Bangladesh - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

(Laura's effort to pull together first impressions after a little more than two months in Bangladesh.)
The country works hard to overcome its many challenges to developing as an effectively functioning society with some successes, some setbacks and periodic catastophes, usually natural ones, but in a recent case, an atrocity of barbarism.

The good can be seen everyday in the industry of the people. One constantly sees people working very hard to make a living - from the rickshaw drivers and vendors on the streets to the service personnel who install your Internet or help set up your cell phone to the garment factory workers streaming to their jobs each day. We live in an area with many small colleges and universities and we see many students coming and going to those institutions to prepare themselves for a career in business or technology. The newspaper is always full of articles that are part of a lively national debate over the best ways to overcome problems and make improvements. The country recently completed a successful democratic election of a new government and is very hopeful that change for the good will be possible.

The bad consists of the ongoing challenges that are reported in the daily news. Water pollution of the many rivers continues due to industrial and human waste, while additional environmental degradation results from unregulated mining. Traffic in the city is chaotic and congested, but becomes deadly in the countryside were fatal bus and truck accidents occur regularly. Corruption in politics and business continues to be a problem, recent examples being counterfeit bearings “rolling” into the market and printing companies “manufacturing” a textbook crisis. Though the education system has had success in enrolling a high percentage of students in recent years, there is evidence that achievement levels are way below the target curriculum and many students drop out before completing secondary school exams.

The ugly was exemplified in a massacre at the end of February of over 70 army officers among those assigned to lead the paramilitary force called the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) who guard the country’s borders. Initially, the reports were that it was a mutiny in the name of dissatisfaction with pay and work conditions, but the investigations are revealing it may have been instigated by a terrorist group that infiltrated the BDR and drummed up support for what was really revenge. The group had been brought to justice and marginalized in recent years through the efforts of some of the brutally killed army officers. There was a lot of concern that this volatile situation would destabilize the newly elected government, but so far that has not been the case.

It is a sign of hope for the country that its citizens are horrified and outraged by the atrocities committed, that they are supporting the government in its efforts to pursue a deliberative and fair process of justice, and that they are determined not to let this event distract them from pursuing their goals of positive change and development.