Dhaka, March 25 -- As Bangladesh posthumously bestows the Independence Award on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, it recognises a legacy that helped build Bangladesh after 1971. While Abed Bhai is widely remembered for BRAC's contributions to poverty alleviation and general development focused on the poor, his involvement in the 1970 Bhola Cyclone relief work and the Liberation War of 1971 is less discussed.

They show a person whose moral vision went beyond the limits of conventional social work and entered the realm of imagining the possibilities for those who had lost much but had the strength to fight back.

I recently interviewed Dr Martha Chen and Dr Lincoln Chen, who shared their memories of Abed Bhai with us on those two events. Dr Martha Che...