Unheard Voices

Blogger Shafiur Rahman is a very passionate man. It is evident from his papertrail that the plight of the poorly paid readymade garments industry workers in Bangladesh is one of the subjects where his passion runs specifically very high. And probably out of that drive, Shafiur decided to step beyond the domains of blogging and internet research. He joins hands with film maker Tanvir Mokammel and photographer Anowar Hossain to make the ultimate documentary on the state of Bangladesh ready made garments industry.

The name of the documentary is Bostrobalikara. Famed Bangladeshi film maker Tanvir Mokammel is the script-writer and director. Shafiur Rahman is co-producer and researcher in making of the documentary.

In Tanvir Mokammel’s words, this is why the documentary was made,

I have been watching these garment girls for the last two decades. Like any conscientious person in contemporary Bangladesh, I have deep sympathy for this hardworking, silent army of working girls who walk up to their factories at dawn and return, often very late at time. They are very conspicuous as a social group on the streets of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chittagong. We know they are very low paid, and they receive very little respect from the mainstream community. I once wrote a poem about these BOSTROBALIKARA. I wanted to make this film with the aim to sensitize concerned people about their plight, which, in turn, may help achieve better wages and more respect for these hapless girls.

The theme question of the documentary is aptly put in words by coproducer and researcher Shafiur Rahman,

Bengal once had a vibrant and renowned textile industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. Now that it has again risen, is it prepared to sustain itself in the future and to face the many challenges international trade poses?

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With the weekend coming, time to focus on something different and explore the lighter side. Sahana Bajpaie, as some of you know, has recently released an album on Rabindra Sangeet. Last time we checked, the cds were flying off the shelves and the buyers were mostly of younger kind who do not typically pick Tagore when it comes to their music taste. So what made the difference this time around? Well partly its Sahana’s singing and partly it is musical composition around the songs by Ornob. Both gives a very trendy brush up to the old man’s song. Here is one of the songs from the album. Click here to listen or download.

Feedback’s Maqsud tried something similar 8 years ago. At that time, he said he wanted to make Rabindra Sangeet played in the dance floor of clubs in 2010 and that was his attempt of updating the songs. Novel idea but poor execution. But even outrageous was the reaction he got. Out came the knives of the Tagore fundamentalists. Pages after page were written by Wahidul Huq, Sanjida Khatun and the similar leading Rabindra gurus saying that this shows extreme disrespect towards the great poet and these should immediately stop. Bechara Maqsud was virtually banned from doing any further show in BTV after that.

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 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibr Rahman’s sister Asia Khatun breathed her last yesterday. Not much is known about her personal traits. However some events of this person’s very personal life and her losses has been intricately associated with that of the nation.
On that night of August 15 1975, this mother, grandmother and sister, lost both of her brothers, her eldest son with the whole family and almost 20 other members of her extended family in political massacre. She didn’t have the scope to mourn all the deaths during that time of devastation. She had to become strong to protect, hide and safeguard her surviving sons. And she did what she had to do out of her maternal instinct.
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The much talked about reform proposal has arrived in BNP. While the proposal calling for joint leadership looks really good in paper, the people who it is coming from are a bit problematic. The proposal came from none other than Abdul Mannan Bhuia, the current sec General of BNP. If you didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t blame you if you had thought that secretary was just appointed in the party. However, this very same person was the secretary for the last 5 years — supposedly the years of massive corruption and family dynasty done under the name of his party. What was his role during that time?

If you recell, Oct 27th, 2006, a group of BNP leaders left the party with exactly the same accusation and formed a new party called LDP. At that time, the very next day their houses were attacked, their cars were torched by the BNP goons. What was Mannan Bhuiya’s role during that time ? He said that if a few people leave BNP, it doesn’t hurt the party. In effect, Bhuiya alligned himself perfectly with the people whom he is calling corrupt today in spite of that open revolt inside the party.

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Picture Courtesy: Uttorshuri

The brilliance remains
Syed Badrul Ahsan

Jahanara Imam’s life ended thirteen years ago, in a blaze of glory. That is the truth. The courage she demonstrated in her final years of temporal existence remains an inspiration for all of us to follow.
When you consider the criticism she came under in her later years, from old collaborators of the Pakistan army to such men of the law who displayed little shame in mocking her after her death, you have that certain belief welling up in you that she caused imprints of her cause to be left behind nearly everywhere.

For a woman who had seen a son taken away by the Pakistanis, never to be returned, it was a monumental task taking upon herself the responsibility of waging an old battle in new form. For an individual who witnessed the swift decline and death of a husband who had survived, barely, degrading torture at the hands of the Tikka-Niazi hordes, it was sheer bravery setting bad memories aside and coming forth to inform her fellow Bengalis that not all had been lost, that indeed we had it in our power to point the finger at those who had once humiliated us in the company of their foreign masters and tell them that shame was writ large for all time on their dark lives.

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We have redesigned the website for this appeal. Please visit www.bnwlahostel.org and feel free to donate!For news and updates, you can now link to the campaign blog from the site.

An inspiring success story of a girl named Doly Akter, born and raised in a Dhaka slum tells how change is always more effective when it comes from within. Doly was born and lived against all odds amid the poorest of the world in one of many slums in Dhaka. Though she was more likely to fall victim to early marriage, abuse, health hazards and many other possible risks, she managed to rise above it towards getting education to secure a brighter future that many fortunate ones take for granted. Doly didn’t forget the community that harbored her and gave back through service to improve of health and education of her fellow residents. Perhaps, we need to turn our focus on ‘Dolys’ that are out there in hopeless communities all over Bangladesh and empower them to help their own communities to get out of the cycle of agony.

Click here to read Doly’s success story in BBC News website.

Maneeza Hossain recently came out with a Hudson Institute White Paper on the current interim administration’s impact on democracy in Bangladesh and the radical Islamist agenda in Bangladesh. While it seems to be geared towards a Capitol Hill audience, you can download a copy of the paper here and evaluate the paper for yourself. However, if you’re interested in spoilers and some quick comments, read on.

Ms. Hossain motivates her piece by putting the current situation in Bangladesh in context, relating the importance of a moderate Muslim majority country as a democratic model in the global war on terror, and warning the reader about how the current BD administration’s extra-constitutional and undemocratic actions are strengthening the hands of militant fundamentalists – intentionally or otherwise.

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A “bhodroloke” revolution is said to have taken place in Bangladesh. At least that is how it was being advertised to foreign audiences, as Jyoti reports, by the Foreign Affairs advisor speaking at Australian National University last week.

While what happened on 1/11 is a lot more complicated than the simplified picture put forward by the Foreign Advisor, that simple picture by itself is highly important. In politics, as in marketing, “packaging” and “image” matter. What is so worrying about the “bhodroloke” ideological package?
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If there is one thing that has become painfully apparent to the nation over the past six months, it is that there is no such thing as a quick fix. At least not for this country, not in the situation we were in on January 10 and the situation we find ourselves in today.

It was always tempting to think that we were tantalisingly close to the promised land (of course, no consensus definition for what would constitute arrival): if only we could tweak things a little here, and change the wiring a touch there, that all of a sudden the engine of state would begin to purr smoothly and the country would roll confidently towards its shining destiny.

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Time to time in our discussions, very similar issues come up where multiple people’s rights conflict. The dilimmma for the human rights advocates is known as the issue of competing rights. Whose rights do we try to protect when ensuring one can mean harming others?

Here are a few recent scenarios from an average person’s perspective:

1. As a human rights activist, I am against death penalty but I want to see justice served to Mohiuddin, who was convicted on murdering Shaikh Mujib’s family. Trying to send him home will mean death penalty but trying not to send him home will be denial of justice to Mujib family. So both Mohiuddin and Mujib family’s rights are competiting against each other here. Where should a human rights activist from Bangladesh stand? Is it not important to have for a Bangladeshi activist to make a statement for justice by bringing in Mohiuddin rather than fighing against his capital punishment ? How do you decide?

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I still remember the day in 1987 when I was intently listening to VOA with my late father. Ershad just declared state of emergency and Hasina was house arrested. But Khaleda was untraceable. She gave an interview to VOA from hiding saying the movement would continue. This gave a lot of courage to people who were on the street. What an image it was! The young, impressionable mind gradually became a big fan of her principled stand of no election under autocracy. In 1991 after the overthrowing of Ershad, the country was rejuvinated. People never forgot Hasina’s back tracking on election and her reluctant opposition of Ershad and her brazen speeches. On the other hand, Khaleda’s speeches were measured and the election rallies drew huge crowds. Although the observers dismissed BNP as a winnable party, the major upset in the election was in large part due to her. Without much grassroots for the party, she managed to catapult BNP to victory by her tireless campaign and charisma. Her first administration in 1991 was mostly known for inaction and inefficiency but not for corruption. But that was understandable given the lack of experience. Also it was met with a very uncooperative opposition from the very beginning. However, she miscalculated the public sentiment on the movement for caretaker government after the election in Magura was rigged. That started the legacy of stolen election. Although she lost the election and gave up on the caretaker government issue, she still managed to keep a lot of political support and good will which unfortunately did not happen after she handed over power in 2006..
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June 17, 2007: Washington, DC – The Bangladeshi-American Foundation, Inc. (BAFI), the largest umbrella organization of Bangladeshi diaspora in USA, announced Our Pride Awards to seven Bangladeshi-Americans for their achievements and contributions in their respective fields.

And this is how NYBAP’s ( New York Young Bangladeshi professional) Rasheq Rahman broke the news,

No doubt Asif is too shy to announce it, but I wanted to share some great news with all of you. We found out earlier this week that Asif will be awarded a Bangladeshi American Our Pride award at the upcoming Bangladeshi American Federation Inc (BAFI) convention in Mclean, VA on July 7th.

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জুন ১৩ ও জুন ১৪, ২০০৭ তারিখে প্রথম আলোর প্রথম পাতায় এসেছে আবাসন শিল্পের কর্ণধারদের নিয়ে প্রতিবেদন। রিয়েল এস্টেট ও গৃহায়ন শিল্পপতিদের সংগঠন রিহ্যাব অর্থ উপদেষ্টা মির্জা আজিজ এর কাছে অনুরোধ নিয়ে গিয়েছিলেন সাম্প্রতিক বাজেটে ঘোষিত একটি রদ করা রীতি আরো এক বছরের জন্যে চালু রাখতে। রীতিটি হচ্ছে, নির্দিষ্ট হারে কর দিলে জমি বা বাড়ি ক্রয়ে ব্যয়িত টাকার উৎস সম্পর্কে কিছু জানতে চাওয়া হয় না। সোজা কথায়, কালো টাকার মালিকদের নিশ্চন্ত মনে আরো এক বছর জমিজমা ঘরবাড়ি কেনাকাটা করে টাকার রংটা পাল্টে ফেলার সুযোগ দেয়া হোক। অর্থ উপদেষ্টা সাফ না বলেছেন। রিহ্যাবের কর্তারা আশঙ্কা প্রকাশ করেছেন, তাঁদের শিল্প মারাত্মক ধ্বসের মুখোমুখি হতে পারে। তার পরদিন এসেছে আবাসন শিল্পের মোঘল বসুন্ধরার ব্যবসায়িক অপচর্চা নিয়ে কিছু কথা। বসুন্ধরার কর্ণধার বর্তমানে প্রবাসে আছেন, তাঁর সম্পর্কে রাজনীতির পান্ডাদের উৎকোচ প্রদান থেকে শুরু করে পুত্রের বিরুদ্ধে হত্যার অভিযোগকে ঘুষ দিয়ে ধামাচাপা দেয়ার তথ্য বেরিয়ে এসেছে প্রাক্তন স্বরাষ্ট্র প্রতিমন্ত্রী লুৎফুজ্জামান বাবরের সাম্প্রতিক রিমান্ড জেরায়।

প্রতিবেদন পড়ে যা বোঝা যায় তা হচ্ছে, আবাসন শিল্পের হর্তাকর্তারা অত্যন্ত প্রভাবশালী (হয়তো ঘুষ হিসেবে প্লট/ফ্ল্যাট/বাড়ির আবেদন নগদ টাকার চেয়ে বেশি), এবং তাঁদের শিল্পের স্ফীতি বহুলাংশে কালো টাকার ওপর নির্ভরশীল। এবং টাকার ব্যাপারে বর্ণবাদী না হতে যে আহ্বান তাঁরা জানিয়েছেন, তা সরাসরি দুর্নীতিবাজদের সহায়তা করবে।

প্রাক্তন অর্থমন্ত্রী সাইফুর রহমান কালো টাকা সাদা করার জন্যে সে টাকা গৃহায়নে বিনিয়োগের সুযোগ চালু করেছিলেন। তার আগে টাকার ধোলাই করতে হতো শিল্পকারখানা খুলে (যেখানো মানুষের কর্মসংস্থানের সুযোগ তৈরি হয়)। রাতারাতি ধোপাবাড়ির ঠিকানা বদল হওয়ার কারণে অঢেল কালো টাকার স্রোত ধেয়ে চলে আবাসন শিল্পের দিকে। অর্থনীতির সরল সূত্র অনুযায়ী সীমিত সরবরাহের বিপরীতে বর্ধনশীল চাহিদা অল্প সময়ের মধ্যেই আবাসন শিল্পের পণ্যগুলির মূল্য বাড়িয়ে তোলে দেড় থেকে দুইগুণ।

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Somewhereinblog’s Arlid is trying to unite the bloggers in Chittagong to help the relief activities. Arlid is reporting live from their with some tragic stories.

Photo: AFP/Jber Alam

me and rahil reached chittagong at 2pm today. weather is calm and fine, most of the water has subsided in the city areas.

after being told about the three-four worst affected areas, we started towards khushumbag, khulshi. as we got closer, we found ourselves moving on roads of sand, sand sand sand everywhere. trucks were being filled by sand to clean up the roads. we were quickly guided towards the accident spot, and had to walk through mud and water the last 100 meters.

a big chunk of the hill had fallen down, around 10am in the morning 11th june. seven people died here. a small crowd was busy talking to a few visitors, but no organised help had started yet.

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