LET THERE BE LIGHT

The see-saw between the government of Bangladesh and the Western diplomatic community over threats to foreigners' lives shows no sign of remission. It is on a feverish pitch. Updates of travel advisories, sounding a bit more alerting than before, keep being posted. 

They have expressed 'appreciation' for the security arrangements put in place by the government, albeit wrapped in courtesy. Diplomatic language is necessarily nuanced; what's unsaid may be at times more important than what's said. 

US ambassador Bernicat's assertion that the threats are 'credible and real' is open to two interpretations: First, the US government may have different measures to weigh up risk perceptions than us. Also they may have the radar for or been privy to information or analyses that are not our forte. Secondly, they perhaps want more to be done by Bangladesh to ward off incidents like those of two foreigners' murders. 

One may infer there is a pressure element to their approach but only hope that this will not lead to any wild speculation outside the ambit of a common concern for mutual good.

They have not shared with Bangladesh any specific information on the basis of which they raised the alert, the home minister pointed out. For this would not only help us with the investigation but also cut corners in terms of providing security. On top of all, it would be consistent with their offer of cooperation to fight the current spate of terrorism.

Of course, they would be protecting their business interests in Bangladesh in which we too have a stake.

The home minister has pointed at conspiracy at home and abroad behind the situation. Indeed, a cloak and dagger plot to unsettle Bangladesh may well have been hatched. But this is an issue requiring deeper inquest to unearth the insidious linkages of it all. To that end, we have to ensure effective and credible investigation to bring the culprits of the foreign citizens' murders to speedy and deterrent justice. 

The episode has overshadowed some of the sterling reports we need to own up to and draw inspiration from in our strivings for a better tomorrow. 

A case in point is the Country Partnership Report of the World Bank released in a workshop held in conjunction with ERD last Monday. It reminded us once again of our vastly improved human development index (HDI). This places us above not just India but many other developing countries. 

From a scratch in 1971, Bangladesh has made amazing progress on socio-economic indicators. Amartya Sen has been a tireless exponent of Bangladesh's leading socio-economic edges over others and now this is confirmed by no less a discerning institution than World Bank itself.

In terms of longevity, child mortality, net reproductive rate per woman, adult literacy, child immunisation, sanitation coverage, nutrition and, above all, per capita income, Bangladesh is forging ahead. In fact, it has overtaken a lot of other developing countries. One omission to the Bangladesh scorecard is, however, women's empowerment.

In an update on Bangladesh economy, WB chief economist Zahid Hussain and its outgoing Country Director Johannes Zutt aired their insightful observations through the press. 

Zahid Hussain saw no point in juggling with figures about GDP growth rate in Bangladesh. Because "this only generates heat and no light." Also one might argue that the range of variations being limited to between .5 and 1 percent, why make much about the aggregative evaluation, anyway?

Borrowing a part of WB chief economist's phrase about the lacking light, we could wish let there be light.

The WB update dubbed the economy as being stable with the caveat that external and domestic risks do loom. World Bank finds a propeller of growth in domestic consumption and exports.

Nevertheless, we need to be wary of exports declining and competitiveness sliding. But import going strong, particularly of capital machinery, could mean two things: A fillip to industrialisation but the low import duty on capital goods will have to be monitored. Given the possibilities of mis-invoicing, a sure-fire vehicle of capital flight, we have loose nuts and bolts to fix.

But the outgoing World Bank Country Director Zutt hits the nail on its head. He said, "Traffic congestion is slowing down mobility and reducing efficiency of the people." He has also given a recipe to tackle the stubborn bull of a problem that traffic jam personifies. In place of 6 to 8 organisations currently involved in traffic management (read mismanagement), the task should be assigned to one authority only. That such an advice had to come from a WB Country Director is shaming; for, local experts had been crying hoarse for a single authority, only to draw a blank so far!

The second obvious thing that passes for a pastime rather than a national concern is made up of concentration of wealth in a few hands (not quite!) and the yawning rich-poor gap. It makes mockery of a seminal objective of the Liberation War which aimed at establishing a just and fair society. 

In 2009 individual and institutional bank account holders of Tk 1 crore and above were 19,663. In December 2014, account holders in the same category soared to a whopping 54,727. 40 percent of the national wealth is held by 40 to 50 thousand people in the country – the portrayal of disparity in incomes couldn't be more compelling.

This leaves out the stupendous capital flight earning Bangladesh a celeb status, if you like, of a 'rich country' in the eye of the beholder!

Let me crave your indulgence in reflecting on the following two quotes from way past but with some relevance even to this day: One is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli who dubbed rich and poor as "Two nations". The other is by famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes who said, "There are but two families in the world as my grandfather used to say, the Haves and Have-nots."

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.