Forgotten and invisible: modern-day slaves

Indian sex workers look out from their brothel in the red light district of Kamathipura in Mumbai. Socially conservative India, Bangladesh and Pakistan do not permit legal prostitution but all have brothels spilling with sex workers. (Photo: AFP)

In today’s modern world overshadowed by extravagant globalization, materialism and consumerism, it is very common for people to forget about people who are less fortunate.

These people with relative fortune and comfort might get a jolt if asked what they think about slavery and slaves. In most cases, the answer is likely to be simple: slavery was abolished in the 19th century.

The British parliament passed its Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 and the US government made the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865, marking the official abolition of slavery.

However, slavery didn’t end with its abolition 154 years ago. It has just changed forms and continues to plague millions of people in the world today.  

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on Dec. 2 passed almost unnoticed in much of the globe as if our world today has almost pulled itself out of the curse of slavery.
The reality is that about 40 million people are trapped in various forms of modern-day slavery and one in every four victims are children, according to the United Nations.

No light in the darkness for Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the inaugural summit between South Korea and five Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong River, at Nurimaru APEC House in Busan, South Korea, 27 November 2019. (Photo by EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT/MaxPPP)

Myanmar and its civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi are in hot water again over the country's mistreatment of minorities, specifically the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

In recent weeks, three international lawsuits have been filed against Myanmar over brutal atrocities in 2016 and 2017.

On Nov. 11, The Gambia filed a 46-page application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention by committing crimes against humanity against Rohingya.

Three days later, Suu Kyi was named among several state officials in a lawsuit in Argentina by Rohingya and South American human rights organizations for serious crimes including genocide against the minority community.

The same day, judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized a full investigation into allegations of persecution and crimes against humanity that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh from Rakhine.

Bangladeshi Catholics caught up in ugly land disputes

Bangladesh is a small country packed with 160 million people, so land disputes are common and it is often the poor who suffer most. (Photo: Rock Ronald Rozario/ucanews)

Residents in a southern Bangladesh village were shocked to hear that a violent clash erupted recently between two Catholic families.

The mob violence was the culmination of a bitter dispute lasting more than two years over ownership of a small plot of land.

South Haldibunia village is near the country's second largest port — Mongla in Bagerhat district — and also close to the Sundarbans mangrove forest, an area covered by St. Paul's Church in Mongla under Khulna Diocese.

The sense of shock was understandable, happening in a village where people of various faiths — Catholic Christians, Hindus and Muslims — have been living peacefully together for decades.

South Asia: a region of rising intolerance

Muslims protest against the verdict of India’s Supreme Court to award Hindus control of the bitterly disputed Ayodhya holy site for a Hindu temple, widely seen as a victory for Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP. (Photo: Arun Sankar/AFP)

“When a fire engulfs the city, even the temple cannot escape.” That is an old proverb but it still resonates strongly in a world today that is overshadowed by increasing intolerance and extremism.

The proxy wars in the Middle East, the constant global export of extremist Salafist Islam by some Persian Gulf countries, the deadly terrorism of transnational jihadist outfits like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, the state-sponsored campaign of annihilation of Uyghur Muslims in China and the brutal ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The list is ever-increasing.

South Asia is home to more than a quarter of the world’s population and is well advanced in intolerance and extremism, having exited British colonial rule (1757-1947), during which time the imperialists adopted a divide-and-rule policy that stoked communal tensions and led to the bloody 1947 partition of India and Pakistan along religious lines.

50 Years of Truth, Love and Dialogue

A dance troupe kicks off Radio Veritas Asia’s 50^thanniversary celebrations at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) center in Dhaka on Nov. 1 (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews)

In 1983, 10-year-old Ashik Iqbal was given a small radio and a list of stations to listen to by his elder brother to overcome times of boredom in their village in Bangladesh's northern Rajshahi district.

One of the stations was the Bengali Service of Radio Veritas Asia (RVA).

Iqbal, a Muslim, found the RVA programs very interesting, and became a regular listener of the Philippines-based Catholic shortwave radio service.

"RVA programs can attract and hold a listener's attention for ages. It is a voice of people like me. There are various religiously-affiliated media but the RVA is different. It is Christian but doesn't limited itself within religious boundaries," Iqbal, now 47, told ucanews.

RVA first went on air in 1969, while the Bengali Service stated in 1980.

Bangladesh fails to control hidden radicalism

Islamist activists protest in Dhaka on Oct. 21, a day after deadly clashes following a Facebook post that allegedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad. The failure to punish extremists threatens religious harmony. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP)

An unusual but most welcome calm prevailed at Borhanuddin in Bhola district of southern Bangladesh on Oct. 20.

Tensions had run high in the area over two days, involving the Muslim majority but also a handful of Hindus, over a Facebook messenger post that defamed Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

A radical Islamic group, Touhidi Janata (Movement for Islamic Uprising), vowed to avenge the "hurtful religious sentiments" and declared a mass protest gathering on Oct. 20.

Biplob Chandra Shuvo, a Hindu man, was in the eye of the storm for allegedly spreading the messages. He told police on Oct. 19 that his account had been hacked and two Muslims were quickly arrested for the crime, allegedly carried out for the purpose of extortion.

Police engaged with Muslim clerics to assure them that action was being taken and asked them to cancel the impending gathering to avoid likely violence.

The clerics agreed but failed to stop Muslims from joining the protesters, who soon became a violent mob chanting Islamic slogans and demanding the death penalty for the Hindu man.

They vandalized Hindu temples and Hindu people's homes before attacking police with bamboo and bricks. Officers fired back — four rioters were killed and more than 100 people, including police, were injured.

News of the deaths infuriated Islamic hardliners. In Chittagong, clerics and students from the Hathazari Mosque and madrasa organized another march and attacked the local police station.

The escalating tension was only defused after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of "stern action" against anyone attempting to create "anarchy" over the situation.

Three men, including the Hindu, remained in police custody a week later, while police arrested hundreds of unnamed rioters in connection with the violence.

Poverty: The road not taken

An elderly trash collector at work in the upmarket Gulshan area of Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in this 2014 photo. An unfair socioeconomic system is blamed for increasing the rich-poor divide in the world. (Photo by Rock Ronald Rozario/ucanews)

Across the globe today, it is common for men to spend their days and nights worrying if they will have enough money to take care of their families and see their children educated.

The anxiety is well founded when we have a look at the global scenario of wealth and poverty as the world today marks International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

According to the United Nations, more than 700 million — or 10 percent —  of the world's population still live in extreme poverty and struggle to get by on a daily income of less than US$1.90, the global poverty line.

'Cursed' mental patients face misery in Bangladesh

Many mental patients in Bangladesh face social stigma, negligence and mistreatment. (Photo by Dan Meyers/unsplash.com)

In recent years, World Mental Health Day has been receiving notable attention in Bangladesh. Public and private institutions undertake programs and activities to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and state officials boast about placing increasing priority on the sector. As World Mental Health Day is marked on Oct. 10, the sad reality in Bangladesh is that mental health is one of the least discussed and most neglected issues in the country. One reason is that many people in this impoverished country don’t consider mental disorders an illness but a “curse” or “burden.” Many mental patients face social stigma, negligence, harassment and mistreatment including beatings and being chained up due to a lack of understanding of the problem.  This is shocking and surprising in the modern world where mental disorders have become a common issue. One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill health and disability, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Bangladesh, about 13 million people — 16 percent of adults and 18 percent of children — are victims of mental and substance abuse disorders, a 2015 WHO study found. Such disorders are responsible for about 10,000 suicides annually, and the rate is 4 percent and 6 percent respectively for boys and girls aged 13-17.

In recent years, World Mental Health Day has been receiving notable attention in Bangladesh.

Public and private institutions undertake programs and activities to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and state officials boast about placing increasing priority on the sector.

As World Mental Health Day is marked on Oct. 10, the sad reality in Bangladesh is that mental health is one of the least discussed and most neglected issues in the country.

One reason is that many people in this impoverished country don’t consider mental disorders an illness but a “curse” or “burden.”

Many mental patients face social stigma, negligence, harassment and mistreatment including beatings and being chained up due to a lack of understanding of the problem. 

This is shocking and surprising in the modern world where mental disorders have become a common issue.

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from such conditions, placing mental disorders among the leading causes of ill health and disability, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Bangladesh, about 13 million people — 16 percent of adults and 18 percent of children — are victims of mental and substance abuse disorders, a 2015 WHO study found. Such disorders are responsible for about 10,000 suicides annually, and the rate is 4 percent and 6 percent respectively for boys and girls aged 13-17.

Ershad leaves bitter Bangladesh legacy

Hussein Muhammad Ershad, former military ruler and president of Bangladesh (Photo: Stephan Uttom/ucanews)

“Hating someone makes him important, forgiving someone makes him obsolete,” is a saying that appeared ironic in Bangladesh when Hussein Muhammad Ershad died on July 14 at the age of 89.

To most Bangladeshis, the country’s second and, hopefully, last military dictator was not worthy of forgiveness, even after death.

He was one of the most hated persons for most people who went through or knew about his iron-fisted military regime from 1982-90. His death following a long battle with illness has triggered more loathing than sympathy among the public and media.

Ershad’s demise has brought an end to his long, controversial military and political careers marked by ups and downs. But his unsavory political legacy is likely to hang over Bangladesh in the years to come.

A guiding light for Bangladesh's marginalized communities

Sister Salome Nanuar, CSC (Photo: Rock Ronald Rozario)

As a child Salome Nanuar assumed she would end up becoming a poor and marginalized tea estate worker like her parents.

She was born in 1971, the third of six children of an ethnic Kharia family, at Barmachhera village at Srimangal, a tea plantation hub in the Moulvibazar district of northeastern Bangladesh.

Nearly five decades on, Salome has become a Holy Cross nun, dedicating her life as a teacher, catechist and hostels, in the service of socio-economically downtrodden communities, including tea workers.

Sister Salome’s father died when she was at grade four in primary school.

Thanks to support from her two elder brothers and sister in-laws, all of them tea workers, she was able to continue her education.

The biggest support came from the local St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, the oldest and largest parish in predominantly tribal Sylhet Diocese, set up in 1950 by Holy Cross missionary priest Father Vincent Delevi.

বিশ্ব আদিবাসী দিবস, ৯ আগস্ট ২০১৯

মৌলভী বাজার জেলার শ্রীমঙ্গলে একটি চা বাগানে সারাদিন কাজের শেষে চা শ্রমিক নারীরা ঘরে ফিরছেন রান্নার জ্বালানি সংগ্রহ করে (ছবি রক  আর. রোজারিও) 

আজ‌কের এই দি‌নে আমার আদিবাসী বন্ধু ও আত্মীয়-স্বজন সকল‌কে জানাই আন্ত‌রিক শু‌ভেচ্ছা ও অ‌ভিনন্দন। আমি অত্যন্ত আন‌ন্দিত ও সৌভাগ্যবান কারণ আমার এ জীব‌নে অ‌নেক ভা‌লো ভা‌লো আদিবাসীর সংস্প‌র্শে এ‌সে‌ছি এবং অ‌নে‌কের সা‌থে চিরস্থায়ী বন্ধু‌ত্বে আবদ্ধ হ‌য়ে‌ছি। আমার জীব‌ন‌, জ্ঞান ও অ‌ভিজ্ঞতার ভান্ডার‌কে তারা নানাভা‌বে সমৃদ্ধ ক‌রে‌ছে তা‌দের অনন্য জীবনধারা ও সাংস্কৃ‌তিক ঐ‌তিহ্য দি‌য়ে। আমি যেমন তা‌দের ভা‌লো‌বে‌সে‌ছি, তেম‌নি তারাও আমা‌কে ভা‌লো‌বে‌সে‌ছে এবং কখ‌নোই ম‌নে হয় নি আমি ও তারা আলাদা কারণ আমি সংখ্যাগ‌রিষ্ঠ বাঙা‌লি সম্প্রদা‌য়ভুক্ত এবং তারা নৃতাত্ত্বিক সংখ্যালঘু‌ গোষ্ঠীর। আমার জীবন অ‌ভিজ্ঞতা থে‌কে শি‌খে‌ছি যে য‌দি সমান সু‌যোগ ও অ‌ধিকার দেয়া হয় ত‌বে যে‌কোন সম্প্রদা‌য়ের মানুষ একই রকমভা‌বে জীব‌নে উন্ন‌তি কর‌তে সক্ষম, আমার অ‌নেক আদিবাসী বন্ধু তার প্রমাণ।দু:খজনক ব্যাপার হ‌লো বাংলা‌দেশ রা‌ষ্ট্রে আদিবাসী জনগোষ্ঠীর অ‌ধিকার যথার্থভা‌বে স্বীকৃত নয়, এবং তাদের অ‌ধিকাংশ হতদ‌রিদ্র, প্রা‌ন্তিক ও অনগ্রসর। কাগ‌জে-কল‌মে বাংলা‌দে‌শের নাগ‌রিক হি‌সে‌বে তা‌দের সমান অ‌ধিকার র‌য়ে‌ছে, কিন্তু বাস্ত‌বে তা নেই। ক্ষুদ্র জন‌গোষ্ঠী হি‌সে‌বে তা‌দের সুরক্ষার জন্য যথার্থ কোন আইন ও নী‌তিমালা ‌নেই, যা‌র মাধ্য‌মে তা‌দের স্বতন্ত্র জীবনযাত্রা, সংস্কৃ‌তি ও ঐ‌তিহ্য টি‌কে থাক‌তে পা‌রে। ভু‌মি ও সম্প‌ত্তি দখলদার একদল সু‌যোগসন্ধানী সংখ্যাগুরু বাঙা‌লি সম্প্রদা‌য়ের দ্বারা প্র‌তি‌নিয়ত নিষ্পে‌ষিত। অত্যাচা‌রের শিকার আদিবাসীর জন্য বিচার সুদূরপরাহত এবং বিচারহীনতার এ সংস্কৃ‌তি ক্রমাগত তা‌দের আক্রমণকারী‌দের প্র‌ণোদনা যু‌গি‌য়ে চ‌লে‌ছে। শেষ কথা কিন্তু ফেলনা নয়। আদিবাসীর এ‌হেন দু‌দর্শায় তা‌দের নি‌জেরও কিছু দায় আছে। নি‌জে‌দের অধিকার আদায় ও শোষ‌ণের বি‌রো‌ধিতায় আদিবাসীরা আজ দ্বিধা‌বিভক্ত। পাহাড়ী বনাম সমতল আদিবাসী, বৃহৎ বনাম ক্ষুদ্র আদিবাসী গোষ্ঠী, সরকারপন্থী বনাম সরকার‌বি‌রোধী প্রভৃ‌তি দল ও উপদ‌লে ব্যাপক অন‌ক্যৈ আদিবাসী‌দের গ্রাস ক‌রে‌ছে। এক‌টি সম্প্রদায় অত্যাচা‌রের শিকার হ‌লে অন্য সম্প্রদায় নীরব থা‌কে, যতক্ষণ না তা‌দের কোন স্বার্থ ক্ষুন্ন হয়। এ অ‌নৈক্য ও বিবাদ আদিবাসী মানু‌ষের সব‌চে‌য়ে বড় দুর্বলতা এবং এ‌র সু‌বিধা ভোগ ক‌রে সমাজ ও রাষ্ট্রব্যবস্থার আদিবাসী‌বি‌রোধী অংশ‌টি। অ‌নেক আদিবাসী আজ তথাক‌থিত আধু‌নিকতার না‌মে নি‌জের ভাষা, সংস্কৃ‌তি, পোশাক প্রভৃ‌তি‌কে সারা বছর অগ্রাহ্য ক‌রে, আর বিশ্ব আদিবাসী দিব‌সে এক‌দি‌নের আদিবাসী সাজার প্র‌তি‌যো‌গিতায় লিপ্ত হয়। নি‌জের সম্পদ ও সংস্কৃ‌তি‌কে য‌দি নি‌জে সম্মান, লালন ও তার জন্য লড়াই না ক‌রি, ত‌বে আর কেউ তা কর‌বে না, তা টি‌কেও থাক‌বে না। সব‌শে‌ষে, বিশ্ব আদিবাসী দিব‌সে প্রত্যাশা ক‌রি বাংলা‌দে‌শের আদিবাসী মানু‌ষের ইতিবাচক দিন বদল ঘটুক। বাঙা‌লি ভাই‌বোন‌দের পাশাপা‌শি আদিবাসী‌দের সমান অ‌ধিকার ও সু‌যোগ প্র‌তিষ্ঠা ও বাস্তবায়‌নে সমাজ ও রাষ্ট্র‌নেতা‌দের শুভবু‌দ্ধির উদয় হোক। তা‌দের উন্নয়ন ও বিকা‌শের জন্য প্র‌য়োজনীয় উ‌দ্যোগ নিক সমাজ ও রা‌ষ্ট্রের হর্তাকর্তারা। আর সে ল‌ক্ষ্যে আদিবাসী সম্প্রদা‌য়ে বৃহৎ ঐক্য গ‌ড়ে ওঠুক, কেননা অ‌ধিকার আদা‌য়ের লড়াই চা‌লি‌য়ে যে‌তে হ‌বেই। অতীত য‌তো না হোক হতাশার, এক‌টি সুন্দর আগামীর জন্য প্রত্যাশা ও কর্মপ্রয়াস অব্যাহত রাখ‌তেই হ‌বে।।

Repatriation of the Rohingya: Real deal or mind game?

Rohingya Muslims enter Shahporir Dwip Island in Bangladesh after crossing the Naf River on Sept. 13, 2017 to escape a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The Rohingya issue remains a thorny political and diplomatic problem between the neighboring countries. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)    

The failed attempt to send 150 refugees out of over one million currently residing in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar back to Rakhine State in Myanmar was the first concrete step for their repatriation.

The problem is that none of those in the first batch of 2,260 refugees due to be sent home were willing to go. Most of them responded by fleeing their temporary shelters and going into hiding. Others held daylong protests opposing the repatriation move.

Dhaka has been working enthusiastically to return the Rohingya to Myanmar but the deal has been delayed several times after a repatriation deal was signed in January of this year.

The first deal, inked without any third party involvement, sparked an international outcry.

Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated and impoverished nations, was forced to sign the deal as it creaks under the weight of domestic pressures including a shortage of resources. Finding more resources to feed some one million refugees has invited a backlash from many Bangladeshis.

Yet the deal failed to defuse the mounting international criticism of Myanmar's handling of the crisis. It did not include third party oversight and, importantly, lacked any input from those at the center of the crisis — the Rohingya.

That being said, none of the deals signed so far have taken into account the key concerns and demands of the Rohingya, including calls for justice over the atrocities they have suffered, the return of their property, reparations for the damage done, and the right to citizenship in Myanmar.

Missionaries, martyrs and 500 years of faith in Bangladesh

Archbishop Moses M. Costa of Chittagong delivers a Mass during the annual Marian pilgrimage at Our Lady of Lourdes shrine in Diang in eastern Bangladesh in 2018. The Church will host a jubilee marking 500 years of Christianity in the country on Feb. 7-8 in the same city. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)

For centuries the port of Chittagong, washed by the waters of the Karnaphuli River, has fascinated and attracted travellers, traders, kings, warriors, and preachers of various religions.

In 1517, the river brought Portuguese Catholic merchants to the port. The first group left after their business was done, but a second group that arrived in 1518 decided to stay in Chittagong and nearby Diang, setting up the first Christian settlements in erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh).

"The Portuguese came mainly for business, but they also brought with them the faith in Christ. They developed the first community of Christians," Holy Cross Archbishop Moses M. Costa of Chittagong told ucanews.com.

Portuguese Jesuit priest Father Francesco Fernandez was the first Catholic missionary to set foot in Chittagong in 1598. Two Jesuit priests — Father Melchior de Fonseca and Father Andre Boves — and two Dominican priests followed his footsteps in 1599, and a band of Augustinian missionary priests turned up in the 1600s.

The Augustinians spearheaded the massive conversion of locals, mostly lower-caste Hindus from fishing community and port laborers, as well as slaves from various Indian states brought to Chittagong by merchant ships in 1622-1635.

By the middle of the 17th century, Catholics in Chittagong and neighboring areas stood at around 29,000.

Father Fonseca and Father Boves set up two churches in Diang and Chittagong in 1600, marking the first foothold of the Church in this part of the world.