Soul searching
It is almost 40 years into independence. It is high time to ask what have we achieved over the years apart from an identity and tons of problems. I do not mean to say that things would have been better if it were still Pakistan. The situation in Pakistan is rather worse than in Bangladesh, the nature of problems being different.
The fact remains, things were way better in the 60's than what it is today. The politicians have failed to deliver what they have promised to the people. It still echoes in my ears that the people were promised Tk.20 per maund (40kgs) of rice. Thanks Heaven, they are able to purchase the same for Tk.20 or more a Kg and not 40Kgs as promised. Even today the people are misled by the hollow rhetoric of the political demagogues. I wonder will this people ever learn from their past experience. There is now a dearth of everything. There is power shortage, water shortage, gas shortage, food shortage, fertilizer shortage and what not.
The country is plagued by a cancer i.e. population explosion, unfortunately the doctors (The policy makers) are prescribing medication for all kinds of aliments other than the cancer. So how can it be expected that the country shall prosper with wrong treatment?
Given the size of the land about 56 thousand square kilometres, Bangladesh is rather too small to hold the size of the population-- 150 million. Compared to other countries like the USA, Canada, Australia etc, it can fairly be said that Bangladesh has a surplus population of about 100 million. Unless and until this dire issue is addressed properly all other initiatives shall go in vain no matter how big or small the initiative may be. All kinds of shortages are caused by surplus population and this situation is getting worse by the day.
During the 60's, I do not recall experiencing any of these shortages, apart from the mandatory blackout for a while during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Whereas it has become an everyday affair in the 2010. In this part of the town where I live there is frequent power failure every other hour, besides shortages of gas and drinking water. I faintly remember during the 60's, Dhaka water was regarded as one of the best drinking water in the world, now it is reported to be contaminated with cancerous elements. Indeed the people of Bangladesh are resilient like the cockroaches as compared by the host of an FM radio station. They probably shall survive an atomic explosion like cockroaches and shall not be obliterated like dinosaurs.
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