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2050

Bangladesh at 2058- The Transition from Dream to Reality

History: Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a tiny country in South Asia with a total land area of about 55,500 Sq. miles. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region became the eastern wing of the newly-formed Pakistan. Political and linguistic discrimination as well as economic neglect led to popular agitations against West Pakistan, which led to the war for independence in 1971 and the establishment of Bangladesh.

Introduction: We live in Bangladesh, call ourselves Bangladeshis. Every year go to national memorial or the “Shaheed Minar” (many of us only once every year) to show respect to the martyrs. But what is it being a Bangladeshi? Is it only an expression? Of course not. It has its roots buried deep inside the heart of all the patriots, who wants nothing but to see Bangladesh shine, see it climb out of the hole, which was, and still is being dug by the handful of people devoid of love or passion for their country. Wherever we cast our eyes on these days, we see only despair, corruption, poverty, anguish and above all helplessness. We have seen the brave freedom fighters perish in extreme poverty for want of basic health care, we have seen politicians abuse their power and become obscenely rich, we have witnessed our dear country to be always called a country of “immense possibilities”, but never quite fulfill on its promises. This poor country has been thrashed around helplessly by floods and cyclones, as we stood dumbfounded, with prayers as our only refuge. We have even gotten accustomed to watching our players (Vis-à-vis –our cricketers) break our hearts, after lighting a flicker of hope in our long awaiting heart. But still we hope, still we dream. We dream...