Is Bangladesh still too young?

Whenever I think about the ongoing social and environmental issues in Bangladesh, I justify it with the theory that it’s just happening because maybe Bangladesh is still too young. I feel as if the memory of the Liberation war is still too fresh in everyone’s mind. Every year on national holidays in Bangladesh, we are reminded of the war and its horrific tragedies. We are reminded of the people who fought for our language and our freedom. Don’t take me wrong, I do respect those martyrs who were brave enough to fight for our language and freedom, but I feel that when you mourn them instead of celebrating them, it brings on more sadness and does not allow the country nor the citizens of Bangladesh to move on. We need to celebrate our victory more than we mourn the martyrs who won the victory for us.

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Again once more I would like to put out a disclaimer that perhaps maybe this is what I see from living in America. My opinions may be one-sided, but the matter of fact is that, I believe that there maybe more like me who have same views as me. There might be something that can argue against my theory and positions, but I totally understand that. I am not writing to bash Bangladesh, only to suggest solutions to problems I see.

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The reason why the Liberation War is still fresh in everyone’s mind is probably because the generation that has fought and witnessed the war is till telling stories of it. There are still people who experienced the war firsthand and they are still somewhere in their heart have not moved on. They still have so much hatred in them and it’s totally justified. But I feel as if we need to move on. An example of another Independence/war is India’s partition with Pakistan, its tragedies were not talked about nor talked of in the years after the war. People in a sense forgot of the war and focused on the newly independent country. Only after the 60s and 70s did writers begin writing about partition stories.

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So now I just justify Bangladesh’s poor state on its young age. It’s still learning to handle itself and prosper. But perhaps some political figures have their own agenda and have other goals in mind. Which is another discussion in itself. Maybe my kids or grandkids will see a better Bangladesh than I have.

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Thanks for reading guys!

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Bangladesh and Its Transportation System / বাংলাদেশের পরিবহন

This an impromptu entry which really might have not any research to it, but this is an issue that has been bothering me for a while and I need to put it out there. Some of the propositions I claim might be out there already but I do not know of it. Bangladesh’s transportation needs a serious make-over. I hear constant news about bus crashes, launches(ferry) capsizing and personally saw the horrible method of getting onto and off a bus in Dhaka. I wont be talking about the recent incidents were buses were burned down because that’s a political issue, which is something I will be talking about soon. Nevertheless the transportation system in Bangladesh is not very effective in ensuring a safe and efficient travel.

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To start off with launches, it can be said that the high seasons are during Eid and the Ijstema and most capsizes occur during that time. What usually happens is that these launches go above the allowed amount of occupying persons, causing the launch to capsize and drown many people. Other times these launches would run on mild conditions where the launch is not legally in shape to run. On top of that these launches have horrible structure and horrible hygiene issues. Restrooms are unhygienic, the food from the restaurant is probably not very safe to eat either. When ever I travel, I never eat from the restaurant. I try to stay on bottled water and packed snacks from home. & I try not to use the restroom unless I really have to go.

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As I was discussing with my father the other day, I proposed the idea that the Bangladesh government should invest in foreign launches in order to ensure the best and safest journey for all of its citizens. They should buy these launches then mandate that launch companies to buy these launches for them in order to run as a company. They should ban any use of the old launches. Because these launches are advanced they would need modern ports to accommodate their standby, so I would propose the government to take the money received from fines and taxes revenues to sponsor a portion of each city’s seaport renovations. In addition to that they should enforce strict rules on occupying persons on each launch and to do that they can create more jobs by hiring honest transport authorities to ensure the amount of people boarding each launch. This way we can avoid the situation of overstocking a launch leading to a capsizing.

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Now here is where a major issue arises. If the government or the ministry of transportation do hire these “honest” personnel to enforce the law with the launches, what is the guarantee that the managers of these launches wont bribe these personnel or offer them a share of their profit if they overstuffed their launch? This is where the picture becomes more complicated. Corruption is such a common thing amongst Bangladesh government that, as of now i see no solutions to solving it. Corruption is planted so deep within the system that in order to remove it we have to offend and charge extremely high officials of the crime which might be dangerous for us. Nowadays Bengali journalists and activists who speak against the government are being punished at the cost of death. They are being murdered and punished for their right of speech and press freedom. I can go on and on about this but lets leave this entry to be about fixing the transportation system.

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I have yet to talk about bus transportation but I would like to say that in order for travel to be much easier and understandable for the people of Bangladesh, we must fix our infrastructure system really fast. We must also create street name signage for every street and alley all over Bangladesh. This will create precise stops for the bus and will create a simple travel for riders. We must create stable and wide paved roads and  LEGIT sidewalks all over Bangladesh, especially in villages where during the monsoon seasons cars and buses fall into nearby pool or ditches because of narrow slippery muddy roads. We must create one unified bus system which accepts one type of payment such as NYC’s MTA metrocards. We must create central offices for the employment and training of all transportation workers and teach them the ethical and moral way of working for the people.

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That is all I would like to say today. Thanks for reading peoples!

Hello world! হ্যালো বিশ্ব!

Hello everyone! I am so excited to start my very first public blog. I always keep a journal and record my thoughts or recent events to look back at. But I don’t always get to physically write such long essays because I get really lazy and tired of writing. Also I sometimes write-up some research papers about social and economic issues in Bangladesh and I sometimes want to share that and meet others who are interested in the same field. I would love getting some feedback on those articles.s. I am also very obsessed with interior designing and cooking. And so I am here to share a bit of my life with you guys! Hope it will be one heck of a journey! =) PEACE OUT PEOPLES! ❤