Towards a golden Bangladesh

Almost every day we hear the term Sonar Bangla, and it is a bit difficult to figure out a good English translation of this phrase. Though Golden Bangladesh is a proper translation, the Bengali term is far more appealing to the public. But what is the origin of this phrase?

According to history, the song Amar Sonar Bangla was composed by Rabindranath Tagore in the backdrop of the 1905 Bengal Partition Movement. As the song’s manuscript could not be found, the exact date of composition remains unknown.

This song was sung in a public meeting organised by Swadhin Bangla Central Students’ Action Council at Paltan Ground on March 3, 1971.  During the Liberation War, famous lyricist Gauri Prasanna Mazumder composed a song titled “Sono Ekti Mujibarer Theke.”

In that song he wrote – The golden Bengal of Tagore, poet Nazrul’s dear land.

Ansuman Roy was the music composer and singer of that song. It was broadcasted first through All India Radio, Calcutta on April 22, 1971.The first ten lines of this song were declared as the national anthem of Bangladesh in the first cabinet meeting on 13th January, 1972.

As per tradition, every day before starting classes, the national anthem is sung in every school. But it is a matter of regret that in two particular types of educational institutions, the national anthem is probably never sung.

Though frequently uttered from many corners, crores of people in Bangladesh have no clear idea about Sonar Bangla. Even during the last fifty years it has never been notified or clarified by any authority.

However, we can roughly assume that Sonar Bangla means a prosperous Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman repeatedly expressed his determination to establish Bangladesh as Sonar Bangla even before the country achieved independence.

In 1969, he published a sensational pamphlet titled Sonar Bangla Shoshan Keno (why did Sonar Bangla turned into a cremation ground) containing statistical details regarding economic disparity between the then two parts of Pakistan.

This pamphlet inspired the then East Pakistan, and in the general election of 1970, people of this land conveyed their all-out support to Bangabandhu, and against Pakistan.

Just after liberation, Bangladesh’s journey towards achieving a Sonar Bangla began, but the way was (and still is) never smooth. Particularly speaking, for twenty one years after 1975, Bangladesh was directed in a different way.

However, despite facing all odds and interruptions at different stages and times, the journey continued.

During recent years, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in different fields such as health, education, agriculture, industry, communication, empowerment of women, and sanitation.

Despite some initial mismanagement, Bangladesh’s vaccination campaign to tackle the Covid pandemic was successful. An agriculture revolution has occurred. At the time of liberation, the country’s population was 75 million. But it is now more than 160 million.

For the purpose of industrialisation, urbanisation and to meet the rising need of habitation, the amount of cultivable land has dropped nearly by half, but the production of paddy has increased from 11.8 million tonnes in 1971 to 40 million tonnes.

At present, the name of Bangladesh is pronounced after big countries such as China and India. In some indicators, Bangladesh has reached the top, leaving China and India behind.

According to data from the Bangladesh Bank, Export Promotion Bureau and United Nations, in terms of production, Bangladesh is now 3rd in inland open water fish and 5th in block water fish, 1st in hilsa [FAO report on World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2018], 7th in potato, 3rd in paddy and readymade garments, 7th in expatriate income, 2nd in outsourcing, jack fruit and goat milk, 8th in guava, 4th in meat, 1st in pharmaceutical exports among LDCs, 10th in tea production [Prothom Alo, December 27, 2021].

Bangladesh has already entered into its own satellite age. Internet facilities are now available even in remote villages. Many mega projects are underway, and the Padma Bridge is a mark of grand success.

According to the road transport and bridges minister, 100 bridges will be inaugurated this October [Bangladesh Pratidin, October 11]. Bangladesh’s per capita income is now $2,824 [compared to $134 in 1971], as per provisional estimate by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

There is more scope to prolong the list of successes, but nothing is absolute in the world. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee had written, “There are thorns in creepers, worms in flowers, poison in smell.”

Experts say that only visible (please read infrastructural) development and graduation in a developing country are not enough. In spite of huge successes, there is a wide lack of good governance, which is making all developments pale in comparison.

The concept of good governance was first introduced by the World Bank in 1989 and defined in 1992 that governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development.

According to the UNDP, basic elements of good governance are – citizens’ participation, rule of law, transparency, responsibility, unity among all, equality, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency.

Overall, international analysis shows that in the field of good governance, Bangladesh’s position is not bright.

According to ND-GAIN Country Index, Vulnerability and Readiness, 2020, Bangladesh ranks 153 out of 188 countries. In rule of law, Bangladesh ranks 162 out of 179 countries (Worldwide Governance Indicators, Data Bank - World Bank 2021).

Questions may be (and are always) raised by the government regarding accuracy and acceptability of such rankings, but public perception cannot be denied nor ignored. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairman commented that there is a lack of good governance in the country.

Corruption is an obstacle to good governance. If the people do not want it, it is not possible to fight corruption only through the ACC. The work of curbing corruption has started, but the desired result has not yet come (Jugantor, February 26, 2018).

As believed, democracy is a precondition of development and good governance. Political parties, ruling and opposition, always shout for democracy but in contradictory ways.

Some politicians have introduced a new theory – development first, not democracy.

Most of the politicians think of election, not good governance, because election is their ladder to ascend to power, and power yields many things.

Experts think that the practice of democracy and good governance should begin from within political parties – position, opposition or no position, but it is absent in Bangladesh. Almost all political parties are controlled individually, no opposition is found.

Professor Dr Mumtazuddin Patwari has rightly written that Bangladesh’s soil is one of the most fertile soils in the world.

 Even Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, in his book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” mentioned the names of three regions, including the Bengal region, whose fertility is able to make a wonderful contribution to the production of wealth.

The reality is now much more complex, even changed. A huge class of looters is now dominating politics, society, administration and all institutions. Besides, a major portion of politics is influenced by communal thoughts, fundamentalist thinking, and militant ideology.

Weakness of devotion to the spirit of the Liberation War is now visible everywhere (abnews24.com, August 15, 2022).

Investments in the private sector have not increased over the last few years. Apart from the first (cadre and non-cadre) and second class jobs, thousands of students, acquiring the highest academic degrees, are applying for a very limited number of lower positions.

A handful of people get jobs, but it is not comparable to the number of job seekers. Moreover, reports of major irregularities and corruption in these appointments are open secret. Against more than four lakh appearing in the preliminary test of 43rd BCS Examination, only 15,229 candidates qualified for 1,814 cadre posts for written examination.

What will others, who are not among those fortunate 1,814 people, will do in this middle income country? Officially, the number of unemployed people in the country is said to be 2.6 million, but in reality it is much higher, according to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

The unemployment rate is still the highest in Bangladesh among the South Asian nations.

According to the World Employment and Social Outlook 2018 published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), since 2010, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have managed to reduce their unemployment rates, and the indicator is stable in India.

However, this rate has increased in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

Anarchy in the banking sector has become rampant in the past few years, and the stock market has become a place of plunder. Dhaka Stock Exchange lost Tk 65,000 crores in seven months of 2019. Amid such a backdrop, the way to Golden Bangladesh is not at all pleasant.

American poet Robert Frost had written, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

The way ahead is long. If there is political determination, administrative preparation, the people’s participation and development in continuation, it will not be tough to attain a Golden Bangladesh as thought by Rabindranath and envisaged by Bangabandhu.

The writer is a former Commissioner of Taxes. He can be contacted at [email protected]