Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts

Jan 7, 2024

দক্ষিণ এশিয়ায় ভোটের রাজনীতি এবং খ্রিস্টান সম্প্রদায়

Bangladeshi Christians who account for less than half percent of some 165 million inhabitants in the country pray during an Easter Mass in Dhaka on April 8, 2007. (Photo: AFP)

 ভারত, বাংলাদেশ এবং পাকিস্তান - একদার ব্রিটিশ উপনিবেশ ভারতীয় উপমহাদেশের তিনটি জনবহুল দেশে নির্বাচনী দামামা বেজে উঠেছে। এ বছরের মধ্যে তিনটি দেশেই জাতীয় নির্বাচন অনুষ্ঠিত হতে চলেছে। এর জের ধরেই প্রধান রাজনৈতিক দলগুলো চিরাচরিত সাংঘর্ষিক রাজনীতি, পারস্পরিক কাদা ছোঁড়াছুড়ি এবং দমন-পীড়ণে লিপ্ত হয়ে পড়েছে।

বিশে^র আটশ কোটির বেশি জনসংখ্যার এক-চতুর্থাংশের বসবাস দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার দেশসমূহে। কিন্তু দরিদ্র সীমার নিচে বাসকারী পৃথিবীর মোট জনগোষ্ঠীর অর্ধেক বাস করে এ অঞ্চলে। সাত দশকের বেশি আগে ব্রিটিশ শাসনের অবসান হলেও এ বিপুল দরিদ্র এবং মৌলিক চাহিদা পূরণে অক্ষম মানুষের জীবনের চরম দুর্দশার অন্যতম প্রধান কারণ হলো দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার দেশগুলোতে সত্যিকার গণতন্ত্রের অভাব, রাজনৈতিক দলগুলোর স্বেচ্চাচারী এবং ক্ষমতাকেন্দ্রিক রাজনীতি, সরকারি ও বেসরকারি পর্যায়ে সীমাহীন দুর্নীতি এবং সমাজের তৃণমূল পর্যায় থেকে শুরু করে রাষ্ট্রের উচ্চ পর্যায় পর্যন্ত দরিদ্র, অবহেলিত এবং পিছিয়ে পড়া জনগোষ্ঠীর উন্নয়নে নীতিমালা এবং কার্যক্রমের ঘাটতি।

দক্ষিণ এশিয়ায় সব দেশেই জাতিগত এবং ধর্মীয় সংখ্যালঘুরা সমাজের দরিদ্র, অবহেলিত, নির্যাতিত এবং ক্ষমতাহীন জনগোষ্ঠীর অন্তভুক্ত। ভারতে যেমন মুসলিম, খ্রিস্টান, বৌদ্ধ এবং আদিবাসী সম্প্রদায় অবহেলা এবং নিপীড়ণের শিকার, তেমনি পাকিস্তানে খ্রিস্টান, হিন্দু এবং উপজাতি জনগোষ্ঠী অধিকতর বঞ্চিত এবং নির্যাতিত। নেপালে সংখ্যালঘু খ্রিস্টান ও মুসলিম, শ্রীলংকায় হিন্দু, মুসলিম এবং খ্রিস্টানরা একইভাবে অবহেলিত এবং পশ্চাৎপদ। 

Dec 22, 2023

বিজয়: ১৯৭১ বনাম ২০২৩

Photo: AFP

১৯৭১ সালের ১৬ই ডিসেম্বর বাংলার ইতিহাসের এক অবিস্মরণীয় দিন। নয় মাসের রক্তক্ষয়ী মুক্তিযুদ্ধ শেষে লাখো শহীদের রক্ত, লাখো মা-বোনের সম্ভ্রম, হাজারো স্বজনহারা পরিবারের আর্তনাদ এবং কোটি শরনার্থীর বাস্তুহারা হবার বেদনার মহাসাগর পেরিয়ে বিশ্বের বুকে বাংলাদেশ নামক একটি স্বাধীন এবং সার্বভৌম রাষ্ট্রের জন্ম হয় সেদিন। 

বাঙালি জাতির অবিসংবাদিত নেতা বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমানের অকুতোভয় সত্ত্বা যা ভেতো বাঙালিকে যোদ্ধা জাতিকে রুপান্তরিত করে পাকিস্তানি হানাদার বাহিনীর মতো উচ্চ প্রশিক্ষিত এবং আধুনিক সমরাস্ত্র সজ্জিত সেনাবাহিনীকে পরাস্ত করেছে, বিজয়ের দিন বাঙালির সেই “চির উন্নত মম শির” উদযাপ‌নের দিন। এই সোনালি দিন মুক্তিযুদ্ধকালীন প্রবাসী সরকারের প্রধানমন্ত্রী বঙ্গতাজ তাজউদ্দীন আহমেদের শত বিপত্তির মুখেও অটল বিশ্বাস, সুদক্ষ পরিচালনা এবং “জ্ব‌লে পুড়ে ছারখার তবু মাথা নোয়াবার নয়” সত্ত্বার প্রতি শ্রদ্ধাবনত হবার দিন। 

বিপুল ত্যাগ এবং অমূল‌্য রক্তের দামে কেনা এ স্বাধীনতা, আর তাই বিজয়ের দিনে পাঁচ দশকের বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস এবং বর্তমানকে মূল্যায়ন করে ভাবার দিন -- পাকিস্তানি শোষণ এবং বঞ্চণা থেকে বিজয় অর্জন করেছি ১৯৭১ সালে, কিন্তু সত্যিকার অর্থে জাতি হিসেবে আমরা কি সামাজিক, অর্থনৈতিক, সাংস্কৃতিক এবং ধর্মীয়সহ সামগ্রিক মুক্তি অর্জন করতে সক্ষম হয়েছি? 

Jun 25, 2023

জন্মভূমি ও শরণার্থী

Rohingya refugee in a camp in Bangladesh. (Photo: UNOPS)

বাড়ি সবসময় আমাদের হৃদয়ের কাছাকাছি একটি জায়গা, শুধুমাত্র এই কারণেই নয় যে আমরা সেখানে জন্মগ্রহণ করেছি, বড় হয়েছি এবং সেখানেই বাস করি। প্রকৃতপক্ষে বাড়ি বলতে ইট, পাথর, টিন, কাঠ বা বাঁশের কোন কাঠামো বোঝায় না। বাড়ি হলো সেই জায়গা যা ভালবাসা, মায়া এবং যত্নে লালিত।

আমাদের মাতৃভূমি বাড়িরই একটি বর্ধিত সংস্করণ, যা আমাদের দেশপ্রেমকে জাগ্রত করে। 

কোভিড-১৯ মহামারী এবং দীর্ঘ লকডাউনের কারণে আমরা ভালোবাসা এবং যত্নের বাইরেও মূলত জীবন বাঁচানোর জন্য বাড়িতেই দীর্ঘ বন্দিত্ব বরণ করতে বাধ্য হয়েছিলাম। এ সময় হাজার হাজার অভ্যন্তরীণ এবং বিদেশী অভিবাসী শ্রমিক চাকুরি ও আয় রোজগারের পথ হারিয়ে নিঃস্ব এবং হতাশ হয়ে বাড়ি ফিরেছিল।

এহেন অবস্থা সত্ত্বেও শান্তি ও ভরসার বিষয় ছিলো যে বিশ্বের কোটি কোটি ঘর-বাড়িহীন ও দেশহীন মানুষের চেয়ে আমরা ভাগ্যবান। কারণ আর যাই হোক আমাদের ঘর-বাড়ি ও জন্মভূমি আছে, যা তাদের নেই। 

জাতিসংঘের শরণার্থী সংস্থা ইউএনএইচসিআর-র তথ্য অনুসারে বিশ্বে প্রায় জোরপূর্বক বাস্তুচ্যুত মানুষের সংখ্যা প্রায় ৭ কোটি ৮০ লাখের মতো।

মানুষ প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগ এবং সংঘাতের কারণে বাস্তুচ্যুত হয়, এবং তাদের অনেক নামে ডাকা হয় - উদ্বাস্তু, রাষ্ট্রহীন, অভ্যন্তরীণভাবে বাস্তুচ্যুত ব্যক্তি, আশ্রয়প্রার্থী, শরণার্থী ইত্যাদি। তারা সবাই তাদের প্রিয় স্থান - বাড়ি এবং স্বদেশ থেকে বঞ্চিত।

Jul 7, 2022

বিয়ের অনুষ্ঠানে আতিশয্য আর নয়

ভারত, পাকিস্তান ও বাংলাদেশসহ দক্ষিণ এশিয়া দেশগুলোতে বিয়ে মানেই হলো সপ্তাহজুড়ে নানা অনুষ্ঠানের অপ্রয়োজনীয় আতিশয্য (Photo: Unsplash)

সময়কাল ২০২০। গোটা পৃথিবী করোনা মহামারীর প্রকোপে আক্রান্ত। বাংলাদেশের গাজীপুর জেলায় এক খ্রিস্টান এক যুগল বিবাহ বন্ধনে আবদ্ধ হয়েছে করোনা মহামারী সংক্রান্ত সরকারি বিধিমালা মেনে। গির্জায় বিয়ে আশীর্বাদ এবং বরের বাড়িতে সামাজিক অনুষ্ঠানে বর ও কনে পক্ষের মাত্র দশজন করে আত্মীয়-স্বজন অংশগ্রহণ করে। সন্ধ্যা নামার আগেই গোটা অনুষ্ঠানের পরিসমাপ্তি ঘটে। 

করোনা মহামারীকালে এমন অনেক সংক্ষিপ্ত ও অনাড়ম্বর বিয়ে অনুষ্ঠিত হয়েছে। সাধারণ অবস্থায় এমন বিয়ে একপ্রকার অকল্পনীয় বটে।

ভারত, পাকিস্তান ও বাংলাদেশসহ দক্ষিণ এশিয়া দেশগুলোতে বিয়ে মানেই হলো সপ্তাহজুড়ে নানা অনুষ্ঠানের অপ্রয়োজনীয় আতিশয্য। এসব অনাবশ্যক বাগাড়ম্বরের সাথে দেশীয় কৃষ্টি ও সংস্কৃতির কোন মিল নেই বললেই চলে। 

এহেন জৌলুসপূর্ণ আনুষ্ঠানিকতার উল্টোপিঠে আমরা দেখতে পাই দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার আর্থ-সামাজিক দূরাবস্থা যেখানে বিশ্বের মোট দরিদ্র জনগোষ্ঠীর তিন ভাগের এক ভাগ বাস করে যাদের মাথাপিছু দৈনিক আয় দুই মার্কিন ডলারেরও নিচে।  

ভারতীয় ধনী ব্যবসায়ী এবং শিল্পপতিরা বিলাসবহুল বিয়ের অনুষ্ঠানকে এমন পর্যায়ে নিয়ে গেছেন যে বর্তমানে “বিগ ফ্যাট ইন্ডিয়ান ওয়েডিং” (Big Fat Indian Wedding) কথাটি ব্যাপক পরিচিতি লাভ করেছে

২০১৮ সালে ভারতের সবচেয়ে ধনী শিল্পপতি মুকেশ আম্বানি তার মেয়ে ইশা আম্বানির বিয়েতে ১০০ মিলিয়ন মার্কিন ডলার খরচ করে এ যাবত কালের সকল রেকর্ড ভঙ্গ করেছেন। 

May 19, 2022

৫০ বছরে বাংলাদেশ: স্বাধীনতা, অধিকার ও উন্নয়ন

বাংলাদেশের রাজধানী ঢাকায় বিজয় দিবসের প্রাক্কালে ১৫ ডিসেম্বর প্রদীপ প্রজ্জলন (ছবিঃ এএফপি)

 সারা বিশ্বের ন্যায় করোনা মহামারীতে বাংলাদেশের জনজীবন বিপর্যস্ত হলেও ২০২১ সালটি ছিল জাতির জন্য একটি উৎসবমুখর ও তাৎপর্য্যপূর্ণ বছর। সে বছরের মার্চ মাসে বাংলাদেশে জাতির পিতা বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমানের জন্মশতবার্ষিকী উপলক্ষ্যে দেশজুড়ে পালিত ‘মুজিব বর্ষ’-র সামাজিক ও সাংস্কৃতিক কর্মসূচী ও অনুষ্ঠানমালার বর্ণাঢ্য সমাপণী অনুষ্ঠিত হয়। বাঙালির অবিসংবাদিত নেতা শেখ মুজিবের জেষ্ঠ্যা কন্যা ক্ষমতাসীন আওয়ামী লীগের সভাপতি ও প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা। একই বছরের শেষদিকে ডিসেম্বর মাসে জাতি পাকিস্তান থেকে স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের অভ্যুদয়ের সুবর্ণ জয়ন্তী উদযাপন করেছে।

শেখ মুজিবের জন্মশতবার্ষিকী উপলক্ষ্যে গোটা বছর জুড়ে রাষ্ট্রীয় পর্যায়ে যে সকল কর্মসূচী পালন করা হয়েছে তার চূড়ান্ত পর্যায়ের অনুষ্ঠানমালা মঞ্চস্থ হয়েছে ১৭-২৬ মার্চ। দেশের গণমান্য ব্যক্তিবর্গ ছাড়াও ভারত, মালদ্বীপ, শ্রীলংকা, নেপাল ও ভুটানসহ পৃথিবীর বিভিন্ন রাষ্ট্রের প্রধান ও প্রতিনিধিগণ একগুচ্ছ সামাজিক ও সাংস্কৃতিক আয়োজনে শামিল হয়েছেন।

মহানায়ক বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিব বাংলাদেশের জনগণের তরফ থেকে এরূপ উচ্চমার্গীয় শ্রদ্ধা ও সম্মান পাওয়ার শ্রেষ্ঠ দাবিদার। কারণ তার সুযোগ্য ও বিচক্ষণ নেতৃত্বের গুণেই বাঙালি জাতির হাজার বছরের স্বাধীনতার স্বপ্ন বাস্তব রূপ লাভ করেছে। আক্ষরিক অর্থেই মুজিব ছিলেন এক মহান ও দূরদর্শী নেতা, যিনি তার গোটা জীবন জনগণের সুখ ও দু:খে পাশে থেকে অতিবাহিত করেছেন এবং জনগণের অধিকার আদায়ের জন্যে বারংবার অত্যাচারী শাসকগোষ্ঠীর বিরুদ্ধে সোচ্চার হয়েছেন। এ কারণে তার প্রাপ্তবয়স্ক জীবনের অধিকাংশ সময়ই জেলখানায় কাটাতে হয়েছে।

স্বাধীনতার পর চরমভাবে যুদ্ধবিদ্ধস্ত একটি রাষ্ট্রের প্রধান হিসেবে তাকে সর্বগ্রাসী দারিদ্র ও ক্ষুধাসহ এবং অসংখ্য সামাজিক, রাজনৈতিক এবং অর্থনৈতিক সমস্যা মোকাবেলা করতে হয়েছে। কিন্তু জনগণ ও দেশের প্রতি তার ভালোবাসা ছিল সর্বদা অতুলনীয় ও অতলস্পর্শী। ১৯৭৫ সালের ১৫ আগস্টের কালরাত্রিতে কুচক্রীদের ষড়যন্ত্রে সপরিবারে তার বর্বরোচিত হত্যাকান্ড বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাসের সবচেয়ে কালো এবং মর্মান্তিক অধ্যায়।

যেভাবে বঙ্গবন্ধুর জন্ম শতবার্ষিকী উদযাপন জাতিকে উজ্জীবিত করেছে, তেমনিভাবে স্বাধীনতার সুবর্ণ জয়ন্তীতেও দেশের জনগণ ডিসেম্বরের ১৬ তারিখ পর্যন্ত এক সপ্তাহব্যাপী উদ্বেলিত ছিল। 

৫০ বছর আগের এই দিনে দেশ ও বিদেশে কোটি কোটি বাঙালি আনন্দ ও স্বস্তির অশ্রুজল বিসর্জন করেছিল। কেননা সেদিন বাংলাদেশ-ভারত যৌথ বাহিনীর নিকট হানাদার পাকিস্তানী সেনাবাহিনীর নি:শর্ত আত্মসমর্পণের ফলে স্বাধীন ও সার্বভৌম বাংলাদেশের জন্ম হয়।

Jun 24, 2020

Time to say adieu to extravagant weddings

 

In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, weddings are often week-long events full of unnecessary grandeur. (Photo: Unsplash)

A Bangladeshi Christian couple recently tied the knot at a Catholic church in Gazipur district of central Bangladesh in the presence of 10 relatives.

The wedding Mass was followed by a simple reception including lunch attended only by a handful of relatives from both sides. The whole program came to an end before sunset.

This was a Covid-19-protocoled marriage ceremony allowed under government-mandated health guidelines. There are many such weddings in the pipeline. In normal circumstances, it would have been unthinkable.

In South Asian nations including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, weddings are often week-long extravagant events full of unnecessary grandeur. They have little in common with culture and traditions.

It is in striking contrast to the staggering socioeconomic situation in South Asia, home to one third of the world’s poor who survive on less than US$2 per day.

Jun 14, 2020

South Asia's ticking Covid-19 time bomb

Funeral workers in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka bury a person who died from Coronavirus (Photo by Stephan Uttom/UCA News)
The Covid-19 pandemic might have hit South Asia a little late, but the damage has already been done.

More than three months after the ordeal began, the region’s 1.7 billion people, one fifth of the world’s population, are passing their days and nights in fear of a grave human tragedy.

Major South Asian countries have seen a jump in daily infections from a month ago. In early May, Bangladesh was recording 400-500 infections; now it averages 2,500 a day. India has been registering about 10,000 new cases daily, up from about 2,500 in May.

Infections and deaths continue to surge in the region every day, yet India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal have eased nationwide lockdowns that somewhat managed to tame the deadly virus but failed to stop it effectively. 

Current trends in most South Asian nations indicate that the easing of the restrictions and heath emergency rules are most likely to fuel the spread of the pandemic that has rocked even the richest and most developed countries in the West.

South Asia’s massive population, extreme poverty, weak human resources and poor healthcare systems provide perfect conditions for a looming humanitarian disaster.

Home, homeland and aliens

Rohingya refugees arrive in Bangladesh from Rakhine state of Myanmar in 2017 (Photo: AFP)

Home is a place always close to our hearts, not only because we were born, grew up and belong there but also because home is where there is love and care.

Our homeland is an extended version of home, which in addition invokes our patriotism.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and long lockdowns, we have been staying home not only because we love and care but mostly to save lives. But this long confinement at home has not been loving and caring for everyone as people are under pressure from loss of work and income, mental anguish and fear of death.

The troubles are even more dire for tens of thousands of internal and overseas migrant workers who returned home penniless and hopeless.

Despite this turmoil, people should remain calm and consider themselves luckier than the millions of poor souls around the world who are deprived of home and homeland.

There are nearly 70.8 million forcibly displaced people in the world, according to United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

People are displaced by natural disasters and conflicts, and they are referred to by many names — refugees, stateless, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, etc.

Maybe we should call them aliens, because they are alienated from what we all love — home and homeland.

Mar 12, 2020

South Asia’s rape scourge and moral degradation

Parents protest against the school authorities after a eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a school boy, at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Beas in India's Punjab state on December 16, 2019. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP)
Seven years after the brutal gang rape and death of a college student on a bus in India’s federal capital New Delhi, a Court issued an execution order for four convicts on Jan. 7.


The 2012 barbaric assault on a 23-year-old medical student triggered massive street demonstrations and a nationwide reckoning over rape and sexual violence against women in India.



It led to changes in the anti-rape law, including the introduction of the death penalty. But changes in legislation have done little to change the scenario in India.

In 2018, India was ranked the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman due to the high risk of sexual violence and slave labor, according to a global survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.


Each day on average, some 100 women are raped in India. In 2016, India recorded 39,608 rape cases, at least 520 of them of children below the age of six, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Jan 2, 2020

The illusion of human rights in South Asia

An Indian policeman walks past as people hold a candlelight vigil in Bangalore on Dec. 6 in support of sexual assault victims and against the rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad. (Photo: Manjunath Kiran/AFP)

Only hours after police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad killed in "an encounter" all four men accused of the rape and murder of a veterinarian, many people in the country exploded in wild cheers.
Men and women chanted cheerful slogans and came rushing to congratulate police, flooded them with flower petals and distributed sweets. Some even set off firecrackers in great delight.
"This is what these filthy animals deserved and the police have done a great job," some chanted as people from all walks of life, including politicians and film stars, hailed the police as heroes.
The police had assuaged public anger over a case that provoked street protests after the brutal rape and murder on Nov. 27.
Only a few people including rights activists questioned how the extrajudicial killing of the accused on Dec. 6 was permitted in a country famed as "the world's largest democracy."
Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research, a social advocacy group, termed the police action an "utter violation" of human rights and "a total failure" of the criminal justice system, warning that India was moving toward a vigilante justice system.
There is little doubt that the accused men committed the most serious crime, but in the 21st century we cannot rely on stray bullets to deliver quick justice. This is nothing but committing one crime to obliterate another one.
The Hyderabad case represents a common feature of human rights violations in many countries in today's world, including those in South Asia.

Dec 13, 2019

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.


Dec 8, 2017

Why Bangladeshi elections are a time for violence against minorities

Hindus walk past a burned down house after a Muslim mob attack in northern Bangladesh in this file photo


A rally of 19 minority rights' groups in Bangladesh has condemned "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
The rally also called for protection of minorities in Bangladesh, particularly Buddhists, amid rising anger against Buddhist-majority Myanmar.   
The mass gathering was held in the capital, Dhaka, on Sept. 14.
By some estimates, more than 400,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine State as refugees since a new round of ethnic violence flared in late August.
Islamic radicals have reportedly threatened to avenge persecution of Rohingya, prompting the Bangladesh government to beef-up security in the Buddhist-majority areas of Cox's Bazar and Chittagong.


The Forgotten People: Bihari Refugees of Bangladesh


The Bihari refugees - 160,000 people who have lived like animals in congested makeshift camps, all over Bangladesh, for more than 40 years.

No relief for Bangladesh's most vulnerable communities

An elderly female tea-plucker works in one of Bangladesh's many tea gardens in this file image. (Photo by Mufty Munir/AFP)
There are many venerable communities in Bangladesh, among them suffering the worst are those working on tea plantations in conditions akin to slavery, the Biharis who are scorned for siding with West Pakistan during Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971 and the stateless Rohingya who have fled neighboring Myanmar.
These communities find themselves facing dire challenges with historical roots that are hard to untangle.  


Dec 9, 2013

Seeking justice from a flawed war crimes court


Many people in the country rejoiced this week as one of two special courts prosecuting alleged war criminals convicted a former leader of the largest Islamist party and sentenced him to death.
Abul Kalam Azad, a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami, was found guilty on seven of eight charges against him, including murder, rape, looting and arson, and sentenced in absentia.
The Islamic cleric who used to appear regularly on state-run and private television channels, is thought to have fled to Pakistan when the war crimes tribunal announced charges against him in April last year.
The tribunal’s verdict on Azad, announced January 21, was widely hailed in local media and celebrated by people across the country.
Such joy over the prospect of a death by hanging is understandable in part because many in the country have waited decades to receive justice for atrocities committed during Bangladesh’s War of Liberation from Pakistan in 1971.
The conflict saw the deaths of an estimated three million people, the rape of about 200,000 women, widespread looting and arson attacks, and the displacement of nearly 10 million people to neighboring India, according to government data.
Atrocities committed by military forces on civilian populations were widespread because they were helped by local collaborators – particularly, by members of Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed secession and saw independence and separation from Pakistan as an implicit attack on Islam.
Those tensions began with the partition of India in 1947 and have persisted ever since, causing political and economic turmoil that continues to plague Bangladeshi society and inflame religious conflict.
But the justice celebrated this week in Bangladesh is something of a mixed bag.
Since its creation three years ago, the tribunal has been criticized by rights groups for not meeting international legal standards and concerning itself with retribution rather than justice.
To date, nine party leaders from Jamaat-e-Islami and two from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party have been charged with war crimes, but both parties have dismissed the proceedings as unjust and politically motivated.
The nation’s ruling Awami League (AL), which led the push for independence, has made the war crimes tribunal a centerpiece of its administration.
But the AL has played more on public emotions rather than the strict demands of justice in a nation struggling to follow through on the promises that shaped its drive for independence.
Amid the outpouring of joy over this week’s verdict, one might be tempted to see progress towards a post-extremist and more democratic society, as well as a vindication of the AL’s administration under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
That would be a mistake. Much of the support for the tribunal has been linked to the tragedies of the war years that left few families untouched. Moreover, many have also seen the trials as an effort to put an end to the religious extremism that was for so long promoted by parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami.
But as continued dissention in the country over the tribunal shows, rooting out extremism is more easily hoped for than accomplished. And it is unlikely to proceed primarily from a flawed tribunal.
Until pluralism and tolerance are embraced by all members of society, Bangladesh will continue to struggle with political and sectarian conflict.

The Third Eye is the pseudonym of a journalist and commentator based in Dhaka
Read the original post here- Seeking justice from a flawed war crimes court

Bangladesh loses sight of own refugee past

Rohingya Children at a refugee camp in Bangladesh (photo: Dr. Habib Siddiqui)
Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated countries, rarely makes international headlines for good reasons, so if you see something hit the wires of the international press, prepare yourself for the worst.

Whether it is an expose of the country’s dire poverty or the toxicity of the drinking water; whether the lack of infrastructure or political unrest; bad news is a safe bet from a country where half the 160 million population can’t read and earns only about 50 cents per day.

But some issues are more pressing, if not more widely reported, in the country.

One example is the issue of refugees – a longstanding issue that has again come to the fore with the outbreak of violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Allegedly sparked by the rape and murder of a young Buddhist girl and the subsequent retaliatory killing of 10 Muslims, the violence drove hundreds of Rohingya towards the
Bangladesh border.

Authorities on the Bangladeshi side have continued to refuse entry to Rohingya refugees, despite incurring criticism from Human Rights Watch, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the US State Department.

Since last week, border guards have turned back boats carrying hundreds of refugees seeking a safe haven – though authorities did provide food and water before sending them on their way.

Apart from its international commitments as a member of the United Nations and the dictates of common decency, has the country forgotten the assistance it received at a time of great need?

An estimated 10 million people fled to India during the 1971 war of liberation.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni defended the refusal of entry to the Rohingya by saying, “
Bangladesh never signed any kind of international act, convention or law for allowing and giving shelter to refugees. That’s why we are not bound to provide shelter to Rohingyas.”

The statement fails to address the most critical issues, ones that have deep historical roots.

In 1978 and again in 1991, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled Rakhine state to
Bangladesh to escape sectarian violence that some have equated to ethnic cleansing by the then military junta ruling Myanmar.

Many later returned, but a large number refused out of fear for their safety.
Bangladesh authorities say that about half a million Rohingya refugees still remain in Bangladesh, residing in largely makeshift camps in the southeastern border districts.

The UNHCR puts the figure at between 200,000 and 300,000, with only 28,000 granted official refugee status.

Authorities are obviously trying to prevent another influx of refugees that may not want to return once order is restored.

Despite maintaining a presence in Myanmar since at least the 7th century, the Rohingya have been denied citizenship by their government, which refuses to include them in a list of 135 recognized ethnic minorities.

Today the Rohingya are numbered among the world’s most persecuted minorities, unrecognized as citizens at home and unwanted abroad.

Descendents of ethnic Rakhine, Bengali and Arab seafarers, they continue to be unwelcome in
Bangladesh as well.

Relegated to ill-equipped and unhealthy camps, and subject to exploitation and abuse by border security guards as well as local residents, the Rohingya receive little in the way of official support from the government, which sees them as an additional burden on a country already groaning under the substantial weight of other social and political problems.

The Rohingya problem is not without precedent.

Bangladesh’s three million ethnic tribals continue to fight for their rights despite being recognized as citizens of the country.

And what of the 160,000 Bihari Muslim refugees who fled to the former East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) from India after the partition? They have always considered themselves citizens of Pakistan, though they were not born there and most have never even visited that country.

They have been locked in the country since
Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan in 1971, proving that dividing countries on religious grounds was a historic blunder.

For more than 40 years, the Rohingya have endured international neglect and dire living conditions.
Bangladesh remains adamant about its refugee policy, and efforts by the international community have to date been largely ineffective.

The international community must decide on a better course of action. The limbo in which the Rohingya have lived for so long is not sustainable. And tensions in western Myanmar, and
Bangladesh
’s resistance to change its position on refugees, will likely spell even more bad news for the country.

The Third Eye is the pseudonym for a Dhaka-based journalist and analyst


Read the original post here- Bangladesh loses sight of own refugee past

Jul 23, 2012

US 7th Fleet in Bangladesh: Rumor and Reality



On June 1 Bangladeshis and perhaps concerned Indians were surprised with a news from Time Now, a podcast service of leading Indian daily newspaper Times of India  claiming the US were on the process of stationing its naval base in Bay of Bengal.

It also claimed that the US 7th Fleet that is currently parked at Japan near Korean Peninsula was scheduled to move within maritime areas of Bangladesh and was likely to be based at Chittagong, Bangladesh’s largest sea port in the southeast.

Indian media even claimed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Washington has formally placed the proposal for naval base in Bangladesh during Clinton’s recent visit to the country.

"Worried by increasing presence of Chinese naval bases in the South China Sea - America now eyes a counter strategy - as it wants an overall presence in Asia - right from Japan to its Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean,” it went on to say.

"This by parking its seventh fleet in a base in Chittagong giving it both an eye on taking on China and a strategic post in Asia as it pulls out of Afghanistan,” it further added.

"This move by America could put India on the back foot if the American fleet moves to Bangladesh, all of India's security installations will come under the American scanner. Bangladesh is not willing to comment on record even offering explanation to deny the developments. This Clinton visit was a more strategic one than just a friendly one- the Indian establishment caught unawares--as this base could cast a shadow on India's own strategic interests."

The news, true or baseless stirred every concerned citizen in Bangladesh immediately.

Even it had some timely coincidence that gives it some grounds as well.

It came just a day after Leon Panetta, US Defense Secretary told a gathering of Asian defense ministers, military officers and analysts that US was going to deploy to 60 percent of its navy forces into Asia-Pacific region.

Panetta added that it not meant to threaten China but rebalancing of US military is steady, deliberate and sustainable way.

However, the next day US State department and the following day Bangladesh Foreign ministry outright rejected the report terming it baseless, unfounded and fabricated.

“The Government wishes to state in categorical terms that such reports are baseless and unfounded, and that the assumptions and suggestions contained in the report are clearly fabricated,” said a Bangladesh Foreign ministry press release.

Quoted by leading English daily The Daily Star US embassy spokesperson Patricia A Hill said “I can tell you that this story is without foundation. The [US] Ambassador [to Dhaka] attended Secretary Clinton's meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, and he confirms that there was no mention of building bases, moving the Seventh Fleet, or anything else of like nature.”

Now that both the US and Bangladesh government blowing up the news, it seems nothing more than a rumor.

Also the question hovers over that why should a leading Indian news service would run such sensitive but false news.

It was possibly intended to frustrate China, rising Asian power that India deem a strategic rival as well.

Two Asian powers India and China, who are neighbors but have never trusted each other, in fact they had been in a war in 1962 over border disputes.

As archrival Pakistan is struggling with enormous domestic problems and with its relationship with long-time ally the US is strained at the moment, for India the focus is slowly moving to China.

Strategic analysts say if US defense experts are wise enough they would rather select Myanmar for the navy base as it shares longer coastline along the sea.

As Myanmar opening up to democracy after decades of military rule, the US is also eyeing at developing the relationship with the country as well. Things will be difficult as the South East Asian country have maintained close relationship with China all these years.

What if the US starts pressing Bangladesh for a military base?

I would bet that it would be much more difficult for them too.

Even though the US and its home-made institutions like USAID, World Bank and IMF are big donors for Bangladesh, people would outright resist any such move.

There is no strong anti-US element in Bangladesh but the people old or young didn’t forget that the US sided with Pakistan during country’s 1971 liberation war.

People would never forget the US did nothing to stop Pakistan army brutality that left 3 million people killed, 200,000 women raped and forced around 10 million to take refuge in India.

It was an extraordinary war because it was between ordinary Bengali people and one of world’s best armies that time. The people came out victor in just nine months.

They also remember that US sent the Seventh Fleet to help Pakistan army that was on the verge of defeat by Bangladesh liberation forces, even though move came of no use because it was halted with counter threat from Russian navy and the war ended before it was able to reach.

The people will never forget that Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of Stare under President Nixon administration that time called Bangladesh ‘A bottomless basket’, in a manner to look down at mostly impoverished people here.

People also know that a US ally takes not time to make enemies around. Pakistan might be the biggest example.

Bangladesh, a land washed with bloods of millions would never tolerate anyone who put its sovereignty earned with one of the greatest sacrifices in the history of mankind under threat.

I admit that our political parties are full of corrupt leaders, but that doesn’t mean they would put security and sovereignty of the country at stake.

They know very well that people would resist any move and it will deem a fatal blow like chopping own foot.

The Mughal rulers throughout their time failed to fully control this land with their inconvincible army and said that ‘Bengal is a house of turbulence’, thus can’t be controlled.

The country even though battles with widespread poverty, corruption and illiteracy every day, yet today can resist any modern day Mughal.

I read a story when I was a child that might be great lesson in this regard

An elephant had a dispute with an ant. t used to threaten the ant every day and wanted to crush it. One day the elephant was sleeping and the any entered inside into one of its huge ears. Now the elephant was in real trouble, started jumping and crying.

No matter how big and or powerful, everyone has some sensitive and weak points.

Everyone needs to keep in mind one of the greatest sayings of Mahatma Gandhi, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.”

*This post first appeared on a Facebook Page on June 12, 2012*

Jul 18, 2012

In search of a homeland


I’ve just watched a classic Bengali film called Ontorjatra – Inner Journey.

It’s about the emigrants’ search for a homeland and a sense of place, so it resonates strongly in Bangladesh.

Many Bangladeshis leave the country every year, mostly heading for the US and Europe. Once settled there, they start calling themselves citizens of that particular country and enjoy all the benefits of being a Westerner. While the first generation of immigrants are alive, they will naturally call Bangladesh their homeland, but will the successive generations?

This applies to Bangladesh’s immigrants as well as its emigrants, as there are at least three communities here which are virtually stateless.

Around 500,000 tea workers in the northwest are tribespeople brought from various Indian states during British rule, lured by the British tea planters for a better life which never materialized.

Most of them are poor and landless, living a life that is segregated from the majority of native Bengali people, in allocated shanties called ‘worker lines’. Cut off from their roots after the partitioning of India, they are slowly forgetting their language and culture.

Then there are about 160,000 Muslims from the Indian state of Bihar who left their home for West Pakistan after partition. For over 40 years they have been forced to live as refugees in ill-equipped camps across the country. I’ve seen how they have to live; it’s an animal existence.

They call Pakistan their homeland, even though they were not born there and have never seen it. There have been a few repatriation initiatives but nothing concrete.

Finally, the Rohingya Muslim refugees in the southeast have always called Rakhine state in Myanmar their home. But they have been consistently denied citizenship, generally persecuted and are officially stateless.

Rohingyas can trace their roots in Myanmar since the 8th century but the majority of people in Rakhine, who are Buddhists, consider them to be foreigners and deny them citizenship.

So what does patriotism mean? Is homeland just a fiction that exists only in someone’s imagination? I think it may well be.

Jul 13, 2012

A journey to the other half of myself


Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
I’ve just been to India for the first time in my life, traveling round the Indian state of West Bengal for a couple of days. So it was just a short trip but it was very significant to me.

My destination was Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, the largest predominantly Bengali state in India and once the capital of all India during British colonial rule.

I’m an ethnic Bengali, a member of the largest ethnic group in South Asia, numbering more than 250 million. Sadly, Bengal is not a nation.

In 1947 the sub-continent was divided into India and Pakistan, based on religious grounds, and united Bengal was cut into two pieces: West Bengal with its Hindu majority was allocated to India, while East Bengal with its majority of Muslims was given to Pakistan and became East Pakistan.

This was a historic blunder of course. But more than that, many people deem it a political conspiracy, aimed at blocking the advancement of the largest and most progressive nation in India.

Suddenly the Bengali people, with their universal language, heritage and history, were divided. They now required visas simply to visit their loved and dear ones on the other side of the barbed wire fence. And that visa process is a tough and bitter experience, I can tell you.

So for me, this was a journey to the self, a journey to half of the soul of Bengali ethnicity, culture and nationalism.

Decades have passed since the division took place and but the solidarity of the Bengalis has never waned. Maybe one day will not need to go through such hassles to meet each other and our wish to be re-united in a single state us will be realized.

But I’m not sure how far away that day is.

*Click here to view original post*

Dec 30, 2011

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 40th 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.

View original post @ Give Us This Day

দক্ষিণ এশিয়ায় ভোটের রাজনীতি এবং খ্রিস্টান সম্প্রদায়

Bangladeshi Christians who account for less than half percent of some 165 million inhabitants in the country pray during an Easter Mass in D...