Victory but no freedom for Bangladesh

A child wears a headband of Bangladesh National Flag during victory day celebrations in Dhaka. File Photo: www.technewssource.com) 

People in Bangladesh celebrated their 40^th Victory Day last Friday. It’s a red letter day in the history of Bengali people who snatched independence from West Pakistan in 1971.

The misery people went through is little known to the world, even to many in South Asian countries. There has been little effort to let the world know what actually happened in 1971.

The war began with one of the worst genocides in the history of mankind. The West Pakistan army killed three million people and ravaged more than 300,000 women in a matter of weeks and at least 10 million people took shelter in India.

The Bengali people are not by nature warriors, but they couldn’t help turning into a brave nation amid that massacre. After nine months bloody struggle they defeated the army to claim victory.

The independence of Bangladesh was, in a sense, a global war with the USA and China assisting Pakistan and Bangladesh getting support from India and Russia. It was also a war between moderate and extreme forces in Islam. This time the moderate force was victorious.

Yet after 40 years, we still have not achieved freedom.

The disparity between rich and poor has not changed. A few rich and influential people enjoy all the amenities of life while 80 percent languish in poverty.

Politics are entirely election-oriented and political leaders see it as nothing more than a rich vein to be mined. They have no hesitation in colluding with their former enemies if it suits them.

The war we fought and won was against a vulture who tried to grab our heart. There are many more evils to defeat and many more wars to win. One day the people will rise, throw away all injustice and freedom will be ours, truly.

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Lying politicians are costing us our greatness

In my high school and college life I studied a bit of politics. In my mother tongue Bengali, politics is translated as Raajniti which literally means ‘King’s rule’. Our teachers sometimes made fun by saying: “politics is the rule that governs all other rules as the King rules his subjects.”

I didn’t get it, but I do now, after finishing my formal studies of politics long ago.

Seeing its misuse and abuse in our country over the years, it strikes me that politics is purely and simply a power-grabbing and money-making tool. I’ve witnessed power transitions and change in political backdrop throughout my life. I’ve read the history books. There has never been a time when this country’s politics was not overshadowed by falsehood, conspiracy, betrayal and self-interest.

Few people outside Bangladesh can realize how much the politicians have stopped this country from realizing its vast potential and developing its prosperity. In a very powerful commentary published late last week in Bangladesh’s leading English daily, The Daily Star, editor Mahfuz Anam strikes down heavily on the political leaders for their all consuming bad practices.

Referring to the current political games between parties, he says our leaders lie so easily because they think we, the people, are idiots. Well, people here are not fools – but we are tired of it. We know that without leaders like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founder and the greatest Bengali leader of all time, Bangladesh will continue to lag behind the world.

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A talismanic victory



Bangladesh Cricket team

The Bangladesh cricket team have just beaten the famous West Indies by three wickets in a truly nerve wracking match at the home of Bangladesh cricket in Mirpur, Dhaka.

At one point it looked likely to be another nightmare for the Tigers. But the new captain played a real captain’s innings to save the day. When he smashed the last ball for a huge six, millions of Bangladeshis rejoiced.
Why do we go so mad when our team wins? To people outside, it’s nothing much. But to us it’s not just a win, it’s also a bit of good news amid the endless bad news and sufferings that haunt people in this impoverished country.
We have so many reasons to be unhappy – overpopulation, corruption, political chicanery, power crises, price hikes, traffic jams, stock market failures and so on…..but a talismanic cricket victory puts it all aside.

The win not only boosts the confidence of the team (and it has been shaken recently, on and off the field) but also public morale.

Over the last decade, cricket has turned into the most popular game in the country. Even the heads of our government and the opposition – both of them female – joined the general public to congratulate the Tigers for sealing the victory. Apparently, both of them also support my favorite football team, Brazil. But these are the only conditions or situations I have known where they agree about something.
Thanks Tigers, for making us happy at least for a while!
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Feeling the earthquake

The newspapers in Bangladesh today are all headlining the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal, northwestern parts of India, Tibet and Bhutan.

It also affected Bangladesh although there are no reported casualties so far – just two buildings have been tilted slightly. But it was the first time I’ve ever felt an earthquake.

I was in Dhaka, attending my class at the British Council on Seven Mosque Road in the capital’s posh area, Dhanmondi, when suddenly the building started trembling. It felt like some giant force was either passing under the earth surface or a giant was pushing the building slowly. All the objects, including 13 humans in the room, were shaking.

It lasted about half a minute and phone calls started coming to our mobile phones though none of them rang, because we’d all put them onto vibrate mode. Some of the older people looked pale, possibly through concern for their families.

Our teacher was trying to make light of the tremor. “Don’t worry, this building will not fall,” he said. “If it does fall I’ll die with you!”

I wasn’t scared but I was worried about the country. As I’ve written in an earlier blog, it’s thought that the next great earthquake after Haiti and Japan is lurking beneath Bangladesh.

While reading today’s papers, more bad news caught my eye. The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security has released its World Risk Report for 2011, which ranks Bangladesh as the sixth most disaster prone country in the world, second in Asia after the Philippines.

I don’t know what is in store for Bangladesh in the near future, but any disaster is bound to be magnified many times over, because the country has hardly any resources or facilities to sustain itself against a blow.

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