Wed 21 Feb 2007
Instead of the usual mad rush of AL-vs-BNP @ Shaheed Minar on ekushe february @ midnight, this year the crowd+sequence was a little different.
First came Fakhruddin Ahmed (I noted the use of “nirdolio” in the megaphone announcement, by a man who seems to be the same person who does the BOLAKA movie trailers…ashitheche mohashomarohe shubhomukthi…)
Then various people, including DUCSU, etc.
Then, finally after good 20+ minutes came Khaleda Zia. Interesting thing is, megaphone announced her after she was already done placing flowers. Then a short list of BNP’ites– a wag to my left said “jegulo jail er baire”.
Then a little bit later came Sheikh Hasina. Now this really surprised me– after her name and names of other AL’ites were announced, there was a fairly large smattering of applause (not gigantic, but large enough). That was the only group for whom there was clapping. This was bit puzzling, why not for BNP as well– presuming these are loyalists?
Some point after this came Kamal Hossain, B Chowdhury, Rashed Khan Menon, etc.
I was expecting Dr. Yunus to come, but didn’t hear his name. Later I learnt he doesn’t normally go to SM @ midnight, so I suppose it would have been politically sensitive for him to go there now, before announcing candidacy.
I looked at a lot of the banners, and the political banners I spotted were Workers Party. Lot of trade union banners around.
Police & RAB out in force, but nothing heavy-handed happened.
Compared to other years, crowds seemed smaller– but festive.
[Photos: Naeem Mohaiemen]
February 20th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Meanwhile, madrasas apparently escaped having to observe formalities that other educational institutions were bound to:
See today’s NEW AGE http://newagebd.com/front.html#e
Madrassahs not asked to
observe Amar Ekushey
Edn secy terms ministry circular sabotage
Siddiqur Rahman Khan
The education ministry asked all the educational institutions, except for madrassahs, across the country to hoist the national flag at half-mast today to mark Ekushey February, national martyrs’ day.
The day is also observed as International Mother Language Day after UNESCO on November 17, 1999 declared it an international event in recognition of the 1952 movement.
The ministry in its February 5 circular in this regard kept madrassahs out of the purview of the official order. ‘All schools, colleges and universities have been asked to hoist the national flag at half-mast on February 21.’
The ministry failed to give any reasons for excluding the madrassahs. The madrassahs usually do not observe the day, said Jainul Abedin, principal of Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrassah, funded by the Jamaat-e-Islami charity trust.
The education secretary, M Momtajul Islam, on Tuesday denied issuing such a circular signed by a senior assistant secretary, who, however, termed it ‘absolutely an inadvertent mistake.’
‘This may be an act of sabotage,’ said the secretary, who has been posted to the ministry since January 2006.
The chiefs of a number of schools, colleges and universities in different parts of Bangladesh confirmed over telephone that they had received the circular, which had also been sent to the University Grants Commission, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and the Directorate of Technical Education.
The primary schools, which are governed by the primary and mass education ministry, are not served any such circular.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Udayan, I think matters are more complicated than that. Not all religious players necessarily want to avoid this– in fact the smarter heads inside Jamaat (of course Jamaat is not=madrassa and vice versa) have been trying for a while to appropriate and celebrate Dec 16, and other nationalist events, because they know this will help politics. The more gora factions want to engage in culture wars (puja holo hinduani) but the sharper heads want to appropriate it.
When list of politicos were being read tonight (thankfully a very short list this year), my friend turned to me and said “je kono muhurthe shunthe parbo, jamaat er omuk fool niye egiye ashchen”.
That day may come as well…
February 20th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Why wasn’t Dr Yunus present ? He should have gone there with the grameen bank employees.
The more I see his activities, I get more skeptical about his political wit.
February 21st, 2007 at 2:01 am
Naeem, thank you for the pictures.
February 21st, 2007 at 4:41 am
Timur, he may have been there. I may have missed loudspeaker announcement, or he may have come later (I left around 2).
February 21st, 2007 at 6:23 am
Khaleda Zia came to the Shaheed Minar? That’s quite surprising; I thought she doesn’t get out of bed for less than 10 crore!
February 21st, 2007 at 10:17 am
Timur, I learnt that Dr. Yunus doesn’t usually go to SM @ midnight. So I think it would have been politically problematic for him to show up suddenly this time.
After all, if he arrives right after Fakhruddin, it would play into hands of those who want to say Yunus candidacy is Fakhruddin-Army “conspiracy” (no shortage of conspiracy theories in Dhaka right now).
Then again, if he arrived after Khaleda-Hasina that sets a different hierarchy.
There is a very unsubtle hierarchy of who comes after who @ SM and always has been.
February 21st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’ve been watching Dhaka tv channels all day long. They showed many important people at Shahid Minar. Hasina, Khaleda, mayor, DU VC, speaker, many others. Yunus wasn’t there. He may have his own way of paying tribute. Who knows.
February 21st, 2007 at 1:44 pm
News from Kolkata - action inspired by Ekushey.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070221/asp/calcutta/story_7417122.asp
Signboards in Bengali
- LANGUAGE DAY DECISION
A STAFF REPORTER
Coinciding with International Mother Language Day, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation will start a crackdown on Wednesday on shop-owners who are yet to use Bengali on their signboards. The CPM-led civic body has made it mandatory for shop-owners to use Bengali on signboards, failing which the trade licence of the shops will not be renewed in the next fiscal.
“We are encouraging shop-owners to write in Bengali, along with other languages like English, Hindi or Urdu,” municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.
He and mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya passed the crackdown order on Tuesday.
According to the order, officials will go on a door-to-door check of the signboards in various city pockets, especially in the Dalhousie-Esplanade-Camac Street zone.
Shops without a Bengali signboard will be given a deadline to make amends. To make the process easier, the civic body has announced a few options — the shop-owners may add the Bengali name on the existing signboard or can put up a separate Bengali signboard.
The civic authorities will launch a campaign to spread awareness on the issue. Mayoral council member Dipankar De will be present at an awareness special meeting in Esplanade on Wednesday.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Udayan, the news from Kolkata seems to be antithetical to the Bengali Language Movement. The movement was to provide the right to speak or use one’s native language, not to mandate it. In fact, the Movement was against the mandating of a particular language (i.e., urdu) on a population.
So it seems to me this crackdown in Kolkata is misguided and should not be seen as inspired by Ekushey.
February 21st, 2007 at 6:21 pm
I agree with you Mash, this is so provincial.. A few years ago Sunil Gangopadhyay started ranting against English signs, then took some paint and with the media well in place started dramatically tearing down English placards or repainting them in Bangla. The same week I saw him in Kolkata’s Oxford book shop promoting some Indo-English writers’ fiction in jeans and with a whisky in hand.. pare bote!
February 21st, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Naeem,
I heard that Dr, Yunus is not in Bangladesh now…Bahrain? So that is why he could not be at the SM…as simple as that
February 21st, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Eeshita, I believe Yunus was supposed to take off for the UAE on the 22nd, right after his party launch (as the DS mentions). His absence at the Shaheed Minar was probably because of one of the other reasons discussed here.
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:44 pm
http://thedailystar.net/2007/02/22/d7022201127.htm
Ekushey brings love to border
A correspondent, Benapole
Hundreds of Bangla speaking people from Bangladesh, and West Bengal of India had a get together on the no man’s land at Benapole border yesterday on the occasion of International Mother Language Day.
Individuals and cultural and social organisations from the two countries jointly observed the day there.
Singers from both the countries sang patriotic folk songs and the national anthems of the two countries.
They hugged each other and exchanged sweets and flowers among themselves.
Elated with fraternal emotion, many of the participants started to cry with joy during the event.
They observed a minute of silence in honour of the martyrs of the language movement.
Members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Border Security Forces (BSF) of India exchanged greetings and wished for peaceful environment on the border on the occasion of the day.
Bibhas Chowdhury, a CPM leader, led cultural activists of Durganagar Youth Society, and 24 Pargana District 21 Celebration Committee to come to Benapole. As many as 150 cultural activists came to Benapole on bicycles.
Benapole Provati Sangha and Sargam Sangeet Academy of Benapole also participated in the event.
Meanwhile, members of BSF started to learn Bangla yesterday from the Bangla speaking Indian citizens living in the border area in an effort to remove the language barrier. The BSF members will teach Hindi to the local people in exchange for lessons in Bangla.
A correspondent from Benapole reported, quoting a Bangla daily published from Kolkata, that no less than 70 to 80 people will participate in the course at Bithari camp of BSF in 24 Pargana.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Thanks for this post Udayan!
It warms the heart - we should organise a DP dol to go there next year!! Anyone in?
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pm
me! me! But seriously we forget our past so easily! Thanks Udayan.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 am
Re: Sunil, I don’t think jeans and whisky proves anything. Should we be in dhuti or lungi every waking moment, and only drink daab’er pani and bel er shorbot, to prove authenticity?
Things change.
I think Sunil’s macro points is about public signage of Bengali, which is still valid (although the methods he chooses may not work).
I mean he may be full of hypocrisy (I don’t know), but jeans+whisky doesn’t prove anything either way.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:36 am
ha ha! I agree with you Naeem and knew someone would raise this. Personally I have nothing against jeans whisky but it was the hypocrisy which got me.. it a whole class thing out there.
Bangla for the masses and English for the better-offs. Left Front chatterati prevented English being taught as second language in its Govt schools before class 6 and they themselves all send their own kids to English medium schools.. keno?? This is just one of the ways to keep class distinctions intact - and this by a Left govt!!
Also, I was surprised Joy addressed his last speech in English, does he not speak Bangla?
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 am
Eesh! I saw pictures of the commemorations on another blog and got even more homesick. What we wear, drink or eat may not necessarily be the essence of our Bangali identity, but looking at the pictures reminded me how the traditional Ekusher sharee, the phool, etc. are still a definite tug on my rather emotional heartstrings. I am paradoxically both humbled and full of pride that there were people around who found death a reasonable price to pay so that the rest of us could speak, sing and dream in Bangla.
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:11 am
Eeshita, great, let’s organise this and go next year.
Naeem, forgot to mention - your photos are really very beautiful!
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Ok, Eeshita+Anu have officially been appointed heads of the committe to organize a trip to the border for next Ekushey February. We all hope to join you. Thomra egiye cholo, amra achi thomar piche.
February 24th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Dear Drishtipat,
As I was going through this website, I could hardly believe my eyes that we have such highly talented people, who portray the picture of our country with such an unbiased mind. There is no mud slinging, no profanity, no flattery. I wish all our websites emulate the spirit which you have inculcated in our journalism world.
I need not tell you that we are a nation capable of turning our country into a gold mine; we need only appropriate leadership to replace the present corrupted politicians and create facilities to turn out our country into one of the best in the comity of nations. While passing judgement over the Nobel Laureates of Asian and African orgin, the Westerners say that these prize winners owe to the West because without their being in Western laboratories, they could not have won such world class prize. Dr. Muhammed Yunus has belied their contention. Look at another youngman, Dr. Abu Hussam who obtained one million US-dollar prize by the National Academy of Engineering, USA for devising an innovative arsenic filter (SONO) which converts pollutant water into healthy life-sustaining drink. Although Dr. Hussam did finishing touches of his work in George Mason University, USA, the work was initiated in Dhaka University/Atomic Energy commission under Professor Amir Hossain. It will be a great contribution if the present administration create appropriate environment and establish modern facilities in our research institutes and in universities in order for Bangladeshi scietists to return to their country and enrich their motherland with their innovative contributions, thereby establishing stable economy on the same pattern as India and to some extent Pakistan have recently witnessed.
Professor Ahmad S. Islam D. U. (retired)