Time has come to say goodbye to another year on the Gregorian calendar and welcome a new one.
2019 was a very eventful year that left behind so many challenges for Bangladesh as far as her inclusive political climate, social order and security are concerned.
Even though the year began with controversy over the 11th parliamentary elections in which the ruling Awami League assumed power for three consecutive terms, but the promises made by the ruling party to eliminate poverty and curb corruption raised some sort of hope among the people.
Like previous years, the country witnessed some 'sensational' events that hurt the economy in the outgoing year.
The fire at Churihatta in Old Dhaka was one of the horrific incidents that killed over 70 people. The shocking event came minutes before the nation was preparing for paying homage to language martyrs of 1952.
After the incident, locals and civil society members again raised the issue of shifting chemical warehouses from the densely-populated area. But things remain unchanged.
In less than 40 days after the deadly Chawkbazar tragedy, another fire incident shocked the people across the country. They saw people were killed either in fire or jumped to death to avert the devastating fire at multi-storey FR Tower in Banani. The incident left 25 people dead.
In May 2019, the country witnessed one of the most crime incidents when madrasha student Nusrat Jahan Rafi was set on fire at her school in Feni. Less than two weeks earlier, she had filed a sexual harassment complaint against her headmaster.
After few days of her battle to survive, the 19-year-old madrasha student succumbed to her burn injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. It led to a series of massive protests across Bangladesh, demanding capital punishment for those who were involved in the killing.
Six months after the horrific incident, a court sentenced 16 people, including the headmaster, to death.
Some of the crime incidents were so sensitive in nature that the people from all walks of life expressed their deep concerns. Protests were staged countrywide.
Killing of Abrar Fahad, second year student of Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET), was one of the sensational crime incidents that grabbed the headlines for months.
He was allegedly beaten to death by the activists of ruling party's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) after he criticised the government in a Facebook post. He was found dead at his university hall in early hours of October 07, 2019.
Amid massive student protests across the country, the law enforcement agencies arrested suspected killers after watching CCTV footage. Trial of the sensational murder is going on.
Killing of Rifat Sharif in Barguna district in July, 2019 still haunts many minds even several months after the violent attack. The 22-year-old youth was indiscriminately hacked by a group of people in broad daylight in front of the victim's wife.
In the CCTV footage of the incident that went viral on social media, victim's wife Minni was seen screaming and trying in vain to save her husband from the assailants. Police already submitted charge sheet against 24 people in the murder case.
The issue of running illegal casino and gambling activities inside the country's traditional and leading sporting clubs came into the limelight in the later part of the outgoing year.
Following intelligence report, the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) launched a series of raids on sporting clubs, bars and restaurants and found involvement of illegal financial operations, which was talk of the country in the last four months of the year.
A group of senior ruling party leaders were allegedly found involved in the gambling activities and were arrested later.
So, the country, home to 160 million people, is ready to welcome New Year with a hope that it will bring something good for it.
