About being proud citizens of the country

Mohammad Shahidul IslambrTHE national flag of a country goes up slowly in the middle of thousands of spectators. A proud citizen of that country sheds tears looking at the flag while singing the country's National Anthem. His hand is on his chest. brThe world watched this scene more than once during past few weeks. It was during the Olympic Games. That was the strongest positive feeling one can have for his or her Motherland. It is loyalty towards Motherland, mother tongue and native-ness we are going to talk about today. Bangladesh is being listed today as one of the developing countries with some its people having no loyalty towards our Motherland, mother tongue and nativity. brThe majority of Bangladesh is still poor. Many other countries which became Independent in 1971 or before or after have overtaken Bangladesh. Bangladesh cannot be proud of her progress when compared with other countries which got independence at the same time and before or after. We have to point a finger at ourselves for this pathetic situation. The main reason for this setback is our colonial mentality and lack of love and loyalty towards Bangladesh.brAt least we have the chance to admit it now and in the past we were not able to admit this. How many of us sing our National Anthem in public How many of us have a National Flag at our homes and how many of us raise it on 16th December and 26th March How many of us know what our National Sport is How many schoolchildren know who the father of Nation is We cannot be proud of this situation. We have very positive signs today. brDifferent projects and programmes have been launched to promote local products and services. Promoting Bangladesh at the international level, gaining positions in international organizations, showing our talents in international events have been initiated. But this is not adequate to climb the ladder. We need to be real Bangladeshis who are really proud of our country and ourselves. brSchoolchildren should be educated on the importance of safeguarding their Motherland. We have to take a good look at Japan, China, Korea and similar other countries. They are in some of the most powerful positions in the world today. brIf we carefully study the difference between those countries and Bangladesh, we can point out some major differences. The citizens of those countries value their country more than anything else in the world. All of the citizens are ready to die for their country at any time. They are proud to be the citizens of their respective country. brWhat we do as Bangladeshis We try to speak 'Banglish' all the time. A person, who goes abroad for a few days, tries to pretend that he cannot speak proper Bengali. Being late is usual here and being punctual is something abnormal. The majority of people always think about how to destroy things and persons and not to protect anything or anyone. They throw garbage on roads and destroy buses, trains by cutting seats, removing parts etc. They rob public properties. brThey hate to be in a queue. In developed countries if there are even two persons waiting to obtain a service or anything they wait in a queue. They willingly wait in queues even to obtain a token. No fuss at all. No wonder these countries climb up the ladder passing Bangladesh. We have to change these characteristics immediately. brWe should be proud of speaking in proper Bengali, love Bangladesh, its resources and natural beauties. The time of being united to vote for Cox's Bazar and the Sundarnabs has arrived to consolidate the Bengali identity in the world. If we can win the positions of Cox's Bazar and the Sundarbans as the second of seven Natural Wonders, we can easily establish our identity in the world. Let's promise to love our Motherland Bangladesh ever. brThe writer is a Tourism Worker