The true taste of victory

On this momentous day, we pay tribute to the martyrs, freedom fighters and Birangonas who have made supreme sacrifices for our freedom. We pay homage to Bangabandhu and the four national leaders who, under the inspiration of Bangabandhu, led the nation to victory. There is much to celebrate on our 44th Victory Day and our conquest over injustice and persecution by brutish oppressors. But on this day, we must also take stock of how much we have been able to fulfill the dreams of our martyrs.

True, we are no longer in the clutches of foreign occupiers, their racist policies and cultural hegemony. We have made remarkable progress in many fields – in getting our girls into school, making sure fewer of our children die at birth, that more mothers have safe deliveries and that all our children get basic immunisation. Our economy, despite natural calamities and a dysfunctional political environment, is fairly stable, maintaining a decent growth rate, being replenished by foreign remittance, a booming garments industry and other thriving ventures. Socially we have managed to bring up a young generation that is vibrant, energetic, innovative and full of hope.

Despite such progress, we have enormous challenges before us. We have a huge population and crippling economic inequality. We must create more jobs, opportunities to get better skills, a good education and accessible healthcare for all. We need to develop a healthy, truly democratic political culture, governance that is transparent and accountable, a parliament that is really representative of the public, elections that are unequivocally free and fair. We need equal access to justice and law enforcing agencies that are free from political influence and greed. If it is true victory we want to taste, these are some of the challenges we must overcome to bring us closer to the vision that is the basis of this nation's birth.