53 years of Bangladesh’s Independence: Achievements and expectations

By Emran Emon
Through the great liberation war, our independent-sovereign Bangladesh state has been acquired in exchange of the millions blood of the martyrs. March is our independence month. From March 26, the way to our freedom is opened and we are moving forward on the way to the final victory. The significance of this day in the national life of Bengalis is immense. That’s why 26th March is our Independence Day, National Day.
In 1971, the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave the task of re-organizing the war-torn country that had just become independent. Under his strong leadership, the country was marching forward. But that path of development came to a halt in 1975 with the ruthless killing of Bangbandhu’s family on 15th August. Bangladesh lagged behind for many years. Even after different governments came to power at different times, the development of the country was not reflected as much. After that the development of the country started becoming visible after the Bangabandhu’s daughter current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power. In the year 2021, we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of our independence. But even after 53 years of independence, we could not be free in many areas.
Poverty alleviation and economic emancipation of the people have not yet taken place in full. Even after so many years of independence, questions are raised about the independence of the country and the declaration of independence. Although the country is known as a non-communal state, the poison of communal violence still exists in the country. A dire crisis exists in the education system. There is no proper learning environment in the educational institutions. Educational institutions are plagued with irregularities, mismanagement, and political violence. But it is said, “Education is the backbone of the nation”. The situation of universities, the highest institutions of higher education in the country, is dire. University vice-chancellors, teachers, officers and employees are appointed in exchange for lobbying and money. ‘One can become a university teacher in exchange for 8 lakh to 16 lakh taka! And the vice-chancellor spent a lot of money to buy a chair!’ If this is the state of the country’s highest institution of higher education, the public university, then the question cannot but arise as to how the entire education system is doing. Our public universities don’t have a respectable position in the international arena. A huge young generation of the country is leaving research, creative work, and running to become a bureaucrat with giving BCS only because of the pathetic rules of the education system. But the young generation is an important human resource of a country. There is no one to think about this huge potential human resources! But if we could properly take care of our young generation with great potential, then our country would have reached the stage of development long ago.
How fragile the state of the country’s health sector is, became visible in front all of us at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The most talked about topic of 2020 around the world was the Coronavirus. Beyond 2021, 2022 and 2023, this virus is an important topic in 2024, and the power of the virus is still strong. The pandemic of Coronavirus has clearly shown how weak the health sector of our country is. All the images of mismanagement, corruption and lack of coordination have been seen in this sector. The inhumane activities of dishonest traders with health care products have come up. It has been openly revealed how much the country’s health sector is being managed with unskilled manpower. In reality, the pathetic condition of a country’s health system has emerged.
Economic prosperity is useless if public health is not protected. Because people are the strength of a country. The first Covid patient was detected in Bangladesh on March 8. After the Covid infection in the country, the poor condition of the country’s health sector is slowly becoming visible. If the Covid wasn’t come, maybe we wouldn’t have seen such weakness, mismanagement and corruption in the country’s health sector and the overall sad picture of the health sector. Sabrina-Shaheed’s fake Covid certificate trade, activities of dishonest businessmen with Covid protection products, cruelty to Covid patients, inhumanity, death of patients due to medical negligence, driver Malek’s corruption, looting with Covid incentives etc. started to be exposed in public.
During the Covid period, it has been observed how far behind we are in technology compared to other countries of the world. During the Covid period, when the people of other countries of the world are able to do all their work online at home, we are not able to do so. The main reason for this, is the weakness of our technology. So far, but not enough internet facilities are available in all parts of our country. Moreover, people’s lack of knowledge about technology and the use of technology is one of the reasons behind our backwardness in technology. Most of the teachers in our schools, colleges and universities do not know the use of digital technology. Which has come to the public during the Covid period. It is a shameful matter for a country that has passed its Golden Jubilee of independence.
A class of unscrupulous businessmen in the country has repeatedly raised the prices of essential commodities by making syndicates and disrupting public life. By increasing the price of rice today, tomorrow by increasing the price of daily essential products including onion and oil, the syndicate cycle is making the life of the people of lower-middle class families miserable by creating manipulation in the market. But there is no effective action to eliminate them. The unbridled rise in daily commodity prices is now at the peak of public outrage. At present, the major challenge for the government in gaining the confidence of the people, is to bring the prices of essential commodities from abnormal to the tolerable level. The government needs to take immediate action to keep the overall market stable by uncovering the reason behind the unbridled price hike of essential commodities.
All around is a scene of corruption, irregularities and looting. And these are the big obstacles in the way of our development. The wealth of the country is being smuggled abroad. This country with great potential bought with blood cannot be destroyed like this by the hands of a few. Effective measures must be taken to curb them.
We have a lot to say about our achievements in 53 years of independence. When the whole world said we will not be able to build the Padma Bridge, we have proved it that ‘we can’. We have got Metrorail, Bangabandhu Tunnel, 100% electrification, homeless people got home, and there are many urban development projects. But in addition to these, we have to make visible development in the fields of education, health, culture, citizen’s quality life, civil rights, etc. And for this, effective steps have to be taken. Above all, Bangladesh will overcome all obstacles and become a role model in the world–this is the expectation.