Good to see outsiders increasingly recognizing our achievements:cheers:
The Bangladesh Model: Pakistan could learn a lot from its former eastern province.
By SADANAND DHUME
Not long ago, when you thought of a South Asian country ravaged by floods, governed by bumblers, and apparently teetering on the brink of chaos, it wasn't Pakistan that came to mind. That distinction belonged, permanently it seemed, to Bangladesh.
Indeed, ever since Henry Kissinger famously dubbed it a "basket case" at its birth in 1971, Bangladesh appeared to work hard to live up to the appellation. For the outside world, much of the country's history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disasters punctuated by outbursts of jihadist violence and the occasional military coup.
No longer, apparently. At a reception Friday for world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed for receiving a prestigious U.N. award earlier in the week. Bangladesh was one of six countries in Asia and Africa feted for its progress toward achieving its Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and boost health, education and the status of women world-wide by 2015.
Indeed, Bangladesh has much to be proud of. Its economy grew at nearly 6% a year over the past three years. The country exported $12.3 billion worth of garments last year, fourth in the world behind China, the EU and Turkey. Against the odds, Bangladesh has curbed population growth. Today the average Bangladeshi woman bears fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s.
The country's leading NGOs—most famously the microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank—have earned a global reputation. Relations with India are on a high. In August, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee signed off on a $1 billion soft loan for Bangladeshi infrastructure development, the largest such loan in India's history.
Perhaps most strikingly, Bangladesh—the world's third most populous Muslim-majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan—has shown a willingness to confront both terrorism and the radical Islamic ideology that underpins it. Since taking office in 2009, the Awami League-led government has arrested local members of Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, al Qaeda affiliate Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJi-B) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a domestic outfit responsible for a wave of bombings in 2005.
In July, the Supreme Court struck down a 31-year-old constitutional amendment and restored Bangladesh to its founding status as a secular republic. The government has banned the writings of the radical Islamic ideologue Abul Ala Maududi (1903-79), founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, the subcontinent's most influential Islamist organization. Maududi regarded warfare for the faith as an exalted form of piety and encouraged the subjugation of women and non-Muslims. A long awaited war crimes tribunal will try senior Jamaat-e-Islami figures implicated in mass murder during Bangladesh's bloody secession from Pakistan.
Needless to say, it will take more than a burst of entrepreneurial energy and political purpose before Bangladesh turns the corner for good. The long-running feud between Prime Minister Wazed and her main rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look benign by comparison. The war of ideas against the country's plethora of Islamist groups requires the kind of sustained pressure that Dhaka has been unable to apply in the past. And garment exports notwithstanding, the economy remains shallow.
Despite these caveats, Bangladesh ought to be held up as a role model, especially for the subcontinent's other Muslim-majority state. Indeed, arguably no two countries in the region share as much in common as Pakistan and Bangladesh, two wings of the same country between 1947 and 1971. With 171 million people and 164 million people respectively, they are the world's sixth and seventh most populous countries. Both have alternated between civilian and military rule. In terms of culture, both layer Islam over an older Indic base.
And yet, when it comes to government policies and national identity, the two countries diverge sharply. As a percentage of gross domestic product, Islamabad spends more on its soldiers than on its school teachers; Dhaka does the opposite. In terms of foreign policy, Pakistan seeks to subdue Afghanistan and wrest control of Indian Kashmir. Bangladesh, especially under the current dispensation, prefers co-operation to confrontation with its neighbors.
Perhaps most importantly, Bangladesh appears comfortable in its own skin: politically secular, religiously Muslim and culturally Bengali. Bangladeshis celebrate the poetry, film and literature of Hindus and Muslims equally. With Pakistanis it's more complicated. The man on the street displays the same cultural openness as his Bangladeshi counterpart, but Pakistan also houses a vast religious and military establishment that seeks to hold the country together by using triple-distilled Islam and hatred toward India as glue.
In a way their best known national heroes sum up the two country's personalities. For Bangladesh, it's Grameen Bank's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, synonymous with small loans to village women. For Pakistan: Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue nuclear scientist who peddled contraband technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Nearly 40 years ago, only the most reckless optimist would have bet on flood-prone, war-ravaged Bangladesh over relatively stable and prosperous Pakistan. But with a higher growth rate, a lower birth rate, and a more internationally competitive economy, yesterday's basket case may have the last laugh after all.
Mr. Dhume, a columnist for WSJ.com, is writing a book about the new Indian middle class. Follow him on Twitter @dhume01.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575519330896471058.html?KEYWORDS=afghanistan
Not long ago, when you thought of a South Asian country ravaged by floods, governed by bumblers, and apparently teetering on the brink of chaos, it wasn't Pakistan that came to mind. That distinction belonged, permanently it seemed, to Bangladesh.
Indeed, ever since Henry Kissinger famously dubbed it a "basket case" at its birth in 1971, Bangladesh appeared to work hard to live up to the appellation. For the outside world, much of the country's history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disasters punctuated by outbursts of jihadist violence and the occasional military coup.
No longer, apparently. At a reception Friday for world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed for receiving a prestigious U.N. award earlier in the week. Bangladesh was one of six countries in Asia and Africa feted for its progress toward achieving its Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and boost health, education and the status of women world-wide by 2015.
Indeed, Bangladesh has much to be proud of. Its economy grew at nearly 6% a year over the past three years. The country exported $12.3 billion worth of garments last year, fourth in the world behind China, the EU and Turkey. Against the odds, Bangladesh has curbed population growth. Today the average Bangladeshi woman bears fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s.
The country's leading NGOs—most famously the microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank—have earned a global reputation. Relations with India are on a high. In August, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee signed off on a $1 billion soft loan for Bangladeshi infrastructure development, the largest such loan in India's history.
Perhaps most strikingly, Bangladesh—the world's third most populous Muslim-majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan—has shown a willingness to confront both terrorism and the radical Islamic ideology that underpins it. Since taking office in 2009, the Awami League-led government has arrested local members of Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, al Qaeda affiliate Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJi-B) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a domestic outfit responsible for a wave of bombings in 2005.
In July, the Supreme Court struck down a 31-year-old constitutional amendment and restored Bangladesh to its founding status as a secular republic. The government has banned the writings of the radical Islamic ideologue Abul Ala Maududi (1903-79), founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, the subcontinent's most influential Islamist organization. Maududi regarded warfare for the faith as an exalted form of piety and encouraged the subjugation of women and non-Muslims. A long awaited war crimes tribunal will try senior Jamaat-e-Islami figures implicated in mass murder during Bangladesh's bloody secession from Pakistan.
Needless to say, it will take more than a burst of entrepreneurial energy and political purpose before Bangladesh turns the corner for good. The long-running feud between Prime Minister Wazed and her main rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look benign by comparison. The war of ideas against the country's plethora of Islamist groups requires the kind of sustained pressure that Dhaka has been unable to apply in the past. And garment exports notwithstanding, the economy remains shallow.
Despite these caveats, Bangladesh ought to be held up as a role model, especially for the subcontinent's other Muslim-majority state. Indeed, arguably no two countries in the region share as much in common as Pakistan and Bangladesh, two wings of the same country between 1947 and 1971. With 171 million people and 164 million people respectively, they are the world's sixth and seventh most populous countries. Both have alternated between civilian and military rule. In terms of culture, both layer Islam over an older Indic base.
And yet, when it comes to government policies and national identity, the two countries diverge sharply. As a percentage of gross domestic product, Islamabad spends more on its soldiers than on its school teachers; Dhaka does the opposite. In terms of foreign policy, Pakistan seeks to subdue Afghanistan and wrest control of Indian Kashmir. Bangladesh, especially under the current dispensation, prefers co-operation to confrontation with its neighbors.
Perhaps most importantly, Bangladesh appears comfortable in its own skin: politically secular, religiously Muslim and culturally Bengali. Bangladeshis celebrate the poetry, film and literature of Hindus and Muslims equally. With Pakistanis it's more complicated. The man on the street displays the same cultural openness as his Bangladeshi counterpart, but Pakistan also houses a vast religious and military establishment that seeks to hold the country together by using triple-distilled Islam and hatred toward India as glue.
In a way their best known national heroes sum up the two country's personalities. For Bangladesh, it's Grameen Bank's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, synonymous with small loans to village women. For Pakistan: Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue nuclear scientist who peddled contraband technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Nearly 40 years ago, only the most reckless optimist would have bet on flood-prone, war-ravaged Bangladesh over relatively stable and prosperous Pakistan. But with a higher growth rate, a lower birth rate, and a more internationally competitive economy, yesterday's basket case may have the last laugh after all.
Mr. Dhume, a columnist for WSJ.com, is writing a book about the new Indian middle class. Follow him on Twitter @dhume01.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575519330896471058.html?KEYWORDS=afghanistan
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If we cant bring that down to 2 we are doomed.Today the average Bangladeshi woman bears fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s.
A bullshit loan.In August, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee signed off on a $1 billion soft loan for Bangladeshi infrastructure development, the largest such loan in India's history.
I dont think so. Bangladesh spends quite a lot on soldiers as opposed to teachers. India spends quite a lot on soldiers compared to teachers as well.Islamabad spends more on its soldiers than on its school teachers; Dhaka does the opposite.
Are we being praised genuinely because we are a more successful country than Pakistan, or are we being praised because we are percieved to be "less Muslim" than Pakistan? In any case, I don't believe that foreigners to have BD's best interests at heart.
We must not be complacent at hearing a few good words(with suspicious motivation) from the West. Don't forget, we are still one of the most corrupt countries on Earth. We suffer around 8-9 hours of loadshedding every day. We may grow at 6%, but other countries in the region, and a few in Africa, are growing faster than us, and a few (Sub-Saharan) African countries may soon overtake us. Our literacy rate is somewhere around 60%, if I recall correctly.
There is no chance to be happy or complacent at our condition.
We must not be complacent at hearing a few good words(with suspicious motivation) from the West. Don't forget, we are still one of the most corrupt countries on Earth. We suffer around 8-9 hours of loadshedding every day. We may grow at 6%, but other countries in the region, and a few in Africa, are growing faster than us, and a few (Sub-Saharan) African countries may soon overtake us. Our literacy rate is somewhere around 60%, if I recall correctly.
There is no chance to be happy or complacent at our condition.
wow seriously an indian and you take his word dudes got dual intention hands down
a douche at its finest he made both the countries look shit where is his journal on hindu extremism in india which still persistent in the so called heart of india aka bombay
aint he heard of the bjp shiv sena rss and co?
why doesnt he talk about the tnc of the loan from india and how india is killing our rivers!
a douche at its finest he made both the countries look shit where is his journal on hindu extremism in india which still persistent in the so called heart of india aka bombay
aint he heard of the bjp shiv sena rss and co?
why doesnt he talk about the tnc of the loan from india and how india is killing our rivers!
Well, whatever the guy's intentions, we have to admit that we did make some progress in terms of reducing infant mortality, universal primary education, food security, GDP growth and lowering population growth. We still need a long way to go and have to make a lot of structural improvements to make Bangladesh a better place, but that does not mean that we should not celebrate the achievements that we have made on our way to achieve that vision.
Well said!Well, whatever the guy's intentions, we have to admit that we did make some progress in terms of reducing infant mortality, universal primary education, food security, GDP growth and lowering population growth. We still need a long way to go and have to make a lot of structural improvements to make Bangladesh a better place, but that does not mean that we should not celebrate the achievements that we have made on our way to achieve that vision.
Bangladesh -- An Untold Success
Bangladesh is a country of increasing regional stature and strategic
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan often represent the face of South Asia, and that's not surprising given their strategic importance. But they are not the sum total of what is going on in that part of the world. Indeed, there are untold success stories that deserve telling, and one of them is Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a country of increasing regional stature and strategic importance for the United States. It has a population of approximately 160 million people, more than Russia or Japan. While more than 30 percent of the population remains below the poverty line, Bangladesh has made impressive progress since gaining independence in 1971.
Bangladesh has reduced child mortality by more than two-thirds, and is on track to meet its 2015 Millennium Development target well ahead of schedule. It has also reduced the number of people affected by hunger from 40 million to 27 million, and reduced gender inequality in schools and in the labor force. Many of these successes have been achieved in part because of the $5 billion that the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, has invested in Bangladesh over the past 4 decades.
Steady economic growth over the last 20 years has been another important factor in lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty. In spite of the global recession, the Bangladeshi economy has continued to grow at between 5 and 6 percent per year for almost two decades and has accumulated eleven billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh is now the world's third-largest exporter of ready-made garments.
Bangladesh has a female Prime Minister, opposition leader, Foreign Minister, and Agriculture Minister. So, it is not surprising that women's empowerment and girls' education rank high on the nation's list of priorities. The country recently dispatched to Haiti its first all-female police unit of United Nations' peacekeepers.
Today, Bangladesh is a secular democracy, with an active civil society, and a history of religious and ethnic tolerance. The elections that brought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to power in January 2009 were hailed as the freest and fairest in the Nation's history. Her government has also made improving relations with India a high priority and has taken a strong stand against terrorism.
At the same time, Bangladesh's young democracy requires nurturing, and particular challenges remain in building institutions and ensuring that human rights are protected. The United States commends Bangladesh for its commitment to democracy, development, and good neighbor policies.
http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Bangladesh----An-Untold-Success-Story-104512549.html
Bangladesh is a country of increasing regional stature and strategic
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan often represent the face of South Asia, and that's not surprising given their strategic importance. But they are not the sum total of what is going on in that part of the world. Indeed, there are untold success stories that deserve telling, and one of them is Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a country of increasing regional stature and strategic importance for the United States. It has a population of approximately 160 million people, more than Russia or Japan. While more than 30 percent of the population remains below the poverty line, Bangladesh has made impressive progress since gaining independence in 1971.
Bangladesh has reduced child mortality by more than two-thirds, and is on track to meet its 2015 Millennium Development target well ahead of schedule. It has also reduced the number of people affected by hunger from 40 million to 27 million, and reduced gender inequality in schools and in the labor force. Many of these successes have been achieved in part because of the $5 billion that the U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, has invested in Bangladesh over the past 4 decades.
Steady economic growth over the last 20 years has been another important factor in lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty. In spite of the global recession, the Bangladeshi economy has continued to grow at between 5 and 6 percent per year for almost two decades and has accumulated eleven billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh is now the world's third-largest exporter of ready-made garments.
Bangladesh has a female Prime Minister, opposition leader, Foreign Minister, and Agriculture Minister. So, it is not surprising that women's empowerment and girls' education rank high on the nation's list of priorities. The country recently dispatched to Haiti its first all-female police unit of United Nations' peacekeepers.
Today, Bangladesh is a secular democracy, with an active civil society, and a history of religious and ethnic tolerance. The elections that brought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to power in January 2009 were hailed as the freest and fairest in the Nation's history. Her government has also made improving relations with India a high priority and has taken a strong stand against terrorism.
At the same time, Bangladesh's young democracy requires nurturing, and particular challenges remain in building institutions and ensuring that human rights are protected. The United States commends Bangladesh for its commitment to democracy, development, and good neighbor policies.
http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Bangladesh----An-Untold-Success-Story-104512549.html
^^
The above are all conditional praise and self serving accolades (serving those who are handing them out, not the recipient). I would find credence in them if their validation wasn't accompanied by or did not include words and terms, like terrorism, secular democracy, free and fair elections. A country's net economic development and progress does not need any (pre) qualifier and ought to be able to be judged on the merits of real data.
As if tainted elections, religious intolerance, and terrorist activities are the sole province of third world countries!
The above are all conditional praise and self serving accolades (serving those who are handing them out, not the recipient). I would find credence in them if their validation wasn't accompanied by or did not include words and terms, like terrorism, secular democracy, free and fair elections. A country's net economic development and progress does not need any (pre) qualifier and ought to be able to be judged on the merits of real data.
As if tainted elections, religious intolerance, and terrorist activities are the sole province of third world countries!
I agree that there are other ulterior motives behind the articles, but any kind of positive media attention is good at this point for us. As they say "perception is reality"..Wall Street Journal is widely read by the american business community, so might convince a few to think about potential investment in Bangladesh.. who knows!^^
The above are all conditional praise and self serving accolades (serving those who are handing them out, not the recipient). I would find credence in them if their validation wasn't accompanied by or did not include words and terms, like terrorism, secular democracy, free and fair elections. A country's net economic development and progress does not need any (pre) qualifier and ought to be able to be judged on the merits of real data.
As if tainted elections, religious intolerance, and terrorist activities are the sole province of third world countries!
Someone please explain me this....wow seriously an indian and you take his word dudes got dual intention hands down
a douche at its finest he made both the countries look shit where is his journal on hindu extremism in india which still persistent in the so called heart of india aka bombay
aint he heard of the bjp shiv sena rss and co?
why doesnt he talk about the tnc of the loan from india and how india is killing our rivers!
Indians are bad when they write good things about us.
They are bad because we import most of our goods from india. Although they are our cheapest option
India is bad even when they give us a billion dollar loan at an interest rate unheard of
let me make a few points here
As far as conspiracy theory goes, the worst one i heard was indians are behind the bdr carnage....
Also you talk about the river. The last time I checked it was us who killed buriganga and currently killing a lot of other ones too.
Also please answer me when was the last time bangladesh helped another country with massive financial help without any benefit of our own. International politics dont work that way. Ofcourse the development of our communication infustructure would help india when they get all the transit facilities from bangladesh. But the money is still being used for our development and all the indian trucks that shall pass with in our territory shall pay a toll to the government of bangladesh.....
hno:I am against loans whether they be from USA, EU, Canada, India, IMF, WB, ADB. Go take a look at what percentage of our budget goes into paying for interest for these loans.India is bad even when they give us a billion dollar loan at an interest rate unheard of
Well we didnt kill it more like we polluted it. And yes some our rivers have been killed by land developers and real estate companies but India is not innocent either. Farakka and now Tipaimukh. Surely you know about those.Also you talk about the river. The last time I checked it was us who killed buriganga and currently killing a lot of other ones too.
If you look at the projects you will see they are not that helpful at all. Bangladesh at the very least needs to fix its national highways. The Dhaka to Sylhet is a 1 lane by 1 lane road at best it needs to be upgraded to 3 by 3 atleast. It took me 10 hrs to come back from Chittagong the other day. That highway needs to be expanded. Similar improvements are needed for highways connecting Dhaka with the northern region and Khulna and Barisal. The loan doesnt help improve any of these.Ofcourse the development of our communication infustructure would help india when they get all the transit facilities from bangladesh. But the money is still being used for our development
our largest trading partner is china in turns of imports and interms of exports i think its the EUSomeone please explain me this....
Indians are bad when they write good things about us.
They are bad because we import most of our goods from india. Although they are our cheapest option
India is bad even when they give us a billion dollar loan at an interest rate unheard of
let me make a few points here
As far as conspiracy theory goes, the worst one i heard was indians are behind the bdr carnage....
Also you talk about the river. The last time I checked it was us who killed buriganga and currently killing a lot of other ones too.
Also please answer me when was the last time bangladesh helped another country with massive financial help without any benefit of our own. International politics dont work that way. Ofcourse the development of our communication infustructure would help india when they get all the transit facilities from bangladesh. But the money is still being used for our development and all the indian trucks that shall pass with in our territory shall pay a toll to the government of bangladesh.....
since you bring it up in international politics there are no friends just allies for the time being
might as well thank the LTTE in sri lanka if they hadnt started the war the garments industry wouldnt have shifted to bangladesh
^^I'm in the camp that thinks a lot of anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh is misplaced. India would greatly benefit from a stable, prosperous Bangladesh instead of just another neighbor that's less than friendly. Saying this, I do believe India often does things that outrages Bangladeshis like killing of our unarmed citizens on a weekly basis at the borders, river issues and the ubiquitous patronizing "dadagiri" attitude.
With a pro-India govt. in Dhaka, India should try its best to solve the unresolved issues in good faith and prove to the naysayers that its intentions are genuine. Otherwise the public will continue to hatch conspiracy theories and question every Indian initiative.
With a pro-India govt. in Dhaka, India should try its best to solve the unresolved issues in good faith and prove to the naysayers that its intentions are genuine. Otherwise the public will continue to hatch conspiracy theories and question every Indian initiative.
Loan is taken as a result of nesessity. No one supports an extra burden in our head but you must consider the fact that this loan helps us more in long term to outweigh the negetive resulting from interest pay. Also as i mentioned earlier when india uses our infustructure they dont use it for free. they pay a toll to the government of bangladesh. And the revenue earned from the transit will be more than enough to pay back india with the interest.I am against loans whether they be from USA, EU, Canada, India, IMF, WB, ADB. Go take a look at what percentage of our budget goes into paying for interest for these loans.
Well we didnt kill it more like we polluted it. And yes some our rivers have been killed by land developers and real estate companies but India is not innocent either. Farakka and now Tipaimukh. Surely you know about those.
If you look at the projects you will see they are not that helpful at all. Bangladesh at the very least needs to fix its national highways. The Dhaka to Sylhet is a 1 lane by 1 lane road at best it needs to be upgraded to 3 by 3 atleast. It took me 10 hrs to come back from Chittagong the other day. That highway needs to be expanded. Similar improvements are needed for highways connecting Dhaka with the northern region and Khulna and Barisal. The loan doesnt help improve any of these.
Agree with you on the second point. Farakka had a massive adverse affect on us. However Tipaimukh can be debated. but my actual point was that we are the ones killing our own river we are our worst enemy.
I totally disagree with you on the third point. Simpl because an effective railway link can do wonders for bangladesh.
Absolutely not. There are various ways to gather funds for infrastructure. Loan is the worst and most harmful of them.Loan is taken as a result of nesessity.
:lol:. Clearly you know nothing about Tipaimukh.However Tipaimukh can be debated.
Simpl because an effective railway link can do wonders for bangladesh.
Pfft it doesnt do shit. I already mentioned where the BD infrastructure needs improvement in my previous post. The govt. should make improvements there if it can.but you must consider the fact that this loan helps us more in long term to outweigh the negetive resulting from interest pay
yeah building roads to india is such a necessity, man you totally nailed it!Loan is taken as a result of nesessity. No one supports an extra burden in our head but you must consider the fact that this loan helps us more in long term to outweigh the negetive resulting from interest pay. Also as i mentioned earlier when india uses our infustructure they dont use it for free. they pay a toll to the government of bangladesh. And the revenue earned from the transit will be more than enough to pay back india with the interest.
Agree with you on the second point. Farakka had a massive adverse affect on us. However Tipaimukh can be debated. but my actual point was that we are the ones killing our own river we are our worst enemy.
I totally disagree with you on the third point. Simpl because an effective railway link can do wonders for bangladesh.
and then the tolls they will pay will be like more then enough to pay back the loan, its like using indias money to build roads and then earn more money off em once its done
like wow! the idea deserves its own pictorial gratification
A path breaking fact based beautiful article. I believe and hope Bangladesh become very prosperous yet keep the beauty of the rural fields.By SADANAND DHUME
Not long ago, when you thought of a South Asian country ravaged by floods, governed by bumblers, and apparently teetering on the brink of chaos, it wasn't Pakistan that came to mind. That distinction belonged, permanently it seemed, to Bangladesh.
Indeed, ever since Henry Kissinger famously dubbed it a "basket case" at its birth in 1971, Bangladesh appeared to work hard to live up to the appellation. For the outside world, much of the country's history can be summed up as a blur of political protests and natural disasters punctuated by outbursts of jihadist violence and the occasional military coup.
No longer, apparently. At a reception Friday for world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed for receiving a prestigious U.N. award earlier in the week. Bangladesh was one of six countries in Asia and Africa feted for its progress toward achieving its Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets that seek to eradicate extreme poverty and boost health, education and the status of women world-wide by 2015.
Indeed, Bangladesh has much to be proud of. Its economy grew at nearly 6% a year over the past three years. The country exported $12.3 billion worth of garments last year, fourth in the world behind China, the EU and Turkey. Against the odds, Bangladesh has curbed population growth. Today the average Bangladeshi woman bears fewer than three children in her lifetime, down from more than six in the 1970s.
The country's leading NGOs—most famously the microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank—have earned a global reputation. Relations with India are on a high. In August, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee signed off on a $1 billion soft loan for Bangladeshi infrastructure development, the largest such loan in India's history.
Perhaps most strikingly, Bangladesh—the world's third most populous Muslim-majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan—has shown a willingness to confront both terrorism and the radical Islamic ideology that underpins it. Since taking office in 2009, the Awami League-led government has arrested local members of Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, al Qaeda affiliate Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJi-B) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a domestic outfit responsible for a wave of bombings in 2005.
In July, the Supreme Court struck down a 31-year-old constitutional amendment and restored Bangladesh to its founding status as a secular republic. The government has banned the writings of the radical Islamic ideologue Abul Ala Maududi (1903-79), founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, the subcontinent's most influential Islamist organization. Maududi regarded warfare for the faith as an exalted form of piety and encouraged the subjugation of women and non-Muslims. A long awaited war crimes tribunal will try senior Jamaat-e-Islami figures implicated in mass murder during Bangladesh's bloody secession from Pakistan.
Needless to say, it will take more than a burst of entrepreneurial energy and political purpose before Bangladesh turns the corner for good. The long-running feud between Prime Minister Wazed and her main rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, makes the Hatfields and the McCoys look benign by comparison. The war of ideas against the country's plethora of Islamist groups requires the kind of sustained pressure that Dhaka has been unable to apply in the past. And garment exports notwithstanding, the economy remains shallow.
Despite these caveats, Bangladesh ought to be held up as a role model, especially for the subcontinent's other Muslim-majority state. Indeed, arguably no two countries in the region share as much in common as Pakistan and Bangladesh, two wings of the same country between 1947 and 1971. With 171 million people and 164 million people respectively, they are the world's sixth and seventh most populous countries. Both have alternated between civilian and military rule. In terms of culture, both layer Islam over an older Indic base.
And yet, when it comes to government policies and national identity, the two countries diverge sharply. As a percentage of gross domestic product, Islamabad spends more on its soldiers than on its school teachers; Dhaka does the opposite. In terms of foreign policy, Pakistan seeks to subdue Afghanistan and wrest control of Indian Kashmir. Bangladesh, especially under the current dispensation, prefers co-operation to confrontation with its neighbors.
Perhaps most importantly, Bangladesh appears comfortable in its own skin: politically secular, religiously Muslim and culturally Bengali. Bangladeshis celebrate the poetry, film and literature of Hindus and Muslims equally. With Pakistanis it's more complicated. The man on the street displays the same cultural openness as his Bangladeshi counterpart, but Pakistan also houses a vast religious and military establishment that seeks to hold the country together by using triple-distilled Islam and hatred toward India as glue.
In a way their best known national heroes sum up the two country's personalities. For Bangladesh, it's Grameen Bank's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, synonymous with small loans to village women. For Pakistan: Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue nuclear scientist who peddled contraband technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
Nearly 40 years ago, only the most reckless optimist would have bet on flood-prone, war-ravaged Bangladesh over relatively stable and prosperous Pakistan. But with a higher growth rate, a lower birth rate, and a more internationally competitive economy, yesterday's basket case may have the last laugh after all.
Mr. Dhume, a columnist for WSJ.com, is writing a book about the new Indian middle class. Follow him on Twitter @dhume01.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575519330896471058.html?KEYWORDS=afghanistan
I remember the line Islam layer on Indic base that epitomises Pak and BD. But I must say what differenciate Bangladesh is its mother nature and its art-literature - that treasure whoever race carry will never get defeated and divided by blindness of religious following and hatred of other religions.
Excuse me, but your bias is clearly showing. While I hail from Bangladesh, I have for most part of my adult life tried to call a spade, a spade. It would be hypocritical and untrue to insinuate that Pakistan is devoid of art and culture (literature).A path breaking fact based beautiful article. I believe and hope Bangladesh become very prosperous yet keep the beauty of the rural fields.
I remember the line Islam layer on Indic base that epitomises Pak and BD. But I must say what differenciate Bangladesh is its mother nature and its art-literature - that treasure whoever race carry will never get defeated and divided by blindness of religious following and hatred of other religions.
Not sure what was implied by "I remember the line Islam layer on Indic base that epitomises Pak and BD". Hinduism does not epitomize India? It is the same garbage that is spewed by western media when a Muslim zealot express vehemence, that is fundamentalism and radical Islam, whereas, if a (Christian) pastor intends to burn the Quran or when Reverend Franklin Graham bad mouths Islam, that isn't extreme behavior.
Seems to me, all pots like to call the kettle black.
hno:It defies logic that building roads and improving railways inside bangladesh territory shall not benefit bangladesh. Infact if you do a little research than you would soon realise that the roads and the railways would mostly be used by bangladeshis. Please do not argue just for the sake of it.yeah building roads to india is such a necessity, man you totally nailed it!
and then the tolls they will pay will be like more then enough to pay back the loan, its like using indias money to build roads and then earn more money off em once its done
like wow! the idea deserves its own pictorial gratification
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