13.5 Mr. Jahurul Islam Jahurul Islam was one of those-who have been discussed very frequently in the history of business and entr en trep epre rene neur urshi ship p in Bangl Ba nglade adesh sh.. He was wa s -bor -b orn n in Bhag Bh agalp alpur, ur, a vill vi llage age in Bajitpur Bajitpu r thana under ishoreg ishoregonj onj district. district. His father father !r. !r. "ftab "ftab #ddin #ddin was a tiny contractor contractor in !ymensin !ymensingh gh district district board. board. His father father had small small income income with which which he used to run his business staying- in his village home. His mothe mot herr !rs !r s $ahi $a hima ma "%tar "%t ar was wa s a very ve ry piou pi ouss housewife. &he was very well %nown amongst her neig neighb hbou ours rs.. !r Islam Islam lost lost his his fathe fatherr in '()*. He was the second son of his parents .He had four more rothers and three sisters. Jahurul Islam had very simple and ordinary boyhood and was fond fond of a%in a%ing g frie friend ndss from from midd middle le clas classs fami famili lies es only only.. He star starte ted d his his scho school olin ing g in +handragram local atshala and then in the &hibnath High &chool. hen he was a student of class class five, he was sent to his ncles house in +alcutta, where he studied in +hetla High &chool. But due to the transferable job of his uncle, he had to shift to a number of schools. In '(/, he passed matriculation from $ipon High &chool. 0ater, he went to Bardwan, where he studeid 0" but he failed to pass in the final e1amination. In '(2, he appeared again from Haraganga +oll +olleg egee at !uns !unshi higa ganj nj.. 4his 4his time time also also he fail failed ed whic which h brou brough ghtt the th3e end end of his his form formal al education. 5rom the very boyhood, Jahurul Islam had a %nac% towards carrying on independent business. He conceived the idea from his fathers father s business. busine ss. In '(2, he joined a job in the +6B department with a monthly monthly salary salary of 4%. ))./. 0ater on he became a lower lower division cler% in the same department with a monthly salary of 4%. 27. In '(/', after a period of two and a half years he left the job and started his business as a 8rd class contractor with a very little amount of money that he could manage. Initially, Initially, ban%s did not render him any financial financial assist assistanc ance. e. "t that time, time, there there were were a lot of wor%s wor%s availa available ble in Bangla Banglades desh h and he did his business with utmost sincerity 6 devotion and by '(/8 he gradually became *nd +lass and then a 'st class contractor. He had very good liaison with the government authority and thereby he started getting a lot of contract jobs. He used to do all types of construction wor%s i.e building, road, bridge, irrigation, sanitation, sewerage and many others from which he could build a lot of wealth. wealth.
% reali9ed in the mid of /7s, that in source of time, :acca ;:ha%a< would grow very fast and would =quire lot of accommodation facilities. "s such, he started buying lands in the city and preferably prefer ably in -)te city outs%irts outs%ir ts where the price was very nominal. 4hus, he became the owner of a huge land in the >real li%e !irpur, &avar, Joydevpur, alia%oir, $upashi and in many many othe otherr area areas. s. 4hes 4hesee land landss were were --au --augh ghtt at a very very low low pric price. e. He used used part part of the the purchased purchase d land as industrial industri al plots and the remaining remaini ng ands as housing estates. ?radually, ?radually, the value of land increased and he could thus by selling lands at a -igher price mobili9ed a lot of capital.In the si1ties, during the period of president "yub han, the then -overnment too% up a lot of development wor%s. "t that period, a number of industries industrie s of various 3@s namely namely Jute, Jute, +otton etc were established. Jahurul Islam, besides his construction business, set up good number of industries. In '(A7, he set up a timber factory in +hittagong, glass factory in in9ira and also a pharmaceutical industrial unit In his business and industries, Jahurul Islam as an entrepreneur had the best time between '(A7 and ()7. His firm Bengal :evelopment +orporation 0td at that time, constructed a lot of
houses in :ha%a >nd +hittagong. By this e1perience, he reali9ed that large number of middle class fdmilies in the cities, -would soon be eager to buy houses if these could be developed and constructed in the suburb areas. He .inderstood that as a policy of the government, the potential buyers would most li%ely be financially assisted by the House Building 5inance +orporation. $ealising this, in '(A he organised Callabi --lousing 0td on one thousand acres of land. In the project, a family could buy a flat ma%ing only 4%. D777E down payment and the rest amount could be repaid on installment basis. &ome high priced flats -were also made available. "t the same time, he established &onali Jute !ills and some other industries -year :ha%a. :uring the period of ' years from '(/' to '(A, the si9e of his investment was multiplied to several crore 4a%a. Jahurul Islam was very sincere and devoted to his business commitments. :uring the "yub region in '(A8-A, ?ovt. of the then Ca%istan decided to build the Carliament building but the time allowed was very short. Jahurul Islam got the contract and within 7 Fforty< days he finished the construction of the Carliament building at 4ejgaon near old airport. 0ater, he constructed a A7 room, two storied !C hostel within 8/ days only. It was an unique performance in the field of construction wor%s in a record time. He of his own used to immediately made repair or even would reconstruct without as%ing for any additional finance, if any defect of his wor%, could have been detected. 4 In '()7, !r Islam got the contract of /777 deep tube-wells. It was really a great achievement in the .ace of foreign competitors. "fter liberation, lie got the proportionate share of the same contract as was Jue for the part of Ca%istan now Bangladesh He built the infrastructure for training and service support in the country which could not be made earlier in spite of foreign assistance. "fter the liberation, his business suffered, some setbac%s i lue to the governments nationali9ation policy. "t that time, Jahurul Islam used his talents at home aiid abroad. He involved himself in construction in the !iddle-Gast countries. In '()), he started building /777 houses in "bu :habi. In the ne1t two decades he built thousands of houses at home and abroad.Jahurul Islam was very optimistic about the economic development of Bangladesh. He believed that use of gas, oil, leather and, cheap labor could be .Dusifiably used to enhance our income and lifestyle as well. In '(2*, with Japanese. assistance, he established "ftab "utomobiles 0td to assemble vehicles at +hittagong. "t present, it builds bodies of different types of vehicles, especially jeeps and tric%-ups that are seen on the road. He established Bengal :evelopment +orporation 0td and Islam ?roup of Industries, the employment opportunity of which are e1ceeding /777. &omi.-. of his other establisments are !illners 0td,. Gastern Housing 0td, avana 0td, Gssential Croducts 0td, :ha%a 5ibres 0td, avana &ports, avana Industries 0td, !illners Cump.0td, Islam Brothers Croperties 0imited, etc. which signify the dreams of Jahurul Islam. In these establishments he had almost one hundred crore ta%a worth of investment.
Gntrepreneurship 6 &mall In personal life, Jahurul Islam was very simple and economical. He didnt have any bad habits of smo%ing and li%ewise. He used to wear very simple dress, usually pajama and serwani even while he used to move abroad. He used to have very normal food especially rice and fish at day time and chapati at night. In every morning, he used to say fajr prayer and after that ta%e a nap. 4hen, he used to start his days routine that would ta%e him to end mostly till midnight. Jahurul Islam died in '((A. But the people of Bangladesh will ever remember his name because of his achievements in the field of economic development of our newly liberated country. He believed in the theme of total business along with his family members. He had a very positive outloo% towards business. He faced many difficulties in his way of business life but he successfully overcome all those with positive spirit and concerted efforts. He never deprived any body from his due share. Gven he had very positive attitude towards his competitors. Besides his entrepreneurial achievements, he had a lot of enthusiasm for social wor%s and educational fields as well."t the end of his life, in order to encourage medical education, he established in his own locality at Bajitpur the Jahurul Islam !edical +ollege which is currently considered as a dependable college for medical learning in Bangladesh.
14.6 Mr. Sheikh Akijuddin
In the early forties, a boy was missing by ta%ing ta%a seventeen from his fathers cashbo1. 4his boy is today %nown to us as the famous industrialist &hei%h "%ijuddin who hails from the village !adhadanga , Chultala upa9illa in the hulna district. "%ij fled from his house and went to +alcutta. In those days, he had no relative in +alcutta. 5or this reason, &hialdah rail station was his shelter. He used to search some %ind of wor% all through the day and at night would return to the platform of the station to sleep using bric%s as pillow under his head. He was born in the village !adha-danga in '(87. His father &hei%h !afijuddin was involved in the "ratdari meaning wholesale business. His mothers name is !atins Begum. He is the only child of his parents. His father was also the only son of his grandparents. "t the very beginning, he %new how to struggle in bad days. His father !afijuddin was a supplier of paddy, rice, coconuts and day-to-day used available products. !ofi9uddin used to supply these goods from oapara under 4ennore to various parts of orth Bengal. &ide by side, he also used to supply labor to 4ennore. "%ij was admitted into a school, but he "%ij used to remain away from the school. He was rather more interested in his fathers business. His father taught him various techniques of business. "t that time, one day his father once scolded him seriouslyD consequently he left his house and went to +alcutta. In '(*, when he was in +alcutta, the price of per 7 ? rice was only $s.8E and news paper used to be sold a copy for one paisa only. &eventeen $upee then had enormous purchasing power. In that time, he was deeply concerned about the income generating %.ctivity and was Jo%ing for a good business. ne day, he was introduced to the owner of Ja%aria Hotel. 4he owner was very much sympathetic on "%ij because of his innocent face. 4he owner of the hotel th--n agreed to give "%ij shelter and food. ne day, when he was passing through $amlochan street, he observed that some mobile retailers purchased fruits from the street sellers on auction and could be learned that they use to sell those to different parts of the city. 4his process attracted him very much and he himself engaged in it. ne day, he purchased four bas%et of orange and sold those standing over the Hawra Bridge by giving * ana to a labor for carrying those and * paisa to polices as bribe for allKwi"g him doing so. He, that day, earned as profit 87 paisa. 4hat was his first earning. He continued that business and after some time his capital become $s. 877. He normally used to eat satu Fvery cheap ordinary food made of leftovers of pulses while crushedL and the total e1penditure, for meal purpose, was A paisa only per day. that time trading groceries was very popular and profitable in +alcutta. He opened a shop named ilam ala, +hay "na where every item %ept for sale was si1 ana only. &hop%eepers sold their goods through reciting Hindi rhymes but "%ij did not %now Hindi properly. &o, he hired an assistant for reciting Hindi rhymes but within a short period, "%ij learned Hindi. ne day, he was arrested by police. 4he court sentenced him 8 days jail and penali9ed Rs. five. "t this, He was very much disappointed. "fter being free from jail, he sold all of his business goods and four wheel van. He %ept his money as investment with various businessman but no one cheated him.
It one stage, in +alcutta, he was introduced with a peshawari businessman. "%ij went to Ceshawar with that person. "%ij stayed at his home and again involved in the trading of fruits. He stayed there two years and learned Castu language. He returned from Ceshawar to :elhi with $s. 2777 and then to +alcutta again and stayed there for about a year. "fter *nd orld ar, he came bac% home with ten thousand rupees as hard cash in hand. His parants were very emotional because of his returning from -broad. 4hey were very much pleased to see "%ij. But his parents didnt see the success of their son. 4hey died within a short time. He too% &ha%ara hatun as his life partner at the age of '2E'(. "%ij is a prominent industrial person of our country for producing local cigarette 6 tobacco manufacturing. He got his preliminary %nowledge about + cigarette from ithai +handra Das. "t that .ime Bidhu Biri produced by Bidhu Bhushan-his friends father was very popular. "%ij was very close with that family because he used to deposit his money to Bidhu Bhushan. "%ijs mother informed him before her death that his father had %ept some money for him in the roof of their house and under the earth besides a tree. He recovered some of those money and rest was lost. "%ij started his biriEcigarette production in the year '(/*. In those days, he established a grocery shop near Begerdanga rail station and accumulated the investible funds required for the cigarette business through trading in the shop. In '(/-//, "%ij invested a capital of Rs. A7,777 but one night his shop was totally destroyed by fire. 0ocal people collectively rebuilt that shop. holesaler also supplied goods on credit. Because of his honesty, devotion and hard labor, total value of the goods belonged to the shop touched about4a%e one la%h. &ide by side the grocery business, he used to produce biriEcigarette for local sale. 4he brand name of his +igarette is "a%ij Biri-. 5rom '(/, he printed label for.his biriEcigarette. Initially there were three technicians for such biriE cigarette ma%ing. His brand got popularity rapidly, and e1panded its mar%ets behind the territory of village, even to the :ha%a, the capital of the country. In '(A7-A*, there were */7 wor%ers wor%ing in this factory. &ide by side, he enganged himself in the business of rice, jute, paddy etc. Because of his simplicity 6 trust everybody believes him and cooperates with him. :espite the vulnerable political condition of our country during '()7, he operated his business in full e1tent. In that year, he purchased 7 mond gur ;7 * 4a%a per mond which after * years, he resold M 'A7 4a%a per mond. In the meantime, the price f7l down to 4%. 'A per mond but he did not sell those. He had also purchased ',/77 mond of pulses FdaiL M 'A 4a%a per mond but sold those M 4%. A/ per mond after * years. It was the way "%ij made the capital for greater investment. "fter this, the history of an industrialist began. %%ij purchased lot of cars, houses, plots and e1tends his business facilities to the present si9e. ovi he is the owner of some tobacco factories, "%ij avigation, "%ij Jute !ill, !ateh 5actory etc, his fame spreaded all over the country. He has a well furnished office at :il%usha +E", :ha%a named "%ij +hamber from where he loo% after his business. "t present, his age is A* and he is wor%ing 'A-') hours a day. 4here are twenty five thousand wor%ers wor%ing in these factories 6 offices. 4he total value of his property, present, e1ceeded 4%. '77 +rore. 5or business purpose, he traveled India, Ca%istan, #&", Holland, Italy, Japan, &ingapore etc. His personal life is very simple. He loves to wear panjabi & pajama. In conversation he use local.
language., He finds difficulty in using even fine bengali as used in the urban people = not to spea% of Nsome simple Gnglish. He normally tal%ed to foreign business partners with the help of bi-linguist or translators. His favorite food is red vegetables and small fishes. He e1ercises regularly and use hot water in every season while ta%ing. bath. !ajor portion of time in a day, he spends at his office. He also ta%es lunch there.He is successful as a father as well. He has ten sons 6 five daughters. His eldest son is a doctor, eldest daughter- in awO is also a doctor. "%ij believes that the core capital of business venture is his honesty 6 dedication at the same time gaining confidence of other people with whom he came in contact in course of his business. Besides his business, he is very much aware of the need to %eep his social commitments.5or this reason, he has established a school , an orphanage , a hospital and various social welfare oriented organi9ations. Gverybody trusts him, for that reason, he also trusts others. His vision towards life is very positive. "%ij says, P I fimelybelieve that if a parson is honest 6 sincere at wor% and %eeping promises, then one day he must reach his goal or destinationP. "s per his statement, Pwe came in the world with bare hand and must go with bare hand.P He thin%s that the properties are gifts of "llah.
