Why 2015 was a good year for Bangladesh
It’s a good time to be alive while history is being written. As we bid adieu to 2015 we realise the year was a roller coaster ride! It was a year of aggression and violence that carved the world for many new beginnings. Even though it was the year that witnessed the rise and aggression of Islamic State, thousands of Syrians fleeing their home for asylum and the atrocities of the Asian migrant crisis, it was also a year that made history for the right reasons as well.
For Bangladesh, 2015 was an eventful year that kept reporters on the tip of their feet. Let us take a stroll and reminisce the achievements of the past year in various arenas that molded the nation to take on 2016.
SPORTS
Bangladesh National Cricket Team
It was the year of the Tigers. With a World Cup quarterfinal appearance, series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa, and the unearthing of a bowling gem-Mustafizur Rahman, this was a great year for Bangladesh cricket.
The ODI series against India created history. New boy Mustafizur took a five-for and a six-for in the first two games of the series and launched his ODI career with a blast. The Indian batsmen looked clueless against his variation of old-ball offcutters, and Bangladesh duly had their maiden ODI series win against India, 2-1. Beating Pakistan and India had the emotional element of triumphing over subcontinent rivals. The series win over South Africa, however, was much more significant because of how poorly Bangladesh have played against them historically. All in all it has been a good cricketing year for the Tigers!
READ MORE: The year of Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Seven Summits
Wasfia Nazreen became the first Bangladeshi to climb all seven highest peaks in seven continents, also known as the “Seven Summits” on November 18. The National Geographic adventurer reached the summit of Carstensz Pyramid, the highest mountain of Oceania/Australasia, completing the challenge of scaling seven highest mountains around the world. With this, the 33-year-old mountaineer and a rights activist completed her campaign named “Bangladesh on Seven Summits” and glorified Bangladesh’s name in the history of mountain climbing.
ALSO READ: Wasfia becomes first Bangladeshi to scale seven summits
AFC U-14 championship
It was one of the proudest moments for the nation when the Bangladesh Under-14 girls football team clinched the title of the AFC U-14 championships on December 20. The girls hailed the AFC U-14 Regional Girls' Football Championship title with a 1-0 win over Nepal in Kathmandu. The feat came nearly eight months after their scheduled final was rocked by a devastating earthquake in the Himalayan Kingdom.
READ: 8-month wait comes to fruition
POLITICS
Land Boundary Agreement
After dillydallying for 41 years, the Indian Parliament finally passed the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Bill on May 7, 2015. The land accord was originally agreed in 1974 by Indira Gandhi of India and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh. The progress of this feat slowed to a halt until India and Bangladesh signed the agreement on June 5.
To simplify their 4,000-km (2,500-mile) border and clarify the identities of 52,000 living in enclaves, the neighbours tried to untangle the complex territorial rights set down in 1713 after four decades.
Third gender candidates in municipal election
For the first time in the history of Bangladesh, two transgenders contested for councillor posts in the municipal elections to be held at the end of 2015. They, however, had to identify themselves as females since a government decision to identify them as the third gender during the elections has not been implemented yet.
ALSO READ: 2 hijras had to identify themselves as females
DEVELOPMENT
Third gender job quota
Another great achievement for Bangladesh was that following an act by Labannya Hijra on March 30 of 2015, of grabbing at a fleeing assailant who later confessed to a killing that Labannya witnessed, the question of whether members of this transgender community could be treated as active, equal citizens of Bangladesh was raised. After the heroic act, government announced plans to recruit hijras as traffic police — a move widely welcomed. And at the end of June the central bank instructed financial institutions to spend a portion of their corporate social responsibility funds on the transgender community.
MDG and Champions of the Earth
Bangladesh made significant progress in the MDGs. Goal 1, which is to reduce extreme poverty and hunger, has seen a positive change so has Goal 2 (Achieve Universal Primary Education) and Goal 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received UN's highest environmental accolade – Champions of the Earth – in recognition of Bangladesh's far-reaching initiatives to address climate change. The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised UN agency responsible for issues on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), conferred the awards on the Bangladesh PM during the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly recently.
According to the MDG declaration of 2000, Bangladesh has achieved majorly in reducing extreme poverty, reducing prevalence of underweight children under 5 years, reducing under-5 children mortality, increasing enrollment in primary schools, Increased ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education, improved maternal health by the year of 2015.
The General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission launched the report titled “MDGs: Bangladesh Progress Report 2015” on September 16 in the capital. Bangladesh also has been declared as a role model for achieving the goals.
READ: Hasina receives Champions of the Earth award
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Music festivals
The year has seen many firsts in the music scene of Dhaka. Starting with the soulful Sufi Fest leading up to the month of November, a time of festivities in Dhaka – the year was a treat for music lovers. November saw a frenzy of festivals beginning with the Bangladesh Music week which set the tone for the month. And then came the first Blues Music Festival, the first Folk Music Festival and to end the wonderful music soiree came the fourth edition of the Bengal Classical Music Festival – the biggest classical music festival in the world. Dhakaiites were treated to a wondrous feast of music which has left their appetites whetted for more.
Jalaler Golpo – The story of a river child
The story of a river child has left audience riveted and enthralled. Although released in 2014, this directorial debut is a gem and has won accolades internationally in 2015. Directed by Abu Shahed Emon the film “Jalaler Golpo” bagged two prestigious awards in the 19th Avanca International Film Festival in Portugal. Besides receiving the Asian Cinema Fund in 19th Busan Film Festival in 2014, “Jalaler Golpo” had also enjoyed its world premiere in the main competitive category 'New Current' of the festival. In addition, the film was also screened as the only Bangladeshi film at the International Film Festival of India 2014' (IFFI) in Goa, India.
HAVE A LOOK: “Jalaler Golpo” bags big awards at Avanca
Dhaka Lit Festival
With music in the air, came words too. The three-day event; Dhaka Literary Festival held at the Bangla Academy was previously known as the Hay Festival and has become a significant literary platform in the country for Bangladeshi writers, especially those writing in English. This year's event featured a Nobel laureate for the first time, Dr Harold Varmus, author of The Art and Politics of Science. The programme also included iconic literary figure Nayantara Sahgal, Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, British journalist and TV presenter Jon Snow, Indian bestseller Shobhaa De and Indian historian and writer Ramachandra Guha.
READ MORE: Dhaka Lit Fest: The Gathering of Literary Minds
ACTIVISM
Social activism was in the forefront in 2015. It showed the impact and effectiveness of digital protest and how this generation of protestors gets things done.
Justice for Rajon
Social Media activism took a new shape when the video of 13-year-old Rajon being beaten to death was widely shared on popular social media platform Facebook. Owing to the social media uprising, the main culprit Kamrul was brought to book even after he fled to Saudi Arabia. Thousands of posts flooded different social media platforms in a protest against the brutal killing of the child in Sylhet. The hashtag #JusticeforRajon emerged as a protest against the crime demanding justice for this barbaric crime.
It just goes to show the power of the digital platform and how justice can be served through any medium.
No Vat on education
Earlier in 2015, the government slapped a 7.5 percent VAT on private universities, and medical and engineering colleges in the current budget, sparking widespread criticisms.
On September 9, a small group of student of East West University took to the streets to protest against this decision but faced batons of the police. However, this act of rebellion spread like wildfire as students of other private universities joined the protest in from the next day.
The hastag #NoVATonEducation was generated in solidarity to the movement as netigens joined in virtually to show their support. After five days of peaceful protests (also the first of its kind in Bangladesh), the government decided to withdraw the 7.5 percent VAT in face of mass student protests.
This just goes to show the power of the people, and when we unite we are unbeatable.