Biography

 

Professor Dr. M. Shamsul Huq

 (BAAS President: 1985-1988)

 

Professor Dr. M. Shamsul Huq was born on 1st June 1926  at Pasha, Laksam, Comilla, Bangladesh. He obtained B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. in Physics from Dhaka University. He also obtained MS in Physics from University of McGill, Montreal, Canada and received  Ph.D. in Physics from Leeds University, UK.

Professor Huq started his career as a Lecturer in Physics and became Professor of Applied Physics & Electronics Department of Dhaka University. He was the Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University from 17th August 1983 to 12th January 1986 and was the Chairman of University Grants Commission of Bangladesh from 1992 to 1995. He is also the founder of „Physics Department‟ at Chittagong University and „Applied Physics and Electronics Department‟ in Dhaka University. His fields of specialization were electronics, nuclear physics and bio-physics.

Professor Huq was the President of Bangladesh Electronics Society Bangladesh Physical Society. He was the recipient of the Sher-E-Bangla National Memorial Medal.

Professor M. S. Huq expired in 12th September 2005.

 

Presidential Address

2 March 1986

 

Science for National Development and Progress

  

Honourable Chief Guest;

Distinguish Delegates from Home and Abroad; Ladies and Gentleman,

 

I welcome you all to the Eleventh Annual Conference BAAS on my own behalf and on behalf of the council members of BAAS.

 

Today it may sound strange to many of you if I say that a few centuries ago Bangladesh was a land of plenty. With stores full of paddy, tanks with fish and cow-sheds with cattle, people were more or less happy. Over one hundred vessels were annually loaded in the port of Bengal with cargoes like rice, sugar, fats, oils, wax, and fine fabrics like „Muslin‟. In those days Adams were tillers and Eves were spinners. That was the golden age of Bengal. This attracted many foreign traders and invaders who plundered the wealth of the country and foreign domination was imposed on us. The situation changed rapidly. The artisans were discouraged and harassed. The fingers of weavers were chopped off so that they could not weave fine clothes any more. The Dark Age started. By twentieth century the country has been obliged to import every item it exported two or three centuries ago.

 

In the meantime industrial revolution took place in Europe. The steam power supplemented the muscle power. This increased output many fold in the case of existing industries and helped in setting up new industries. Colonies served as the ready market.

Bangladesh was no exception. Our indigenous industries were gagged on the one hand and on the other hand new technologies were kept out of our reach. The old method of cultivation remains as the only source of production. As a result the economic condition deteriorated very rapidly. The situation further worsened due to population. It is going at an alarming rate.

 

Now the colonial powers are gone. The country is left to ourselves. We have too many hungry mouths to feed. We are to provide them with shelter, health care and education. But how to do it? Responsibility is squarely placed on our shoulders.

 

Every year when our budget session comes, our man in the finance ministry start moving from country to country and door to door asking for aid or grant to supplement our national income and to present before the nation a tolerably acceptable budget. But the question is how long we will go on begging? And how long we will shelve the problem? We are to face it right now. Further delay will lead us to sure destruction. But the big question is how to solve the problem? Is the barrier insurmountable?

 

Let us look to the countries like Korea, Taiwan, Thailand whose economic conditions three or four decades ago were no way better than those of ours. During this period while we were rapidly sliding down they were steadily going up. What magic wand they have in their hand, the touch of which turned stone into gold? It is nothing but science and technology coupled with managerial skill, which worked the wonders.

 

The mere knowledge of Science and even invention of one thing or another are not good enough for development of any kind. The classical examples are the inventions of gunpowder, printing and compass. They were originally invented by the Chinese. But they did not put them to use. Several hundred years later, the Europeans learned the skill from China, They put them use and further developed them. Gunpowder gave them power to conquer and dominate others. Printing helped them in spreading education and the compass enabled them to navigate safely, thus making it possible to discover continents and explore the world. This exemplifies the curious gap between acquiring knowledge or a skill and the will to use it for the benefit of the society.

 

There is no short cut to progress. The advanced countries are advanced simply because they derived the benefit from the use of Science and Technology. They have been doing so for almost three centuries. With the adoption of science for their national progress, the developed countries cultivated science very seriously and did everything possible for the progress of science itself.

 

Whether one is from east or west north or south, one cannot help being dazzled by the tremendous scientific and technological achievement in our century. Almost in every major field of Natural Science we have witnessed useful discoveries, brilliant new theories resulting in the expansion of the horizon of the man‟s understanding of the nature. Not only one observed nature today in more detail but also from a different perspective. In the process, the proliferation of knowledge in the sciences may exceed all conceivable limits in the next few decades.

 

Along with the advances of knowledge in the sciences, there have been an immense increases in the magnitude and sophistication of technological capabilities. In the past, Science and Technology developed almost independently. Many fundamental scientific discoveries appeared to have no relevance to practical life, while technological innovation often did not have any dependence on theoretical science. But today almost every scientific discovery serves as the seedbed of new industry. The technological transformation of knowledge into usable product has become a swift and a common process. This happy marriage of Science and Technology holds enormous potential for increasing human productivity and for extending man‟s power to control and to use his natural and social environment. Here I may add a word of caution to those who raise slogans claiming more usefulness of the technologists over general scientist in the technological advancement of the country. If that is accepted then they will build an edifice over shaky foundation, which is sure to collapse. There should be full cooperation of scientist and technologist in the field and factories, in the class room and laboratories for the sake of balanced and useful development.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I suppose there is no need overemphasizing the theme of Science for “National Development and Progress”. This awareness is there. Not only in the meetings of scientific community this topic is discussed, but also our rulers and planners highlight this issue of using Science for national development in their public announcement and private discussions. Even then nothing is materialized. Science has not been taken in right earnest for national development. The idea has not taken a root in our soil. The main reason for this is our failure to germinate the „scientific attitude‟ in our society whereas this attitude became an article of faith in the western Society as early as 15th century. Alfred N. Whitehead describes this mentality as a „vehement and passionate interest in the relation of general principles to irreducible and stubborn facts‟. This change of mentality, however, has been a recognized phenomenon of western civilization through out the modern period. Intellectuals of the past were aware of it and the bourgeoisie and the urban worker lived with it. Philosophers re- interpreted ancient philosophies to accommodate the idea of change and they developed their own philosophies of change and progress. If we are to use the science for development, to begin with we are to work to change the attitude of our society as a whole. A scientific attitude is a pre-requisite for development and progress and for having a scientific-technological society.

 

Even within our limited resources the universities have produced quite a good number of science and technical graduates. Most of them are not suitably employed. Some of them are unemployed or underemployed or they are obliged to take up jobs in the banks or other institutions where their knowledge of Science is not utilized at all. There is brain drain too. Some polytechnic graduates are also out of job. These I have mentioned only to point out that due importance is not given to the utilization of science and technology for development and progress of the country. Had it been done there would have been a dearth of Science and Technical graduates in the country rather than surplus. Here comes the question of planning and political well. If we decide to industrialize and want to set up industries one has to decide what industry and how many of them we want to set up. If it is chemical industry, then how many chemists and chemical engineers we shall need in the next five year period is to be decided and the Universities are to be told accordingly to produce the requisite number. If it is a food industry one has to know how many biochemists and chemists and other relevant persons will be needed to run the same. Same will be the case with other industries as well. That means the planners have to do the manpower planning along with industrial planning. Planning is to be done in totality with the aim of using science for the benefit of the society as a whole.

 

Respected Delegates,

We have our own responsibility in establishing a scientific society. No doubt we produce science and technical graduates from our Universities and Colleges. But do we prepare these graduates to take up leadership in establishing a scientific society, to help the society in changing its attitude? Do we psychologically and mentally prepare these graduates for independent thinking and creative activities? There is a serious gap between helping the students in memorizing the text book and fostering independent thinking and creativity among them.

 

The degree certificates awarded to the students are treated as passport for entering the job market, be it in a scientific organization or in a bank or in an administrative set-up. As the number of jobs is limited there is the problem of unemployment. If the unemployed person was prepared for creative activity he could employ himself. In other words, he could be an entrepreneur, could employ himself and could employ others as well. Here I can cite a small example. Three/four years back six boys from the department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Dhaka University, who called themselves hardy six, set up a small workshop to repair, maintain and assemble electronic equipment all by themselves. Since then they have been doing that. I congratulated them for taking such a venture and encouraged them to go ahead. I do not say that they are very successful in their effort. Even if they had failed, I would have no hesitation in saying that they took a step, however small, in the right direction. Success or failure in such an effort depends on the environment we live in. It is for the government to see that such ventures succeed by granting bank loans, issuing permits for importing components whenever required. Thus all of us share responsibility in developing our younger generation to take up the leadership.

 

In addition to technical universities we have setup certain departments in some general universities to teach technical subject like Applied Physics and Electronics, Applied Chemistry, Pharmacy, Microbiology etc. Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Centre for Renewable Energy Research, Semi-conductor Research, Biotechnology etc have been established with a view of keeping pace with the modern advancement in Science and Technology and to supply required manpower for the development of the country. The importance of the subjects mentioned above cannot be over emphasized. For example, if we want to have electronics industry or an assembling plant we should have readymade manpower at our disposal. Biotechnology is another subject which has got tremendous future. If properly developed it can bring revolution in food production, health care and in other biological activities. So is the case with other subjects as well.

 

In the universities we have our limitation. Financial constraint is one of the major hurdles. Libraries and laboratories are not properly equipped. Large enrolments, poor pay of the teachers are some of the factors which contribute to the poor performance of the universities in technical manpower development. The serious deterioration of the academic environment due to lack of discipline, political interference and erosion of higher social values adds to cause the lowering of the academic standard. Remedy for these factors is urgently needed.

 

The scientists in the organization like Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) etc are struggling hard to maintain their standard and doing some useful research. They also suffer from financial constraints. They also need encouragement and support.

 

Even with these limitations we can claim to maintain a certain standard. With a little push from our planners and rulers we can go a long way in achieving the desired goal.

 

Honorable Guests,

We are all convinced that there is no alternative to science and technology for development and progress. A modern state can only neglect science at its own peril. In order to use science for socio- economic development of the country we are to take up appropriate step for the development of adequate and suitable scientific and technical manpower. As I have already mentioned that the manpower planning and the industrial planning must go hand in hand. When I said industry I have no intension of omitting agriculture. Agriculture itself can be treated as an outstanding industry in the country and in addition to that agro-based industry is quite relevant to our situation. Once decision is taken regarding  a particular industry, requisition may be given to the educational institutions to produce the necessary manpower. For every factory or farm we need a critical manpower depending on its size and type. This manpower consists of middle level technicians,

technical graduate and scientists. While technical personnel will keep the industry running and will meet the day to day requirements, the Scientist will follow and professionally participate in frontier research. The obvious reason for that is that every now and then there are major breakthroughs in Scientific and Technological world. Even if we start an industry with most modern equipment and formula it may become outdated in no time due to some newer innovation or formulation abroad. Scientists are to keep abreast with all modern developments in other countries and to feed the industries concerned accordingly. Talented manpower will help in absorbing and adapting new technologies to our system. We know that knowledge of science is freely available and can be readily absorbed. But technology is not free. We are to pay heavily for getting technology and also technological product. To reduce the financial drainage and technological dependence we are to develop indigenous technological capability. To develop such a capability we need scientific knowledge base. Here the scientists and technologists can contribute more.

 

Now it is clear that in giving a solid scientific base to the society the Scientist and Technologists need to play the major role. In order to do so, they also have to have an environment conducive to their work. They require to have laboratory and library facilities. They are to have incentives in the form of higher salaries and allowances, good accommodation, recreational facilities and above all social recognition.

 

Ladies and Gentleman,

I do not like to take any more of your time. During this five days conference you will hear much more about the theme of the conference “Science for National Development and Progress” in concrete and absolute terms. In conclusion I can only say that in achieving the goal first we are to have motivation for having a society based on science. In order to do so we need committed political will, sound planning and devoted scientific and technical manpower. We hear much about the establishment of societies based on rightist philosophy or leftist philosophy. People may give verdict in favor of one or the other. But to my mind it appears that none will thrive unless a society is based on science. Then our aim ought to be to establish a society based on science and work for it and our slogan will be for a “Science and Technology based Society”.

 

Thanking you very much for your patient hearing.

Thank you all.