The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

Bangladesh has observed, a few days ago, Independence and National Day - 2008. Interesting though, the 26th day of March and for that matter the month of March comes and goes every year via, among other things, a historical journey through events that took place on above day, in above month and in the year - 1971. The purity of content of history that has so far been presented to Bangladeshis and others through for example, the yearly journey cannot, however, be certified at a level of 100 percent due to a variety of reasons.

Various types of contamination of the history of liberation have taken place so far, in varying degrees though, on account of for example: history preservation related insufficiency - whether deliberate or otherwise; political considerations of government of the day; and an average lack of interest, willingness and motivation - on the part of all concerned including inter alia researchers and administrators - when it comes to facilitating or ensuring or both a proper transfer of the history at intra and inter-generational levels in a sustained manner. The situation is being further complicated by factors such as, the attending time lag. Besides, there exists one of the biggest limitations, that is: every known thing - created by Almighty God - in the apparently relativistic universe falls short, in a deeper sense, of an absolute100 percent mark in terms of any known dimension, per se.

It should be noted here, the day and the month have so far witnessed commitments after commitments - new or renewed - either direct or otherwise, by all concerned. It should also be noted here, people of Bangladesh, political parties of Bangladesh, government of Bangladesh, media of Bangladesh (print, electronic, etc.) and others have not so far been able to observe, in many respects, the day and for that matter the month of March as the day or the month for: one, taking a stock of above commitments, whether realized or not and making an assessment of gains made or losses incurred by the country as a result of those commitments; and two, articulation of future strategies and action plans based on say, realized or unrealized commitments; to mention a few.

Bangladeshis and others (to whom it may concern) have so far treated the day or the month more as opportunities for say, spending a holiday - whether in conjunction with other holiday(s) or not and whether with families, friends and others or not, merry-making, delivering juicy or fiery (or both) speeches, and writing stereotype editorials -- than as opportunities for consolidating or reconsolidating, energizing or re-energizing, and engineering or re-engineering intentions, efforts and resources, as appropriate, at individual, collective and other levels, whether institutionalized or not, with a view to taking Bangladesh to new heights on a continuous basis in the comity of nations and for course correction purposes - as required, to mention a few.

One of the underlying assumptions here is, more constructive efforts of for example, above nature could be instrumental in inter alia: strengthening further, sustaining further and promoting further the spirit, the motivation and the goal of independence including inter alia that of the language movement plus the war of liberation; and enhancing further the country's capacity and capability when it comes to say, meeting or fulfillment of or both - in an increasingly meaningful, impact-laden and advancing manner and to the satisfaction of all concerned, as practicable - obligations arising out of the country's constitution, commitments made by the country at different forums, and visions, as well as missions of Bangladeshis and others - in the ever competitive and continually uncertain universe.

Taking into cognizance of what has been said in above paragraphs, one could perhaps argue: there exist for example, specified time zones and specific opportunities, as well as institutions for carrying out stock taking and other relevant activities via: existing processes namely, planning and budgeting; articulation of agendas by political parties during election times; and so and so forth. It is fine. But I believe the creation of a stronger electromagnetic field (used in an engineering sense) around the day and the month could bring about additional choices for people of Bangladesh and others when it comes to harnessing and sustaining popular support for supplementing and complementing above processes (per se) through the foreseeable future. My belief, in that respect, has been reinforced further by for example: the present day need for strengthening further and promoting further the demand and the supply in areas of post independence ramifications - used in a positive sense - for transforming the dream of Bangladeshis into a more solid reality and within the shortest possible time, per se.

Let me put it in this way: given the contemporary demand and supply status of plurality, people's ownership, result-orientation and accountability associated with the country's governance, growth, development, politics and effort towards global reintegration, it is being increasingly clear, a more conscious, substantive and goal directed capitalization, harmonization and harnessing of emotions, motivations and sentiments attached to the day and to the month could be instrumental in inter alia providing Bangladesh, Bangladeshis, friends of Bangladesh - including inter alia the US, neighbors of Bangladesh - including inter alia India, and others - including inter alia the media (print, electronic, etc.) a more competitive edge in the fights - at individual, collective and other levels and as appropriate - against hunger; poverty; starvation; under development; insecurity (used in a wider sense, including inter alia water and energy security at affordable prices); unemployment; inequality; inequity, distribution related disparity; corruption; human rights violation; loss of people's per capita share of welfare; loss of people's per capita share of human development choices (education, health care, etc.); injustice; terrorism; degrading ethical and moral values (as applicable) - including inter alia the present day ramifications of hypocrisy, falsehood, self centered opportunism and ungratefulness; naïve realism; poor entrepreneurial skills; a less than desired democracy, as well as diplomacy; and a less than required investment environment conducive to the country's accelerated economic growth; to mention a few.

Bangladesh, Bangladeshis and others have not yet been able to, among other things, attract, process, harness and recycle consciousness, thinking, determinations, commitments and gene related exposures plus sensitivities (used in both biological and non-biological senses) associated with the independence and the liberation in pursuits of facilitating and promoting local, national, regional and global developments in a more meaningful, sustained and result-generative manner and to the satisfaction of more and more people of Bangladesh, as well as more and more people of other countries - than those at the present time. It is apparent, government of Bangladesh, development partners of Bangladesh - including inter alia the World Bank, and concerned others have been missing annual peak hours - associated with the independence and the liberation, per se - year after year. A concerted and goal directed use of those peak hours could inter alia be instrumental in maximizing opportunities for repositioning the country's developmental constituencies on a more productive and sustainable platform, for example.

In light of above, it now appears: people of Bangladesh and others will need to: re-explore the critical mass of independence and liberation; re-establish the missing link between the people and the critical mass; re-internalize the critical mass at conceptual, operation and other levels for transformation of challenges into opportunities and vice versa in pursuits of sustained excellence in the continually competitive universe; reactivate the catalytic role of the critical mass in the effort towards say, peace, security, stability, progress and prosperity at national and other levels; re-intensify and re-institutionalize the use of critical mass as a shield against social, political, institutional, economic, territorial and other injustices and as a shield against anti-people and anti-state elements, as well as activities - including inter alia corruption, extremism and terrorism; to mention a few. In such an event, one of the key challenges will be: how best and quickest, the people of Bangladesh and others could - as applicable - mainstream lessons, successes and best practices associated with the country's independence and liberation in their day-to-day efforts towards survival, living and continuity in pursuits of enlarging their choices, enhancing their competitiveness, scaling up their excellence, multiplying their breakthroughs, strengthening their unity, understanding and peaceful co-existence during peace times and in emergencies - and transforming post independent and post liberation challenges plus failures into opportunities for rising to the occasion, to mention a few.

The independence, the war of liberation and the language movement are, among other things, valuable, invaluable and recyclable intellectual property of Bangladesh. It may be mentioned here: one of the products of the language movement plus the war of liberation is independent Bangladesh; and one of the integrative products of the language movement plus the independence plus the war of liberation has so far been a poor, a democratically starved, and a corrupt Bangladesh. Further, it took about 24 years for East Pakistan to become independent Bangladesh. But it will be difficult to estimate at this point in time - I mean, after 36 years - the amount of additional time Bangladesh will require to become a developed country in the universe.

It has, therefore, become incumbent upon Bangladeshis and others to maximize the use of above mentioned intellectual property - in a timely, productive, diversified and sustained manner - as for example, an engine of transformation and change for the betterment of Bangladesh and other countries. In that respect, it will be essential for Bangladesh and others to ensure, among other things, a drastic reduction in the engine's frequent idling status (used in an engineering sense) and a continuous increase in its performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, per se. One of the concerns here is: a further prolongation of the present day engine idling status could increase the wear and tear of the engine - manifolds, and that could weaken further and further the very existence of the property with the passage of time.

The last word: the time is overdue for Bangladesh and others to craft and help craft plus implement and help implement a bunch of strategies and tactics - using the country's constitution, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, institutions, resources (both existing and potential), energies, and comparative, competitive and other advantages as tools - for inspiring, encouraging, and triggering internal motivation of, Bangladeshis, supporters of Bangladesh and others in ultimate pursuits of for example, balancing, modernization and rehabilitation (BMR) of the arts, the sciences, the engineering and the technology of independence, war of liberation and language movement and facilitating a continuous and purposeful application of resultant products (due to BMR activities) to what

I would call the war of transforming Bangladesh into one of the universe's developed nations in the foreseeable future - at an affordable cost though, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, as practicable in a human sense. It is hoped, independence and national day - 2009 will come again to lives of Bangladeshis and others in a more meaningful, matured, substantive and result-oriented manner than the one they have observed just a few days ago on the 26th day of March 2008. Let us work towards that.