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

Our priests have become mediocre mediators

Let's have homilies that are brilliant, not boring

Whether at home in Dhaka or abroad, I attend Holy Mass every Sunday unless sickness or an urgent duty requires my attention.

My fidelity to Mass is not a response to any Church mandate. I would not call myself a traditional or a particularly devout Catholic.

For me, it is a spontaneous inner call to spend an hour or so with God and listen to His words, to rejoice over the good things in my life, to find solace for earthly pain and to receive encouragement to face future challenges.

Too often, however, I find myself in a miserable situation – as many others in the pews next to me do – because priests continue to fail in their duties as preachers to deliver an inspiring and thoughtful homily.

There is growing discontent among Bangladeshi Catholics over the quality of the preaching during Mass, which as a result has become a burden rather than a joy to attend.

Homilies these days comprise either well-worn retellings of the Gospels or the random thoughts of a particular priest. This is not simply unprofessional but also a failure in one of the signal duties of a shepherd of the Church.

They fail to imitate Jesus’ duty to the poor, hungry and worn-out crowds who followed him from the mountains to the sea to hear his words. Our priests run out of fuel while trying to offer spiritual nourishment to those in such desperate need of it.

I feel badly for myself, but worse for others, who take great pains to carve time out of their day for Mass before or after office hours, and on Sunday – a workday in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

Priests should use their homilies as a tool to explain the Gospels to the congregation in a way that is precise and specific. Parishioners are not abstractions. They are flesh-and-blood people with real joys and sorrows, and they seek honest answers to serious questions that have dogged believers of every age.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does evil seem to hold the upper hand over good?

If a doctor fails to prescribe the proper medication or treatment for a patient, his reputation will suffer, patients will go elsewhere and he may even face legal consequences.

This is not the case with priests, of course.

Most Catholics remain devoted and hopeful that things will improve. They continue to endure banal preaching but make no effort to confront the issue by demanding better nourishment.

Over the many years that I have attended Mass, I have discovered two principal causes for bad preaching.

First, many priests seem to feel that what they were taught decades ago in seminary should still suffice. They remain ignorant either to significant developments in theology and homiletics, or to the changes and challenges of modern life.

Second, they seem to spend much more time examining their own needs, experiences or concerns, and then projecting them onto their audience – in effect, telling their parishioners what they should be concerned about rather than equipping them with Gospel-based guidance on real-life challenges.

Our priests need to come down from their ivory towers and get a good look at life as it is lived in the back streets, markets and humble homes of the People of God.

They should be inquisitive about the lives, joys and sorrows of the people God has put in their care. They should be curious about the world and eager to explain in compelling ways how the Gospel remains sufficient for every crisis in an age of multiplying crises. They should be eager to help their flocks find the answers to increasingly complex questions.

I am not arguing that all priests must rise to the rhetorical level of such noted orators as US President Barack Obama, but they should at least employ the humility and love of St John Marie Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.

Our priests are mediators between God and His people. Their role is to communicate the wonder and joy of faith and the deep love between God and his creation.

So they should be ever mindful of the great responsibility of this office and remember that Mass is not a moribund ritual. It is the feeding of a hungry flock that is desperate for real, substantial and informed guidance.

The Third Eye is the pseudonym of a journalist and commentator based in Dhaka

Read the original post here- Our priests have become mediocre mediators

Honor, disgrace and the call of duty

The world was struck by shock and grief over last month’s brutal gang-rape and tragic death of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi.

This inhuman crime drew immense media coverage and provoked an unprecedented outpouring of public anger in India.

The victim is dead and buried and her molesters are facing murder charges. Yet the name of the girl is unknown. The authorities have remained tight-lipped on revealing her name in order to save her honor from possible social disgrace.

Before the Delhi crime, a 14-year-old Bangladeshi schoolgirl was gang-raped for several days. The vicious crime went unreported for weeks because the family tried to keep the girl in hiding, to prevent it being widely known that she had lost her "topmost honor" -- her virginity.

The girl’s mother was worried for the health of her daughter, but even more anxious about her future. A typical Bangladeshi parent, she believes that no one will marry a girl once she has been defiled in this way.

The girl is now out of danger physically, but no one knows what is going to happen to her. It seems all but inevitable that she will have to bear a social stigma for as long as she lives.

This may sound astonishing to Western ears, but in countries such as India or Bangladesh, where the social system is still medieval and male-dominated, rape cases meet mostly with apathy, both from the authorities and society at large.

If a woman falls victim to rape, even more than the pain and humiliation she will surely feel, she and her family mostly feel ashamed about what happened. Society indirectly blames the victim for inviting disaster.

So, the victim’s family show reluctance to file a complaint; the law enforcers and judiciary tend to treat such incidents lightly; cases are poorly investigated and sentences are often all too short. Rapists can get out of jail quickly and many soon start raping again.

The government records a total 174,691 cases of violence against women including torture, killing, rape and sexual harassment between 2001 and last year. No exact figures on rape cases are available, largely because of the social disgrace factor.

Rape is not simply a crime, it is a serious inhuman act, like all other forms of violence against women. A better and more human world is possible only if men learn to respect women, and help create an environment where women can feel proud of who they are.

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

Read the original post here- Honor, disgrace and the call of duty 

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

A bad example doesn’t make a bad religion

Recently, I picked a war of words with one of my close friends over his derogatory remarks on Islam. “Not all Muslims are bad people, but Islam is a religion with wrong principles,” he said to my utter disgust.

We were talking about widespread corruption and other social vices in Bangladesh and trying to find out their socio-historic roots. One of the discussion topics was the recent attack on a Buddhist community here, by an angry Muslim mob.

Hundreds of years ago lower caste Hindus converted to Islam en masse, largely to escape injustice and torture by the upper class in a society heavily based on social caste system. My friend says the decision to embrace Islam was wrong.

“No religion is inherently bad, because every religion teaches people to be good,” I said, but he didn’t change his stance. He countered by saying he had read Qu’ran and found its teaching ‘unacceptable’.

I tried to find some practical reasons behind his prejudice and misconceptions.

My friend has been a non-practicing Catholic for a long time, since even before we met four years ago; he was born in a Catholic parish to a Catholic father and Protestant mother. The family moved to a predominantly Muslim area due to his father’s job and he grew up in that area.

There was no Catholic church nearby, only a small evangelical Protestant church with about a hundred believers. Most of the children he knew were Muslims and some of them treated him like a crow among peacocks. So, he grew into adulthood hating Muslim, but also with ignorance about his own religious faith.

Then, a few months ago, his world came crashing down when a bad road accident left his right leg smashed. Most people didn’t think he would walk again, and he didn’t think so either, but he made it within six months. It was around then that he started believing ‘God does exist’!

But the more he turned to the Church, the more critical he became about Islam and Muslims.
While my friend’s case has unique aspects, most Christians in the country share the same views on Islam.

Taking sporadic cases of injustice and torture by opportunist Muslims, most Christians vilify the whole Muslim world. Is that fair?

Original Post: A bad example doesn’t make a bad religion

The path through the fields: From 'basket case' to model

The road to development has been hard and long, but Bangladesh has made it.

ON THE outskirts of the village of Shibaloy, just past the brick factory, the car slows to let a cow lumber out of its way. It is a good sign. Twenty years ago there was no brick factory, or any other industry, in this village 60 kilometres west of Dhaka; there were few cows, and no cars. The road was a raised path too narrow for anything except bicycles.

Now, Shibaloy has just opened its first primary school; it is installing piped water and the young men of the village gather to show off their motorcycles at the tea house. “I have been a microcredit customer for 17 years,” says Romeja, the matriarch of an extended family. “When I started, my house was broken; I slept on the streets. Now I have three cows, an acre of land, solar panels on the roof and 75,000 taka ($920) in fixed-rate deposits.”

Bangladesh was the original development “basket case”, the demeaning term used in Henry Kissinger’s state department for countries that would always depend on aid. Its people are crammed onto a flood plain swept by cyclones and without big mineral and other natural resources. It suffered famines in 1943 and 1974 and military coups in 1975, 1982 and 2007. When it split from Pakistan in 1971 many observers doubted that it could survive as an independent state.

In some ways, those who doubted Bangladesh’s potential were right. Economic growth since the 1970s has been poor; the country’s politics have been unremittingly wretched. Yet over the past 20 years, Bangladesh has made some of the biggest gains in the basic condition of people’s lives ever seen anywhere. Between 1990 and 2010 life expectancy rose by 10 years, from 59 to 69 (see chart 1). Bangladeshis now have a life expectancy four years longer than Indians, despite the Indians being, on average, twice as rich. Even more remarkably, the improvement in life expectancy has been as great among the poor as the rich.

Bangladesh has also made huge gains in education and health. More than 90% of girls enrolled in primary school in 2005, slightly more than boys. That was twice the female enrolment rate in 2000. Infant mortality has more than halved, from 97 deaths per thousand live births in 1990 to 37 per thousand in 2010 (see table). Over the same period child mortality fell by two-thirds and maternal mortality fell by three-quarters. It now stands at 194 deaths per 100,000 births. In 1990 women could expect to live a year less than men; now they can expect to live two years more.

The most dramatic period of improvement in human health in history is often taken to be that of late-19th-century Japan, during the remarkable modernisation of the Meiji transition. Bangladesh’s record on child and maternal mortality has been comparable in scale.

These improvements are not a simple result of increases in people’s income. Bangladesh remains a poor country, with a GDP per head of $1,900 at purchasing-power parity.

For the first decades of its independent history Bangladesh’s economy grew by a paltry 2% a year. Since 1990 its GDP has been rising at a more respectable 5% a year, in real terms. That has helped reduce the percentage of people below the poverty line from 49% in 2000 to 32% in 2010. Still, Bangladeshi growth has been slower than India’s, which for most of the past 20 years grew at around 8% a year. Nevertheless the gains in its development have been greater. The belief that growth brings development with it—the “Washington consensus”—is often criticised on the basis that some countries have had good growth but little poverty reduction. Bangladesh embodies the inverse of that: it has had disproportionate poverty reduction for its amount of growth.

Read the original story here Bangladesh and Development
Source: The Economist

Remembering 9/11

Today, the world, especially US citizens, are paying tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On that day several US establishments were destroyed and thousands were killed, prompting the US to declare global war on terror, making it the dominant subject in the world’s political agenda.

This morning I was recalling some memories 11 years back when news of the attack on the World Trade Center reached us.

I was in a diocesan seminary in Dhaka and had just enrolled to Notre Dame College for intermediate studies.

Our rector first informed us about the attack during the homily at morning Mass and asked us to pray for the victims. We watched the TV updates. It was unusual to get this permission.

At first glance it looked like a Hollywood film scene as the planes crashed into the skyscrapers and exploded with gallons of fuel.

It was terrible and horrific to watch.

To me, it’s even more appalling to think about how crazy or desperate or brainwashed those suicide bombers must be. I still don’t understand what organizations like Al-Qaeda think they will achieve by destruction and the killing of people.

By killing Osama Bin Laden last year, the US seems to have extracted some revenge for the 9/11 tragedy and tried to cover some of its indelible scars.

But how many Osamas need to be killed? Will killing all the Osamas of this world bring an end to terrorism? If not, what will?

A tribute to a master storyteller

Humayun Ahmed, Bangladesh’s most popular writer of the century was laid to rest today at Nuhash Palli, a countryside farmland and residence, about 50 kms from capital Dhaka that he created and cherished himself.

He breathed his last  at New York’s Bellevue hospital last Thursday.

The sad news sent shockwave across the nation and the country is still mourning his death heavily. The kind of coverage he drew from local media over a week can well be something anyone on earth can be envious of.

Tens of thousands from all walks of society, young people surpassing all others lined up on the streets to pay final respects to Ahmed as his dead body arrived home early Monday.

They were sad because they won’t line up at Bangla Academy premises during largest Ekushey Book Fair to see their favorite writer and taking an autograph at most.

They cried as if their very dear one has passed away and placed Ahmed’s favorite local flower called ‘Kadam’ that blooms aplenty during monsoon.

The sad scenario that has prevailed in the country over the week is simply incredible but not surprising at all.

Ahmed was not only the bestselling author of around 200 fictions he wrote, but he reaped overwhelming and unmatched success and popularity he dealt with in lifetime.

It was just by chance he became a writer. He was student of science and became a professor of chemistry at Dhaka University.

In 1972 when he penned his first novel Nondito Noroke (In Blissful Hell), it brought him immediate success and popularity, and it changed his life forever. He left teaching to become a fulltime writer.

He wrote novels, short stories, TV drama, composed music, directed award-winning films on his writings. Some his characters became larger than life.

He won many national and international awards for his contribution to literature, drama and cinema.

However, few people knew he was also a good magician and owned the largest herbal and medicinal garden in the country.

He was indeed a ‘magician of words’ who knew so well to communicate his thoughts and imagination to ordinary people.

He was the first to realize that the language of literature should be simple and shouldn’t be treated as property of highly educated people.

He wrote in colloquial language flavored with deadpan humor, intelligence and knowledge- a rare quality for a writer in Bengali literature- for people irrespective of age, class, gender and religion.

Before him Bangladesh used to be full with writings on India-born Bengali writers, but Ahmed single-handedly broke the deadlock and helped breathe country’s publishing industry from the stranglehold.

After his death Sunil Ganguly, a top Indian Bengali author called Ahmed “the most popular Bengali writer of the century.”  He is the only Bangladeshi writer to get such acclaim.

In 1999 I first read one of Humayun Ahmed’s children fictions called ‘Botol Bhut’ (The Bottle Ghost). It was so interesting that I started believing that if the bottle ghost was real and began reading a number of books he already wrote.

As I studied English literature in college I felt Ahmed’s literature was by far ‘low quality’, as traditional critics used to say. But later realized that he has already created a unique style of writing and deep mourning of his death proves how popular he was.

For sometime after graduation I didn’t have a job and tried to survive with little pay from private tuitions. I stayed with some other bachelor friends like me and we used to be frustrated with life at the end of the day.

Every night we used to watch some films and drama, and those directed or written by Ahmed was our premium choice. They were not only educative but also humorous; they used to help us forget all pains and sufferings of life, at least for some time. Again, I started reading his writings.

Bangladesh and Bengali people across the globe will miss him forever, but he will live with them through his creative arts.

I too miss him and also pray for his departed soul and his bereaved family.

An abridged version of this post was published at UCAN Blogs on July 25, 2012

Population crisis needs national plan

Last week the results of the fifth Population and Housing Census conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) were announced.

The country’s population as of 2011 stands at about 152 million.

Bangladesh has a growth rate of 1.37 percent annually and a population density of 1,015 people per square kilometer – in a country of just 147,570 square kilometers – making it one of the most densely populated places on the planet.

Preliminary results published by BBS in March showed a population of just over 140 million, which was roundly criticized by analysts who argued that the figure was too low.

In response, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), an independent body, was assigned to review the census data and found that about four percent of the population had not been included in the count.

Such irregularities in official data are nothing new. It’s a strategy that no doubt works well in telling authorities what they want to hear and hiding institutional inefficiencies and keeping ordinary people in the dark on issues of national importance.

Moreover, there are at least 10 million expatriate workers not included in the census, as they were overseas during the data collection.

Even international agencies have come up with differing figures on Bangladesh’s population, with the UN Population Fund having to revise their count of 164.4 million in 2010 to 149 million the following year.

Such inaccuracies may seem forgivable in light of the difficulties of gathering such data, but maintaining reliable information on the population is vital for a country that must import millions of tons of food each year to feed its citizens.

Population growth in the country resembles nothing less than a galloping racehorse. In 1971 after independence from Pakistan, the population was estimated to be 70 million. Two decades later it had almost doubled.

The country ranks as the eighth most populated country in the world, but a stroll down traffic-choked streets and markets might well convince you that it merits a much higher ranking.

To put this in the necessary perspective, Russia is a country 120 times larger than Bangladesh but with a population of just over 140 million.

A quick glance at social science textbooks in the country will demonstrate that researchers characterize the issue of population growth as perhaps the country’s most pressing problem, but the issue does not seem to register as urgently with the government in the crafting of national policy.

Overpopulation has had disastrous effects on the country and contributes to increased poverty, illiteracy, food security, unemployment and corruption.

In the early 1990s, democracy was restored to the country but none of the successive governments made any notable efforts to control a rising population – something that had been tipped as the focus of all national planning.

In developed countries the population is a valuable resource, but in Bangladesh at least half is better described as a burden through a lack of education and job skills.

While some progress has been made in the areas of education and healthcare, little has been done to tackle the issue of overpopulation despite national campaigns to encourage fewer children for families.

The lack of a national strategy, particularly in rural areas where access to birth control and family planning services are minimal, is aggravating the problem despite some efforts by NGOs in the last four decades to conduct education programs.

But programs only have a minimal impact when mindsets about having children remain the same.

For example, a relative of mine often boasts about the fact that he has seven children, which work the family farm and remove the need for hiring additional workers.

Others explain their large families by saying that many of the children were the result of unplanned pregnancy. The result is that those who are least capable of affording to raise children have the largest families.

A more systematic approach to the issue of family planning is needed, one that takes into consideration not merely the needs of individual families but that sees the long-term needs of a nation struggling with limited resources and limited space to meet the needs of a growing population.

*This post originally appeared on UCAN website on July 23, 2012*

Bridge of dreams turns bridge of sighs



Padma Bridge will throw lifeline to millions of people and economy of Bangladesh (Photo: www.aecom.com)



Bangladesh has been abuzz with rumors and counter-rumors since last Friday, when the World Bank cancelled its US$ 1.2 billion funding of the country’s longest and most ambitious bridge project.

The Padma Multipurpose Bridge was intended to set up direct road and rail links between Dhaka, the capital, and the southwest. Crossing the mighty Padma River, which is fed by both the Ganges and the Jamuna on its way to the Bay of Bengal, the 6.15 km bridge would undoubtedly bring a host of advantages.

It would save literally millions of hours every year in travel time, cutting the length of a typical journey by as much as 100 km; it would save numerous lives, which are frequently lost in crossing the broad, fast-flowing river by boat and ferry; and it would open up the undeveloped southwest region. It has been estimated that, once operational, it would create a GDP increase of at least 1.2 percent.

This ‘bridge of dreams’ was a centerpiece in the list of pre-election pledges made by the ruling Awami League when it came to power in 2008. The party promised to open the bridge before the end of its five-year tenure in 2013.

Its successful completion could well be a decisive factor in the party winning a second term, for the first time in the history of this fledgling democracy. But we can only speculate on that because, so far, it has failed to start its construction, let alone its completion.

The World Bank has cut off the funds for reasons that are only too familiar in Bangladesh. Its fateful statement of June 29 said it had “credible evidence corroborated by a variety of sources” that some

Bangladeshi government officials, along with executives of the Canadian contractors SNC Lavalin and private individuals, were involved in a “high-level corruption conspiracy.”

Predictably, the government spluttered with indignation, describing the decision as “unacceptable, disgraceful and mysterious,” and demanded a review. This has proved fruitless, as the World Bank has now underlined its determination to pull out, with its new chief Dr. Jim Yong Kim reportedly saying that quitting is the right thing to do.

It would seem that the co-funding promised by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency is now also in jeopardy.

The government does have other options. The Islamic Development Bank has expressed an interest, and there is a strong possibility of investment from Malaysia. But analysts say the project will now be much more costly, to a point that may well make it prohibitive.

And in a country where corruption is endemic, the fact remains that no investigation has taken place. Former communications minister Abul Hossain was removed from his post to appease the World Bank. Apart from that, there has been an unsurprising reluctance from the government to take any stern action.

Corruption is a daily reality in Bangladesh, a country where half of its 160 million people earn little more than 50 cents per day, and almost half are illiterate. These are the very people who could benefit from the bridge, as it would bring opportunities, work and income by opening up the southwest’s undeveloped seaports, as well as much needed relief on the many occasions when the region is flooded.

Was the World Bank right to punish a whole, impoverished nation for the misdeeds of a few individuals? Will the government ever admit the existence of corruption in this project? Will it ever take a stand against it?

*This post was originally published on UCAN on July 4, 2012*

Violence, apathy imperil journalists

A sudden and sharp rise in attacks on journalists recently has raised several questions about press freedom in Bangladesh’s fledgling democracy.

Three attacks against journalists by police and others have been recorded since last week, showing how vulnerable the press is in the country.

Over the weekend police beat and badly injured three photojournalists from the Bengali daily Prothom Alo, allegedly for driving a motorbike on the wrong side of the road in Dhaka.
The photographers were on assignment to cover a protest by female students at a state-run polytechnic institute.

The incident made headlines across the country and the policemen involved were temporarily suspended.

But a statement by a state official reveals the depth of the problem. “It is better for journalists to keep away from the police during protest rallies to avoid clashes and violence,” said Shamsul Haq, state minister for home affairs, said at a press conference last week.

In a much more disturbing incident earlier this week, a gang of a dozen or more unidentified attackers wielding machetes stormed the head office of bdnews24.com, a bilingual national news agency.

At least nine reporters and other staff were injured, with three in critical condition.
Police arrested three suspects in connection with the attack, with one admitting he belonged to the Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League.

In response to the bd24news.com attack, hundreds of angry journalists took to the streets and formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday to protest the attacks.

They demanded justice for the victims of the attack within the next six days, adding that they would submit a memorandum to parliament demanding the formulation of laws to better protect members of the media.

That same day, however, police assaulted three court reporters in Dhaka.

Local newspapers reported suggested that the police officers involved were enraged over the journalists’ work in exposing police harassment of a young girl and her parents.

These are only recent examples of the estimated hundreds of attacks against members of the press in Bangladesh.

According to statements by police, local media and hospital officials, at least 13 journalists have been killed and 150 more have been injured since 2008, when the Awami League-led coalition came to power. An additional 370 were allegedly tortured or abused by police in the same period.

The murder of journalists Sargar Sarwar and Meherun Runi at their home in Dhaka in February shocked the country and spurred nationwide protests.

Authorities have yet to make any arrests or identify suspects. And yet again, a public official – this time, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – made a revealing and embarrassing statement.

“The government can’t guard anyone’s bedroom,” she said after the double murder.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranks Bangladesh as among the worst (at No 11) in combating deadly anti-press violence last year.

“Due to lax rules and no justice after violence, Bangladeshi journalists are embattled to reveal the truth. It continues to obstruct freedom of press in the country,” a CPJ report stated last year.

Data compiled by local rights group Odhikar shows that 117 journalists were tortured in the first quarter of this year, and 3,782 journalists were victims of violence since 2001.

The obvious lesson to be learned from this is that whether attackers are state or non-state actors, journalists are being abused, tortured or killed on a regular basis, and the fourth estate of a democratic government is under real threat.

This situation has remained consistent since the restoration of a nominal democracy in the 1990s.

Every government that has followed has been accused of suppressing or abusing the press.
If the government fails to ensure freedom of the press and security for journalists, while making public statements that prove their ambivalence to such things, then journalists will remain exposed and incidents of violence against them will continue to rise.

*This post was originally published at UCAN on May 31, 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*

'Legendary Storyteller' passes away

Humayun Ahmed, the most popular Bangladeshi writer of his time has passed away yesterday at a hospital in New York while undergoing treatment for cancer that was diagnosed last year. He was 64.

His death news has sent shockwave across the nation as it arrived last night. President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition leader Khaleda Zia have deeply mourned the death of Ahmed.

In his condolence message the President said that Humayun Ahmed’s creative works would remain immortal in Bengali literature. He prayed for eternal peace of his departed and also conveyed sympathy the bereaved family, according to state-run Bangladesh News Agency (BSS).

“The nation will never forget Humayun Ahmed’s great contribution to Bengali literature, drama and films,” said Prime Minister Hasina.

Opposition chief Khaleda Zia said that death of Humayun Ahmed is an ‘unrepayable loss’ to the nation and the country.

“Death of Humayun Ahmed is like falling of a star. It is indeed a great loss,” said a prominent writer Anisul Haque.

Haque, also a journalist pointed out another great contribution of Ahmed. “Through his writings he has created overwhelming readership, something very promising for present-day writers who can reap this benefit.”


Ahmed began his career as professor of Chemistry at Dhaka University, country’s highest educational institution and also obtained doctorate degree on the subject from North Dakota State University in the US.

He later left teaching and became fulltime writer, dramatist and filmmaker. In 1972, while still a student at DU he wrote first novel, Nondito Noroke (The Acclaimed Hell) that brought him huge popularity and critical acclaim. His second novel, Shankhanil Karagar (The Conch-blue Prison) was equally successful.

Ahmed is one of the most prolific writers in Bengali literature authoring around 200 novels to his credit. He also wrote science fiction and created some fictitious characters like Himu and Misir Ali who became immensely popular like him.

His first TV drama was Ei Shob Din Ratri (Tale of our daily lives), followed by Bohubrihi (Tale of Family), Ayomoy (The man who would not die), Kothao Keu Nei (Nobody Anywhere), Nakshatrer Raat (The Night of the Stars), all because widely popular and successful.

His unique making made people perceive that if the characters were fictitious but real and they even protested when a popular character ‘Baker Bhai’ was executed in the drama.
Ahmed won the National Film Award in total eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director, on his debut film, "Aguner Parashmoni" (The Touchstone of Fire), based on the liberation war 1971.


He often worked on liberation war and middle-class life crisis, largely because killing of his father by the Pakistani occupation force had a great impact on his works.

Ahmed received a number of awards home and abroad. Major literary awards include Bangladesh Academy Award 1981 and Ekushey Padak 1994. He also won three national film awards- best story 1993, Best Film 1994 and Best Script 1994. 


On Jan this year the government gave the writer a diplomatic position, Senior Special Adviser, at the country's Permanent Mission at the United Nations, allowing him certain privileges in the city where he was being treated and living with the family.


The writer is survived by two sons with second wife Shaon, and three daughters and a son with his former wife Gultekin.


*Click here or here to read more about Humayun Ahmed and his works*

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 8^th 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.