The year 2002 says goodbye with a lot of positive and negative notes like those of many a yester years. But of course, 2002 has its own marks on national life and it is always difficult to determine the gravity of the incidences occur in the most recent past.

We could safely say by using the word perhaps that the horror of the Mymensingh Cinema Hall tragedy at the fag end of the year, preceded by some other incidents, haunts the public mind most overwhelmingly.

And on the part of the government, the still ongoing army-led joint drive has been the most effective decision to combat terrorism although there are also debates surrounding the army crackdown under a democratic-judicial setup and custodial deaths. Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has been praised and criticized simultaneously for taking such a decision.

For Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman, the year is a mix-up of restoration of discipline on the economic front, specially macroeconomic stability and the commoners are being the sufferers of price hike of so many commodities at this point of time.

This year too leaves a poor record of accountability of the government as well as ineffective participation of the opposition. No parliamentary standing committee on the ministries was formed even more than one year after formation of the eight Jatiya Sangsad.

On the other hand, the mainstream opposition Awami League could not pose any formidable challenge to the government as the party itself is yet to overcome the trauma of the defeat in the October 1, 2001 general elections.

The year has been marked by extra- territorial moves and plots that could have easily tarnished Bangladesh's image abroad since desperate bid was there to paint the country as a Taliban or fundamentalist state allegedly having outfits of guerrillas, which was believable to none but an enemy.

While the government and its Foreign Ministry machinery miserably failed to handle the touchy issue of international media, efforts through reports like those of Far Eastern Economic Review, Time magazine and, the latest, the Reuters could not also be proven right since those carried only speculations, not any substance.

Success is of Bangladesh and Bangladeshis that this is a moderate Muslim democracy lauded by the West as being a role model of the Muslim world and Third World democracies.

One good news is that non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) are getting more and more prominence in the national activities, business and investment, in particular, for their contribution to the economy of this impoverished nation.

Meanwhile, state-owned BSS news agency made some assessment on the year 2002, which we compiled in the two followings sections:

Looking back to year 2002: Horror of Mymensingh tragedy haunts all

The killing of 18 innocent people in bomb explosions in four movie houses at Mymensingh on December 7,100 km from here, a day after the holy Eid-ul- Fitr,was the most talked about tragic incident of 2002 in Bangladesh.

The planned bomb attacks also crippled 20 people and injured over a hundred, shaken the conscience of people.

The powerful blasts, occurred in four cinemas- almost simultaneously and stunned the people.

The killers came with their heinous designs at a time when people were celebrating the holy festivity with enthusiasm at the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan.

President Prof. Dr Iajuddin Ahmed and Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia condemned the attack, saying it was a deep-rooted conspiracy against the country.

Soon after the accident a section of the press tried to give distorted information with a view to misleading the people about the attacks.

Immediately after the bomb explosions international news agency Reuters, dispatched a false news item quoting Home Minister Air Vice Marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain as saying "al-Qaeda might be involved in the attack."

Many news media across the world gave wide coverage of the false and fabricated news item which was the brainchild of a part-time reporter of Reuters Enamul Hoq Chowdhury, who made the reports without having any talks with the Home Minister. Stories of the incident were also circulated on December 8 worldwide by Reuters.

The news media of the neighbouring country India also published news on the incident from their point of view which the image of Bangladesh abroad.

The Reuters reporter went into hiding when the Home Minister claimed that he never talked to any Reuters journalist over telephone or by any means.

Referring to the audio-tape of his telephonic conversation with other persons the Home Minister challenged the journalist to present documents in support of his report.

Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia accompanied by two other of cabinet colleagues- Home Minister Altaf Hossain and state minister for Energy and Mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain rushed to the places of the occurrences a day after the incident, to see for herself the condition of the injured persons and inquire about their treatment.

In her reaction, the Prime Minister said the bomb attacks in four cinemas in Mymensingh was a well-planned terrorist act. Those who are spreading propaganda against the country and are out to tarnish its image abroad are visibly linked with the attacks, she said.

On December 9, the Home Minister officially issued a letter to Reuters office at Dhaka protesting its report.

The government formed a one-member Judicial committee headed by Justice Sultan Hossain Khan. The government also decided to provide financial help to the injured persons from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

Reuters later withdrew all of its stories on December 7 and 8 on the bomb explosions in four cinemas in Mymensingh.

On December 13, police arrested Reuters reporter Enamul Hoq Chowdhury and he was sent to jail after three-day remand. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested him in connection with bomb blasts in Mymensingh. On that day, he gave a confessional statement under section 164.

On December 19, elite of Mymensingh town constituted a fund to rehabilitate the injured persons.

Looking back to the year 2002: The year for restoration of discipline in socio- economy

The year 2002 would wrap up itself in Bangladesh's socio-economic and political history as a year of restoration of social order and discipline and new entrepreneurship in economy and diplomacy.

During the past one year Bangladesh as well as the outside world witnessed how a strong determination and honest approach can contain vicious cycle of networked terrorists and evict them out of the mainstream socio-political process.

The past one-year was also marked by the launching of new entrepreneurship in the economic and diplomatic fields with an apparent revision of strategies and policies to realign and strengthen the country's stake in the outside world for its economic uplift.

Amid deteriorating law and order situation and growing demands the government, on the night of October 17, called out armed forces to join hands with police and other law enforcing agencies under the "Operation Clean Heart" in aid of civil administration to eliminate terrorism in line with its election pledges.

The country's business community and common people welcomed the initiative of troops deployment in aid of civil administration as it immediately yielded a positive impact in society, despite some incidents of alleged deaths in custody.

At the fag end of the year, security issues appeared to be a matter of serious concern in the national life after unknown terrorists planted bombs in Mymensingh cinema halls resulting in the instant killing of 14 people. The cinema blasts a day after the Eid ul- Fitr is believed to be a planned terrorist campaign.

The country's external relations visibly took a crucial turn under what analysts say "Look East" policy this year with visible progress in bilateral ties with the fast growing economies of Myanmar, China, Japan and Thailand.

The traditional allies like the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan reiterated their interest in bolstering relations in different fields of trade and commerce, information technology, etc.

In the arena of defense Bangladesh reinforced its ties with the United States and China. Bangladesh soldiers took part in the joint US- Bangladesh manoeuvres in Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and Jessore. China also extended its support in this arena of defense by formal agreements during recent visit of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

The country , however, faced a bizarre campaign by neighbouring India where senior government leaders repeatedly said Bangladesh has become a haven of extremist fanatic groups, like al- Qaeda.

Dhaka repeatedly ruled out the baseless allegation with Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan on November 28 making a statement that the Indian allegations were not only untrue but completely false as "we follow the foreign policy of friendship with all and malice toward none".

However, the routine bureaucratic, academic and economic transactions with India remained unaffected despite the twists and turns in bilateral relations.

Dhaka-Islamabad relations entered into a new phase in 2002 after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during his official visit to Dhaka in July termed the events of 1971 as "regrettable" while paying homage to the 1971 Liberation War martyrs at the National Memorial in Savar.

Four high profile foreign government leaders - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chinese Premier Zhu Rong Zi, Myanmar Premier General Than Shwe and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra this year visited Bangladesh. Of them the last one, in an unusual goodwill gesture, came to Bangladesh to accompany his Bangladesh counterpart Begum Khaleda Zia in her scheduled visit to Bangkok.

Bangladesh achieved a rare accolade in December this year after president of Sierra Leone declared Bangla to be one of the official languages of that country as a mark of recognition of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving in the UN mission there.

It was a year of celebration for the environmental activists as well as environment conscious people with significant progress marked by successful banning of polythene shopping bags, pollution emitting vehicles including two-stroke engine run three-wheelers and stoppage of hill cutting among other initiatives.

As part of the air cleaning campaign, different initiatives like introduction of catalytic converters and import of four- stroke engine run vehicles and CNG commuters along with eviction of the two-stroke ones from Dhaka streets.

However, one thing that irked the country was why international media had launched offensives against Bangladesh this year with an apparent effort to prove that the al-Qaeda network maintains a strong presence in Bangladesh which is the second largest Muslim country in the world.

Far Eastern Economic Review launched the maiden attack. Time magazine disseminated similar stories and a London-based television network sent its undercover crew to find materials to project Bangladesh an extremist- dominated country.