Unheard Voices

Two news items:

1. A picture from yesterday’s China Daily. The activities of our image conscious golden boys.

A headline from Daily AmarDesh (owned by Mr. Falu)

Late Update:

Swap Chatra dal with chatra league and you get this report from 1998 when AL was in power.

[This interview with Reza Kibria -- son of former Bangladesh Finance Minister SAMS Kibria, assassinated in January -- was to appear in the debut issue of a weekly newsmagazine. Unfortunately, for unstated reasons, all the copies of the magazine (except a few preview copies) were sieged hours before the debut newsstand hit (at this stage, it is not convenient for me to spell out more detail account of the episode).

As I believe this interview contains valuable information and opinion that needs public attention and analysis, I am resorting to an Internet distribution. I am inviting concerned readers to freely redistribute this piece (and releasing this under a Creative Commons license).

The interview is mirrored with a photo by Nabil Shahidi at http://www.iwrnews.org/tasneem and http://www.drishtipat.org/blog

-- Tasneem Khalil]

Standing for My Father — Reza Kibria Interview Transcript
28 April, 2005

Interviewed by Tasneem Khalil. Photo by Nabil Shahidi

What is ‘Blue for Peace’? Tell us about the organisation and your goals.

We are a family organisation — my mother (Asma Kibria), myself, my sister (Nazli Kibria) and my wife (Rina Kibria) — just the four of us. We do have friends and well-wishers who assist us.

In terms of our goals, my mother has stated three goals: one is to ensure proper investigation into the killing of my father. Second is to ensure punishment of the killers. In this country, quite often we have investigations and trials do take place but the killers are not punished. And the third goal is perhaps the most difficult one: no family should suffer as we have suffered, the reign of terror that has begun in recent years must end. There should be an end to political killings in this country.

What sort of response are you receiving from the general people?

In one of our protests, there was a moving moment when I was thanking the people standing in line, holding out banners, protesting the assassination of my father.

I thanked this lady, “for coming here and standing for my father”. And she said, “No. It’s not just for your father, I respected him but I don’t stand in the streets for him”. I was a little surprised at first until she explained, “I have come for them” — she pointed to her two young daughters standing next to her. “It’s for their future. I want to make sure they do not live in a Bangladesh where such killings go unpunished and I am standing in the streets for them”.

We have received very heartening response, much more than we expected. There’s a recent trend in this country, where such killings take place. There are some immediate street protests, may be a few condolence meetings and then everything dies down and people wait for the next killing to take place before fresh protests!

This time we found that the anger against these killings has been sustained (my father’s is one of a series of killings). People’s feeling of helplessness at these killings has perhaps lessened (to some degree) partly due to the strategies my mother has introduced. New styles of peaceful protest where people are able to participate.

USA-based human rights organisation Drishtipat issued an alert after Kibria’s assassination calling for an end to such killings. Later, they came under fire from a senior minister of the government. How do you see this?

I took note of that. Actually, there are various websites and organisations that try to disseminate information about what’s happening in this country and (react to that). It’s very difficult to control the flow of information in this age of easy internet access. I am sure that someone like the Law Minister would have figured that out by now.

As to his talking about an ‘anti-Bangladesh’ campaign, he is talking about ‘the damage to the image of the country’. The question is with the ‘image of the government’ that is at stake not the image of the country.

More damage is done to the image of the country when political killings of opposition leaders, liberals, intellectuals, writers take place with impunity. That damages the image not reporting such killings which is what he seems to be concerned about.

Read Full Interview here

It has almost been 30 years since I left Dhaka for the first time, headed towards New York City. New York has changed a lot in the last 30 years. Dhaka has changed a great deal more. And I have changed the most - ‘transformed’ is a more appropriate word!

There are many others who must also have experienced such a transformation. Some more and others less, but each, living an existence today that we would not have been able to imagine or comprehend when we left Bangladesh. We live in different cities - although often concentrated in popular urban centers, work in different fields - although concentrated in things related to technology and higher education, and have different family situations - although most have young families to provide for.

But what we lack is an ability to harness the collective power that we might be able to yield and the collective knowledge that we may be able to offer. Networking! Not in the new sense of the word but in the OLD sense of the word! Think smoky back rooms where deals are quietly made and sealed with a handshake and a drink (make that a cup of decaf coffee for me). For once I would like to read about a group of Bengaliss who have been able to wheel and deal and accomplish something big and momentous and positive - not just for one or two individuals but for a whole bunch of them!

So how do we do it? How do we wield our COLLECTIVE STRENGTH to determine and accomplish our COLLECTIVE WILL? How do we pool and align all our strings together so that we can have a robust braided rope where the individual ‘pulls’ result in a mighty tug that can move mountains?

Another masterpiece by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal.

I think the most succint point he makes about these hartals is by comparing it with the programmes announced by Mrs. Asma Kibria. These programs are well thought out and involves hard work and people compared to the hartals which are done by sending press releases. By the way, I heard from very reliable source that Mrs. Kibria is not really liked by top leaders of Awami League because of her high profile press coverage on her protest activities. Go figure!

Is it really futile to see what we are doing when sometimes we feel that nothing is likely to change? So the guy who was raising fund for Amir Hossain sent a very nasty message to one of us after Amir Hossain’s death. His exact words were: “F***** Muktijudhdo has given us this f****** lousy country”. What do you say to him? He is a young chap with progressive visions of a future. He doesn’t get any help from anyone. He collected lots of materials on Muktijudhdho and spent his own money on setting up a website on it …

So I dug up on old notes to quote this from a Shabana Azmi interview I did a few years ago for him to make him understand that nothing that he is doing is futile and all of us who are working for a change needs to believe that we can’t expect changes to happen overnight. Its a long process and it may not happen in our lifetime. But that should not stop you from doing what you are doing: Here goes the quote: The full interview is here

Asif: In this regard, I would like to quote your father who once said “When you are working for change, you have to build into that expectation the possibility that change might not happen in your lifetime and yet to have to continue to work towards it” — Do you believe it?
Shabana: Oh yes. I sincerely believe that. I thought it was wonderful coming from him, somebody who had spent all his life working for social change. My father (the renowned poet, Kaifi Azmi) settled down in a tiny village in Azamgarh, U.P. and he had been working towards making it a model village. In his 20 years of living and working there, he has transformed it from a place that didn’t have water and electricity, to a place that has three schools, a health center, roads and even boasts of a computer-training center. He has done all this single-handedly - at snail’s pace, all by himself, quietly, patiently, without raising a single slogan.

So oneday I asked him doesn’t this frustrate you and that’s when he told me that and since then that has become the motto of my life. I have internalized it. You can’t wait for a change to happen overnight. The process of change is slow and gradual. It is a work in progress all the time. It happens through legislation, it happens through social transformation, attitude change, and mindset change. So it is indeed a work in progress all the time. You have to keep working on it without worrying too much to see the outcome in your lifetime

Update May 29th: He is not giving in

Got this email (that made my day) from Imtiaz (mentioned above)

“Thanks Mr.Saleh still, I’m going to Chuadanga within few weeks to see hows going with his family. I’ll try to help his wife get into something that will help her earn for herself. I still have the money raised for Amir Hossain. The donors all agreed with me to give it his wife. So, now my plan is setting his wife for some job or make her self-employed.

I’m not giving in
“

More power to you, soldier!!

He could not be saved.

Don’t know what to say? Why did he die? Was he just a wrong place at the wrong time? Was he the sacrifical lamb?

Amir Ali - A victim of mindless hartals

In an effort to raise awareness and reach a wider target audience, the news of the Palashbari Fundraising drive has been communicated to various internet-based Bangladeshi organizations. There was a “comment” in response to the news item that was posted at amaderGaan.com.

This is my response to the comment, and I welcome your feedback.

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I wanted to clarify something based on the comment related to the drishtipat news on the main page. Its encouraging that the news item is instigating some *thought* among the visitors!

Pressuring industrialists, employers and the authorities to consider human and civil rights in addition to their worries of sustainable economic development, is a controversial arena. Speaking out for religious minorities, for the neglected sector of our populace and for those whose voice will remain muted unless they are given some support, is often not appealing to the “image” of Bangladesh in the international community.

from our webpage: Drishtipat is a non-profit, non-political expatriate Bangladeshi organization committed to safeguarding every individual’s basic democratic rights, including freedom of expression, and is opposed to any and all kinds of human rights abuses in Bangladesh.

Drishtipat’s goal is not to tarnish the image of Bangladesh or its state of governance in the eyes of our international partners and colleagues. Drishtipat’s goal is not to staunch the economic development of Bangladesh. I sincerely hope I speak for all the members associated with Drishtipat when I wonder whether sustainable economic development and national advancement is necessarily tied to the “collateral damange” of violation of freedom of expression, of our right to safety and security, our right to the basic needs of life and the right to live with dignity, like a human being.

While I am not in a position to comment on the other local chapters, one of the top most priority for the development of the Boston local chapter is our commitment to projecting a positive image of Bangladesh, despite the grave issues we will be highlighting, based entirely on the general approach of our awareness raising strategies.

Our message to the world is not “look, we’re so evil in Bangladesh, we don’t care about our fellow countrymen, we do whatever it takes to get to the top 0urselves.”

Our message to the world is “there are human rights violations in every single corner of the world, from the richest to the poorest of nations, regardless of economic standing. As Bangladeshis, we are brave enough to admit that there is a problem in Bangladesh regarding human rights. We care enough to try to identify these issues - knowing the problem is the problem half solved. We take up our civic responsibility enthusiastically to try to develop a working framework, working “with” other human rights groups *and* the authorities, whereby economic development does not conflict with assurance of basic human rights.”

Bangladeshis have set an example in the international world time and again. 1952 led to the International Mother Language Day. Microcredit and its associated economic and business models have been applauded and imitated all over the world, even in Chicago, USA. Its time Bangladesh set another important example: that caring about human rights *can* go hand in hand with national development and advancement, and that, in fact, it must.

Drishtipat is a step towards that direction.

Imtiaz makes a very good point in his piece about the hypocrecy of the opposition regarding hartal. While Mr. Jalil is busy attending meeting of his bank, the HSC examinees are suffering. People like Mr. Abdul “April 30 Deadline” Jalil is precisely the reason why AL does not have any credibility with the mass these days and is likely to keep them away from power another 5 years if things don’t change radically. Kind of what has happened to the conservatives in the UK. However, please do note that there has not been a single hartal on the garments disasters or the repeated ferry disasters where hundreds of people died. Have you heard any AL leader speak a word about these issues and on the inefficiency of the government on these matters? When I saw Ms. Shirin Akter, of Kormojibi nari shongstha last week in London, she made exactly the point that why is that these issues, issues of the common man or the working class, do not come up in political agenda? Any idea? Feel free to comment.

After becoming the biggest festival of the year inside Bangladesh, Pohela Boishakh festivities are becoming the main festival among the Bangla diaspora as well. This is a picture of the Boishakhi mela in London which attracted close to 50,000 people this year. Something to be experienced…

2 years ago, I wrote this piece on the ferry disaster that killed 400 people.
Many more happened since then. 4000 people died in Bangladesh in ferry disaster. Not a single one was investigated. Most, if not all, were due to negligence and could have been prevented.

Two more this week. The list goes on and on…

The lady who seats high in the PMO.
Does she know?
Does she know!

Sunday, 8 May, 2005. The Daily Star reports,

20 hurt as cops club freedom fighters
Staff Correspondent

At least 20 people, mostly war-maimed freedom fighters, were wounded in a baton charge by police in the capital yesterday when they were proceeding towards the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to submit a memorandum.

The police swooped on the procession of about 1,000 members of the Welfare Association for War-Injured Freedom Fighters and Families of the Martyrs near Prodhan Montri Bhaban at around 11:00am, witnesses said.

Witnesses said the police intercepted the procession immediately after it started from its office on Gaznavi Road in Mohammadpur, but the war-injured freedom fighters in wheelchairs and on crutches marched forward.

The police put a barricade on Mirpur Road near the Prodhan Montri Bhaban, the official residence of the prime minister, as the procession was marching towards the PMO.

The crippled freedom fighters and their families ran for cover as police continued indiscriminate baton charging to disperse the procession, the witnesses said.

Some 20 processionists, including freedom fighters Modassir Hossain Modhu Bir Protik, Monsur Ali and Sukkur Ali, were injured in the police action.

After the attack, the agitators sat in front of the Prodhan Montri Bhaban to protest the police action, observing a two-hour sit-in.

The police later allowed a four-member team of the organisation, including its President Amir Hossain Molla and General Secretary Belal Uddin, to go to the PMO. The sit-in ended after they submitted the memorandum.

In the memorandum, the freedom fighters demanded setting up a plastic plant for Tabani Beverage, a sister-concern of Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust, which, according to them, is incurring a loss due to absence of the plant.

Was supposed to file a different post. One, you know, of ‘enlightening’, ‘refreshing’ kind. Instead.

I think commenting on this story is dispensable.

All disgust and all pain smeared on newspaper, every morning, every single day.

— Tasneem Khalil, Dhaka

A few days back my brother died. Well, nothing abnormal that people (however near and dear they may be) do die every now and then while graveyards are all busy getting filled up.

“Give us 2 lakhs”. That’s the tag!

If you think I am writing any fiction, here’s something the Daily Star reported,

Savar Tragedy
Families demand compensation be doubled
Staff Correspondent

The families of those injured and killed in the garment factory collapse on April 11 at Savar yesterday demanded that they be given a minimum of Tk 2 lakh as compensation, saying that Tk 1 lakh is not enough.

They also demanded that pending salaries be paid immediately for the injured workers and that proper steps be taken for their treatment.

Carrying red flags, banners, posters and placards, around one hundred injured workers and victims’ families formed a human chain at Muktangaon in the capital, demanding their proper compensation and their pending salaries.

“We have been passing a very terrible life since my brother died in the Savar tragedy. We know that we will never get back my brother, but Tk one lakh compensation is very low as my brother earned Tk 7,000 per month,” Abdul Sattar, whose brother Shafiqul Islam died in the Savar tragedy, told The Daily Star.

“Now I can not do any work and join any garment factory as my hand is paralyzed. But the government and owners did not take any steps to provide me any treatment,” Barak Mian, who was on the ground floor when the garment building collapsed, told The Daily Star.

Workers who were not present in the factory on the day of the collapse alleged they did not get two month’s of salaries and three months of over time.

Workers also demanded the arrest of the owners of Spectrum Sweater Industries Ltd.

More than one thousand garment workers have been killed in accidents at their workplaces in the last five years, but the factory owners and government still remain indifferent to their safety, the workers alleged.

Jatiya Garment Sramik Federation and the Bangladesh Garments and Industries Workers Federation organised the programme.

Amirul Huq Amin, general secretary of Jatiya Garments Sramik Federation, presided over the programme where garments leaders Babul Aktar, Sahida Sarkar, Nasrin Aktar and Kamrun Nahar were present.

And if you think paying the price for a dead-body is not that smart an idea and would really prefer standing by these unfortunate families, here’s the link for you to follow and act….

Palashbari Tragedy: An Online Photo Exhibition and Fundraising

— Tasneem Khalil, Dhaka

Cross-posted

While headlines have moved off the Palashbari tragedy, Aasha Mehreen and his team talked to the people in the hospital. A very moving piece indeed

I want them to take it one more level up and mention how readers can help out. Reading such articles, you feel like doing something for them. But HOW? Can they coordinate something? Can they set up a messageboard on their website? Can they forward their interested parties to potential NGOs? Granted that this is not their job but a small effort in networking can make a tremendous difference in their lives. The following was an excerpt of email I sent to Aasha Mehreen last month.

Also, this is more related to Star Weekend Magazine who are doing a tremendous job in reporting hr abuse cases. I am interested to see to take it up one more level where such reports will be followed by a section on how the reader can take action after reading the story. Whether it is by posting an email address where they can write to or whether it is through connecting an NGO with the reader. This is something DP can felicitate. For example, when Aasha did a story on Rahela, it got huge response and people wanted to help but they did not know how. Similarly the story on domestic abuse of housemaids also created a stir. That story can easily be linked to a section like ” here is how you can help” and link it with orgazations like Shoishob. The idea is to generate an action item after somebody is aware reading such reports. At the least, even if can get the email addresses of people who writes back after the story, we can enlist their help in the future, when we do a specific project on that particular issue. We need make people realise that each individual can make a difference in whatever small amount.

“After 48 hours of work at a stretch, the authorities used to give us two pieces of bread. We were bound to work without salaries. As we demanded our salaries, they beat up us mercilessly”, he said, adding, “We informed the Bangladesh Embassy in Jordan of the matter but to no effect”.

Thursday, 05 May 2005. BDNEWS via Daily Star reports,

Owners of a garments factory in Jordan are allegedly ill-treating more than a hundred Bangladeshi workers, giving them inadequate food, water, and accommodation and depriving them of due wages.

Kabir Hossain, a worker of Al Shaded Garments, who was recently sent back home, narrated the tale of inhuman torture in a press conference at the Bangladesh Crime Reporters’ Association office yesterday.

“After 48 hours of work at a stretch, the authorities used to give us two pieces of bread. We were bound to work without salaries. As we demanded our salaries, they beat up us mercilessly,” he said, adding, “We informed the Bangladesh Embassy in Jordan of the matter but to no effect.

Kabir said 121 Bangladeshi workers went to Jordan through ‘Golden View’, a Bangladeshi travel agency, in November-December last year.

“The 121 workers had to huddle in four small rooms and the Al Shahed authorities used to give us inadequate food and water. They put us under lock and key in our rooms and factory so that we could not contact with others,” he added.

“As I, along with five other workers, protested the inhuman torture, the authorities forcibly sent us back,” he said.
Kabir alleged that Ohiduzzaman Razu, owner of Golden View ignored them when they informed him of the matter after returning home.

He demanded compensation from the travel agency and urged the government to take action in this regard.

What and exactly what makes labour all different from slavery? If this goes on, and our men in Jordan live on ‘two pieces of bread’ and our women go sexual slaves in Saudi Arabia, are we supposed to seat all mum?

Whatever ministry and whichever embassy is in charge, stop exporting slaves and try fighting for the due rights of ‘these wage earners’. Please!

— Tasneem Khalil, Dhaka