The day broke bright and sunny and there were all the signs of a long ordeal coming to an end. The pall of gloom cast by those agonizing nine months suddenly disappeared into the distant landscape. The news came that the Pakistani occupation forces led by General Niazi finally surrendered to the allied forces. It was a glorious triumph of truth and justice. A new nation was born. December 16, 1971 marked the end of a brutal regime which unleashed a reign of terror to perpetuate its rule. For obvious reasons, it did not succeed. But the nation had to pay a very heavy price for its independence in the physical sense. Nevertheless, the people never gave up. In fact, the resistance was getting stronger day by day. And by November, the Pakistanis had lost control of many areas as the Mukti Bahini was making steady progress in their bid to drive away the hordes of Yahya Khan. Finally, the allied forces of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army broke through the last lines of the Pakistani defence. General Niazi realized that everything was over.
It was indeed the greatest event in our history. The government of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman immediately concentrated on rebuilding the war-ravaged country--undoubtedly an uphill task. The nation was recovering slowly when the tragedy of August 1975 struck . It put politics on an unusual course.
That said, the country has made remarkable progress in some areas, despite being handicapped by unconstitutional politics from time to time. Today Bangladesh is one of the world leaders in the RMG sector. We have done well in the fields like agriculture, empowerment of women and primary education. Bangladeshis are also competing very well in the international job market.
However, politics still remains a sore point in our national life. The widely held view on the matter is that the country would have done much better if there was no politics of confrontation and violence. There is no way to isolate economic and social progress from issues like good governance and the rule of law. It is unfortunate that the major political parties have failed to reach a broad consensus on some core issues. They are not following the examples set by some fast-growing economies around the world.
December 16 has a message that should be clear to all after 43 years. The martyrs dreamt of establishing a happy and prosperous society. So, our political parties should take the lead in steering the nation in that direction. We have achieved certain things, but we need to achieve a lot more.
It was indeed the greatest event in our history. The government of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman immediately concentrated on rebuilding the war-ravaged country--undoubtedly an uphill task. The nation was recovering slowly when the tragedy of August 1975 struck . It put politics on an unusual course.
That said, the country has made remarkable progress in some areas, despite being handicapped by unconstitutional politics from time to time. Today Bangladesh is one of the world leaders in the RMG sector. We have done well in the fields like agriculture, empowerment of women and primary education. Bangladeshis are also competing very well in the international job market.
However, politics still remains a sore point in our national life. The widely held view on the matter is that the country would have done much better if there was no politics of confrontation and violence. There is no way to isolate economic and social progress from issues like good governance and the rule of law. It is unfortunate that the major political parties have failed to reach a broad consensus on some core issues. They are not following the examples set by some fast-growing economies around the world.
December 16 has a message that should be clear to all after 43 years. The martyrs dreamt of establishing a happy and prosperous society. So, our political parties should take the lead in steering the nation in that direction. We have achieved certain things, but we need to achieve a lot more.
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