Beautiful Bangladesh: School of Life

Bangladesh is mostly known around the world for unhappy reasons.

It struggles with a massive population of over 160 million, which makes it the most densely populated place under the sky. About half of its inhabitants rank among the world’s most impoverished and vulnerable.

It’s also a soft target for natural disasters including floods, droughts, tropical cyclones and tidal waves. Every time a natural calamity strikes, many perish and many more go from poor to poorest.

Unsurprisingly Bangladesh is also beset by illiteracy, unemployment, corruption, political instability and a slack law and order system.

But a renewed sense of patriotism has been engendered by a three and half minute advertisement called ‘Beautiful Bangladesh: School of Life.’ First shown at the opening ceremony of the World Cup Cricket Tournament, the ad has made Bangladeshis look at their own land with a fresh perspective and made an eye-opening message for people outside the country.

Its creator, Gausul Azam Shaon, says he tried to express the real beauty of Bangladesh, which lies with its people and the way they live with nature. “It’s simple, it’s pure and we tried to show that a visit to Bangladesh will teach people to love the simplicity of life.”


*First published on UCAN Blog- Give Us This Day on July 27, 2011

Detalis on the commercial: The Independent on Feb. 20, 2011

The hope ride gets boost



Indira Gandhi: The Iron Lady of India
Photo Courtesy: www.thefamouspeople.com

Bangladesh conferred a long overdue honor to former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi yesterday.

The leader, often called ‘The Iron Lady of India,’ was posthumously awarded Swadhinata Sommanona, the Bangladesh Freedom Honor, for her ‘multi-faceted’ and crucial role during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Sonia Gandhi, her daughter-in-law and current president of India’s ruling National Congress party, received the highest civilian honor for a foreign national on her behalf from Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman.

“Her role was so seminal, so singular and so comprehensive that she is in a category by herself,” said Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to an audience including the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, cabinet members, senior government officials and quite a few distinguished guests.

She added that Indira also drew the attention of the world to a problem that was not just an issue for Pakistan but also the world community.

“If Indira Gandhi could have been with us, I know she would have been overwhelmed by the high honor you have bestowed on her,” Sonia said in acceptance. “There can be no honor higher than one conferred for the freedom of an oppressed people and the birth of a great nation.”

Of course, many Bangladeshis, like me, were born since then so our knowledge of liberation comes from books, films, documentaries and media. But we see the independence war as the most significant event in the history of Bangladesh and still the most influential force in every aspect of life here.

Every time any Bangladeshi speaks about independence, they must hail Indira Gandhi and express gratitude for what she did. Not only did she take some 1o million Bangladeshi refugees under her wing in 1971, but she also mobilized global support — firmly withstanding US, Chinese and Arab pressure at the time — which was crucial for our country’s struggle for freedom.

I think this honor should have been conferred earlier, but better late than never. It’s certainly significant at this crucial time when Bangladesh and India are strengthening a multi-dimensional relationship that is widely being called ‘the hope ride’ in local media.

The Indian Prime Minister Monmohan Singh is due in the country in September to sign major deals and talk over long standing issues including transit, electricity imports, water sharing and management, border demarcation and killings, the exchange of enclaves and the trade deficit.

No doubt Sonia Gandhi’s visit and the honor for Indira will have a political impact, I hope for a good cause.

Published on July 26, 2011 @ Give Us This Day

Bangladesh’s fatal aggression



Frustration to justice and law systems is a fatal burning flame among many people in Bangladesh. Who will put down the fire? (Photo Credit: www.highopesgardens.com)


Our office was closed on Monday as Muslims in the country observed their religious festival Shab-e-Barat (Night of Freedom) on Sunday night and the following day is a national holiday.

No newspapers were printed but, as always, the TV channels were on. From early morning they were broadcasting the news that villagers on the outskirts of Dhaka had beaten six suspected robbers to death.

This happened in the riverbank village of Amin Bazar, in an area which is a hot spot for illegal drugs. In the afternoon, to my utter dismay, I saw an update: all but one of the victims, who were bludgeoned to death by a mob of several hundred, were students.

They came from different parts of Dhaka and it is unclear why they went to the death spot. The villagers and even the police insist they were robbers, but their weeping relatives told reporters that they had no criminal records and were just ordinary, fun loving boys. It has also been denied that they were interested in drugs.

Following a wave of robberies and kidnappings, the villagers had organized teams to patrol at night. One of them said they had identified the young men as robbers.

“We suspected they were robbers so we passed the message to other teams and eventually it was announced through loudspeakers all over the village,” he said. The patrol teams let the suspects enter deep into the village, then hundreds of people attacked them with sticks and sharp weapons.

There were many more people than usual up and about that night because of the Shab-e-Barat prayer meetings. What an irony that these young men were killed and one more was badly injured on a holy night.

Such an incident is very rare in a civilized society in developed or modern countries, but very common here. Ain O Salish Kendra, a human rights body, reports 72 deaths from mob beatings in just the last six months.

A tragic culture of extra-judicial killings in mob attacks is developing in the country, because in most such cases, the responsible people go unpunished.

Why such a horrifying trend?

It is as evident to commoners like me as it is to the experts. There is an erosion of trust in the justice system and law enforcement agencies, which is leading people to violence and taking the law into their own hands. People in the past often handed over a criminal or a suspect to the police, only to see them walk away through some legal loophole.

It makes people feel frustrated and insecure. And it’s that frustration that leads to an aggression that is literally deadly.

If this is not tackled with a much stronger justice system and the curbing of extra-judicial killings by law enforcers, I’m afraid this frustrated nation could be driven to total lawlessness.

Published on ucanews.com blogs 0n July 19, 2011

The death ride



Thousands of people gather around the spot where the tragic accident occurred on July 11, 2011 (Photo: Focus Bangla News)



July 11 was a long, hot and tiring day. After a full day’s work, I had a long meeting at the National Youth Commission, where I’m a volunteer. It was 9 o’clock when I got home, exhausted, hungry and badly needing a shower. But there was no electricity, so not only was there no hot water, there wasn’t even water in the tank.

The power came back after an hour. I turned on the TV and suddenly, my little problems didn’t matter any more. They were updating the news; a road accident had killed 44 schoolboys near Chittagong.

Between 60 and 70 were packed into the back of a mini-truck, coming home after winning an inter-school football match at a local stadium. The truck driver was allegedly the driver’s assistant and was unlawfully talking on a mobile phone. He lost control while giving way to an oncoming vehicle, crashed and flipped into a pond.

Many were trapped, even though the pond was not deep. People rushed to the rescue before the emergency services came. But it was too late. Most of the kids died on the spot.

The incident was the lead story on ucanews.com and made headlines all over the world. And every time I read about it, it hurts.

I picture myself as one of the kids who succumbed to death after trying to survive beneath the overturned truck, or as one of the people at the school, the families and the villages, overcome with unfathomable grief.

Who can bear a tragedy like this?

I remember those days when I was at school. I too enjoyed it when our village or school team had won a football match. Coming back in the truck, we used to joke and make up funny football chants. Those kids were probably doing the same. They were only 1.5 kms away from their school. But they didn’t make it.

Now the question is being asked: who can escape blame for this? The driver, the school authorities, the law makers, the rescue services? I say no one. Whatever is being promised to the bereaved families, no condolence can be enough.

Published at UCAN Blogs on July 14, 2011

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Why mess with population figures?

An upcoming preliminary report on national population according to recent census to be released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) will show that the nation’s population stands at 140 million which far less than what is widely believed, local news agencies say.

The report follows the fifth population census on March 15-19 this year which was largely condemned for not counting many people in capital Dhaka and elsewhere.

When he was asked about report’s accurac, a BBS official told reporters that the figure might be 150 million after adjustments in the light of alleged lapses.

United Nations’ Population Fund (UNFPA) in its State of the World Population 2010 reports published last October says the country’s population is over 160 million and predicted that in current growth rate it will be more than 222 million by 2050.

If you’re living in Bangladesh, especial in urban areas it’ll take little time for you to help realize that the UNFPA report is true in fact. Jam-packed streets, markets, public transports and congested housings- all bear witness to the claim.

In rural areas where more than 80 percent people live, life is simple and relaxed, but the necessary amenities for a standard living are hardly found.

The striking fact for Bangladesh is that here you find life in plenty but unfortunately one lacks in most of the things one needs for well-being.

Bangladesh population has doubled since 1971 independence from Pakistan when the figure was little over 70 million. Fourth census in 1991 showed population was 129.3 million.

The country is already experiencing a disastrous population explosion even though in recent years the growth rate came down to 1.57 percent. The rate slowed down thanks various promotional activities by government and NGOs.

By now massive growth has become the mother of many major problems including poverty, illiteracy, food crisis, unemployment, and corruption.

But it’s not enough for small country that is called to be the most densely populated country, currently ranked 8th most populous country in the world. It’s a striking contrast if compared with Russia (17 million km2) which is about 120 times larger than Bangladesh (144,000km2) but has little over 140 million people spread over such vast land.

However, the total population and number of men and women is crucial information to carry out development enterprises in the country and most of all it’s an essential data for a country that imports million tonnes food grains to ensure food security.

Media and some development NGOs allege that there is a tendency among officials to change or amend statistics to please higher authorities.

If the accurate statistics are not published, it is surely going to worsen the lives and livelihood of many people in Bangladesh.

@ ucanews.com blogs on July 1, 2011

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Peace a far cry, pressure a reality



Tribal people in Chittagong Hill Tracts once largely depended on Jhum (slash and burn) cultivation



During my recent travel to southeastern port city Chittagong I had a brief chat with one Church high official in and he told me they read ucanews.com reports in here regularly. I was glad to know that because few people (about 4%) use internet in Bangladesh and to be online for information is not yet an essential part of life for most people here.

The Church dignitary (who didn’t want to be named) lauded our efforts in covering the life of the Church. However, he warned me to be cautious while reporting on some issues from Chittagong, one of the diverse Catholic dioceses in the country.

In an earlier post I wrote about the significant nature of the diocese where Bengali and ethnic tribals make up over 39,000 Catholic population.

Half of the Catholics in the diocese are tribals, mostly Tripura people who live up on hills at three southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) districts along with about 25 fellow tribal groups.

The official several times cautioned me not to mention in reports anything about evangelization, conversion and Church statistics, especially from Church on hills. There are six Catholic parishes and some sub-centers in CHT.

From the very beginning we had been very vigilant to skip reporting any issues relating to evangelization and conversion, but we include Church statistics sometimes in our reports to show Church life and growth.

“Constitution and the law of the land allow us to freely practice our religion and administer missionary activities, (but) there is a continued political pressure,” he said.

He further added that intelligence and detective branches often ask Church authorities to provide them with Church statistics. They fear that if the number of Christians grow they will join neighboring Indian states where tribal Christians make-up significant portion and split from Bangladesh.

“This is an unrealistic and imaginative idea, but who will turn it around, as they don’t think otherwise because of political anxiety,” the official lamented.

The life of tribals on hills is unique, unparallel and most significantly challenging in forested and impassable region. They are very simple people and have their own way of living the life.

When Catholic Church reached to CHT in 1950s and eventually once Caritas started operating there things changed rapidly.

Now fewer people depend on Jhum cultivation which is destructive for the environment. Besides, the Church pioneered education, health and so on for tribals as necessary. It is regrettable that the Church is under surveillance now.

The recurring trouble has a real long root of origin.

The tribals are oldest settlers of CHT from an undocumented period of time. During 1970 and 1980s successive governments in the country attempted to resettle Bengali people on hills that were resisted by tribals. The influx of Bengali people was a premeditative counter insurgency measure.

Governments perhaps were worried that CHT might split out from the newly independent country and may join in to any other neighboring country that borders Bangladesh.

The tribals led by Parbatto Chattogram Jono Shanghati Samiti (PCJSS, United People’s Party of the CHT) formed a militia force called ‘Shanti Bahini’ (Peace Force) and it continued fighting against Bengali settlers and government forces.

The 23 years battle ended with much-desired Peace Accord in 1997. From the beginning of fighting the area was heavily militarized and even after over a decade it is still left that way. That means political worries didn’t wash away.

A fraction PCJSS and some disgruntled tribals opposed the treaty and later formed an armed force called United People’s democratic Front (UPDF) and continued sporadic fighting with pro-accord parties and also with Bengali settlers. Now-a-days clashes between Bengali and tribals are frequent on hills.

The war ends, but the fight ends never.

A recent UN report catalogued mass human rights violations in CHT and another blog post put forth the voice of one of the victims.

The undeserved pressure for Church in hills is not likely to go away soon, nor will the hills return to total peace. No one knows how long this wall of suspicion will haunt people on hills.

@UCAN Blogs on June 22, 2011

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Who cares for the Bangladesh public interest?



A general strike day in Dhaka


Common folks in Bangladesh released the breath of ease when a 36-hour general strike countrywide ended at 6:00 pm today. Opposition party in parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies enforced the strike protesting a government move to annul caretaker government system and 51 recommendations proposed by a special parliamentary committee to amend country’s constitutions. The strike locally known as ‘Hartal’ was second in last eight days after daylong strike on June 5.

Hartal is originally a Gujrati expression signifying closing down shops and warehouses with the object of realizing a demand. Like some other South Asian countries it is a favorite tool to political parties usually when they are not in power. In Bangladesh it is a political weapon frequently used to show agitation against government or ruling party’s decision.

Such a general strike is nightmare to common people who after every five years vote any of the parties to power to care for their interest, their rights. It brings the country to a standstill as all business and service institutions and organizations, except hospitals close down and vehicles stop plying. Empty streets and roads is the common feature on a strike day as people get scared with call for strike as it turns into violent clashes between picketers and law enforcers.

Picketers often torch vehicles, especially buses, the common mode of public transport in Bangladesh. They also vandalize any institution they find open. Most people dare not to come out of residences to avoid possible unpleasant incidents.

The lockdown is widely condemned by most of the people. A recent ucanews.com report shows how harmful such strike is and people hate it. It cripples public life and country’s economy counts huge loss.

The most interesting matter is usually the party that calls strike claims it has taken to streets to restore public interest with voluntary participation of people. Meanwhile, the ruling party says people reject it observing normality of life. Both make people shields for their interest while they are ought to care for public interest. What a farce!

36-hour shut-down was unusually peaceful except some stray violent incidents. From Sunday morning to Monday evening more than ten buses were set ablaze, but no major casualties of fatalities reported. It happened because the government took hard line to stop the strike. Law enforcers took stern actions not to allow opposition activists hold protest rallies and mobile courts in the cities punished hundreds of activist who allegedly gathered for anarchy.

This afternoon a ruling party leader claimed the strike was rejected by people and thus became futile. While opposition leaders said it was a great success and blamed government for suppressing their democratic rights to hold protest rallies. It also declared agitation demos on June 15-15 across the country to protest alleged harassment of its activists by law keepers and mobile courts. It also threatened to call for longer agitation programs including strikes to oust the Awami League-led grand alliance government.

It seems that country’s political conditions are returning to old ugly traits after nearly one peaceful year. The strikes, agitations and clashes between various political party activists are common trends in country’s poor political culture. When in power political parties always promise not take up violent path that hampers public interest. But they forget it when they run for their own interest, to make a political issue.

People say political leaders should avoid violent paths if they really care for their interest, their rights. Do they really care for what people say or think? Do you need an answer?
@ UCAN Blogs on June 14, 2011
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Travels to Chittagong

Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC of Chittagong along with Vatican ambassador Joseph Marino receive warm welcome from local Catholics.

On May 25, my younger brother who is a Holy Cross religious brother and I traveled to the southeastern port city of Chittagong. It was a two days tour full of new experiences.

It was my first time in Chittagong, often called the financial capital and the second most important city in the country after Dhaka and was a long-cherished desire to see the place that has the largest seaport and is the export-import hub in the territory.

We traveled by a night train with some priests and even a bishop on board. Traveling with them helped me recall time of my life I spent in the seminaries having religious formation. Most of the seminarians used to be afraid of priests for no particular reason. I admit I was among those “chicken-hearts” but now, three and a half years after leaving nine years religious formation life, I feel most of the priests are “friendly faces”! Times change, we change too.

We all were traveling to attend the installation of Holy Cross Bishop Moses M. Costa as new Chittagong diocese head. For me it was two-fold expedition – tourism and reporting the event for ucanews.com.

The post of the Holy See was vacant after Holy Cross Bishop Patrick D’Rozario was appointed the coadjutor Archbishop of Dhaka archdiocese last November. Holy Cross auxiliary Bishop Lawrence Subrato Howlader had acted as Administrator since then. Now Bishop Costa, 61 becomes the head of the diocese after serving northwestern predominantly tribal Dinajpur diocese for 15 years.

The two-day program included welcoming the new bishop in the Cathedral parish on May 26 afternoon, the installation and reception on May 27 and was a time of great learning for me. Several times I heard from some Church leaders and laypeople that Chittagong is the most “people-oriented” diocese. Being there I realized what I heard was true.

The Church in Chittagong is active, lively and is on the way to become real “people of God.” The spontaneous participation in organizing the whole program was simply awesome. No one was deemed superior or dominant, neither the priests/religious nor the laypeople. They worked hand in hand and shared joys and pains together.

Throughout my short life I’ve attended many Church programs, but I admit it was the best organized program I’ve ever seen. Chittagong is the most diverse diocese with both Bengali and ethnic tribal Catholics. Every parish contributed in organizing the program and parish delegations from each were present. They didn’t worry much for lodging and food; they just simply wanted to be there to welcome their bishop. The Church in Chittagong is moving well towards new way of being the Church, the participatory and all inclusive Church.

Another beautiful and pleasing thing in Chittagong is a strong and mature relationship between the Church and civil authority. City mayor Majur-e-Alam, a Muslim, attended the reception ceremony on May 27 afternoon and gave a precise and nice speech welcoming the new bishop and all the guests present in Chittagong on behalf of the government.

It was amazing to hear some Catholic jargons such as “parish”, “diocese” from his mouth and I’m sure he is familiar with those words because of long and outstanding relationship with the local Church. I came to know he generously provided substantial support to organize the program with ease. What a beauty in living inter-faith dialogue!

Bishop Moses M. Costa is very lucky to enter a diocese already maturing as the “living Church”, thanks to previous Holy Cross bishops Joachim Rozario (1967-94) and Patrick D’Rozario (1995-2001). The strong foundation is his strength and he needs to thrive on the pillar of his predecessors. The new prelate will harvest good fruits from God’s vineyard simply continuing what already began.

**Published at UCAN Blogs on June 2, 2011, read  UCAN Blogs- Give Us This Day

Living above the threat of bombs

 

An old building in old part of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka. (Photo: Internet)

Many people in the Nimtoli area of old Dhaka will remember June 3 as a black day. That's when in 2010 one of the worst fires in country’s history broke out in a residential building. Later the fire spread to at least 14 adjacent residential buildings and roadside shops. 

The devastating blaze left 123 people, mostly women and children, dead and more than 200 badly injured. It also gutted properties worth thousands of dollars. Aftermath investigations found the fire originated from a chemical factory just below the building that blew up. 

In the wake of fire Government directed all chemical factories to move from the city and relocate into suburbs within couple of months. The order was largely ignored. None of the thousands of illegal chemical factories, many trading sensitive and explosive chemicals, moved either. There are chemical warehouses and dumping grounds all over the area.