducing the proportion of people living below the so-called poverty line, South Asia remains home to the largest concentration of income-poor people across the globe,” he writes. “Income poverty has been compounded by the growth of inequality and the widening of social disparities in every country regardless of its rate of growth and poverty reduction. Poverty and inequality compromise the character of our institutions of governance.” Sobhan argues that persistent poverty and inequality originate from the unfair nature of social order, which effectively excludes the resources and equitable opportunities to participate in development process from the poor. Prof Sen said the book sees poverty as a visage of injustice. "Poverty is not only harmful for some people, but it is also a manifestation of injustice from the social viewpoint. That is why we need to ensure the end of it," he added referring to the book. In the preface of his book, Sobhan writes: “Unless the structural injustices which underline poverty can be corrected, poverty will persist across South Asia.” The author advocated for agrarian reform, market power enhancement for the excluded, and democratisation of educational opportunities. He also favoured policy and institutional interventions to promote structural change. According to Sobhan, as globalisation widens the market opportunities for both agricultural products and manufacturers of the developing world, little of its benefits percolate to the poor. “Today, for example, rapidly expanding global market for garments has opened up opportunities for the textile and garment manufacturers of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who between them have exported $45.32 billion in this sector in 2006, which comes to 8.6 percent of global exports. Yet, the small cotton growers of India and Pakistan or the young women working in the garment factories of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka hardly share in the rewards from the growth of this market.” "It's a great book," said Finance Minister AMA Muhith, sharing his observation about the publication. He said he liked Sobhan's suggestions on financial policy for inclusiveness. Former caretaker government advisers Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud and Akbar Ali Khan, Prof SR Osmani of University of Ulster, UK, Dr Binayak Sen, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, and Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman also spoke. M Syeduzzaman, former finance minister and member of CPD's board of trustees, chaired the programme.
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