The Year That Was

With all the vicissitudes of the year gone by, we step into a new year that marks the 41st year of Bangladesh's independence. On this special occasion, we look back to the eventful year that 2011 was not only to give our readers an overview but also to provide a vision for thrusting forward. Beginning with a slump in the stock market that the country has yet to recover through resilience in the economy against odds, the year ended with a controversial bifurcation of the DCC and on a healthy note of the president engaging the political parties in consultations over reconstitution of the EC. In between were the 15th amendment to the constitution, the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and diminished space for the opposition. But what marked the most splendid political event was Selina Hayat Ivy's victory in the Narayangonj City Corporation polls. In the international arena too, the people's movement popularly dubbed as ''the Arab spring'' saw signs of political change hitherto unseen in the Middle East while the ongoing ''Occupy Wall Street'' movement heralds a vision for a just world society.