Bangladesh: My Country My Pride
BANGLADESH Bangladesh is my motherland country. Bangladesh is surrounded by India, Myanmar and the Bay of Bengal. A republic in south Asia, Bangladesh was formerly East Pakistan, one of the five provinces into which Pakistan was divided at its creation, when Britain’s former Indian Empire was partitioned in August 1947. East Pakistan and the four western provinces were separated by about 1600 km of Indian territory. East Pakistan was formed from the former Indian province of East Bengal and the Sylhet districts of Assam. Although the East was more populous, government was based in West Pakistan. From the very inception of its formation, language remained the most problematic issue. Same status for Bengali language with Urdu and English was the demand and the movement involving all sections of the people of East Pakistan gave a strike call on 21 Feb, 1952. On that very day, police fire on a student’s rally and several students died. Since then the day has been observed as the Language day. East Pakistan became and independent entity named Bangladesh on 16, December, 1971, following civil war in which India actively supported the East. Bangladesh is the second largest Muslim country in the world. Dhaka, with 2000 mosques, is known as the city of mosques. Tribal Shanti Bahini guerrillas fighting for autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts surrendered in Feb 1998, ending as 25- year insurgency that claimed more than 8500 lives. In May 1997 cyclone battered Bangladesh coast killing over 1000 people and 1,000,000 homeless. Floods in 1998 stranded 30 million people and killed about 1500. In the late 1980s, Bangladesh continued to be called the “largest poorest” country and to be singled out as “the test case for development.” A great deal that had happened in the economy since independence in 1971 supported the hope that the country would eventually its dependence on foreign aid and would approach relative self-sufficiency. In the meantime, success is