Welcoming the New Year
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Syed Fattahul Alim
As it happened with other years of the Gregorian calendar, the year 2007, too, came and passed into eternity. Years in themselves are nothing tangible except that they are a thought-tool for humans to locate their ephemeral span of existence in the endless and ageless expanse of time and space. Which is why, albeit ethereal, the years that pass in succession before our eyes kaleidoscopically carry great meaning so far as humans are concerned. As you would expect, people are wont to take stock of what they had done and what had happened to them in the year that they had just lived. They compare their successes or failures with others who lived the same year with their own successes and failures. At the same tine, they also weigh their performance in the year just gone by against that of the year before and plan for the better in the year ahead.
The year that was brought both hopes and frustrations in the lives of the peoples globally and also locally. In Bangladesh, the year 2007 came with great promises against the backdrop of the perilous and eventful year before. The incumbent caretaker government took charge at the beginning of the year 2007 popularly marked by the watershed of January 11, or 1/11. Without question, in Bangladesh context, the year stands out with its characteristic signatures in the midst of all other years that preceded it. It is the first time in the history of Bangladesh politicians belonging to the leading political parties came under closer scrutiny of the law enforces and statutory bodies whose job it is to look into how far they go by the book regarding their financial practices. Unlike any year in the past, this is certainly a new experience in the lives of the people in this part of the world.
The year 2007 will go down in the history of Bangladesh not only for the changes made in its political landscape. One cannot forget the two floods in a row topped in its final days by the unprecedented as well as the devastating cyclone, which wiped out village after village in south-western districts of the country. In a word, one can say that the story of the year 2007 was not one of unmixed joy or hope. It left its marks of extreme pain as well as joy to relish for a long time to come.
No people or nation can live and plan their days in isolation in this interconnected world. What happened in our lives in the year that has just left us had to do a lot with the happenings in the remaining parts of the world around. As before, the people of Bangladesh have been smarting from the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, especially of the chief staples. But the reason for this is also not incomprehensible. The spiralling price of oil has broken all its past records and at the crack of the New Year's dawn it is about to cross the $100 dollar threshold. High and ever rising price of oil is leaving its impact on the costs of transport, production of food grains, power and every conceivable amenity of modern life. Small wonder Bangladesh, which is very much in the web of such global proportions, could not wriggle out of this snare straddling all the continents. And as usual the people of Bangladesh have again found themselves at the receiving end. The burden of life has become quite unbearable for them. In the circumstances, short of a miracle, the New Year promises hardly any light at the end of the tunnel unless, however, the situation undergoes a sudden change for the better with the creation of windfall job opportunities and high level of income for all the citizens of the country.
Looking at the world around, there was also nothing extraordinarily heartening in the larger perspective on a global scale. The crisis spots of the world remained as volatile and violent as ever. The war in Iraq has been dragging on and on aimlessly with the endless cycles of roadside bombing, suicide car and truck bombings leaving a trail of senseless death and devastations in their wake. The streak of blood that had started to roll four years ago with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the world's sole superpower America has meanwhile grown from a small streak in the beginning into a large river or even a sea. The war on terror, on the other hand, which President George Bush had started in 2001 is carrying on without any specific goal or end in sight.
The war in Afghanistan, where the first salvoes of the war on terror were fired, has also been getting more violent with increasing number of suicide bombings claiming the lives of innocent bystanders as well as targeted victims. The Nato forces in charge of eliminating the Talebans from there are claiming new success, while at the same time Talebans are carrying out their operations including hostage-taking for ransom or for the publicity of their cause with impunity. The mystery over the whereabouts of the chief anti-hero of the war on terror, the boss of al-Qaeda ,Osama bin Laden, gets further deeper. Meanwhile, the intricate web of terror and death that the chief ally of President Bush's war on terror president Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan had himself woven around himself has turned into his own nemesis. On all accounts, the worst tragedy of the year occurred in Pakistan through the killing of Benazir Bhutto at a public meeting in Rawalpindi. As a consequence of the killing, it is not only the future of democracy in Pakistan, but the entire Near East, the Central Asia, the Middle East and particularly the South Asia have been thrown into a fresh crisis. The incoming New Year is to all intents and purposes going to be burdened with the creation of yet another flash point in Pakistan.
At this juncture of time, a new year is opening up out of the unwritten pages of eternity. For us in Bangladesh, the developments of the past have few points of delight to be elated about. Globally, hopes, especially, for the New Year are yet to show themselves up on the looming horizon of despair. But life cannot progress without hope. In a topsy-turvy world of change, hope is the only lifeline for the survival of humanity.
Like we did with other new years in the past, people of Bangladesh along with all the people on earth will again welcome the Year 2008 with the determination to build a new future for the progeny.
As it happened with other years of the Gregorian calendar, the year 2007, too, came and passed into eternity. Years in themselves are nothing tangible except that they are a thought-tool for humans to locate their ephemeral span of existence in the endless and ageless expanse of time and space. Which is why, albeit ethereal, the years that pass in succession before our eyes kaleidoscopically carry great meaning so far as humans are concerned. As you would expect, people are wont to take stock of what they had done and what had happened to them in the year that they had just lived. They compare their successes or failures with others who lived the same year with their own successes and failures. At the same tine, they also weigh their performance in the year just gone by against that of the year before and plan for the better in the year ahead.
The year that was brought both hopes and frustrations in the lives of the peoples globally and also locally. In Bangladesh, the year 2007 came with great promises against the backdrop of the perilous and eventful year before. The incumbent caretaker government took charge at the beginning of the year 2007 popularly marked by the watershed of January 11, or 1/11. Without question, in Bangladesh context, the year stands out with its characteristic signatures in the midst of all other years that preceded it. It is the first time in the history of Bangladesh politicians belonging to the leading political parties came under closer scrutiny of the law enforces and statutory bodies whose job it is to look into how far they go by the book regarding their financial practices. Unlike any year in the past, this is certainly a new experience in the lives of the people in this part of the world.
The year 2007 will go down in the history of Bangladesh not only for the changes made in its political landscape. One cannot forget the two floods in a row topped in its final days by the unprecedented as well as the devastating cyclone, which wiped out village after village in south-western districts of the country. In a word, one can say that the story of the year 2007 was not one of unmixed joy or hope. It left its marks of extreme pain as well as joy to relish for a long time to come.
No people or nation can live and plan their days in isolation in this interconnected world. What happened in our lives in the year that has just left us had to do a lot with the happenings in the remaining parts of the world around. As before, the people of Bangladesh have been smarting from the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, especially of the chief staples. But the reason for this is also not incomprehensible. The spiralling price of oil has broken all its past records and at the crack of the New Year's dawn it is about to cross the $100 dollar threshold. High and ever rising price of oil is leaving its impact on the costs of transport, production of food grains, power and every conceivable amenity of modern life. Small wonder Bangladesh, which is very much in the web of such global proportions, could not wriggle out of this snare straddling all the continents. And as usual the people of Bangladesh have again found themselves at the receiving end. The burden of life has become quite unbearable for them. In the circumstances, short of a miracle, the New Year promises hardly any light at the end of the tunnel unless, however, the situation undergoes a sudden change for the better with the creation of windfall job opportunities and high level of income for all the citizens of the country.
Looking at the world around, there was also nothing extraordinarily heartening in the larger perspective on a global scale. The crisis spots of the world remained as volatile and violent as ever. The war in Iraq has been dragging on and on aimlessly with the endless cycles of roadside bombing, suicide car and truck bombings leaving a trail of senseless death and devastations in their wake. The streak of blood that had started to roll four years ago with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the world's sole superpower America has meanwhile grown from a small streak in the beginning into a large river or even a sea. The war on terror, on the other hand, which President George Bush had started in 2001 is carrying on without any specific goal or end in sight.
The war in Afghanistan, where the first salvoes of the war on terror were fired, has also been getting more violent with increasing number of suicide bombings claiming the lives of innocent bystanders as well as targeted victims. The Nato forces in charge of eliminating the Talebans from there are claiming new success, while at the same time Talebans are carrying out their operations including hostage-taking for ransom or for the publicity of their cause with impunity. The mystery over the whereabouts of the chief anti-hero of the war on terror, the boss of al-Qaeda ,Osama bin Laden, gets further deeper. Meanwhile, the intricate web of terror and death that the chief ally of President Bush's war on terror president Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan had himself woven around himself has turned into his own nemesis. On all accounts, the worst tragedy of the year occurred in Pakistan through the killing of Benazir Bhutto at a public meeting in Rawalpindi. As a consequence of the killing, it is not only the future of democracy in Pakistan, but the entire Near East, the Central Asia, the Middle East and particularly the South Asia have been thrown into a fresh crisis. The incoming New Year is to all intents and purposes going to be burdened with the creation of yet another flash point in Pakistan.
At this juncture of time, a new year is opening up out of the unwritten pages of eternity. For us in Bangladesh, the developments of the past have few points of delight to be elated about. Globally, hopes, especially, for the New Year are yet to show themselves up on the looming horizon of despair. But life cannot progress without hope. In a topsy-turvy world of change, hope is the only lifeline for the survival of humanity.
Like we did with other new years in the past, people of Bangladesh along with all the people on earth will again welcome the Year 2008 with the determination to build a new future for the progeny.