Bangladesh holds promise

Rushanara Ali tells The Daily Star

6 October 2011, 18:00 PM

Tawfique Ali

Bangladesh possesses immense potential to thrive in Asia alongside the rising economies of India and China, but concerted efforts and foreign support are vital for it, visiting British lawmaker Rushanara Ali said in an interview with The Daily Star on Wednesday. She said people in Bangladesh were enterprising and resilient. The country's GDP (gross domestic product) has consistently been growing at above 5 per cent over the past several years despite various challenges. Even as China and India are rising, Bangladesh shows promise as a place for potential development, noted Ali, who studied politics and economics at Oxford University. Rushanara Ali, the first British parliamentarian of Bangladeshi origin, arrived in Dhaka on a week's visit on October 2. Regarding Bangladesh's extreme vulnerability to the impact of climate change, the British MP said she would take the message of its people's plight to the British parliament and international community. She pointed to the displacement, rise in sea level, salinity and food insecurity that could be caused by climate change. Climate change impacts will hurt the national interests of every country, rich or poor. Therefore nations around the world, inter-dependent as they are, must make collective efforts to mitigate such vulnerability in the common interest, Ali said. She felt it was the duty of the wealthy nations to make higher contributions to the global fund in order to combat climate change. She warned that any attempt to disburse the funds in the form of loans would amount to "double punishment" for the affected countries. As the representative of the Bangladeshi community in Britain, one of her foremost responsibilities was to enhance its quality of life in housing, jobs and health care, she said. She added that she would also work towards creating among British youth aspirations geared to making a difference for the better. Ali said though she had left Bangladesh at the age of seven for London's East End along with her family, she "cherishes a long connection and a deep sense of commitment to Bangladesh". Rushanara Ali made history last year when she was elected to represent Bethnal Green and Bow in the House of Commons on a Labour Party ticket. She attended Mulberry School and Tower Hamlets College and drew the attention of the British media when she gained admission to Oxford University. Ali has been portrayed by a British newspaper as eloquent, beautiful and a crucial figure in what is known as Bangla Town in the Tower Hamlets area in London.