Dhaka, Oct. 29 -- When eminent economist and former adviser to the caretaker government Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud took the podium at the 11th Annual Bank Conference in Mirpur, he did not merely diagnose the ailments of Bangladesh's financial architecture; he laid bare a multi-decade chronology of systemic decay.

Organized by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), the gathering served as a sobering reminder that the banking sector-the beating heart of the national economy-has been pushed to the brink not by sudden misfortune, but by calculated structural failures and unbridled political patronage.

For readers accustomed to sterile economic data, Dr. Mahmud's address offered a refreshing, unsparing narrative. He divided the downf...