Bangladesh is celebrating today its 50th Victory Day. Bangladesh is celebrating its half a century of existence after triumphing fully over Pakistani occupation forces on this day in 1971. This period of fifty years has been an astoundingly successful journey for Bangladesh. Very recently, Bangladeshis were witnesses to the laying of the last pier over the Padma Bridge which now crosses fully the mighty river Padma. The Metro Rail project in Dhaka and the Pyra seaport in southwestern Bangladesh are fast heading towards completion. There are other such megadevelopmental projects in varying degrees of completion throughout the country. It is not possible to describe them in the confines of this column. Thus, I do not wish to write this column only recalling the national jubilation centered on the defeat of the Pakistani forces of occupation and our triumphant victory. These have been often written about by me and so many others.

Ithink what merits writing on most on the occasion of this Victory Day is the crucial aspect of whether we could match the developmental expectations of this nation’s founders who, among other things, gave their everything in the freedom struggle so that posterity in the future would become the citizens of a rich and well developed country equitably sharing its wealth and opportunities. Any sensible and well informed person who looks back and attempts to measure Bangladesh’s progress ‘objectively’ and with an open mind, cannot fail to spot the tremendous successes attained by this country in these last five decades.

Bangladesh started off with the odious label pinned on it by renowned US Foreign Secretary, Henry Kissinger, who described it as a ‘bottomless basket’ meaning that this country would be destined perpetually to depend on foreign charity.But Bangladeshis could discard this projection long ago. Today, it is a strong trading partner of the USA in being among the top apparel exporter to that country. In fact, Bangladesh is the second biggest exporter of garments in world markets and seems to be headed to become the number one fairly soon. The economic strength of Bangladesh is reflected in the fact that never even for once in all these years it had to request its development partners to reschedule repayment of its loans to them. Bangladesh has one of the best records of timely debt servicing among developing countries. Even amid the raging corona epidemic when many countries are reeling under its pressure, the Bangladesh economy appears to be strong and resilient. Depending entirely on external assistance in the early seventies for developmental activities and even for routine administrative ones, today Bangladesh meets its entire needs of administrative expenditures from within its own resources and at least half of the resources as well for its developmental activities.

The most dependable international rating agencies such as Goldman Sachs had no hesitation in identifying Bangladesh some years ago as a growing economic powerhouse in the near future. Heads of international development agencies have congratulated the rise of Bangladesh as a middle income country sooner than the targeted date.Bangladesh had a population of 75 million in 1971 but out of this number only about 20 million people had an existence above the poverty line. The population of Bangladesh has more than doubled to over 160 million. But well over 50 per cent of this vast increased population live in poverty free conditions today which gives some idea about the Herculean success attained to banish poverty on a sustainable basis.

Bangladesh has been doing a splendid job of feeding its greatly expanded population since 1971 with its own higher agricultural productivity. Its import of food grains is nominal suggesting its sustainable great success in achieving higher agricultural productivity. It has had other successes also in building an industrial base for producing many essential consumer as well as intermediate products and a wide range of capital equipment. It is currently showing promise in new areas like shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, information technologies (IT) and outsourcing business. Bangladeshis in greater number are seen who are able to take on enterprise in diverse fields. Bangladeshis with varied entrepreneurial abilities have emerged who are to be regarded as assets in taking the country forward in different fields. Such development of entreprenurial abilities was unimaginable in the suppressive colonial times. This growing entreprenurial flair holds out the best assurance that this country would continue to improve its economic status while bestowing the benefits of its economic growth and development among more and more people in the future. Independence of the country that was achieved on the Victory Day of December 16, 1971 set forces in motion which were unthinkable in the pre independence era. The psychological relief of the people has been simply very great. The class system or the system of privileges is certainly weaker today compared to the past. Many people in this country are still in poverty. But they do not perceive themselves like the serfs of the middle ages destined to be always at the beck and call of their masters . They have learnt to hope, to feel that they are their own masters of their destiny with rights and liberties and that they can hope to win against their poverty conditions by the dint of their own hard work and little else because there is no wicked system to keep them in bondage perpetually.Very significant has been the mental and spiritual liberation of people from the colonial days when they suffered from the inferiority complex that was sought to be imprinted massively in their minds by the colonial rulers. They were persuaded to think and feel as inferiors to be ruled by superior races.

The coming of independence shattered such notions and for the first time in centuries. Bengalis in their own land learnt to hold up their heads high in an air of freedom and feel that they are next to nobody in intellectual prowess and other abilities to change their lot for the better in the individual and collective sense. This feeling of emancipation can be a tremendous force for development in any setting and this was possibly the greatest gift of independence for the people.The future, it seems, is far from bleak for Bangladesh although the impatient ones or the incurable skeptics in Bangladesh society would have us all believe that this country is destined to ultimately become a failed state from the burden of its accumulated problems. Bangladesh has developed superior entrepreneurial, business and managerial skills and classes who can be relied on to excel in various forms of enterprising. They are raring to go at top speed but are being held back from governmental failures in supplying them with adequate energy and for infrastructural and institutional weaknesses. Once government in Bangladesh starts addressing these factors rapidly and effectively, Bangladesh then would likely swiftly move on to a higher growth path ; its present a little over 5 per cent annual growth could easily shoot up to 8 or 9 per cent or could go up even into the double digits. Thus, the real challenge for Bangladesh is to continue to have good governance, efficient governance and visionary governance to prepare for its full take-off and to sustain the developmental momentum.