It has been 50 years since we achieved our independence from Pakistan. It has been 50 years since we saw the first sunrise from an independent Bangladesh, free from all sorts of foreign regimes.
And yet, this sight came at a cost. From the people lost on the battlefields to the people that were lost to the violence and lust of the Pakistani military to the betrayal and treason of locals within who collaborated with Pakistan, history knows that we have paid more than our fair share for the taste of sweet freedom.
On this day, 50 years ago, we paid the ultimate price. On December 14, 1971 -- in a desperate bid to cripple the nation once and for all -- the Pakistani military -- together with those who were to be Bangladeshis, and yet who committed the ultimate act of treason by conspiring against their own country -- seeped through Dhaka and abducted the intellectuals that were at the centre of Bangladeshi intelligentsia and culture, and killed them, murdered them in cold blood, with the hopes that Bangladesh would never be able to stand tall on the world stage.
While 50 years onwards, we have recovered from that loss and have begun to signal our worth to the world populace, we can never deny that we would have reached further, much further, had our martyred intellectuals been at our side, guiding this nation from its very inception. And no amount of development can make up for the loss suffered that fateful night.
As Bangladesh goes past 50 years of independence, the misnomer of a basket case can no longer be thrown against it. In fact, Bangladesh is the envy of the world right now, with many South Asian countries looking at Bangladesh’s model in order to shape their own economic policies.
Yet, we have to do more. It is true that Bangladesh is prospering, but not all of it is reflected at the ground level. This is especially problematic as Bangladesh graduates from a least developed country to a developed country. While Bangladesh’s per capita GDP might have crossed $2000, a mean number means nothing when an increase like this is not reflected in a large section of the population.
A significant number of people who were martyred on December 14, 1971 were artists, poets, and journalists. In that respect, compared to even India, Bangladesh has failed to make a mark on the literary sphere, and combined with our position in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index and the treatment that our artists and journalists regularly go through, it becomes clear that there’s much to be done on these fronts.
As we go forward and usher in a new era for this nation, as we move towards middle-income status as a nation and eventually become a developed nation, we have to work on the gaps that exist. We must move forward while honoring the legacy of our martyred intellectuals. Their legacy demands that we return the favour and build the nation that they knew Bangladesh was always capable of becoming.