Historians genuinely disagree about how much of the Bengal famine's death toll is attributable to policy versus war-driven scarcity that no government could have fully solved, just as historians and communities genuinely disagree about how the Nakba should be contextualized alongside the displacement of Jews from Arab lands.
Bangladesh does not need a government that owns everything. It needs a government that has the political will to solve issues from the perspective of its citizens and not of the ruling class.
The Arab world is connected, but it is not unified. Its leaders may meet under chandeliers, embrace for cameras, and issue communiqués about common destiny in a common language. But beneath that ceremonial language lie rival economies, competing ports, divergent security partnerships, dynastic anxieties, and national projects.
Disorder in Dhaka is not always accidental. It is often profitable.
This demographic dividend becomes a curse when policy fails to match demography. The interim government’s focus on political stabilization overshadows economic planning, leaving youth unemployed and restless.
The timing could not be more appropriate. With election dates announced, the country has slipped into a familiar trance. What is striking is not what is being said, but what is being omitted. There is almost no sustained conversation about how Bangladesh will pay its bills, grow its industries, or persuade its own citizens to invest in their own country again.
Keeping India and Pakistan as the main mirrors will always make Bangladesh look respectable. but adding Vietnam to the frame as a benchmark is more meaningful.
The demographic dividend is not destiny -- it’s a choice. Bangladesh has 15 years to act, but the window shrinks daily. Without a bold vision, this youth bulge could ignite unrest rather than prosperity, echoing the Arab Spring’s unfulfilled promise.
It is long past due for Biman to start fulfilling its potential and becoming a cornerstone of the Bangladesh development story
What happens when history is turned into an instrument not of understanding, but of coercion, sanctification, and political legitimacy? Across continents and ideologies, regimes and ruling parties have wielded history not just to remember, but to silence, not to teach, but to control.