Feathers in our Cap: Bangladesh’s 2017 in International Arena
Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed, Executive Editor, The New York Times, Bangladesh National Section :
In the year 2017, Bangladesh was fortunate to see a good number of international achievements. It had achievements in IT sector as well as in medicine and medical treatment. Many of the Bangladeshis had earned global appreciation in 2017. One of the main achievements was that the Unesco recognised the historic March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a world documentary heritage on October 30. A Bangladeshi social entrepreneur Minhaj Chowdhury won the first-ever “Under 30 Impact Challenge” at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston in the US on October 2. On October 21, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid received the World Education Congress Global Awards 2017 for their outstanding contribution to the education sector.
The World Bank has kept unchanged its growth forecast for Bangladesh at 6.4 percent for the fiscal year 2017. Bangladesh was ranked the 99th most competitive economy in the world on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2017-18. Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited became the first Bangladeshi company to export medicines to Canada. Two Bangladeshi organisations- The Center for Bangladesh Studies (CBS) and Physicians for Social Responsibility Bangladesh (PSRB)- had shared the glory of Nobel Peace Prize 2017, won by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on October 6. These organisations are among the 468 partners of ICAN from 101 countries. Jaago Foundation received “The 2016 Unesco King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize” in recognition of its “Online School” project for innovative use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the field of education on February 21. The World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region designated Saima Wazed Hossain as its champion to enhance commitment and generate awareness and action to address the sufferings of children with autism on April 1. A prominent street in the Indian capital Delhi was named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on April 6 of 2017. Two Bangladeshi youths- Shougat Nazbin Khan, 27, and Mizanur Rahman, 29- have made the list of “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia: Social Entrepreneurs” on April 16. Bangladesh was ranked third in gender development among eight South Asian countries on May 16. After Jamdani sari, hilsa got recognition of geographical indication (GI) product of Bangladesh in August. Two Bangladeshi youths won The Queen’s Young Leaders 2018 title for their outstanding achievements in their respective fields. They are –Zaiba Tahyya and Ayman Sadiq. The traditional art of Shital Pati weaving of Sylhet was included in the Unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. The recognition came at the twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the ICH from December 4-9 at Jeju in South Korea.
Brac Founder and Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed was selected as one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune magazine on March 27. Bangladeshi-born American Behnaz Kibria was nominated for a key administrative post of the President Barack Obama administration in the United States on January 16. The national women’s football team finished runners-up in the fourth edition of the Saff Championship in Siliguri, India from December 26, 2016 to January 4, 2017. The national archery team (men’s and women’s) won six gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the first ever International Solidarity Championship in Dhaka from January 26-31. The national taekwondo team earned four golds, three silvers and as many bronzes in the first ever Kathmandu International Championship in Kathmandu, Nepal from February 9-11. The national men’s rollball team achieved fourth spot while the women’s side finished seventh in the fourth edition of the World Cup, held for the first time in Bangladesh, from February 17-23. In the Special Olympics Winter World Games in Austria from March 15-27, the national women’s team won the unified floor hockey title while the men’s side emerged as the runners-up. The Tigers in their tour of Sri Lanka defeated the home side in the second and final Test match, held from March 15-19, to mark their 100th Test with a historic victory. In the Asia Cup World Ranking Archery Tournament stage two in Bangkok, Thailand from March 19-26. Shyamoli Roy won bronze in the singles re-curve category while the team comprising Roksana Akhter, Sushmita Banik and Bonna Akhter claimed silver. In the 2017 Champions Trophy held between June 1-18, the Tigers scripted a dream run, going through to the semi-final of an ICC event for the first time in history. The Tigers qualified second from Group A which involved trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand and Australia and host England. In the last four, Bangladesh met India and lost to see the end of the journey. In the Asian Zonal Chess Championship Open in Kathmandu, Nepal from March 19-27, Grandmaster Abdullah al Rakib finished as the unbeaten champion while the other two GMs Ziaur Rahman and Niaz Morshed finished second and third respectively. In the women’s version, International Women’s Master, Rani Hamid became the champion while fellow compatriot and IWM, Shamima Liza took second place. Women’s Fide Master Nazrin Khan Eva finished third. The national bridge team became runners-up in the BFAME Zonal Bridge Championship in Dubai, UAE from April 3-11 and in the process, secured their place in the World Cup. Female karate player, Sanowara Akhter Bulbuli won silver in the minus-68kg category of the Thailand Open Karate-Do Championship from April 22-25. In the Asian Hakua Kai Karate competition in Sirat, India from April 28-30, the national team earned eight golds, one silver and as many bronze. In the fourth Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan from May 10-12, shooter Abdullah Hel Baki and Atkia Hasan won gold while Rabbi Hasan sealed silver in the 10m air-rifle event. Shirin Akhter earned bronze in wrestling. The national boys’ team won the championship while the girls clinched fourth spot in the ITF Asian U-12 Tennis Competition in Kathmandu, Nepal from May 13-20. The national basketball team finished runners-up in the fifth South Asian Championship in Male, Maldives from May 19-23. Young athlete Mohammad Jahir Rayhan reached the semi-final in the 400m boys’ event of the IAAF World U-18 Championship in Nairobi, Kenya in July.
Siddikur finished third in his first ever appearance in the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, Germany in the last week of July. Swimmers Faisal Ahmed, Polash Chowdhury and Jewel Ahmed finished first, second and third respectively in the 19km event of the 74th World Long-Distance Swimming Competition in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in August-September. Nazma Khatun was placed second in the women’s version of the event. Australia toured Bangladesh after much doubt and drama. The Tigers started the two-match Test series winning the first Test in Dhaka from August 27-30 by 20 runs. The win, which had come in four days, was Bangladesh’s maiden in the format against Australia.
Therefore, the basket of success stories of Bangladesh in the International field in the year 2017 is remarkable and should be highlighted whenever we need to portray the picture of Bangladesh.