Bangladesh, I will use a word before this, will utter the name of our beloved country as “Holy Bangladesh”. We born here, we breathe on the air, we live, we sleep, to us, it’s a life fair. Every atoms of our existence, thought and dream belongs to this Holy land, Bangladesh. This land is holding our blood and sweats, resuscitating the new and newer life on this land generation after generation! If anyone asks me, who you are, the answer will come spontaneously, “A Bangladeshi”.
From a very general point of view, what we are? We are the citizen of an underdeveloped country where, poverty plays a game with us, where flood and stormy weather flows like wave in the oceans. Twelve months in a year, politics and corruption everywhere keep our situation as floating as; we don’t know where we are! We dream for corruption free Bangladesh but we die for corruption. We dream for digital Bangladesh, but technological wave doesn’t sustain here to touch our life. The burning question is, why we live such a life, don’t we have such talents to promise a change really? Answer is simple, yes we have. Days after day, the number of GPA 5 holders in HSC and SSC is increasing. The standard of our education is not below standard. BUET is producing minimum 850 highly talented graduate engineers each year. Dhaka University is doing some awesome research which inspires us. We are that much talented to workout genome sequence of our local jute. We have public and private universities to provide us quality education. Bangladesh wins bronze medal in IMO. Whenever our graduate students go aboard for higher studies, we hear, they are showing great show of Bangladeshi talents! These all news are inspiring for us. Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country, fighting with poverty and calamities, trying to improve their condition but here is no sign of significant change in the timeline, these so known situation is not matching with such talent shows! Why things are like that?
Here is a serious accuse against Bangladeshi talents, they seek for their own future, not the collective future for Bangladesh. Every year, they are leaving Bangladesh in the name of higher education and not coming back here, for the betterment of their beloved country. Yes, this is a true picture. But the question is where they will come? The level of our talents is really high, we have scientist working in NASA. If he comes back to Bangladesh, are we capable to provide him his proper working atmosphere and scope. Rather, we will say, he is not satisfied in how much we can pay for his job. It is really a pointless accusation against him. The question is not money always; the question is of the scope of using his talent. If we offer, so much money for his job and ask him to stay in Bangladesh, without the facility of his research, is it possible to accept that? It will be acceptable only then, if he is really lazy and greedy someone, who don’t care, he can use his talent or not, care for only money. Definitely, we don’t expect such talents, but the situation is really complicated. We have to find out the remedy.
The remedy can be like that, we have to dare to invest in research of science and technology, nurture its development and insight the future Bangladesh after 50 years. We have to understand, what will be the future demand of Bangladesh and have to dare to invest now to meet those demands, almost like India! We are now fighting against hunger, maybe we will fight against hunger for next 5o years also. If we want to stop this fight, we need to invest now with the determination of technological revolution in our own country. We have to be optimistic! Providing food door to door is not the remedy for fighting against hunger. Rather, investing in agricultural technology and engineering can solve this problem in future. We are lacking in dream, not in talent. We have to change the system remaining within the system. We have to stop accusing our talents; rather we need to create their working place, where they will work with the commitment to change the situation of Bangladesh.
We need to mean digital Bangladesh, with the base of technological excellence! We need an image which reflects the happiness of Bangladeshis, in the winning days. We need glorious days in future, not in past only. Our independence should have a full meaning of independence, not the sovereignty only.
First Published in বকলম, আগস্ট ৫, ২০১০, ১৫:৩৯ নীল রোদ্দুর
