A piece of good news is that Bogura, the gateway to the country’s north, is coming into sharp focus again as a bellwether of change in the changed political climate after the historic 36 July Uprising in 2024 that climaxed with the downfall of a despotic regime that Sheikh Hasina presided for more than 15 long years. Bogura remained the most underserved of the districts when Gopalganj was the cynosure of all eyes and shot to the national limelight during those turbulent years. Bogura is the hometown of so many legends like anti-British movement martyr Prafulla Chaki, former Pakistan prime minister Mohammad Ali Bogra, martyred president General Ziaur Rahman, politician Mahmudur Rahman Manna and writer Romena Afaz to name but a few. Yet, Bogura often becomes a fall guy for a deep chasm between a deep centre-left and centre-right political chaos! What a bizarre country we live in and what a peculiar nation we are!
Bogura saw the beginning of a process of constructing physical facilities on the site of a disused military airport at Arulia, on the outskirts of the fast-sprawling boom town, later last year, thereby opening up a new vista of communication. The process is currently well underway after a hiatus of more than 17 neglected years when this treasure trove had truly lain locked. Once the domestic airport is completed, it will connect five contiguous districts, making it a hub airport in this significant northern region of Bangladesh. Even Bogura will turn into a hive of industrial activity and a nerve centre of the country’s trade with the neighbouring states of Nepal and Bhutan.
The beautiful Bogura district has so many claims to fame for its social, cultural, political, economic, historical, mythological and archaeological significance. The ancient Buddhist city of Pundranagar, now the modern-day Mahasthangarh, had been a religio-cultural centre before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was also the seat of Maurya, Gupta, Pala and Sena dynasties. Those puissant potentetes had ruled this Bengal for centuries. Bogura’s Gabtali is the birthplace of Zia who founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP. Picking a single highlight from such an embarrassment of riches is, therefore, so hard. Bogura has more than one four and five-star residential hotel of international standards, international-standard cricket venue, Shaheed Chandu Stadium, and more than one public and private medical college.
Bogura has already earned a name as a centre of academic excellence. What is more, the importance of Bogura at home and abroad is growing bigger, thanks to the establishment of a foundry industry that manufactures labour-saving agricultural instruments and implements. Again, Bogura has witnessed the mushroom growth of more than 100 newspaper, ceramic, jute and pharmaceutical industrial units over the past five decades since the country’s independence from Pakistan in a sanguinary war in 1971. The once-famous Youth Choir, which made waves with its popular number ‘Hamra Bograr Chhol’, will get a new life after a long culturally fallow period the district has gone through.
The number of domestic and foreign tourists is also increasing every year in Bogura because of Pundranagar that lies 12 kilometres north of the main town. The Department of Archaeology is taking care of the excavated artefacts and historical curiosities in Bogura, while the Bangladesh Tourism Corporation is doing the catering for visitors. On average, according to tourism officials, an estimated 5,000 foreign tourists and sightseers come to Bogura every year. Such visits are generating sizeable revenue for the government. More money will enter the state coffers once the airport goes into operation. So, the launch of the airport will breathe new life into business activities in the northern region, thereby contributing largely to the domestic economy.
As the construction of the runway is underway, it is expected that the commercial operation of the dream airport will start in months. But the airport maintenance body must ensure that transparency and accountability be maintained in the building and operation of the facility so that no question of corruption accusation is levelled at any stakeholder involved in the process. It is anticipated that the airport will usher in a wind of expected change in the socio-economic prosperity of Bogura in particular and a prosperous Bangladesh in general.
The writer is a senior news editor at Times of Bangladesh
