Bangladesh Defense
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May 2025 be a year of hope after much despairs
Hasanul Banna
Published: 01 Jan 2025, 16: 17
The ball is seen over Times Square during the 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations on 1 January 2025 in New York City, USAAFP
We passed another year that was full of events as well as despair. At home, the year started with the 12th parliamentary election dubbed by the UK-based influential magazine Economist as a ‘farce’ and another UK-based newspaper Financial Times termed a ‘sham’ that saw Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of founder of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, coming power for the fifth term, and that eventually sealed her fate for ouster.
Jobs were scarce. According to a World Bank report, 27.8 per cent of Bangladesh’s total unemployed population was the unemployed tertiary-educated youth in 2022 while about 1.2 million people might face extreme poverty in 2024 due to job losses and declining real wages. When it comes to the coveted government jobs, youths worshipped for it but recruitment systems were often marred with irregularities. Those who had power and contacts had access to jobs. Meritocracy had turned to be something to feel ashamed of.
Several months followed; the High Court suddenly reinstated a quota system in the government jobs, sparking a nationwide protest that eventually turned to a movement against the Sheikh Hasina regime from just mere movement for abolition of quota system in civil service jobs. The protesters, who were only students at the start before people from all walks of lives joined hands, were met with deadly retaliations from the government. Law enforcement agencies used lethal weapons excessively; leaders and activists of the ruling party took to streets, flexing muscles on innocent people. Even women and children were not spared.
Unprecedented events started to unfold. Nationwide crackdown, internet shutdown and curfews were imposed with killing sprees on. Finally, the protesters, who just wanted to be heard for what they had to say, placed a one-point demand – an end to the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina. No more, no less. Sheikh Hasina left the country on 5 August and her current whereabouts are unknown. It was a ‘Victory for students and the people, exodus for Sheikh Hasina’.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring India, a shock election result in June, what UK-based think tank Chatham House puts, was a loss for Narendra Modi of Bharatiya Janata Party, but a win for democracy. It was obviously a lesson for leaders in South Asia. By the end of the year, another next door neighbour Myanmar saw the armed insurgent group Arakan Army’s onslaught on the junta in the Rakhine State, gaining full control of the 271-kilometer (168-mile) -long border with Bangladesh, thus, posing risks to both political and diplomatic perspectives for the neighbours.
An adviser of the interim government categorically admitted it. M Sakhawat Hossain, who is also a retired brigadier general, told the political parties at a national dialogue on unity, reform and election, “We want stability in the country. We are facing a difficult situation and you (political parties) and they (the future ruling parties) will face big challenges. A very big challenge lies ahead of us. It is not just an internal issue the biggest challenge will come from outside. Our new neighbour is emerging. That is not normal it is different kind of neighbour. Arakan is a new reality now. We could not consider it for long but now we have to think about it.” So a geopolitical shake in near future is very unlikely to yield any good for us or our neighbours since countries in South Asia are reliant economically on each other.
Economy still remains uncertain. Foreign trade and investments is still recouping. The interim government, formed after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime, still struggles and finds it difficult to make the economy vibrant. A White Paper that dissected the development narratives of the past Awami League regimes found a total of USD 234 billion or approximately Tk 28 trillion was siphoned off aboard between 2009 and 2023. Corrupt politicians, businessmen, financial players, middlemen and government officials moved an average of Tk 1.80 trillion during the Awami League terms. Inflation remains high. Prices are still unchecked. People find no relief to daily sufferings. But everything goes back to corruption that was rampant. Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. That was what happened throughout the Awami League tenures. Corruption by all means must be stopped.
Majority rules, minority aside, but that is not the Bangladesh that we stand for. Our constitution states “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law. The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.” We live together and do everything together regardless of all differences. However, the reality speaks otherwise sometimes. In one instance, Awami League leaders were alleged to have built a local party office on the land of a member from the Hindu community in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj while a number of minority people met with violence in different places of the country. Though it has been exaggerated by foreign media, specifically by Indian media that a Hindu persecution is on in Bangladesh after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, but fact-checking later found those violent incidents where minorities were victims were motivated politically expect a few occasions. All things aside, Bangladesh is country with communal harmony and its people will remain so in distance future.
In the meantime, the world's biggest iceberg is moving again after being trapped in a vortex for sometimes. Known as A23a, the a large tabular iceberg, according to BBC is 3,800 sq km (1,500 sq miles), which is more than twice the size of Greater London, and is 400m (1,312ft) thick. Scientists say the juggernaut’s breakaway from Antarctica, which happened in 1986, is a stark reminder of the potentially disastrous implications as global sea levels rise. To relate this, Bangladesh that sits on the Delta basin is seeing a faster sea-level rise than the global average of 3.42mm a year because of climate change. According to a February last year report of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), sea level rise will jeopardise homes and livelihood in southern regions of Bangladesh and may displace nearly 900,000 people by 2050. It is time to stop speaking and start acting. Our Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus is a prominent advocate for zero net carbon emissions globally. We already have an upper hand. So, it is time to unitise all possible means and tools. If we are late we will not be the first to become the victims of climate change.
On a different note, there is a persistent problem that is hardly spoken or heard of, which is an absence of a better nationwide childcare system - be it public or privately operated. Working parents, mostly the lactating mothers, must either walk through a dilemma what they must do with their babies or sometimes they even quit jobs to give time to babies. How irony it is. When we are striving to be a better nation in the world, at a same time we cannot ensure our new-born or 1-5 year children can have some caregiving while their parents, mostly mothers, are out of home for some obvious reasons. All negative aspects aside, a better day care services will obviously bring least relief to the working mothers who breastfeed their babies. Time has come to give much thought and efforts on it or else our babies will grow up amid much less care than they deserve. Do we really want our baby get any less than they deserve?
People are waiting to exercise their rights of franchise in the coming days, which had been snatched away from the people for one and a half decades. Young generations who never went to poll stations are eagerly waiting to cast ballots. An election is must but the question is when. Students ousted the past regime and now want some reforms happen fast. Political parties still maintain patience but they want it as soon as possible but with no hurry. Some reform followed by a free, fair, credible and inclusive election can be the beacon of hope for us in the coming days amid much despair that still persists.
So, we were in despair throughout 2024 except some few moments for delight like that of 5 August. To many, this might be an once-in-a-lifetime experience. To say, every ocean starts with a drop of water. So, we can hope these few delightful moments become the starter for those of us who wish 2025 become full of hope, a new time of transition and a new beginning of nation-building. Happy New Year!
Hasanul Banna
Published: 01 Jan 2025, 16: 17
The ball is seen over Times Square during the 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations on 1 January 2025 in New York City, USAAFP
We passed another year that was full of events as well as despair. At home, the year started with the 12th parliamentary election dubbed by the UK-based influential magazine Economist as a ‘farce’ and another UK-based newspaper Financial Times termed a ‘sham’ that saw Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of founder of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, coming power for the fifth term, and that eventually sealed her fate for ouster.
Jobs were scarce. According to a World Bank report, 27.8 per cent of Bangladesh’s total unemployed population was the unemployed tertiary-educated youth in 2022 while about 1.2 million people might face extreme poverty in 2024 due to job losses and declining real wages. When it comes to the coveted government jobs, youths worshipped for it but recruitment systems were often marred with irregularities. Those who had power and contacts had access to jobs. Meritocracy had turned to be something to feel ashamed of.
Several months followed; the High Court suddenly reinstated a quota system in the government jobs, sparking a nationwide protest that eventually turned to a movement against the Sheikh Hasina regime from just mere movement for abolition of quota system in civil service jobs. The protesters, who were only students at the start before people from all walks of lives joined hands, were met with deadly retaliations from the government. Law enforcement agencies used lethal weapons excessively; leaders and activists of the ruling party took to streets, flexing muscles on innocent people. Even women and children were not spared.
Unprecedented events started to unfold. Nationwide crackdown, internet shutdown and curfews were imposed with killing sprees on. Finally, the protesters, who just wanted to be heard for what they had to say, placed a one-point demand – an end to the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina. No more, no less. Sheikh Hasina left the country on 5 August and her current whereabouts are unknown. It was a ‘Victory for students and the people, exodus for Sheikh Hasina’.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring India, a shock election result in June, what UK-based think tank Chatham House puts, was a loss for Narendra Modi of Bharatiya Janata Party, but a win for democracy. It was obviously a lesson for leaders in South Asia. By the end of the year, another next door neighbour Myanmar saw the armed insurgent group Arakan Army’s onslaught on the junta in the Rakhine State, gaining full control of the 271-kilometer (168-mile) -long border with Bangladesh, thus, posing risks to both political and diplomatic perspectives for the neighbours.
An adviser of the interim government categorically admitted it. M Sakhawat Hossain, who is also a retired brigadier general, told the political parties at a national dialogue on unity, reform and election, “We want stability in the country. We are facing a difficult situation and you (political parties) and they (the future ruling parties) will face big challenges. A very big challenge lies ahead of us. It is not just an internal issue the biggest challenge will come from outside. Our new neighbour is emerging. That is not normal it is different kind of neighbour. Arakan is a new reality now. We could not consider it for long but now we have to think about it.” So a geopolitical shake in near future is very unlikely to yield any good for us or our neighbours since countries in South Asia are reliant economically on each other.
Economy still remains uncertain. Foreign trade and investments is still recouping. The interim government, formed after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime, still struggles and finds it difficult to make the economy vibrant. A White Paper that dissected the development narratives of the past Awami League regimes found a total of USD 234 billion or approximately Tk 28 trillion was siphoned off aboard between 2009 and 2023. Corrupt politicians, businessmen, financial players, middlemen and government officials moved an average of Tk 1.80 trillion during the Awami League terms. Inflation remains high. Prices are still unchecked. People find no relief to daily sufferings. But everything goes back to corruption that was rampant. Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. That was what happened throughout the Awami League tenures. Corruption by all means must be stopped.
Majority rules, minority aside, but that is not the Bangladesh that we stand for. Our constitution states “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law. The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.” We live together and do everything together regardless of all differences. However, the reality speaks otherwise sometimes. In one instance, Awami League leaders were alleged to have built a local party office on the land of a member from the Hindu community in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj while a number of minority people met with violence in different places of the country. Though it has been exaggerated by foreign media, specifically by Indian media that a Hindu persecution is on in Bangladesh after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, but fact-checking later found those violent incidents where minorities were victims were motivated politically expect a few occasions. All things aside, Bangladesh is country with communal harmony and its people will remain so in distance future.
In the meantime, the world's biggest iceberg is moving again after being trapped in a vortex for sometimes. Known as A23a, the a large tabular iceberg, according to BBC is 3,800 sq km (1,500 sq miles), which is more than twice the size of Greater London, and is 400m (1,312ft) thick. Scientists say the juggernaut’s breakaway from Antarctica, which happened in 1986, is a stark reminder of the potentially disastrous implications as global sea levels rise. To relate this, Bangladesh that sits on the Delta basin is seeing a faster sea-level rise than the global average of 3.42mm a year because of climate change. According to a February last year report of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), sea level rise will jeopardise homes and livelihood in southern regions of Bangladesh and may displace nearly 900,000 people by 2050. It is time to stop speaking and start acting. Our Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus is a prominent advocate for zero net carbon emissions globally. We already have an upper hand. So, it is time to unitise all possible means and tools. If we are late we will not be the first to become the victims of climate change.
On a different note, there is a persistent problem that is hardly spoken or heard of, which is an absence of a better nationwide childcare system - be it public or privately operated. Working parents, mostly the lactating mothers, must either walk through a dilemma what they must do with their babies or sometimes they even quit jobs to give time to babies. How irony it is. When we are striving to be a better nation in the world, at a same time we cannot ensure our new-born or 1-5 year children can have some caregiving while their parents, mostly mothers, are out of home for some obvious reasons. All negative aspects aside, a better day care services will obviously bring least relief to the working mothers who breastfeed their babies. Time has come to give much thought and efforts on it or else our babies will grow up amid much less care than they deserve. Do we really want our baby get any less than they deserve?
People are waiting to exercise their rights of franchise in the coming days, which had been snatched away from the people for one and a half decades. Young generations who never went to poll stations are eagerly waiting to cast ballots. An election is must but the question is when. Students ousted the past regime and now want some reforms happen fast. Political parties still maintain patience but they want it as soon as possible but with no hurry. Some reform followed by a free, fair, credible and inclusive election can be the beacon of hope for us in the coming days amid much despair that still persists.
So, we were in despair throughout 2024 except some few moments for delight like that of 5 August. To many, this might be an once-in-a-lifetime experience. To say, every ocean starts with a drop of water. So, we can hope these few delightful moments become the starter for those of us who wish 2025 become full of hope, a new time of transition and a new beginning of nation-building. Happy New Year!
