The photo stands in stark comparison to the chronic food insecurity faced by the Bangladeshi population on a daily basis.
One of the policy platforms that Sheikh Hasina used to mobilize widespread support for the AL during the last election period was her party’s commitment to lowering food prices.
This year, her election platform contained the very same broken promise, and also propagandized the ‘progress’ that she has made towards MDG Goal 1 of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. And yet, “despite progress in many health and development indicators, Bangladesh is still one of the 36 countries with the highest burden of malnutrition, with 36 million people either malnourished or chronically underfed.”[1] Not to mention that almost half of the Bangladeshi population remains below the poverty line[2]. These are the realities that Sheikh Hasina and the AL continue to ignore while they themselves enjoy the luxuries – such as extravagant food and drink – afforded to them as a result of their fat pockets, which will undoubtedly get even fatter due to their re-election.
Sheikh Hasina’s promise of lowering staple food prices, and specifically the price of rice from 20TK to 10TK, is yet another one of AL’s empty promises. Despite whatever goals Sheikh Hasina and the AL espouse to having achieved, the reality of the situation remains the same – much like the food prices, which contrary to her promises, have actually increased, food insecurity continues to plague the majority of the country.
Many in Bangladesh still vividly recall the horrors of the 1974 famine. It brought untold miseries to millions and resulted in the deaths of over a million people – and is considered one of the worst famines in world history. Not only did it leave a deep scar in the collective psyche of the nation’s people, but it etched Bangladesh’s terrible poverty into the minds of the international community.
But has it mobilized the Bangladeshi government? Has it encouraged the current regime to take the appropriate steps to ensure its population does not suffer from famine again? Although the government says it has initiated measures to address the issue of famine, the ground realities belie this claim.
According to a conference on food security at BRAC, “there is substantial evidence that a coordinated approach with proven and cost effective interventions could lead to healthy development and economic productivity of individuals and societies” in Bangladesh. And yet, the nation continues to suffer silently due to the refusal of the current government to address the epidemic of food insecurity. Millions of people in Bangladesh are on the brink of starvation. Life on the floodplains in Bangladesh can be a perilous existence. Last year’s monsoon rains were the worst Bangladesh has experienced in many years: flash floods killed scores of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless (similar to the happenings in 1974, which worsened the conditions of the famine). But appalling as the immediate damage is, the aftermath is worse, as the resulting poverty condemns a generation of children to hunger. How is a nation supposed to survive without nourishment? As it is, “53,000 children die each year from preventable complications resulting from chronic malnutrition”[3]. The country also suffers from a child malnutrition rate of 48%[4], which means nearly half of Bangladesh’s children will never grow up to become healthy, productive members of society; not only does this cripple the population, but it cripples the entire future of the country.
There is no question that a government should be able to provide basic needs to its people and at the very least have in place programs to improve human conditions.
How can a government feast, while its people are starving?
Does Sheikh Hasina not agree? Or does she have plans to steer the nation into another era of famine?
After all, the apple does not fall far from the tree.
