BANGLADESH’S development will skyrocket if it can only avoid political violence, and ensure constructive politics and gender equality. There is no doubt that Bangladesh will be a well-developed place, if it can avoid violence, provide conducive environment for investment and development, ensure law and order and uphold justice, said the outgoing UN Resident Coordinator Neal Walker, as reported by the press. Politics needs to be focused more on the needs of people and alternative voices. It will happen only when the two main political parties speak to one another.Bangladesh faced many challenges because of a horrific war, famine and cyclone in the initial years of its birth, but it made tremendous strides on the social and economic fronts that were rarely possible for any country in such a short time. Even before the UN set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, successive governments in Bangladesh since the 1990s had prioritised growth with equity and social objectives associated with the MDGs. Its achievements in disaster management, poverty reduction, cutting down child and maternal mortality and female education are impressive, said the UN diplomat.Though Bangladesh has achieved food security, some 40 percent children under five are malnourished. Child marriage and violence against women still remain big problems. According to official data, 65 percent of girls are married off before they reach 18 while maternal mortality rate stands at 194 per lakh. Moreover, 87 percent of women fall victims to violence by their husbands. To address these problems, Walker gave two suggestions – ensuring gender equality and constructive politics. Only when women are fully and equally engaged as true partners of development, the country will excel. We quoted Neal Walker, not because we have no educated people who have not said the same thing over and over again. Despite possessing prospect of being emerged as a developed nation, like Singapore, for its human and natural resources, Bangladesh failed to use its intellectual potentials and achieve development in various fields for a happy society. The fact is our politics is nothing but power struggle. Politics is so confrontational that politics means now to minus people. In short, politics has become too self-centered and too selfish. The police and police cases are not so much for maintaining law and order and peace essential for development. But our party politics cares little for peace, it is for power. Our party politics is not for peace with tolerance. Intolerant politics cannot be helpful for peace and stability.
