[Below is a speech that I wrote and my wife Sohana delivered at her Ex-Dhaka University Students reunion in Silver Spring, Maryland]

It was less then 300 years back that the Moguls called the land of Bangala "The Paradise of the Nations" for her trade, plentiful produce and good governance. Unfortunately, BanglaDesh since the English colonial times, has deviated from the course of rule of law which it had followed since the ancient times. Many of us gathered here have been the victims of this lack of good governance or corruption. But does corrupt situation facing Bangla make us exempt from our responsibilities to the land that sustained and educated us? I answer a resounding NO! I say we owe much to this land as her corruption to a great degree is a legacy of the colonial times and this country with her little resources has invested on our own advancement in terms of our education. So it is logical that we invest back to BanglaDesh or help her in her economic emancipation which will also help her in ensuring good governance and a better future for her people.

A little background:

When the English finally left Bangla after 200 years of exploitation, plundering and colonization, they left behind a group of colonial minded people like the Khan Bahadurs or Rai Bahadurs who always felt subservient(second class) to the ruling colonialists and did everything to appease or benefit the colonialist. So after becoming rulers themselves in 1947, they continued with implementing solutions for the country which benefited their ex-colonial masters more than doing much for their own populace. Subtle manipulations were (and still is) carried out from the outside with the help of the World Bank, IMF or the multi-nationals so ex-colonial masters could keep a hegemony on their ex-colonies.

This type of exploitation model kept a corrupt ruling body as rulers while average folks suffered massive corruption, lawlessness and a general sense of hopelessness or in general--bad governance. For Example, the colonialist minded ruling body decided to build roads without preserving Bangla's water resources. Rather than dredging the rivers which worked as the best river-highway system in the world, they spent precious money on elevated roadways which later caused floods in areas which seldom saw floods before. Roads also could not be well maintained on the riverine landscape. These colonial minds never understood the strength of their own country or their own people's innovative skills while they imported foreign innovations. Rather then making local technological innovation in river transportation systems, (and becoming a world leader in that aspect of technology) they imported cars and buses, from the West and Japan to ply these roads, as part of a new aid package from ex-colonial countries. Ruling body implemented "depended economy" philosophy where individual entrepreneurship was not encouraged as that would interfere with the annual aid receiving ceremony and which effectively destroyed any chances of industrial growth or innovation. And so, the best educational institutions of the country graduated the best students in disciplined subjects yet these students were unable to secure jobs in their own country and had to migrate to the West as intellectual 'coolies'!

"Khan Bahadur" types later switched their titles with new ones of CSP's, EPCS or BCS and more recently with titles like Coti Pothe or Generals or Consultants. The system caters to the ruling body as "Shaibs" like those of the colonial era. They give themselves VIP treatments or allow themselves all the best that the government has. All the while, the rest of the population survives on negligible or non-existing services. This lopsided system may be the real reason behind endemic corruption that we observe today! Many of us had to leave the country to avoid this situation and now find ourselves in the West.
What we owe:

Statistics show that it takes more than 20 lakh takas to educate a single BUET student. Probably same amount or more is needed for a graduate of Medical College or Dhaka University. Lately, most of these graduates are coming out of the county for various reasons and finding high paying jobs in Western countries. But unfortunately many of us in this brain group become so accustomed to the upper-middle class status in the West that few contemplate about what we owe to land that educated us to have this "good life".

An impromptu poll taken on 17 ex-BUET working professionals in USA has shown that less than 10% has any significant investment back to the country that educated them. And many do not send back any investments as they never plan to go back or has no plans to give back anything to the country which got them ready for their high income. This is the same group that poor country like BanglaDesh has invested heavily at 20 lakh takas per head!

The same standard of education that Dhaka University provides probably would cost a lot more in this country. Lets get a better understanding of these numbers. I will say it cost at least $50,000 to $100,000 to get a Medical College or Dhaka University or BUET level education here. If a student were to take a loan to finance this amount, the monthly payment for a 30 year payback period would have been more than $500 to $1000(depending on the interest rate). So don't you feel each BUET student or Dhaka University student should write a check to BanglaDesh for something close to that amount, every month?

What is ironic here is that those expatriates who got almost no investments from BanglaDesh in terms of their education and may work at a lower paying job at seven eleven or a restaurant may send significant amount of their income back to BanglaDesh. And here, many of us try to make the argument that "well they can't have a life here so they are trying to build their life back home" or other would say "well they don't have families here so they can do it". But I say these are mere excuses. What we owe can not vanish or disappear like magic just because we bring our families over here. Debts never disappear when somebody pulls a disappearing act!

We have to start realizing we are the primary export of BanglaDesh. No, it is not Garments or seafood or jute! Since remittances are the largest foreign exchange earner of BanglaDesh, we the ex-patriot's income is BanglaDesh's largest export. But for long, we were not being excellent quality export as we are haven't been fulfilling our obligations. If poor country like BanglaDesh has allowed us a world class education which allows us a better life somewhere else then it is our obligation to invest back in BanglaDesh the same way BanglaDesh had invested on us!
How We can Help:

There are many ways we can help to pay back investment of education that BanglaDesh has invested on us. I am only suggesting some which I thought is important. And personally, I intend to follow the first course of action. Each one of you as individual can choose your path to paying back:

1) Retire in Bangladesh: This is the best way as your lifelong savings will find their place in BanglaDesh. The money you spend in BD will create many more jobs. Also, as a byproduct of this event, your expertise from a very advance economy of the West can be thoroughly utilized in the infant small industries of BanglaDesh, be it for a Doctor to an engineer. If I may remind the audience that using retired brainpower of the west was the fundamental reason why IT industry and Medical Industry in India has had such phenomenal growth in the last 20 years.

BanglaDesh will be a very different place in another 15-20 years or sooner when some of us will start retiring. It is easily perceivable that our homeland will become a middle income country. In a recent poll by Far Eastern Economic review, cities of South Asia were ranked in the following order-Islamabad, Bangalore, Chittagong, Bombay, Dhaka, Delhi. Imagine both Dhaka and Chittagong with their own metro systems.imagine retirement communities on the verdant shores of Bangla's many rivers.imagine cool breeze and sweet smell of the nearby Grams from your own apartment in Dhaka's distant suburbs. Imagine healthcare that are some of the best little hospitals in all of Asia. Well these dreams may seem like distant dreams but to many of your surprises these are already in the works. Dhaka's healthcare professions are contemplating the best little hospitals in Asia so patients won't have to travel abroad. I am sure you have heard of recent operation of the Siamese twins in Dhaka Islamia Hospital? The bypass surgeries at the Heat Foundation is already of world standard with many bypass surgeries per day. Many hospitals are hooking themselves up with foreign doctors who are able to provide diagnosis via video phone and internet technology. And best of all, there is always someone to help in the land of Bangla as there are so many people to hire!

2) Second Way, Make BanglaDesh important in your life: If you are not able to retire in BanglaDesh, then send regular investments to BanglaDesh or buy bonds available through the local BanglaDesh Embassy. I will further suggest that we make our second most important investment in BanglaDesh. If we buy a house here for $100,000, our next investment should be in BanglaDesh for at least half that amount. We can also make sure that we make BanglaDesh as central focus so our children also picks up the habit of helping BanglaDesh. Italy, the poor man of Europe in the beginning of 1900 had many Italians come across to America. Their success was that they not only became hard working Americans, but they also became an institution in this country by ensuring their "Italian ness". They are Italian-Americans although they might have migrated 5 generations back! And it was the investments of Italian-Americans back into Italy that has made Italy one of the richest countries of the world today. I say we can do the something similar!

3) Send Money to BanglaDesh Regularly : Help relatives and near and dear ones in BanglaDesh so they are able to achieve their dreams in education, business or other ventures. Give them challenges and see to it that they perform. Send a computer to your old school. Send books for a library in your old neighborhood. Do things with a focus on BanglaDesh. Again, to borrow from the last point, make BanglaDesh important in your life.

So dear graduates, lets us do our part in this equation. An economically deprived country has put her trust and investment on us to veer it out of the darkness and corruption where it is currently embedded. So let us bring her out into the light so that it can again be known something like "Paradise of the Nations" as it was so famously known during the Mogul era. Lets us all make Bangla(Desh) important in our lives and in our children's lives and their children's lives. So today's sad history will be replaced by tomorrow's responsible ex-patriot's.