I did not want to get into measuring phalluses with a brotherly country like Pakistan - but the fact remains we can compare in a friendly way and see why some things are working in ours and not yours (and also vice versa). this helps improve both our countries and dispels false beliefs/misunderstandings between us.
Not everything working right in Bangladesh can be credited to Hasina, in fact very little can be. But we have benefited over the years by productive cooperation between Governmental and NGO sectors as well as PPP (Public Private Patnerships) for social progress and HDI improvements.
There is a lot that Pakistanis believe that is almost mythicallynegative about Bangladesh, so let's dispel those first, let's start with the most misunderstood stats.....
I've noticed a lot of Pakistanis (especially at PDF - going by the comments) believe
Bangladesh is an overpopulated country. While population density may be higher here (because we also have very high concentration of arable land here vs. millions of acres of fallow land in Pakistan) agriculture is the primary reason for it. Bangladesh currently has 161M people vs. 189M people in Pakistan. Pakistan also has many more times the land area, however the point is - having the capability to feed your supposed (over)population, and in that Bangladesh is quite capable.
Also (per latest estimates) -
- Pakistan has a lot younger population on average, 23 years old vs. 24.7 years in Bangladesh, and
- Birthrate per thousand is higher in Pakistan at 29 births per 1,000 people vs. 19 births per 1,000 people in Bangladesh, and,
- Fertility Rate per woman in Pakistan is a lot higher at 3.6 child per woman in Pakistan vs. 2.1 child per woman in Bangladesh (rate implies no population increase).
At this rate Pakistan's population is going to see some exponential increase pretty soon. This needs urgent intervention before Pakistan's population explodes.
Another misinformation fed to Pakistani people is that
'Bangali aadmi' are all 'Bhukhey Nangey' kind.
I don't know what good it serves to spread this misinformation (which I see in Pakistani TV all the time) but it prevails for some odd reason (maybe self-congratulatory).
The truth is that stats on poverty are very similar between both countries, '
Population Below Poverty Line' for Pakistan is 29.5% while in Bangladesh it is 31.5%.
Same stats for education -
Adult Literacy Rate in Bangladesh is slightly higher at 61.49% compared to Pakistan at 56.44%.
This being said - there are quite a few warning signs for Pakistan,
- GINI (Income Inequality) Index is 48.3 for Pakistan vs. 32.13 for Bangladesh
- Intentional Homicide rate per 1000 people is quite high for Pakistan at 7.8 vs. 2.8 in Bangladesh
- Infant Mortality Rate in Pakistan is quite high at 65.8 per 1,000 live births vs. 30.7 in Bangladesh
- Life Expectancy at Birth in Pakistan is also low at 66 years vs. 72 years in Bangladesh
- Our currency is way stronger at 80 to the dollar.
Pakistanis have to look at these differences and ask why.
I can personally tell you that each one of the 'improvements' Bangladesh has made in the factors above is due to one or more specific reasons which are well documented. If there is interest I will discuss further.
All data courtesy of,
http://country-facts.findthedata.com/compare/136-182/Bangladesh-vs-Pakistan
These were all gleaned from UN data.