Go boldly into future, but don’t forget past: Radwan Mujib

Radwan Mujib Siddiq, grandson of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has encouraged all to go boldly into the future without forgetting the past as Bangladesh celebrates 50 years of its Independence.

"50 eventful years have passed since a new country called Bangladesh forced its way onto the world map. The transformation from impoverished, war-torn state to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world has garnered major interest in the country's development journey," wrote the editor-in-chief of WhiteBoard, a policy-based magazine, in its editorial.

Despite the transformation of Bangladesh from the status of a war-ravaged country half a century ago to today's one of the globally fastest-growing economies, the nation still has to strive for making 'Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal) for every citizen, he said.

Radwan said Bangladesh has come a long way but there can be no room for complacency as they strive to make Sonar Bangla a reality for every citizen, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic group.

"This is the dream that millions of Bangladeshis laid down their lives for. We must not lose sight of what makes us who we are, as we look to the future," added Radwan, also a trustee of the ruling Awami League's research wing Centre for Research & Information (CRI).

The third installment of the quarterly focusing on the 50th anniversary of independent Bangladesh covered a gamut of policy issues including access to justice, women's participation in politics, and institutional capacity building.

The second issue launched in December, explored the policy framework that Bangladesh has adopted since the onset of the generation defining setback: the covid-19 pandemic.

The issue delved into the gambit of "reimagining" in areas such as education, governance, cultural-identity and the economy.

WhiteBoard, the country's first policy-based magazine, was launched on September 20 in the last year with a promise to bring in new ideas into the policy-sphere of Bangladesh.

The first issue of the magazine, published by CRI, covered the policies adopted by the architect of independence Bangabandhu in the post-liberation Bangladesh that had set the tone for the country's development and progress.