So far so good

BNP beneficiaries would say ‘Paradise Lost’; Awami Leaguers would claim ‘Paradise Regained’, while the apolitical ones would assess the situation as ‘So Far So Good’.

Just when the Awami League-led grand alliance stepped out of the pavilion to start governance, Pilkhana tragedy took place, forcing the government into a tight spot. The prime minister handled the conspiracy with the care it demanded, and even though the trial of the perpetrators has been delayed, hopefully justice will not be denied.

The initial cabinet was full of freshmen; AL subsequently got rid of the stereotyped political faces but purging veterans from the playing field has not been an easy task; they are after all a burden of the Awami League legacy. And freshmen, who are trying to prove better replacements, clearly lack the efficiency and political subtlety required to keep up with modern day politics. To be fair, it deserves to be mentioned that the veterans, too, have had serious shortcoming in areas of diplomacy and constructive efficiency.

The new government controlled price hike well during the first six months of attaining power, but syndicate horses are at best wild, and conformity proves less profitable. We well know the mantra of third world laissez faire: pure profit without social responsibility.

Brownouts continue to make life miserable in Bangladesh, yet some credit is owed to the AI-led government’s attempts at stabilizing power supply.

Shaikh Hasina promised to change the old ways; a few sons of old MPs understand this ‘change’ to be a coinage good enough only to lure people. Genetic propensity to grab lands of the retreating parties (post ’47 and again post ’71) cannot be curbed with an up to date election manifesto alone. It needs more than cosmetic ideals. Ironically, in a changed global reality threatening journalists the old fashioned way didn’t work to their benefit either. For seven years tender terrorists and un-studently student leaders had to sit on the sidelines and watch their BNP counterparts succeed through loot, plunder and torture. When their time came, the media didn’t let them enjoy their honeymoon. Central leaders of the Awami League also signaled to the notorious party cadres to behave.

For the first time in 38 years, the Education Minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, has come out with a meaningful policy; overcoming all hurdles he lived up to his promise of providing free books to young learners.

Finance minister, Abdul Mal Muhit, active with economic reforms, has taken peasants’ rights into consideration, urged reforms in the banking sector and offered revised pay scales to public servants. Matia Chowdhury, a legend of political honesty, continues with her success in the agricultural sector, but unfortunately even she hasn’t been able to come out of the political blame game culture. It’s really quite unnecessary to speak ill of the opposition while sitting with a brute majority.

The law and order situation has improved. However, ongoing extrajudicial killings question the credibility of a democratic government. Manpower diplomacy has been average; there are still many needs to be taken care of. The looming threat of recession alone may send more workers back home. Environmental diplomacy, too, has failed to be come through as extraordinary; perhaps because our Prime Minister didn’t voice enough concern over carbon emissions, yet forcefully demanded financial compensation. This could be ignored as a mere reflection of an overall mindset of a poor nation perpetually occupied with making ends meet.

The government’s initiative towards improving relations with India is timely, while our opposition is still trying to sell its anti-India propaganda not realizing that New Delhi and Beijing are emerging realities in the current world order.

Verdict in the Father of the Nation killing case has come as a relief for the conscience of Bangladesh. Now the war criminal trial should be activated to uphold human rights as promised in the election manifesto. Diplomacy with the Muslim world must be strengthened for many reasons, not less of which is that war criminals should be stopped from seeking sympathy in the name of their Islamic outfit.

Militants tried to Talibanize Bangladesh during the BNP-Jamaat rule, but as the people of Bangladesh are generally secular and the media played a constructive role, we got a clean slate from the western world. The AL-led government shares the credit in allowing people to practice Islam peacefully.

Shaikh Hasina claims that her government this time round is truly green and free from corruption. But she should not forget that the British and Pakistani colonial rules successfully cultivated political criminalization in Bangladesh; a process continued by the military rulers. That’s why it’s generally understood that people enroll into politics to earn or to loot. No one can change this mindset overnight. Nevertheless, things are moving towards the better; realizing the end result and having paid the price of political corruption BNP has promised to transform its whirl palace into a light house.

BNP ought to keep its promise or risk losing more votes. One must, however, say that being in the opposition has been an advantage in Bangladesh since 1991: when the party in power fails to deliver people opt for the opposition. So Awami League will have to work hard to maintain popularity, at least till the next elections. By then almost 70 per cent voters will emerge from a generation that holds information in a cell phone. Political coquetry will have become old fashioned by that time. So either you deliver or No Thanks – that’s going to be the political reality in Bangladesh.

Light House

Society changes at a rapid pace, we constantly surrender to the automation of neo-gadgets. This has been a ceaseless reality since the Industrial Revolution. But Dhaka society is different. The rate of change is more rapid; social inequity speed-rides on the wheels of corruption; values of truth and goodness are as outdated as our parents or teachers who tried to infuse high seriousness and inculcate a belief system that is now as precious as diamonds.

Understanding this metamorphosis of Dhaka, I usually try to interact with the glitterati with caution; knowing quite well that their attitude and mode of socializing changes with their position in the power structure. It’s almost like visiting a house in Dhanmandi or Gulshan after a gap of two or three years and expecting an apartment building in place of the small house surrounded by a piece of green.

But it’s been a great relief to discover that unlike the social stereotypes of Dhaka, our English department teachers have remained as warm as our parents, untouched by the wave of decay that seems to have permeated everywhere else. I wonder if our department is a secluded island or a planet outside the effects of social eclipse.

Syed Manjoorul Islam once wrote a word on the blackboard of the first year class: aesthetics. Many will agree that his gift of aesthetics has been a precious asset in our lives. As a teacher, writer and moderator of our university debating society I have experienced him to be the same loving person over the last two decades who could easily maintain a distance from the temptation of an uncouth reality.

Anis Ahmed was a young teacher in the late ‘80s who used to passionately promote our cultural and theatre activities. He left our department to work as an international broadcaster abroad. Time and space are cruel entities for mercilessly taking a huge toll on our existence, but meeting Anis Ahmed in Washington was like going back to my teen years when I used to talk to him in his department chamber.

Kashinath Roy, an introvert, romantic teacher wearing pyjama punjabi, explained to us the meaning of the word ‘philistines’, narrating the nouveau-riche mannerism with amusing accuracy. We imbibed his clear judgment of our philistine society. I haven’t seen him in the last 15 years but that hardly matters. I can refresh my memory any time and see him walking through our department corridor as if it was yesterday.

Imtiaz Habib left the department disappointed with his future in Bangladesh. His inspiration and outlook on creative writing, and dislike for summarized-notes eaters made him an icon, even for those who couldn’t have him as their teacher.

Fakhrul Alam, Kaisar Hamidul Haq, Shaukat Alam, Anwarul Haq are still our heroes. They always made time for our cricket matches, river cruises and cultural activities. Nazmin Haq would even participate alongside us in our chorus picnics and outings.

Our English department teachers offered optimum attention to every one of their students, in and outside the classroom. Every single student was and is important to them. Before entering into the chambers of living legends like Sirajul Islam Chowdhury or Razia Khan Amin we used to tremble in fear as how to settle a missed tutorial exam. Gifting them the latest edition of Little Magazine often succeeded as an excuse. Can I ever forget Razia Amin Khan who smiled and scolded with affection, “Such a bribe will definitely help get you a chance to retake the tutorial.”

My missing out any name of our teachers hardly matters; Shushil da or Bulbul da could perhaps fill in the gap to encompass the legacy of English department. I have only tried to sketch a few of our role models who were the dwellers of a light house, who changed and gave meaning to our lives. Quite unlike the youth of today who are forced by the ground realities of a crude materialistic society, when we came out of the English department it wasn’t just the degrees we carried with us.

Our role models helped us maintain the romanticism of an atypical way of thought. Whether in civil service, journalism, creative writing and corporate boardrooms or anywhere around the globe, English department alumni are bearing the torch of that tradition infused with individual talent. Our teachers didn’t only offer class lectures or confine our world within the bars of curriculum. They instead deconstructed the syllabus and infused our horizon with depth, confidence and aesthetics. In the wake of burgeoning social inequilibrium and commercialization of education, will this fairytale of our English department be able to continue? I wonder if our new generations will readily sacrifice their lives the way our role models did to carry on the legacy of the English department. Unless we rejuvenate the glory of Dhaka University the relics of the Oxford of the East will be relegated to memories alone; the memories of a ‘light house’.

[photo courtesy: here]

Bangladesh surrendering to a hungry sea

By 2025 one-thirds of Bangladesh is set to disappear under water. Tropical cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal and accompanied storm surges take the highest human toll in the country. Between the melting Himalayas and the Khasi-Jaintia Hills in the north and the rising Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean in the south, Bangladesh faces the risk of extinction. Barely a meter rise in sea level will swallow the entire coastal zone of the country and force upon the world a refugee problem beyond solution.

This coastal zone comprises 47,201 square kilometers, which is 32 per cent of the country’s total landmass (almost 5 sq-km more than that area of Denmark). Bangladesh is one of the most crowded nations in the world, with 35.1 million people living in the coastal areas alone. Half of them survive below the darkness of the poverty line. Fishing, agriculture, tourism and shrimp and salt farming are their main sources of livelihood. The mangroves of Sunderbans provide subsistence to 10 million of them. They have never known any other way of life.

If the land vanishes from under their feet they will have nowhere to go; the rest of the country is already bursting at the seams with a density of 1000 people per sq-km. Ironically, Bangladesh contributes a minuscule 0.06 per cent to the global carbon emission, but will have to pay the price with a minimum of 35.1 million lives if the world continues to be the way it is.

On top of this unimaginable tragedy, the gradual rise in sea level is reducing fresh water availability through salt intrusion. Whatever landmass escapes drowning will be largely rendered uncultivable. The initial stages of this salt water contamination forced people to switch from rice cultivation to shrimp farming. For that Bangladesh has had to pay a very high premium: loss of staple food production and hence food insecurity.

The world was a witness to the wrath of Tsunami in areas devoid of mangroves. Bangladesh avoided Tsunami but wasn’t lucky enough to counter Cyclone Sidr. The fact that the fall of Sunderbans will result in loss of biodiversity and a productive eco-system is altogether a separate tragedy.

In the aftermath of the death and destruction left behind by the category-4 Cyclone Sidr in 2007, the courageous people of the coastal belt tightened their belts to give life another start. Little do they know that a one-meter rise in sea-level is ultimately going to turn them into environmental refugees.

As Bangladesh is a small player in the emissions politics, there’s not much it can do to mitigate the effects of green house gasses. What it can do, and is trying so, is to find ways to adapt in the short term. In the long term if global warming is not halted or reduced significantly, Bangladesh could disappear by the end of the century. There’s only so much a country with extremely limited resources can do to protect the future of its people.

For this coastal community there are three matters that require immediate attention: sustaining aquatic livelihood, managing agriculture and building homes that can survive the rise in sea level.

The livelihood of fishermen can be ensured by finding salinity tolerant species of fish and by adopting advanced fish-farming techniques.

For farmers, floating agriculture in low lands must be introduced and popularized. This soil-less farming includes dried hyacinths piled on a floating structure and seedlings planted on it. Salinity tolerant aforestation must be made a part of this attempt.

The third is to ensure construction of houses that can stand the tide of time. In the coastal areas of Bangladesh, houses are usually built on walls of earth, but these dykes are constantly threatened by erosion. With a one-meter rise in sea-level, flood waves can go up to 9 meters. The dykes need to be raised significantly.

One ray of hope remains in indigenous attempts to channelize huge silt and sand from upstream areas to flood-prone and low-lying belts. Experimental efforts in this field gained Bangladesh 600 acres of land in Beel Bhaina, 55 kilometers upstream from the Bay of Bengal. The once flooded area is now cultivable. But a silt diversion programme along the entire coast will be very costly. It requires not only the will of Dhaka, but also foreign assistance in terms of funds and technical expertise. However, even if that is all made possible today, silt diversion alone will not be able to help the people of Bangladesh hold out against the wrath of nature for long. Not only can silt shift with time, there is the additional threat of river flooding when mountain ice begins to melt more sharply.

For the survival of Bangladesh, a two-prong strategy is urgently needed; modifications can come later. In the south, the construction of barriers or levees along the Dutch model, and in the north digging strategic water channels to reduce river flooding. This would have to be accompanied by the construction of well-placed reservoirs for holding the extra fresh river water that could be used for down-river cultivation.

Even the contemplation of such a huge project requires international intervention. The world community must come together and help Bangladesh with funds and expertise to adapt to the effects of climate change. Bangladesh alone cannot avoid the looming threat of death by water.

Moulana Abul Kalam Sued for War Crime

Source: Daily Star
April 21, 2009

A case was filed yesterday against Moulana Abul Kalam, alleged commander of Al Badr Bahini in Faridpur during the Liberation War, and his brother-in-law on charge of committing war crimes.

Bhakta Ranjan Biswas, son of Madhab Chandra Biswas of Purura Namopara village, filed the case with a Judicial Magistrate's Court against Kalam alias Bachchu Mia, 65, of Saltha upazila and his brother-in-law Mohammad Kazi, 60.

Kalam, the chairman of non-governmental organisation Bangladesh Masjid Council, hosts an Islamic programme 'Apnar Jigyasa' on private TV channel ntv.

Magistrate Motaharat Akhter Bhuiyan received the case and directed the officer-in-charge of Saltha Police Station to investigate it.

According to the case statement, both Kalam and Mohammad Kazi, who joined hands with Pakistani occupation forces, were engaged in killings, looting, rape and arson during the liberation war in 1971.

They also formed peace committees in various areas in the district.

The accused along with 10 to 12 armed men entered Ranjan's house and Kalam shot dead Ranjan's father on the first day of Bangla month of Jaistha in 1971. Kalam also killed Gyanendra Biswas, son of Rajendri Biswas, at his house the same day, alleged the plaintiff.

They set the nearby house of Montu Bakshi on fire with gunpowder and also killed Ohab Sardar, Md Tuku Molla, Kanchu Fakir, Abdul Molla of Kumar Kanda village, Hachen Mia, Baru Khatun of Alampur village, Abdul Omed Molla of Keshabdia village, alleged the complainant.

Kalam also fired shots at Lal Mia of Alampur village, who survived the attack and is still alive, said the plaintiff.

Earlier, another case had been filed under the Collaborators' Act against Kalam alias Bachchu with the Boalmari Police Station on March 23, 1972. He had been on the run for long after the liberation war.

Faridpur Muktijoddha Sangsad Unit Commander Abul Fayaz Shah Newaz told The Daily Star that Kalam alias Bachchu, who had been involved in killings, looting and arson in Nagarkanda, Saltha and Boalmari in 1971, should be arrested and tried.

Faridpur Sadar upazila Chairman advocate Samsul Haque told The Daily Star that Kalam is a 'known war criminal' and must be brought to justice.

UN Welcomes War Crime Investigation

UN provides welcome support to Bangladesh war crimes investigations
Source: Amnesty International
April 7, 2009

The government of Bangladesh has sought and received UN assistance in its efforts to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity and other serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed in 1971. Four international war crimes experts, Louis Bickford, Priscilla Hayner, Bogdan Ivanisevic and Alexander Mayer-Rieckh, have been named to assist the government.

Amnesty International welcomed the news, having called on the Caretaker Government and political parties in January 2008 to address impunity for violations carried out in 1971 in the context of the independence war.

"The failure to seek truth and justice for crimes against humanity and other serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed in 1971 has encouraged the persistent nature of impunity in Bangladesh," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General.

Demands from civil society for the investigation of the crimes committed in 1971 have been gathering momentum in the past few years. Past governments have taken no action to investigate or prosecute these crimes and no official commission has been established to provide a comprehensive account of the events of 1971.

The Bangladeshi government is also reported to have asked Pakistan and the US, which supported Pakistan during the war, to provide Bangladesh with particular documents related to the war and evidence for the trial.
The exact number of people killed by the Pakistan army and their collaborators during the 1971 Bangladesh independence war is not known. Most estimates put the figure at around one million and a further eight to ten million people, both Hindus and Muslims, fled Bangladesh in search of safety in India.

Among the dead were tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of farmers, fishermen, villagers and factory workers. The forces also targeted intellectuals, Hindus and women. According to some reports, an estimated 200,000 thousand women were raped during the conflict.

To date, no one has been brought to justice for these crimes

"I hope that the initiative to seek UN assistance to address the 1971 war crimes marks the beginning of a process to heal the wounds of this war in the national psyche," said Irene Khan.

Karma Chameleon Salah Uddin Shoaib

Karma Chameleon Salah Uddin Shoaib, sorry,
Sunita Paul, get your act together please. -Sajjad Jahir

After a lot of soul searching I decided to write this narrative just to let you know loud and clear my assessment of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. Like a meteorite, he rose to the limelight of world’s attention. In the global arena, he became the defender of freedom and human rights and a vocal champion of Bangladesh’s rapprochement with Israel.

I did not hear much about Mr. Choudhury until a few years ago, when I first saw his name in a few web based journals. Nowadays, I see him everywhere, in US Congress’s website, in Youtube. Suddenly Salah Uddin Shoaib became Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty. Unfortunately at a closer look this “almighty” does not come across as an intellectual, nor does he appear to be a human rights crusader. I feel he is just a “Karma Chameleon” (to quote Boy George).

How Salah Uddin continues to fool a sizable portion of world’s influential people, is still a puzzle to me. His career in Bangladesh shows his checkered past. If you look into his resume, you will see his service for two notorious individuals. From 1995 to 1999 he worked as the Founder and Managing Director of A-21 TV. This TV station was owned by Aziz Mohammad Bhai, a notorious smuggler and a Mafia don of Bangladesh. Mr. Bhai is no more living in Bangladesh as he had to flee the long arm of the law. It was alleged this tycoon had connection with Islamist Jihadists of India. My clear point is anybody with a little bit of ethical mindset would never work for such a questionable character. We should not skip another gem from the resume. In 1995, Mr. Shoaib Choudhury translated an Iranian book in Bengali “The Rise and Fall of Pahlavi Dynasty”. It is quite evident from the resume that in order to finish the project he had to work closely with the diplomats of Khomeini’s Iran. What a checkered past!

In the resume anyone will see Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury served Inqilab from 2001-2002. This paper was owned by a very despicable individual. He is Maulana Mannan, an Islamist leader. Mr. Mannan was alleged to be the mastermind behind intellectual and professional killing during Bangladesh War of Independence. Like Radovan Karadzic, he changed his façade and became a media mogul. Any Bangladeshi with a little sense of dignity would never work for such a crook. While working for Maulana Mannan’s Inquilab newspaper, Salah Uddin Shoaib constantly hurled epithets on secular activists of Bangladesh. He called Shahriar Kabir, a notable human rights activist, a Mossad agent. Mr. Kabir still has the documentary evidence to prove that. Not only that, Salah Uddin Shoaib virulently attacked Saleem Samad also. Now the question is why and how he was kicked out of Inquilab? Wasn’t he an Islamist to the teeth? In the resume he claimed he was ousted from the conglomerate because of his refusal to attend a pro-Saddam Hussain rally. It is beyond anyone’s comprehension how an intelligent and ever alert person like Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury missed this important piece of information that Inquilab was funded by none other than the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain himself! The story is something like this. Salah Uddin was sent to Singapore to purchase major equipments for Inquilab Television. Instead of purchasing the tools he pocketed the money. Sources say, after the management found out the grand theft, they were starting to take legal measures. In the meantime something happened. What is that?

This is my satirical chain of events that led Mr. Choudhury to the world of bright stars. One night an angel told this dedicated Islamist to be the lone bridge builder between Bangladesh and Israel. He asked the angel what ought to be his modus operandi to attain this noble objective. The angel replied he should make an attempt to travel to Israel carrying hard copies and discs of sensitive documents. Salah Uddin complied. Any tenth grade kid in Bangladesh may be aware that it was dangerous to carry documentation while going to Israel, which was still a forbidden country. Salah Uddin Shoaib is a computer savvy man. He must have known the art of digitizing hundreds of pages of documents. So, why carry those discs and papers to the airport? Isn’t it like this “Arrest me! Arrest me! I am going to Israel with lots of papers”. It goes without saying that the conman was arrested at the Dhaka airport in no time.

That particular incidence came to this juggler like the manna from heaven. He drew big outpour of support from the world’s mightiest and wealthiest of nations. He got a “pro bono” lobbyist within no time. Salah Uddin Shoaib became a widely known name in many parts of the world.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, the human rights crusader and defender of Israel’s right to exist showed his other side of talent. He had been the founder and publisher of a trashy tabloid BLITZ, whose main motto is to sensationalize events. His primary enemies are the liberal intellectuals in Bangladesh. Salah Uddin had special grudge against activists who demand trial of 1971’s war criminals. He cannot go alone in his diabolical venture. Like a ventriloquist, he created a character named Sunita Paul. Many times this “Sunita Paul” did the dirty game for Salah Uddin Shoaib. Unfortunately, Salah Uddin Shoaib did not do a good job in creating a make belief background of this Paul lady. Anyone would burst into laughter seeing the image of Sunita Paul, said to be born in Kochin, India. The picture looks so fake it seems he might have decided to insult the average reader’s intelligence. Wait a second! This Sunita Paul, who is more knowledgeable about Bangladesh than any veteran journalist of that country is caught red handed in a cookie jar! What am I talking about? I found a wise blogger noticed “Sunita Paul” adept in plagiarizing other people’s works. See for yourself at doctorsglove.

Sunita or Salah Uddin Shoaib, how long will you fool people and continue to have the last laugh?