Bangladesh's women on the march

The observance of International Women's Day in Bangladesh this year was of special significance for quite a good number of reasons. In the first place, the spirited manner in which organisations as well as the government went into a celebration of the day was a clear signal to the forces of negativism that a medieval outlook on women is neither to be accepted nor tolerated in this country. In the second, this year's observance of the day was a clear demonstration of the many miles Bangladesh's women have covered in order to carve a niche for themselves on the national development stage.
Today, there are increasing numbers of women making a beeline for such sectors as the civil service, the foreign service, the police, the armed forces, teaching, business and a host of other areas. This is especially important because it depicts a very encouraging picture of a society which, for all the political problems that assail it on an almost regular basis, has not let any impediments come in the way of its march to the future.
Despite all this progress, though, we cannot but point to the manifest injustice women still face in their day-to-day activities. In remote regions of the country, they are yet victims of fatwa issued by half-baked clerics; dowry is yet a factor; and in both rural and urban areas, women are subject to cruelty resorted to by their husbands and others.
The message from Women's Day this year is thus obvious: more strenuous and purposeful steps must go into making the future of Bangladesh's women safe and secure.