In the global context, 2022 was a rough year.
While the world was still reeling from the ravaging effects of Covid-19 and had been dealing with its aftereffects, the ill-conceived invasion of Ukraine at the hands of Russia sent massive shock-waves across the board for economies both developed, developing, and otherwise.
Miraculously, almost, Bangladesh managed to thrive.
This year saw some of the biggest projects undertaken by our country achieve completion or come within striking distance of it. As a nation that has indubitably been dealt a raw hand due to its utter vulnerability to climate change -- one that feels each and every bit of its effects with increased intensity compared to most other countries -- Bangladesh, by all accounts, should be much worse off.
But, of course, not everything was rosy.
Our economy took a massive downturn and not just due to the twin effects of Covid-19 and the invasion of Ukraine, and it has been quite a while that we travelled back in time to the dark days of scheduled power cuts and load shedding, and for one day the entire city of Dhaka was even enveloped in complete darkness.
While a brunt of the reason behind these unfortunate circumstances can be chalked up to world events outside of our control, administrative failures clearly exacerbated their effects to some degree.
This new year, then, represents a fresh start for us all.
The completion of projects such as the Padma Bridge and the Metro Rail represent a new dawn in connectivity for Bangladeshis, while projects such as the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant not only seek to pry us away from our dark days but also promise to make the future even brighter. However, as always, there is work to be done.
One cannot measure a nation's progress by metrics such as the GDP or by the number of massive infrastructural projects alone. Economically speaking, Bangladesh might be doing better than ever but in terms of social progress we have miles to go as women are still treated as second-class citizens and the space for freedom of expression is seemingly shrinking with each passing day.
We hope that this year we can finally lay to rest some of these problems which have haunted us for too long. Let us all keep this in mind and move forward.
The Dhaka Tribute wishes all of its readers a very Happy New Year.
