[mukto-mona] An article in the Independent

An article in the Independent for your kind consideration  http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=153855 http://www.theindependentdigital.com/index.php?opt=view&page=6&date=2009-12-16 Thanks   Regards,   Ripan K Biswas New York ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Independent, Internet Edition, Most Popular English Daily newspaper from bangladesh. All kinds of news from bangladesh like Culture, Dhaka, textile, garments, micro credit, phone cards, business news, buy-sell, buy and sell, Advertisement on the Net, Horoscope, horoscope, IT, ICT, Business, National News, Bangladesh Media, Betar, Current News, Weather Bangladesh, foreign exchange rate, Taka, education, online model test, onlinemodeltest.com, amardiary.com, Md Arshad Hossain, Bangladesh Sports, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Politics, Bangladesh Business     Dhaka, Wednesday 16 December 2009 / 2 Poush 1416 / 28 Jilhaj 1430       Front Page   |   Current Page   |   Back Page        Home > Post Editorial Archive : 01020304050607080910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember20052006200720082009       NEWS    Front Page    Back Page    Metropolitan    Country    International    Miscellaneous   BUSINESS    Business Local    Business Foreign   SPORTS    Sports Local    Sports Foreign   EDITORIAL    Editorial    Post Editorial    Letter   OTHERS    Science & Technology    Special Supplement of Victory Day   CURRENT NEWS    Current Page       LIVE SCORE 2010 World Cup Schedule     Nation salutes martyrs | Private sector in the dark | Tangail-5 MP's election declared illegal     Victory is yet a far cry Ripan Kumar Biswas Bangladesh is celebrating the 38th anniversary of its glorious Victory Day today. As usual, there would be a lot of things including celebration programmes on December 16. The day is a public holiday. The national flag would be hoisted atop all government, semi-government and other important establishments. The day is heralded by 31 gun salutes at the dawn. But at the 38th celebrations while remembering the soul-lifting sacrifices and gallantry of the country's bravest and enlightened sons, particularly in this month of December, the people of Bangladesh will also face the most daunting challenges. The nine-month-long struggle that ended with the killing of teachers, writers, journalists, professionals, and social thinkers on December 14, 1971, just on the eve of triumphant emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation, was an event that Bangladeshis would never forget. The Victory Day means little to the scavenging children walking past the National Memorial at Savar, Central Shaheed Minar in front of Dhaka Medical College, or Intellectual Martyr's Memorial at Mirpur, whose emancipation was one of the prime goals of the Independence War. Still now, Bangladesh could not achieve victory over poverty and hunger. Hundreds of children fall asleep after futile craving for some food from their poor mothers. According to Time magazine on Monday, December 20, 1971, the UN did its best to stop the war by passing a resolution calling "cease-fire" and urged Indian and Pakistan forces to return to their own borders. But with victory in view, freedom fighters fought gallantly against the enemies to free the motherland and to establish democracy, secularism, and Bengali nationalism. When millions of Bangladeshis pay their heartiest gratitude to those freedom fighters expecting that each and everyone, who fought in the complex and challenging situation and sacrificed their lives, would be given high respect and care, one can see sufferings, humiliation and deprivation of freedom fighters. Some of them are rickshaw-pullers, slum dwellers, or even beggars. Most of the countries in the world respect their freedom fighters and senior citizens for their great contribution towards the country. The government need to have special priorities for those great heroes. To us victory means democracy. Functioning of government is an important factor for democracy. If the decisions adopted democratically are not implemented then the concept of democracy becomes an empty shell. Though parliamentary elections were hotly contested, parliament never functioned as an effective accountability mechanism. Regardless of which party was in power, the main opposition party boycotted most of the parliamentary sessions, alleging government repression to voice its views. Civil liberties which refer to 'liberal democracy' are the principle of the protection of basic human rights such as freedom of speech, expression and the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to due judicial process. Democracy presupposes equality before the law, due process and political pluralism. The values of the liberation war were secularism, democracy, liberal outlook and modernism. But after independence, governments of every hue have been in power and failed to uphold the values of the liberation war. They also reinstated people who were indicted as collaborators of Pakistani forces. The biggest mistake of the peace-loving nation was to forgive those traitors. This is why Bangladesh always goes back to 1971 to remember its heroic deeds so that Bangladesh can fight for keeping themselves in the path laid by the values. Bangladesh can't be lenient towards war criminals as crimes like genocide negate the concept of secular Bengali nationhood, which was the basis of the liberation war. People in Bangladesh, who are demanding for a war crimes tribunal, have no intentions to seek revenge and undeserved retribution. Rather, they are advocating for the establishment of realistic and credible examples that will deter future criminals from feeding death and destruction to human civilisation. This is because they believe bringing war criminals to justice can have a positive effect in unifying a nation, legitimizing its government, and keeping it on the right path. As the world's 139th independent nation, Bangladesh is facing the daunting challenges regarding country's socio-economic and cultural development. There is no denying that things in Bangladesh today are not as they ought to be, let alone what they promised to be. Thirty eight years is perhaps a short time in the life of a nation to resolve its identity issues, but it cannot be denied that Bangladesh is today at a crossroads and it must act before it is too late. For Bangladesh, the victory is to bring about the much-needed change that is conducive to its growth and stability. (The writer is a freelancer based in New York)   Print         Post Editorial Epilogue Victory is yet a far cry Obama participation raises hopes     Online Trial . . . Under Development ______________________ Click to view Print version TheIndependentDigital.com ______________________   DHAKA STOCK EXCHANGE  CHITTAGONG STOCK EXCHANGE      Editor: Mahbubul Alam Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited and printed by him at Media Printers, 149-150, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office : BEL Tower (5th & 6th floor), 19 Dhanmondi, Road No. 1, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000. Phone (PABX): 9672091-95. Fax: 880-2-8629785, Email : indnews@bol-online.com (News), editor@bol-online.com (Editorials), ind@bol-online.com (Commercial), indeditor@bol-online.com (Editor) Powered By: NavanaSoft

__._,_.___

****************************************************
Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___