Tue 12 Jun 2007
Photo: Moshiur Rahman [ I know this picture hurts. And exactly that is what I want]
All babies look kind of similar when they sleep. If you look at the picture, you will notice that overwhelming all the mud and dirt, a peaceful sleep glows all over the face of the baby. The baby was probably sleeping while the whole family were buried alive during the landslide. Now the baby has slipped into another sleep never to wake up from.
This little child was supposed to live a full life. Very unfortunately the life has been shortened. And it happened all because… because what?
Is it because the bay was born in a poor family? Or because the parents could not afford a crib, let alone brick house in a residential area or an apartment in a bay view high rise?
June 12th, 2007 at 4:38 am
By publishing picture of the dead baby, Jai Jai Din has violated the journalistic code of ethics. By reproducing the same, DP has also done the same thing. Pls remove the picture.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Oh it is so horrible Rumi Bhai. How foolishly are we playing around with the environment, and how cruel the revenge is.
I went to Chittagong in 2003 with a son of a incumbant minister. We went to the hillside and found that a hill was demolished by an ex AL minister in 2001 to build a housing society. The neighboring hill was being cut by the BNP minister. The politicians, businessmen and powerful people of Chittagong indiscriminately destroyed the lovely hills of Chittagong for their own benifit. But as always, it is the poor innocent people who always suffer for their deed. The BNP minister is now prjected as a clean man of BNP trying to do ‘reforms’ within the party. The AL minister’s name was in the list of corrupt persons, I think he is arrested, although not sure.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:46 am
The biggest curse of 21st Century is to born poor, in any part of the world doesn’t matter, may it be developed nation or in developing nation.
I pray that creator should look in to this.
thanks
KJ
Really sad about the incident.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Rumi,
Yes that picture is reality but it hurts- you have projected two issues Deadth and bad environment created by the people who are supposed to look after all of us(rich.middle and poor)-namely the Goverment and its sad that till date they have no welfare oriented policy nor a housing policy specially for the poor who cannot afford it.The latter part is very sad but the first part Deadth is in the hands of God who decides the day the hour and how one is to depart from this world.
Kawser Jamal,
As is always said and is the bitter truth –that God only understand who he places where while sending in this world. Being Poor is not Cursed. Cursed is the machinery/system that failed to do its job for the people BUT havent failed to look after their own pockets n continued to increase wealth at the cost of the people.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:23 am
They are peanuts by comparison to Bush?! Is that our benchmark for people who cause suffering to others? God, I hope not. I think the point here is to demonstrate that there are devastating and far-reaching consequences of greed and corruption even if murder is not directly ordered or condoned. Either way, hands are bloodied.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Rumi
I strongly believe that majority of those who visits DP are people of conscious responsibility. People who are responsible for environmentally raping of Chittagong, I doubt ever longs into DP’s cite.. As such please consider removing the picture from this post. It is very hard for any parent to look at this photo and not feel helpless.
Cheers
June 13th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
This is pure tragedy and yes there are people who should be poited out for this tragedy. These pictures make us cry . Lets pray to the almighty that the departed souls rest in peace.
June 20th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I donot know why people of Bangladesh not only but also the whole world not seriously take the environmental issues.enviromental issues should be take under polital rights i.e. human rights.
Dupur Mitra
Poet and columnist
June 21st, 2007 at 4:29 pm
In a larger context, this tragedy brings home to us the necessity of timely protection of the diffuse interest of the many against the focussed interest of the few on environmental issues.
Environmental protection, including maintenance of river channels, wet lands, building codes, protection of hills and forests against encroachers are examples of public interest that does not become an over-riding interest for any particular individual in society, unless they are directly affected by a tragedy such as this (usually, after the damage is already done). Hence, environment and its protection is an issue that is only of diffuse interest to the many in society.
Yet, for the relatively small number of people who have benefitted financially from cutting down hills and forests, encroachment of rivers and lakes or wetlands, in complete disregard of the laws, their interest are focussed since greed is the primary driver.
Governments in BD have so far been easily manipulated through money and societal influence of the latter group, where as those trying to represent the former group find it difficult to make their influence felt, as a public struggling to survive the day to day grind is mostly apathetic.
Groups like Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) to which I belong and its partner organization in Bangladesh (BAPA, Bangladesh Poribesh Andalon) have been struggling for years to get these issues in the forefront. We have a few victories to celebrate, like banning of 3-Stroke engine, polythene bages, etc., but much remains to be done.
More than anything, we need to change from a culture of apathy to one of activism. If more people feel a stake in the well being of the environment, we can prevent in the long run more tragedies like this one. The key is effective organization and resistance of vested interests through effective pressure on the government before it is too late.