Looking at Bangladesh

A Mawaz, Dhaka
What are the basic assets and liabilities of Bangladesh -- without getting lost in details in specific sectors? Two basic foundations: elbow room and footprint. Fighting for survival decently. The top leadership does not believe in the philosophy of plain living and high thinking. Society is not homogenous in the LDCs and the cracks and barbed wire fencings could be easily detected using common sense. Our leaders are floating in spaceships, ignoring the matri bhumi. Suppose the population density was one half of the current 1,000 persons per sq km; it would have lessened the burden of the government; and we could have concentrated on long-term development projects without bias and favouritism (we should have done our huge coal resource ten years earlier). Have-not behaviour depends on supply, demand, need; and peer-value ratings; (note the percentage of imported goods on the shelves of super markets and dept. stores, catering to black wealth. The middle class shoppers are ignored contemptuously). Due to misuse of power and position, a section of the society are getting filthy rich in short spans, creating resentment in the left-out groups. The communication gap between the urban and rural residents is huge. This is accentuated by break in continuity of development projects once a political regime is replaced -- party survival and prosperity takes over (second reason, kick-backs, secret deals). Above is a general pattern replicated in the poor and newly emerging nations. The UN is a bloated cipher, thanks to Western gagging techniques. The winner takes all. The CTG govt. in Dhaka is fighting against entrenched mindsets. Premature elections (return of the hoodlums) would bring back political arsenic poisoning. In Pakistan, the voters revolted -- let us watch if the referendum effect would be practical. Let us ignore the barking of the human hyenas, not in the Sunderbans, but from the air-conditioned towers in Dhaka. The higher the rise, the greater the fall.