And then roared up Bengalis in revolt and negated the verdict. A movement started -- popularly called the Language Movement -- but beneath the surface, a movement against the Pakistani colonial hegemony. Lives were lost -- our martyrs -- when police opened fire on the protestors. Bengalis are the only nation in the world who shed blood to establish their mother tongue as state language. We are proud that in subsequent period, Unesco declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day. Every year, the day is celebrated with due solemnity throughout the world. In fact, the recognition to our cause came during the tenure of the last government when Unesco accepted the proposal.

In fact February 21, 1952 was the beginning of the end of the state called Pakistan. The then East Pakistanis were exploited -- socially, politically and economically -- by the erstwhile West Pakistanis. The disparity widened so much as to fuel a call for a six-point demand for autonomy of the then East Pakistan. The Education Movement was also launched to go for an exploitation-free education system. By and large, the spirit of February 21 taught the lesson that Bengalis should fight for their emancipation.

Then came the Liberation War. The then Pakistani rulers declined to yield to the popular verdict that came through the general election held in 1970 and through which Awami League got the mandate to rule the then Pakistan. Instead of transferring power to the people's representative, the rulers chose to subdue movements at gunpoint. At the call of the Great Leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on March 7, people of this part of Pakistan waged a war against the one of most sophisticated armies of the world. After a bloody war for nine months, Bangladesh got freedom from the clutches of the Pakistani colonisers.

It is, therefore, arguable that the seeds of independence were sown in February 21, 1952 and the harvest was home in March 26, 1971.

But an assessment of our performance -- as of today with regard to socio-economic and political uplift of the people of Bangladesh -- could hardly console us. Bangladesh is still one of the poorest countries of the world with almost half of the population groaning under poverty. Infant and maternal mortality -- although declining over time -- continue to be among the highest in the world. The political system is yet to get a definite direction. There is no doubt that we witness national elections every five years but democratic norms and institutions are yet to be firmly rooted in every layer of the society. The local government institutions did not grow as expected, hindering local level development. Frustratingly, corruption crossed all-time records when Bangladesh topped the list of corrupt countries fro five consecutive years. The society continues to be gripped by massive corruption and terrorism. The freedom of the people in real sense of the term could never be ensured, thus, militating against the motto of the martyrs.

Thus, on February 21, 2006, we should look back to our promises that we made while fighting for a free land. Geographical independence was attained but, barring few marginal achievements here and there, socio-economic and political independence has remained a forlorn hope. It is not because our resources do not permit us to be on the development path, but it is anti-productive politics that stands on the way towards achieving our development goals.

Towards the end of attaining the goals of our beloved martyrs, we should commit to constitute a democratic society where people's representatives should lead the institutions. Election is the lynchpin -- and a fair and free election should on top of the agenda. We hope that all arrangements will be made to establish an Election Commission free from all government influences and independent in financial and other matters. It is conceivable that all parties sit together to select a Chief Election Commissioner. The EC needs also to adopt certain regulations and methods to deter the participation of black money holders and terrorists in the election. The second step is to revise the concept of the Caretaker Government system. There are a lot of holes in the system that need to be plugged very soon.

To ensure a level playing field for all parties there is no other substitute of reforming both EC and Caretaker Government system. It is very distressing that we have to demand these things after 36 years of our independence. Unless the election issue is resolved, other socio-economic parameters have to wait a long to show a positive sign.

We also need to uproot corruption from the society if we have any respect for the martyrs. Every year, corruption alone costs roughly 2-3 per cent of our GDP. That means, in a zero corruption scenario, the GDP would grow at about 7-9 per cent per annum. The implication is that Bangladesh could become poverty-free within next 10 to 15 years if corruption could be wiped out from the society.

It is a shame on us that Bangladesh is dubbed as a country of terrorists and fundamentalists. The growth of fundamentalism goes against the spirit of our Liberation War of 1971 and that of the Language Movement in 1952. In fact, February 21 fuelled the march towards the month of March when we got independence. Considering February only as a month of the Language Movement would be erroneous. The martyrs shed blood for a total package that included language, social, economic and political considerations.

The month of February is symbol of freedom to us. In this month, we should be promise-bound to continue the fight against all odds that bedevil our march towards total freedom. And freedom is the final word of February. Doing something to ensure that freedom would amount to doing something to respect the martyrs of the great Language Movement.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.