The unforgiving legacy of Rana Plaza

A memorial in front of the empty plot where Rana Plaza once stood in Savar, near Dhaka in this 2015 file photo. (ucanews.com photo)

Four years is not enough time to get over the ramifications of one of the worst industrial disasters in world, the Rana Plaza collapse, which killed 1,136 workers and injured over 2,000.

So, on April 24, all major national and international media outlets ran stories to remember the accident that shocked the world; workers and activists rallied to pay tribute to the dead and injured victims; while rights and advocacy groups released statements issuing stark warnings to the government, international brands and factory owners to avoid such a tragedy in future.

Reportedly, apparel industry groups, brands and unions have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring long-term reform in the Bangladesh garment industry.   

There was a prevailing sense of grief, guilt and loss across the events but it was not felt by everyone. 

The government deployed hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and water canons at a memorial ground at Savar, near Dhaka where Rana Plaza once stood. Police did not allow a group of protesters to hold rally although they were simply demanding compensation and justice for victims, and fair wages and rights for garment workers.

Siddiqur Rahman, the president of country's most powerful trade body the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) claimed that owners of five Rana Plaza factories were not responsible for the disaster but only Sohel Rana, the owner of the ill-fated complex.   

Ironically, he made this comment while visiting a graveyard in Dhaka where some 311 unidentified Rana Plaza victims were buried.

It seems his visit was simply a courtesy call but like most garment factory owners he was apathetic to the plight of workers even after such a massive disaster.

Fatal accidents are nothing new in Bangladesh's US$25 billion garment industry, the second largest in the world after China. It supplies clothes to Europe and the Americas and counts for 80% of Bangladesh's annual exports.

The Rana Plaza disaster was not a bolt from the blue. It was a culmination of grim, atrocious irregularities and malpractices in the industry that employs some 4 million workers, mostly poor rural women. 

It came about six months after Tazreen Factory blaze that killed 112 workers. Altogether, over 2,000 workers have died in various accidents in the industry in the past two decades, occurring on average two to four times per month.

These accidents were not only a fault of greedy profiteers but were a product of the collective negligence and apathy of all who are directly or indirectly involved with the industry and benefit from it.

So, the Rana Plaza collapse brought collective shame on all, not only Bangladeshis but across the globe, sparking an unprecedented national and global outcry for long overdue safety reforms and worker's rights.

The accident was heavy to swallow for most governments and companies, forcing them to pay heed to the call for real change and accountability in the industry. Four years on, the industry has seen a push for major changes.

The government has raised the minimum wage of workers about 76 percent, from US$37 to US$68 per month, although it is still among the lowest monthly wages in the world.

Two bodies of Western brands: the European-dominated Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the American-backed Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety have invested millions of dollars in two separate five-year deals to conduct safety inspections and implement a corrective action plan in over 2,000 source factories. The Bangladesh government and the International Labor Organization have been inspecting the remaining factories.

The actions have yielded fruits, as there have been no major accidents in garment factories or casualties since Rana Plaza.

Amid pressure from international trade unions and governments, including the suspension of trade privileges in the U.S. for Bangladesh, the government amended the labor law to allow workers to unionize. Hundreds of trade unions have been formed and workers are more vocal about their rights than ever.

In Bangladesh, garment factory owners wield immense political and financial clout. In the present parliament, 60 percent of parliamentarians are businessmen and at least 30 percent own garment factories.

Before Rana Plaza, labor law was friendlier to owners and no owner was held accountable for previous accidents. But now, both owners of Tazreen and Rana Plaza are facing trial, although justice is elusive.

These are all strong, positive signs for major changes. But there is little reason to be cheerful, because it's just one side of the coin.

After the Rana Plaza collapse, the government and the BGMEA raised about US$20 billion in compensation for the victims, while the ILO created Rana Plaza Trust Fund of US$30 million with donations from international brands sourcing clothes from Bangladesh. However, to date none of the victim families have received the full amount of US$1,250 in cash and US$19,000 in saving as promised.

A recent report from non-government organization ActionAid Bangladesh shows 42 percent injured victims of Rana Plaza are still unemployed as they are physically and psychologically unfit to work and they never received compensation or rehabilitation.

Most of them are still traumatized to work in garment factories due to their horrific experience, trapped under concrete rubble before being pulled out alive. No concerted effort has been taken to address their problems through psychological counseling.  

The minimum monthly wage was raised to US$68 but high inflation and a price hike on daily essentials have lessened workers' purchasing capacity. So, workers' living standards have actually gone down as they cannot afford good housing, nutritious foods or even school for their children.

The abuse and ill treatment of workers has not stopped either. This was vividly illustrated in December 2016 when factory owners dismissed some 1,500 workers in Dhaka after they took part in demonstrations for a wage hike. The owners collaborated with police to charge hundreds of workers with false cases, jailing and torturing them in custody.

Workers are free to form trade unions but many are reluctant as owners threaten them with termination and pay officials to root out unionists to be fired.

The labor law provisions labor courts to resolve any dispute, but in reality poor and powerless workers do not have the money and time to fight legal battles. It provisions US$1,250 in compensation from a factory owner if a worker dies or is injured in a workplace accident. No sane person would agree to that amount for a lost life. There have been debates between labor groups, owners and the government to fix a lifetime compensation package but nothing worked out in the end.

While Accord, Alliance and ILO are checking for safety upgrades in large factories there is a vast underworld of smaller factories operated by subcontractors that continue business in shoddy apartments, basements, rooftops and shops, where workers sew clothes under immense pressure from abusive bosses. These factories are largely out of touch and devoid of any kind of inspection, keeping the door open for disasters.

Labor leaders are concerned about what will happen after the five-year safety upgrade ends. Will there be constant vigilance and monitoring? There is no such indication or commitment so far.      

On the legal side, two cases filed after the accident are in limbo. The police, in 2016, charged 41 people including the Rana Plaza owner, factory bosses and government officials for murder and negligence.

While Rana remains in jail, 16 others are freed on bail and the rest are at large. The trial procedure has yet to start as the government is still trying to save officials accused in the cases, citing they were simply monitors of inspection and safety, not direct accomplices in the incident. So, it's highly unlikely that justice will be done.

Global brands are also failing to keep promises as well.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said only 29 out of 72 global apparel and footwear companies contacted were disclosing information about their source factories, failing to comply with a transparency pledge endorsed by a coalition of labor and rights organizations.

The scar of Rana Plaza will continue to haunt Bangladeshi workers unless real changes take place.

Rana Plaza could go down in history as a catalyst for change and reform in the Bangladesh garment industry. If not, the unforgiving legacy of the disaster will continue to remind us we have failed as collective humanity to pay back the innocent victims, who truly deserve to be remembered as lives, not merely numbers.

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Bangladesh's slow-burning death

In recent times, Bangladesh has made global headlines for mostly the wrong reasons. Typically, it is for the lethal rise of Islamic terrorism, which has claimed the lives of 46 people since 2013.

The number might seem small in a Muslim-majority country of some 160 million people. However, it is not just random killing, but a meticulous campaign carried out by Islamists to establish Bangladesh as an Islamic state.  

Their targets came from different groups but all were considered obstacles in their campaign — atheist bloggers and publishers, liberal intellectuals and academics, LGBT activists, Muslim Shia and Ahmadis, religious minorities (including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists) and last, but not least, foreigners.

For decades since independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh was considered a perpetual basket case, struggling to survive an onslaught of climate change, overpopulation, endemic poverty and hunger, corruption and political unrest.

Yet the nation prided itself as the only country in the Islamic world to have 'secularism' as a fundamental principle in its Constitution, alongside nationalism, democracy and socialism. This despite the fact Islam is constitutionally the state religion; a legacy of the politically motivated tampering of the charter under military rule.

Although secularism denotes 'anti-religion' in the West, in Bangladesh it has been associated with religious harmony and respect for all faiths. Throughout the history of Bengal, religious harmony and unity were major traditions.

So, during the independence war in 1971, Bangladeshi freedom fighters fought for a country that would be based on secular Bengali identity, in stark contrast to the orthodox Islamic identity of Pakistan.

The birth of Bangladesh at the end of the war was a victory for secular, liberal and progressive values against religious extremism and bigotry. But Bangladesh has failed to keep up with the great ideals and values it was born with.

Today's Bangladesh is more intolerant than ever and it hasn't happened out of the blue. The nation has seen a revival of Islamic radicalism and politics. The principle of 'secularism' has been replaced with 'Absolute trust in almighty Allah.'

After military rule, the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and center-left Awami League exchanged power, but neither dared to change Islam as the state religion.

Since its founding in 1978 by military ruler Ziaur Rahman, the BNP has always leaned towards right-wing Islamists. Some of its leaders have been accused of backing militants and collaborating with fundamentalists to abuse minorities.

Over time, the BNP played the religion card to consolidate support in an increasingly conservative population, forcing the Awami League to play defense.

Things got worse when the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami started to collaborate more closely with the BNP. This awful pairing allowed for the rise of Islamist terrorist groups, which killed top Awami League leaders and scores of civilians.

The nominally secular ruling Awami League, which prides itself on being a secular party, has not been actively involved with Islamists. But it has been accused of appeasing Islamists by rebuking atheist writers and publishers, as well as censoring books critical of religion, especially Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

The government didn't provide any security for popular atheist and liberal writers amidst death threats. As a result, more than a dozen atheist writers and publishers have fled the country and settled in Europe or America.

This year, the government has come under fire for attempting to 'Islamize' school textbooks, by removing the writings of popular, non-Muslim writers. This change was due to pressure from Hefazat-e-Islam, the country's largest hard-line Islamic group.

Although, the government decided to reverse the changes after a public outcry, it shows what deep sway the Islamists hold in this country.

Recently, the Islamists demanded the government remove the statue of the Greek goddess Themis, a symbol of justice and fairness, from the Supreme Court premises. For years, they have called for blasphemy laws like that of Pakistan and also objected against a highly-qualified judge chief justice because he is Hindu.

In a telltale example of growing intolerance, Islamist zealots destroyed some 10 Hindu temples and several homes in Nasirnagar, Brahmanbaria district on Oct. 30, after a fake Facebook post degraded Islam.

A week later, the largely Christian tribal Santal people came under deadly attack by politically influential land grabbers.

In both cases, the administration, law enforcement and ruling party activists not only sympathized with the attackers, but were complicit in the mayhem.

Despite significant coverage in the media, politicians and an indifferent civil society did little to stand with the victims.   

We have self-serving political elites and a largely indifferent liberal class who continue to turn a blind eye, paving the way for intolerance to be institutionalized, and threatening secular culture.

And there are other significant reasons too. Foreign influence is a major cause. During military regimes, dictators courted Islamists in order to legitimize their undemocratic power grab, while states like Saudi Arabia poured money to build fundamentalist mosques and madrasas across Bangladesh. Allegedly, Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) has secretly funneled funds to support Islamist politicians and its allies.

Salvaging secularism and tolerance in Bangladesh amidst the marauding threat of Islamism is an uphill battle, both politically and culturally. It's a battle for the soul of the nation.

Throughout history, Bengali people have insisted on their identity being based on secular cultures and traditions. Now the tide seems turning around.

In the coming days, Bangladeshi people will have to decide whether they will stick to the principles of secular democracy or die and be reborn as an Islamist theocracy.

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Bangladesh: A haven for minorities?

Two months into 2017 and there has been no major violence against minority communities reported in Bangladesh. As Milton said, "Morning shows the day," if that is so then minorities may live in relative peace and good fortune in this Muslim-majority country.

Or maybe not.

There was a similar start to 2016 but it turned out to be one of worst years of violence against minorities in recent times. There were 1,471 incidents of violence against minorities, including 71 killings, 29 mysterious deaths and 875 injuries.

Dozens of places of worship were destroyed along with homes and businesses belonging to minority communities. It is a jaw-dropping fivefold increase on 2015, according to a report from the Bangladeshi Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, the country's largest minority forum.

This is a saddening development in a land that prides itself on thousands of years of religious and ethnic pluralism.

Homegrown and transnational Islamic militant outfits carried out some of the attacks and killings. Although these groups are small, they are strong and well connected.

They consider minorities an obstacle to the Islamization of the country. They are not only after minorities but also liberal and secular Muslims who stand against their fundamentalism.

However, most of the attacks were not driven by sectarianism or religious hatred but motivated by the greed and ambition of a small but influential group of opportunists who spared no chance to pound minorities.

And the most worrying fact is that a steep rise in violence against minorities occurred during the tenure of the ruling Awami League party, which is avowedly secular and enjoys the broad support of minorities nationwide. So, the party considered last frontier of hope for minorities in the country has continuously failed to protect them.  

Minorities also suffer from a lack of support from government officials and ruling party officials, leading to a sense of alienation. Although police make token arrests, the local administration is usually slow to assist the beleaguered community and justice is rarely meted out.

In many cases, ruling party activists were complicit in the violence.

On Oct. 30, 2016, dozens of Hindu temples and houses were attacked and vandalized in Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria district following allegations that a local Hindu man posted an image on Facebook that defamed Islam. Although Rasraj Das, the Hindu fisherman accused of posting the image, was arrested and sent to jail, Islamic hard-line groups organized a rally and attacked Hindu properties.

When the hard-liners came out to protest the blasphemous image, the Awami League politicians further instigated them because they wanted to annex Hindu properties. Within a couple of days of the first attack, there was another wave of violence against Hindus and the blame fell again on local members of Awami League.

About a week later, on Nov. 6, the largely Christian indigenous Santal community came under attack by dozens of thugs sent by a local sugar mill to evict them from ancestral lands in Govindaganj in northern Gaibandha district. Four Santal men were killed and dozens were injured. A local Awami League parliamentarian and party members were accused of collaborating with the mill authority to evict the Santals because they wanted to lease out their lands.

Hindus have suffered much since the British rule of India. The British promoted a divide and rule policy, instigating Hindu-Muslim tensions in a series of deadly communal riots. The ensuing bloodbath led to 1947 partition of India and Pakistan.

In the Islamic State of Pakistan, anti-India sentiments fueled the persecution of Hindus which included a law that branded Hindus "enemies of the state" and confiscated their properties. This discriminatory and abusive law existed in Bangladesh until 2001, years after gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Years after the law was repealed, Hindus are still struggling to get their properties back.

Longstanding disputes over properties led to scores of attacks on Hindu communities including eviction, killings, injuries and rape, forcing the community to migrate to India en masse. In 1947, Hindus accounted for 30 percent of Bangladesh's population and in 1971, they made up just 23 percent.

Today, they have dwindled to some 9 percent. Much of the population shrinkage can be attributed to large-scale migration caused by abuse at the hands of the politically, economically and numerically dominant Muslims.

After the 2001 national election, the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Islamist ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, came to power and unleashed deadly violence against minorities, especially Hindus, for voting in favor of the Awami League. Dozens of Hindu men were killed, Hindu women were raped and their houses, temples and businesses were attacked and vandalized.

After returning to power in 2009, the Awami League formed a judicial commission to probe the violence but the report was never made public and its recommendations were not implemented. Except for one high-profile gang rape case no other cases have seen justice so far, despite the Awami League being in power ever since.

Buddhists have endured less violence but have not been completely spared. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where largely Buddhist hill tribes have lived peacefully for centuries, sectarian tensionsand violence perpetrated by settler Muslims and their political administration, is common.

In 1947, tribal people used to make up 97 percent of the population on the hills. But after years of state-sponsored Muslim settlements they make up a mere 50 percent.

State-backed demographic change and sectarian violence led to two decades of bush-war in the hills between the military and a tribal militia group. It ended in 1997 but peace remains elusive and sectarian violence continues. Like the Hindus, many tribal peoples from both the plains and the hills have fled the country.

A major anti-Buddhist riot took place in Cox's Bazar district in September, 2012, over a derogatory image posted on Facebook allegedly by a local Buddhist youth. Islamic hard-liners, in collaboration with politicians, including Awami League activists, rampaged through the Buddhist community, leaving 19 temples and over 100 houses destroyed.

The violence gained international media coverage and sparked an outcry, dozens were arrested but justice has yet to be delivered. Media investigations later found the image was doctored and posted from a fake profile.

Christians, including those from tribal backgrounds, have also been the victims of violence, largely over property issues. In recent times, Islamic militants have attacked Christian clergy and laypeople and issued death threats. Police provided protection for churches but cases of violence have not seen justice yet.

In 1998, during the tenure of the Awami League government, Muslim mobs attacked several churches and church-run institutes in old parts of Dhaka over a property dispute. In 2001, Islamic militants bombed a Catholic Church in Gopalganj district, leaving 10 churchgoers dead and scores injured. Christians have cried out for justice but nothing happened. The Catholic Church was forced to leave the disputed property, while the bombing case is in legal limbo.   

The Bangladesh Constitution and other laws and policies offer nominal protection to minorities and the government is generally respectful to them. Bangladesh constitutionally recognizes Islam as the state religion but also reaffirms the nation is a secular state that "shall ensure equal status and equal rights to the practices of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religions."

But these protections are often useless as the authorities are reluctant to assist in cases of violence against minorities and instead side with their tormentors for material and political gain. So there is a gaping hole in the system that bars minorities from seeking redress for their woes.

To tackle such an inferior and vulnerable situation, minority leaders have called for various protective measures to be implemented. They include a law to protect minorities, a new government ministry for minority affairs, a special commission to resolve land and property disputes, transferring cases of violence against minorities to a fast-track court, and at least 50 reserved seats in parliament.        

If an extremism-plagued conservative Islamic state like Pakistan can have a minority ministry, minority protection laws and reserved seats for minorities, why cannot the so-called secular state of Bangladesh do the same?

These considerations are vital if Bangladesh wants to create a haven for minorities and help them live in peace. In the absence of these measures, minorities in Bangladesh will continue to suffer and struggle to survive.

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State religion and secularism: Bangladesh's double standards

Secularists, intellectuals and minority communities were surprised but cheered when the Bangladesh Supreme Court in February decided to review a writ petition that challenged the insertion of Islam as the state religion in the country's constitution in 1988.

The high hopes over the review decision were understandable.

This Muslim-majority nation of 160 million was born secular, yet accepted Islam as the state religion for nearly three decades. As a result Bangladesh's minority communities have often considered themselves inferior to followers of the country's dominant religion.

Many believed the court's original intention to review the case 28 years after the petition was filed, was aimed at containing the sudden rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country. Bangladesh has recently experienced a series of atheist blogger killings, attacks on Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmadis, religious minorities including Buddhists, Christians and Hindus.

As the guardian of the constitution, it was a rare chance for the court to make a just decision by reinstating the original character of the charter by shrugging off dual characteristics.

However, the hope and enthusiasm were short-lived.  

A month later the court dismissed the petition. This was done moments after the hearing opened and without examining any arguments.

Presumably, the court's decision was influenced by threats of violent protests from Islamic groups including the largest radical Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, an umbrella group of radical Islamic groups.

The protesters argued that if a state can have a state language, fruit or flower, why shouldn't there be a state religion for a country where 90 percent of the people are Muslim. The logic seems medieval and irrational in a modern democratic world, but the court didn't have enough courage to challenge it.

Drafted in 1972, the original constitution declared the country a secular state.

Due to the disastrous and oppressive rule of Islamic Pakistan from 1947-1971, Bangladesh's founding fathers inserted secularism as one of the four key foundations of the newborn nation.

The victory in the war was also a victory for moderate Islam. An act of defiance against Wahhabism, the extremist form of Islam encouraged during Pakistan's rule.

While some in the West now interpret secularism as being "anti-religion," here in Bangladesh its meaning is about having equal respect for all religions and aspirations for religious harmony.

Bangladesh's march toward secularism was halted when the country's first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated with most of his family members, in a 1975 military coup. The military were allegedly supported by Islamist parties and groups who lost power following the war.

That was the beginning of a host of efforts to Islamize the country.

Military ruler Ziaur Rahman erased secularism from the constitution in 1977 and replaced it with "Absolute trust and faith in almighty Allah." Rahman's successor, H.M. Ershard — another military ruler — made Islam the state religion in 1988.

Both rulers aimed at making the nation more Islamic for political gain. Their rule — until the restoration of democracy in the 1990s — saw a massive shift in the country's political arena, most notably the revival of religion-based politics and political parties, which were banned in independent Bangladesh.

Since the 1990s, power has altered between the center-left Awami League and the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party, but none of them have dared to touch the issue of Islam as the state religion.

However, the ruling Awami League, reasserted secularism in the constitution in 2011. But fearing protests and losing votes, they refrained from removing Islam as the state religion.

Now having a constitution that accepts secularism as one of four key principles but also recognizes Islam as the state religion is a pure case of double standards.

While the Bangladesh constitution guarantees equal rights and opportunities to citizens irrespective of their ethnicity, caste and creed, the state religion issue has indirectly established supremacy for Islam in the country. In other words, it means Islam gets preferential treatment over other religions, at least symbolically.

Today, many Muslims have the impression that they belong to a superior religion and attempt to justify any abuse against religious minorities citing such supremacy. They even abuse secular intellectual voices who promote religious harmony and tolerance.

This attitude has directly and indirectly contributed to the torture and abuse of minority people, especially Hindus, the country's largest minority group. This includes the theft of land and property, torture and killing for land and the sexual assault of Hindu women.

All these abuses have forced a mass exodus of Hindus from the country. In 1947, Hindus accounted for 29.7 percent of the population but it stands at about 9 percent today.

Christians and Buddhists account for 1 percent of the population and they also face similar oppression although on a smaller scale. About 3 million indigenous people, many of whom are Christians and Buddhists, are not spared from abuse because they are a minority.

One could say that the recent rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh is influenced by global Islamic fundamentalism, but its foundation is the long-lasting influence of Islam as the state religion. When a state officially endorses and patronizes a religion, undoubtedly it emboldens religious radicals who often use religion as a shield for material and intangible gains.   

Now a great opportunity to overturn the situation was missed when the court last month decided to reject the petition challenging the idea of the country having a state religion.

Minority communities were dismayed over the decision. The country's civil society groups and secular intellectuals, even the vibrant media, didn't take a strong enough stand to scrap state religion.

Meanwhile the political parties and state machinery kept silent as expected. As for the greater society, it seems it has accepted having a state religion forever.

The idea of a state religion is dangerous in a modern world. Yet it is still nurtured in parts of the Islamic world, especially in the Middle East and countries like Pakistan. Most of these countries feel the brunt of Islamic fundamentalism. As we see with recent events in France and Belgium, the West is no longer immune to fanaticism either.

Bangladesh's crisis with fanaticism is long-running and ongoing. Secular activists are being attacked and killed, minority sects and communities are being targeted and the radicals don't seem to be stopping.

It's difficult to predict whether Bangladesh will ever have a truly secular constitution without a state religion. Most likely it's not going to happen anymore.

The current wave of extremism is just the tip of the iceberg of what this state religion might exacerbate. In all probabilities, the worst is yet to come.

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Original Post State religion and secularism: Bangladesh's double standards

Searching for solutions to Bangladesh's overpopulation

In the traffic-choked streets and markets of Dhaka, careless pedestrians are knocked off their feet by vast crowds flowing through the city like a human tsunami.  

The Bangladeshi capital is infamous for its traffic for all the wrong reasons. Overcrowding on public transport results in regular tragic accidents. Ferries load passengers several times higherthan their capacity invites disaster.

With over 161 million people crammed into a total area of 147,570 square kilometers, Bangladesh is currently ranked the eighth most populous nation in the world. In contrast, Russia is about 120 times bigger than Bangladesh, but has a population of 144 million.

Although Bangladesh's economy has grown 5-6 per cent annually over the past two decades, the government's development programs have had little impact on living conditions.            

Serious problem but least attention

When Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, the population was slightly over 70 million. The figure has more than doubled over the next three decades, prompting urgent family planning campaigns.

The campaign, "Boy or girl two children are enough" was successful in dropping the total fertility rate (TFR) — the number of children a woman expected to have in her lifetime — from 6.4 in 1971 to 2.2 today.

Even with this reduction population growth is still a problem. About 253 people are added to the population every hour, according to a report by National Institute of Population Research and Training. 

Bangladesh has a national population policy that aimed to reduce the TFR further but it seems to have frozen and problems related to overcrowding, poverty, crime and disease have kept growing.

An overcrowded train departs Bangladesh capital Dhaka in this file photo. With a population of over 161 million, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated places in the world. (ucanews.com photo) 

A secret solution?

Bangladesh's Christian minority accounts for less than half a per cent of the population. But while the national population has ballooned, the mostly Catholic Christian population has remained stable for nearly two decades.

One generation ago, Christian families used to have 4-6 children on average. But today, Christian families tend to have two children. How have they been able to stabilize their population growth?

The Catholic Church has always been against artificial birth control and has encouraged families to observe the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle to avoid unexpected pregnancy.

But according to a controversial data set released by the Guttmacher Institute, 98 percent of Catholic women interviewed have used a method of contraception other than natural family planning.  

Bangladeshi Christians also tend to be better educated. They have a literacy rate of 70-80 percent which is higher than the national average of 60 percent.

They are usually middle-class and keep their families small so they can maintain their lifestyle and offer their children a good education and opportunities. And it is not just Christians, indeed, it is an adage in the Bangladeshi middle class that a "small family is a happy family."

Better education seems to help lower the TFR. In Bangladesh, the primary school enrollment rate is 100 percent every year. But the school dropout rate is high, about 30 percent at primary level, and up to 60 percent at secondary level. Ultimately, only 5 percent of students graduate. 

In order to tame the population crisis, the government must improve education and make schooling free up to graduate level. They need to again prioritize overpopulation by creating a permanent council with eminent experts, demographers and social scientists to advise on demographic policy.

Despite many adversities since independence Bangladesh has become lower-middle-income country thanks to extraordinary gains in the agricultural sector, burgeoning garment industry and a steady flow of remittance from about 10 million expatriate workers. 

Now, Bangladesh is gunning for the tag of "developed country" by 2041, on the 70^th anniversary of the nation's independence. But, unless the nation can aptly address overpopulation, the goal will remain a wish. 

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Bangladeshi mystics continue tradition despite adversity

For two-thirds of his life, Ismail Shah was a family man. He and his wife raised four sons and a daughter, relying on agriculture to support their family.

Born to a Muslim family in a village in Mirpur, Kushtia district in western Bangladesh, Shah, now 66, married off his sons and daughter and, like most Bangladeshi villagers, looked forward to retirement.

But everything changed 22 years ago when he answered a spiritual calling.

Shah renounced all worldly possessions and left his home with his wife, Shahela, to become a Baul — a mystic singer who follows the philosophy of Lalon Shah, a popular 19th century Bengali musician, philosopher and social reformer.

He and Shahela started wandering from village to village, singing Lalon's moving songs of humanism and tolerance playing an ektara, a one-stringed musical instrument. 

"Lalon's songs inspired me to become a Baul, as they preach humanism and promote peace and harmony," Shah told ucanews.com.

"I found a spiritual solace in his songs and ideology that I couldn't find in Islam. So, my wife and I have dedicated our lives to preaching Lalon's songs and ideology," said Shah, who is now the leader of 10-member Baul group.

Ismail Shah

Shah's life as a Baul is one full of adversity but he said that it helps him to "purify my body and soul."

"We move from one place to another and live on alms and donations. We have adversities but we face them with a smile," he said.    

Shah and his group attended the three-day annual Lalon festival Oct. 17-19, commemorating the 126th death anniversary of Lalon at Chheuria in Kushtia, where the legendary musician set up an ashram for his followers.

The largest gathering of its kind, the celebrations attracted some 5,000 Bauls and visitors this year. 

Sufia Pagli, 70, is so attached to Lalon's ideology that she introduces herself as "Lalon's mother."

"After 18 years of family life, I left home to find the true meaning of life. I worked as an Islamic preacher but I slowly developed a strong interest in Lalon. Now, I am devout follower of Lalon and I have found truth in his way of life and teachings," Pagli told ucanews.com.

"If we can become humanists, we can serve humanity best. To do this, we don't need to belong to any particular religion or caste. Lalon's philosophy is the best philosophy and we are called to spread it around the world," she added.

Centuries-old tradition still going strong 

Baul philosophy is considered both a religious sect and tradition — a fusion of Sufi Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Islamic hardliners regard them as heretics.

Lalon never had a formal education but composed hundreds of songs about religious tolerance that inspired contemporary poets and thinkers.

Most Bauls are ascetics. They travel on foot from town to town singing and begging alms, staying at ashrams, and have no fixed address. Some choose to remain in their homes but live a quiet, secluded life of music and worship.

Bauls are easily identified by their long hair, ektara and distinctive white, red and orange robes. Anyone can join if they adhere to their belief system.

In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Bauls are growing in popularity as people are attracted to their teachings on humanism, inclusion and rejection of consumerism, said Abdel Mannan, a Baul researcher and founder of the Lalon Bishwa Sangha, an organization promoting the music and philosophy of Lalon.

"The world is full of evils today, people are overburdened with problems and they want to find peace. Lalon has taught us how to gain spiritual atonement and peace. This is why more and more people are interested in Bauls and eager to learn life lessons from them," Mannan told ucanews.com.

"People realize today that organized religions can't help us reach the Creator as they were promoted by imperialists. They also no longer believe the misconception that Lalon was an atheist," he added.

A Christian Baul

Subash Rozario, 36, was born to a Catholic family northern Natore district and has been involved with the Baul tradition since 2004.

"The idea of discovering God through one's self attracted me to Lalon and Baul philosophy," Rozario told ucanews.com.

He originally wanted to enter the Society of Jesus congregation, but a Jesuit priest who specialized in folklore inspired him: "Your mind is like the Bauls, so I think it will great if you become a mystic."

"People used to consider Bauls as addicts and hippies. But this mindset has changed and people have discovered the great ideas of Lalon's philosophy," the mystic singer said.

Rozario's decision met with mixed reactions from his community. 

"People, even priests and religious leaders, used to say Lalon was born a Hindu and raised by a Muslim preacher; so his philosophy has nothing to do with Christianity. But others found that you could mingle the Christian experience with his ideology," he said.

"Today, I feel proud that I don't follow religion in the traditional, organized way because I believe it can't help people find true happiness and peace. Christianity has confined God within boundaries, but He is limitless. I don't think God would be displeased if someone like me leads a good life following Lalon's ideology," he said. 

  

'Persecution can't stop us'

Although Bauls are pacifists, who preach humanity and religious tolerance, Islamic radicals have attacked them.

In 2014, fundamentalists attacked a group of the wandering mystics, shaving their long hair and beards and forcing them to recite Islamic prayers.

A professor of sociology who taught Baul philosophy was hacked to death, allegedly by Islamic militants the same year.

In 2015, a group of Islamic hardliners burned down the new Lalon International Yoga Center in northeastern Sherpur district.

This year, another group of hardliners stormed into a Baul akhra ("residing place") and beat three sleeping singers in southwestern Jhenaidah district.

The latest attack came during a surge in Islamic militancy in the country, which included a chain of murders targeting atheist bloggers, liberal activists, foreigners and religious minorities.

Reza Pagol, 60, the leader of the Baul group that suffered the latest attack, said he has faced persecution many times.

"I have been an ardent Lalon follower since school. I left my wife, son and daughter to preach Lalon's teachings to people. I was put into jail five times and many times radicals beat me with iron chains, but I didn't give up," Reza told ucanews.com, while attending the Lalon festival.

"Lalon has taught us non-violence, humanity and tolerance. We might face persecution from misinformed people, but it can't stop us. Rather, we try to change their mind through our message of humanism and love for all," he added.

END

Original Story by Stephan Uttom and Rock Ronald Rozario

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Bangladesh's existential threat

Until a few years ago, people in Bangladesh used to exhale a sigh of relief whenever there were tragic events of violent extremism in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

They took pride in defining themselves against a country they considered full of religious bigots responsible for carrying out bloody attacks on minorities and brave citizens who oppose extremism.

They felt satisfied that their forefathers had parted ways with Pakistan to make way for an independent Bangladesh through the 1971 war.

In recent times, this sense of relief, pride and satisfaction has been fading fast with a gradual rise of religious intolerance and extremism in the country.

Since 2013, Bangladesh has seen seven secular bloggers, writers and publishers brutally murdered, allegedly by Islamist militants, including four bloggers and one publisher this year alone. Only one blogger narrowly escaped death. Their writings and publications were critical of religion and the political use of religion, especially Islam.

By the time Bangladesh was reeling from the killings of an Italian aid worker and a Japanese man in September and October, alleged jihadists bombed a Shiite festival in Dhaka, killing two and injuring dozens on Oct. 24.

In the latest episode, two groups of attackers entered two publishing houses in Dhaka and hacked two publishers and two writers with machetes and cleavers on Oct. 31. Faisal Arefin Dipan, owner of Jagriti Prokashony, died of his wounds inside the locked office, while Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, owner of Suddhaswar, and his two writer friends were critically wounded.

Dipan and Tutul had earlier printed books by U.S.-based Bangladeshi blogger and science writer Avijit Roy, hacked to death on the streets of Dhaka in February, allegedly by militants.

In March 2014, a popular Bangladesh online bookstore had stopped selling Roy's books after a local Islamist extremist issued death threats to its owner.

Ansarullah Bangla Team, a banned local militant outfit, presumably linked to al-Qaida on the Indian subcontinent, claimed responsibility for attacks on bloggers and publishers. The Islamic State jihadist group has taken credit for the killings of the two foreigners and for bombing the Shia festival.

In September, Ansarullah Bangla Team published a hit list of 20 Bangladeshi bloggers based in the United States and Europe. Some of these bloggers have dual citizenship; some of them fled the country during the past two years after death threats.

Fearing extremist attacks, several prominent writers and bloggers have already withdrawn from critical writings; many have taken measures to ensure security in their public life.

 A grave threat

The persecution of freethinkers in Bangladesh is not without precedence.

In 1994, radical Islamists issued death threats to Taslima Nasrin, a prominent female writer, for her writings on feminism and criticism of religion. She has been living in exile ever since. 

In 2004, Humayun Azad, a renowned linguist and author, escaped a brutal assassination attempt in Dhaka, after he wrote a political satire that criticizes the political use of Islam. Azad later died in his sleep during a trip to Germany, largely due to trauma over the attack.

In 2013, Hefazat-e-Islam, a radical Islamic group, published a list of 84 secular bloggers and marched in Dhaka demanding the execution of atheist bloggers and the installation of a blasphemy law. The group is allegedly linked to country's largest radical Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami, whose entire leadership is being prosecuted for war crimes during Bangladesh's liberation war.

Jamaat opposed Bangladesh's independence. It stands accused of helping the Pakistan army in the torture and massacre of pro-independence people, including some 200 Bengali intellectuals during the war.

Many believe that Jamaat has sponsored Hefazat-e-Islam to hunt the bloggers, who were at the forefront of organizing a massive rally called the "Shahbag movement" for the trial and execution of all war criminals.

Whether the attackers of freethinkers have their base in international jihadist groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State, or in local Islamic political parties, they pose a grave threat to Bangladesh's existence.

Recently, there has been a growing dispute between Western intelligence services and Bangladesh's government over who is responsible for the recent spate of attacks. Foreign intelligence services claim they have passed credible information to the government on the activities of the Islamic State jihadist group. But the government has repeatedly refused the claim and stressed that the attacks came from within — from extremists allied with opposition political parties.

Frustratingly, the government has failed to prove opposition links to extremist violence and refused to consider alternative explanations linking international terror groups.

Most apathetically, the home minister called the recent attacks "isolated incidents" that could happen anywhere in the world. Earlier, the police chief admonished bloggers for their writings and warned them not to "cross the line."

Emboldening extremism

Ironically, the deceased freethinkers have been largely supportive of the so-called secular ruling Awami League government that led the country during the independence struggles.

The government has failed to conduct a proper probe, and to deliver justice for bloggers, which ultimately emboldens the extremists. Moreover, it has refrained from taking the side of bloggers publicly, and didn't do enough to protect them.

Freethinkers are the architects of a nation; they are revered and loved for their contributions. Sadly, a nation that was born with the guiding light of freethinkers, through the independence war in 1971, is collectively failing to protect them from the onslaught of persecution. Everyone including the government, civil society and common people must take blame for this failure.

Apart from an end to socioeconomic oppression, Bangladesh's independence was a victory for a moderate form of Islam practiced by the majority of Muslims in this part of the world.

The country's founding fathers inserted secularism and freedom of thought as key principles of the constitution, in order to make Bangladesh a true democracy with respect for a multitude of religions, ethnicities and differences of opinion. Due to the bitter experience with Pakistan, the country's founders banned religion-based politics, constitutionally.

The march toward a secular, democratic society was halted with the assassination of the country's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in a 1975 military coup and the subsequent military rule of the next 15 years, which led to a revival of Islamic parties and religion-based politics.

Democracy was restored in the early 1990s, but the influence of Islamists continued, which ultimately gave birth to several homegrown militant outfits since 2000 that were responsible for attacking anything they deemed un-Islamic.

The government has struggled to contain these jihadists, who aim to make Bangladesh an Islamic state.

As the attacks on freethinkers continue, a climate of fear and insecurity has gripped people. They now question whether they are still the proud citizens of a country that has a long history of tolerance and religious harmony. They wonder if the country is still committed to its founding principles of secularism and freedom of thought.

Despite being a Muslim-majority country, a strong sense of nationalism based on culture, rational thinking, religious and ethnic diversity has been a core value of Bangladesh.

The extremists are out on the streets to wipe out rationalist freethinkers in order to pave the way for an Islamic state. If the government fails to stop this rising tide of intolerance and extremism, a similar fate could await Bangladesh as what is being seen in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Middle East countries.

No doubt, Bangladesh is at an identity crisis. As freethinkers bemoan the loss of their space in society and the pen's diminished power amid the preying of machete-wielding extremists, a disaster is looming for Bangladesh.

If Bangladesh fails to protect freethinkers from intolerance and extremists, the nation will be devoured from within by radicals, and ultimately fall apart.

END

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