Our current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina who has followed in her father's footsteps in running the state affairs thinking about helpless and hapless and common people placing herself in the place of a commoner. COURTESY
As 2021 comes to an end, we all are setting our sights on new promises for 2022 with the hope of achieving our goals and it is as usual that the beginning of every year holds a lot of positivity and vibes for people across the globe and we, Bangladeshis, are no difference.
The year 2021 was an extraordinary year for the nation of Bangladesh as it witnessed celebrations of Bangladesh’s golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was dubbed the greatest Begali of a thousand years. And now the baton of the country's leadership was rightly passed in the hands of his capable daughter, our current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina who has followed in her father's footsteps in running the state affairs thinking about helpless and hapless and common people placing herself in the place of a commoner.
If we look back we can see the conspicuous economic development achieved by Bangladesh. In continuation of its development journey, the country transformed itself into a middle-income state by 2021 and is set to meet all the SDG targets by 2031, turn into a knowledge-based economy by 2041 and a prosperous and resilient country by 2100. The country is now a $411 billion economy and is ranked among the 34 largest economies of the world.
All this progress has been made despite the on-going deadly Covid-19 pandemic which has been ripping the world apart but Bangladesh has been relatively unscathed and less impacted because of pre-emptive and adequate measures and initiatives adopted by the Sheikh Hasina government to withstand the onslaught of the devastating pandemic despite the outbreak of its new variants of Delta and Omicron. Riding on the plans and positive steps, Bangladesh’s per capita income has now stood at $2,227.
Despite facing the hardship, Bangladesh has been enjoying an unprecedented political stability though opposition parties particularly BNP and its alley, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, have been striving hard to destabilize the country resorting to violence and arson since 2009 when Sheikh Hasina became prime minister again after her 1996 -2001 term. The year 2021 carries another special significance when she has become the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh, having served for a combined total of over 17 years as in December 2021, she became the longest serving incumbent female head of government in the world.
The year 2021 witnessed little or no militancy or terrorism activities. It was possible because of government's policy of zero tolerance to terrorism and militancy and the law enforcement authorities and security agencies undertook strict counter-terrorism drives and arrested cadres of various militant groups.
The 2021 was marked by uninterrupted economic development of the country. It was a momentous year as the prestigious Padma bridge project attained a major milestone with the completion of the structural work. There are many other on-going mega infrastructure schemes ranging from bridge, railway and power plants to mass rapid transit projects aimed at changing the country’s fate in the years to come. These include Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Padma Bridge Rail Link, a number of metro rail for Dhaka city, Karnaphuli Tunnel, Matarbari Power Plant, Rampal Power Plant, Rail Bridge on Jamuna River, Payra Seaport, Elevated Expressway and Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar-Ghundhum Rail Line. Some of the projects are close to the finishing line while some others have been launched recently and some are waiting to get started soon.
We all have to work hard to reach our coveted goals---individually and at the national levels. I would like to wrap up the write up with a few words from Helen Keller: "Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."
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