AND so yet another calendar year ends, bringing with it yet a multitude of memories, good and bad. 2015 was the year in which a number of unique events occurred in Bangladesh, some good, some bad, which followed a sequence similar to previous years. In the international arena peace and war remained fixed to certain areas – but their consequences forced Western democracies to focus on what were the best approaches to fulfilling their global responsibilities.
The year began with a series of hartals and blockades by the main opposition party, mainly to voice their displeasure in not being able to being allowed to participate in a neutral election. These incidents as usual took an unprecedented toll in terms of lives and economic losses but alas, nothing was gained in terms of democratic achievement or participation.
Barely one week into the year terrorists attacked a Parisian newspaper office Charlie Hebdo, among other places in France. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks which led to the deaths of seventeen people. Paris was also unfortunate enough to be the center stage of attacks in November when attacks in a football stadium, concert venue and restaurant led to 130 deaths. This time the culprits were ISIS.
Tens of thousands of people fleeing war-torn Syria and other areas in the Middle East and Africa spent much of this summer making the laborious, and dangerous, trek through Europe toward countries including Germany and Sweden in hopes of finding asylum. The influx of refugee families prompted international disputes and policy shifts as countries such as Hungary started to close some of their borders and put up fences with razor wire to prevent people from entering. President Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States met with stiff resistance from some Republican Congressmen who called for stricter certifications so that none of the immigrants posed a security risk.
One bright spot in 2015 was the Tigers winning 13 out of the 18 ODIs that they played – mostly against the most competitive teams of the cricket world. It was an achievement unparalled in the history of our sports. We did not fare so well in other sports like football where we achieved our worst ranking since 1993 – the year FIFA rankings were developed.
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh more bloggers were killed and some foreigners living peacefully in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh were stabbed to death by unknown assailants.
A giant trafficking ring was found to operate in Bangladesh by sending poor, mostly illiterate Bangladeshis and Rohingyas to Thailand and Malaysia to ransom them for money, and authorities in Thailand have started trials at the year end.
All in all within the country the politics continued to be antagonistic, the economy in deep freeze while violence went on rising. What is disturbing is that the government appears to be glumly unconcerned when the government is losing its grip on various departments and agencies. There seems no realisation on the part of the government as how bitterly the nation is divided and it should be a matter of grave concern that the nation is not on the path of unity and reconciliation. We must all be conscious of the obligation that we all have to the people to keep them safe and make their lives less miserable.
