How they see us
We are used to negative coverage of Bangladesh in the western media. Many of us take those and add in our very limited exposure and scream ‘nothing happened in 38 years’ etc. Others have a knee-jerk reaction of denying the reports, claiming ‘western conspiracy against our image’ etc. The fact is, of course, that Bangladesh has made steady progress, particularly in the past couple of decades. And even many of its current problems are in fact results of the very growth process the naysayers fail to see.
Couple of recent pieces in the western media that note the positives.
In a piece on the US strategy in Afghanistan, Nick Kristof writes in the NY Times:
Since 9/11, the United States has spent $15 billion in Pakistan, mostly on military support, and today Pakistan is more unstable than ever. In contrast, Bangladesh, which until 1971 was a part of Pakistan, has focused on education in a way that Pakistan never did. Bangladesh now has more girls in high school than boys. (In contrast, only 3 percent of Pakistani women in the tribal areas are literate.)
Those educated Bangladeshi women joined the labor force, laying the foundation for a garment industry and working in civil society groups like BRAC and Grameen Bank. That led to a virtuous spiral of development, jobs, lower birth rates, education and stability. That’s one reason Al Qaeda is holed up in Pakistan, not in Bangladesh, and it’s a reminder that education can transform societies.
After visiting Dhaka recently, Amy Kazmin of the Financial Times writes:
The country, derided soon after its 1971 birth as “an international basket case”, has emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis. Garment exports increased by 15 per cent, to a record $12.3bn, in the 12 months through June and the economy grew by 5.9 per cent last year, barely slowing from its 6.2 per cent rate in 2007.
“Bangladesh can aspire to be a middle-income country in a decade and a half – that doesn’t looks like a fantasy any more,” said Zahid Hussain, a senior economist at the World Bank in Dhaka.
(Hat tip: BD Invest and ATC).
Most of us, unfortunately are prone to see the half empty glass and the half full. You just have to remove your dark glasses and see and appreciate the real thing.
[Reply]
interesting article, as usual, Bengalis never miss a chance to show Pakistan lower than Bangladesh…the fact is that a majority of Pakistan’s socio-economic problems are caused by its location in a dangerous area of the world…that area, right sandwiched between India and Central Asia is a hotbed for proxy wars bought by international powers namely USA, Israel, India, China, Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia…all these countries have vested interests in Pakistan. The West along with India has a particular interest in the Balkanisation of Pakistan i.e. separation of Balochistan and NWFP from the country
Pakistan being the only Islamic country to atomic weapons is a target for world powers who wish to see permanent supression of Islam in the world.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW BANGLADESH WOULDVE FARED IN THAT SAME NEIGHBOURHOOD. Anyways even after all these problems, all development indicators in Pakistan are higher. Banglladesh shouldve done faaaaaaaarrr better than it has economically, considering its location and resources.
Anyways may God bless all Muslims, it doesnt matter what country. Musulman ummah zindabaad!
[Reply]
jyoti Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Interesting. One article is about the relative role of education vs military solution in the American strategy in Afghanistan, with references to Bangladesh being about the supremacy of education. The other one is about Bangladesh alone. That you got excited enough to write 3 paras about ‘Bangladesh vs Pakistan’ probably speaks more about you than anything else.
[Reply]
lol sorry if I hurt anyone`s sentiment; there is no `vs`, which country you like better is your business. I simply wanted to comment on how the comparisons were unfair and somewhat inaccurate. And you`ll notice my third paragraph is a comment in support of the Muslim Ummah.
Thanks!
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