Branding Bangladesh
Nowadays, "Branding Bangladesh" seems to be buzzing quite a lot- seminars, round-tables, and other events. I am not against what's going on because at least we are talking, which also means thinking.
I just wonder whether we are on the right track.
Firstly, we need to clean up our image, which has been tainted quite frequently ever since we became an independent state.
We are still unsure of the basics. Who are we as a nation? Bangladeshis or Bengalis? Do we understand what democracy means? Can we learn to practise some clean politics? Can we learn to keep our promises? Can we learn to look forward?
Secondly, can we stop tainting our image with more silly ideas and mistakes? At least until we have cleaned up the garbage already piled up? Take the Facebook fiasco, for instance. What happened to our IT gurus? Couldn't they think of reporting abuse, rather than blocking and then asking BTRC to write to FB? Didn't they know that government or regulatory measures achieve nothing other than irking the West? The world is laughing at us.
So, do we at all know what needs to be done to achieve any positive results from the daunting task of building a country's "brand" image? Or are we expecting others to tell us what needs to be done? Aren't those "others" our target audience for a healthy and positive image of Bangladesh?
If that is the case, then only we can do or undo. And no excuses (natural calamities, dearth of resources, etc.) are acceptable! Otherwise, one would probably think that all the buzz is about individual or group gains. My apologies, if I am wrong.
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