[Attachment(s) from Nazir Ahmed [email protected] [dahuk] included below] Is Prof. Amartya Sen a Nobel Laureate? Barrister Nazir Ahmed The world in general and the Indian subcontinent in particular know that Professor Amartya Kumar Sen (Hereinafter “Professor Amartya Sen”), a world renowned economist of Indian origin, won the Nobel Prize in Economics. This is a particular belief held by, and common knowledge among, at least 99% of the people of Bangladesh and India. When we talk about or when the media reports on the Nobel Laureates of the Subcontinent, Professor Amartya Sen’s name comes up automatically. It is common knowledge in Bangladesh and West Bengal in India that three Bangalees have won a Nobel Prize so far: great poet Rabindranath Tagore, Professor Amartya Sen and Professor Muhammad Yunus (Hereinafter “Professor Yunus). That means people tend to equate Professor Amartya Sen’s Prize with that of Poet Robindranath Tagore and Professor Yunus. Is it really the case? Is the Nobel Prize given in Economics? Was the Economics one of the areas, one of the purposes for which funds were bequeathed by Alfred Bernhard Nobel (hereinafter “Alfred Nobel”)? We shall try to explore these questions in this article. Let us make it clear that we do not have any intention at all of disrespecting or undermining Professor Amartya Sen in any way. In fact, we have the utmost respect for and honour him. Professor Sen is a world renowned economist in his own right. He had an outstanding academic and professional career. He was educated at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, where he did his first undergraduate degree, and then at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he did his second undergraduate degree, MA and PhD. He taught at the world’s leading and prestigious universities including Oxford, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the LSE (London School of Economics). He authorised many books and published numerous research papers in the world’s leading journals. He received dozens of prestigious national and international awards and honours. He was born in Manikganj – at that time it was British India, but now this is a District in Bangladesh. Professor Amartya Sen is a native Bengali speaker. Therefore, we feel proud of him. However, our aim is to disseminate accurate, correct and authentic information so that the mass people in general and the people of Bangladesh are not misled, misdirected and misbelieved. The current Bangladeshi Government appears to have exaggerated in appreciating Professor Amartya Sen while downgrading its own Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus. This is ridiculous. Professor Amartya Sen was brought to the Bangla Academy’s Book Fair as a Special Guest a few years ago. He was given the most cordial and most widely publicised reception as a Nobel Laureate. The Government and the country’s entire media portrayed him as a Nobel Laureate in Economics. Giving respect to a world-renowned economist is a very good thing. We do not have any objection to this at all. But my question is: what loss or harm would the country have suffered if our own Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus, the first and only Nobel Laureate in our country’s history, was invited as a Special Guest as well? Why did the Government show the narrow mindedness? The Government has not been respecting and giving due honour to our only Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus. In fact, the Government appears to have taken each and every opportunity to disrespect and demonise Professor Yunus. This is very unfortunate. It is worth remembering that to get respect from others, respect needs to be given to others. It is a reciprocal responsibility/phenomenon. Nobel Prizes are awarded annually for specific purposes from a fund bequeathed by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the world. In the Will he drafted in 1895, Alfred Nobel instructed that most of his fortune be set aside as a fund for the awarding of five annual prizes “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” The prizes, as established by the terms of his Will, are the Nobel Prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. The first distribution of the prizes took place on 10th December 1901, the Fifth Anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. Economics was neither intended to have its own prize, nor was it in the Will drafted by Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is, officially, Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It is commonly (though many believe erroneously) referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, and as a category of the Nobel Prize by the Nobel Foundation itself, which owns the trade name Nobel Prize.” It is, in fact, an additional award called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden and was first awarded in 1969. It is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, and generally regarded as the most prestigious award within that field. However, it is not one of the original Nobel Prizes created under the terms of the Will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, but instead was established 73 years later by Swedens Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, which made a donation to the Foundation to mark the occasion of the Banks 300th anniversary. It was first awarded in 1969 to the Dutch and Norwegian economists Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch, for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes. Until 2009, all laureates in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel had been men. In 2009, Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to be awarded the prize. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded 46 times to 70 Laureates between 1969 and 2014. The winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are announced on the same day as other Nobel Prize winners and receive the award at the same ceremony. The nomination process, selection criteria, and awards presentation of the Prize in Economic Sciences are performed in a manner similar to that of the Nobel Prizes. Like the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry and Physics, Laureates in Economics are selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a Prize Committee similar to the Nobel Committees is used. This is why people get easily confused and misunderstood. Some critics argue that the prestige of the Prize in Economics derives in part from its association with the Nobel Prizes, an association that has often been a source of controversy. Among the critics is the Swedish human rights lawyer Peter Nobel, a great-grandson of Ludvig Nobel. Nobel criticizes the awarding institution of misusing his familys name, and states that no member of the Nobel family has ever had the intention of establishing a prize in economics. In his speech at the 1974 Nobel Prize banquet Friedrich Hayek stated that had he been consulted on the establishment of a Nobel Prize in economics, he would have decidedly advised against it. Finally, Great Poet Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first and only (till now) Bengali person to receive this award. Professor Yunus won the Nobel Prize in Peace. He is again the first and only Bengali person to receive this award. These two categories – Literature and Peace – are among the five original prizes created by the terms of the Will of Alfred Nobel. Professor Amartya Sen won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his outstanding contributions to the field of economics. It was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden. Although it is generally regarded as the most prestigious award within that field, it is not one of the original Nobel Prizes created by the Will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. In fact, it was established 73 years later by Swedens Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, on the occasion of the Banks 300th anniversary with a donation to the Foundation. We should understand this and distinguish one from the other accordingly. We fully respect and honour Professor Amartya Sen for his outstanding achievements. Those who exaggerate should know that it would not go well with a person of Professor Amartya Sen’s stature. Even Professor Amartya Sen does not claim in his biography and life history that he is a Nobel Laureate. Rather, it is written in his biography, website and other credentials that he won the “Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1998).” Barrister Nazir Ahmed: Legal expert, analyst, writer and columnist. He can be contacted via e-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 04:37:48 +0000
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