Unheard Voices

Game on. It is a testament to the circular nature of politics in Bangladesh that I used the same heading and same introduction to a column almost three years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The dynamics are different now, of course, with both AL and BNP in the opposition, so to speak, but once again the issue is elections and whether or not to participate.

The official letters from the AL and BNP to the caretaker government, respectfully declining the invitations to participate in the ongoing dialogue about the upcoming elections, have not yet been mailed, but in all other respects, it is official: AL and BNP will not attend the dialogue, and more crucially, will not participate in the December elections unless their leaders are first freed.

In the wake of the strong statement opposing participation made by the grassroots and district level workers of the AL when they met earlier in the week, the decision to endorse this policy by the senior leadership of the central working committee is no surprise. Indeed, haven’t we all been bemoaning for years now the lack of internal party democracy within the AL? Well, this was internal party democracy in action.
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By Priscilla Raj

[Editorial note: Priscilla set off to find the real impact of price rise in the most poverty stricken region of Bangladesh — the extreme Southern part of the country in the remotest of chars. This series, the partial cost for which is being borne by this blog, is a reflection on that trip. Hope you will find this series, the third of which is being published today, to be interesting and fascinating as this is a part of the country whose voice is often unheard in our conversations

After Part 1 and Part 2, here is the part 3. In the midst of the recent debate concerning, the Washington Post's rice crisis in Bangladesh, these reports from the grassroots, gives a telling and contrasting picture and tells the story of strength of our people.
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Sun that lights the Nights

Dhalchar Bazaar is ten minutes walk from the boat anchorage of the island. The crowd of skyward antennas attracts the eyes first. These are mostly to strengthen the wave of the mobile phones that is very feeble in this southernmost island. White glows of the tube lights spread weakly in front of the shops. The source of the light was not visible though. They were the solar power units installed on the roofs.

Government electricity department has yet to reach Dhalchar. Solar panels as electricity production unit were introduced in 1999 by Coastal Association for Social Transformation (COAST), one of the very few NGOs working in this island. Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Manager of Dhalchar unit of the organization informed that 44 solar panels have been sold so far. Recently Grameen Shakti, a sister organization Grameen conglomerate has started its selling.

COAST sells solar units with three different capacities:

i. 40 watt - Lights three eight-watt lights, a plug-point for 14″ black and white TV and two other plug-points to charge mobile phones. Price 29,280 taka inclusive of service charges.
ii. 50 watt - Lights four eight-watt lights, a plug-point for running 17″ black and white TV and two other plug-points to charge mobile phones. Price 36,950 taka inclusive of service charges.
iii. 75 watt - Lights six eight-watt lights, a plug-point for running 20″ black and white TV and three other plug-points to charge mobile phones. Price 52,000 taka inclusive of service charges.

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Zia has gone through an almost Darwinian process of selection through the war with Pakistan and coups in Bangladesh. He has never denigrated politicians as a class - which is itself typical of the present day military rulers of many third-world countries. On the contrary, he has shown adroit political skills in bringing together diverse political groups and accumulating political power though coalition-building.

That’s from the last paragraph of Prof Talukdar Maniruzzaman’s ‘The Bangladesh Revolution and its aftermath’. This post is about some puzzle, lesson and tragedy about the legacy of the president assassinated 27 years ago today. Looking forward to a good discussion. (Please keep comments relevant - spurious comparisons with Mujib or personal attacks etc will be heavily moderated).

(More at Mukti)

The political parties are handing the excuses on a platter for not having an election to the current government. One can already see the script …

” We called them to dialogue, they did not come. we called for reform, they did not reform. In such a dire situtation, in order to save the future of our country, we do not have any alternative but to ……..”

Is it too much to expect some strategic vision from our political honchos? or am i missing something? A full blown catastrophe helps whom? Does AL seriously believe that it can do another hartal andolon to bring down this government?

Can anyone from the party insider sources give me the real story behind the boycott?

What do you think?

n

Bangladesh parties reject talks

This post continues the theme of possible actions that could improve our politics post emergency, assuming a free and fair election with everyone’s participation occurs. In what follows, I make the case for devolution, by which I mean elected local governments (district, municipal, upazilla, union councils) with wideranging responsibilities resulting in a devolution of political power from Dhaka to the local levels. I list general aruments for and against devolution before finishing with a discussion on what local government election might mean in the current political environment. Looking forward to a good discussion (please keep comments relevant - blanket statements like ‘politicians are corrupt / dynasties must be banned’ have very little value, and will be moderated).

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From Washington Post report:
1. Bangladesh is among at least 33 countries, many with shaky governments and destitute populations, that are at risk of serious political unrest if food prices keep rising, according to a recent World Bank study.
2. 20,000 garment workers defied a government ban…workers, mostly women, hurled rocks and bricks at police and vandalized factories in what the local media dubbed the start of the “Rice Revolution.”
3. Bangladeshis are suffering from what is called monga, a near faminelike condition whereby villagers often skip meals and eat only tiny amounts of food.
4. Some see use of the military to guard rice shops as an ominous sign. Sajjad Zohir: “There’s a real danger, particularly if political stability doesn’t return and prices for food keep going up.” (more…)

Jyoti bhai has been pushing me to write a piece on generational changes in Bangladesh, and thus end my long exile away from my favourite Bangladeshi blog. So here I am, with some Dhaka-centric observations about generational changes. I cannot over-emphasize the Dhaka-centric, middle-class-centric (and perhaps, male-centric) nature of these observations. I worry that when we talk about “generational change”, we only mean a small portion of the population privileged to lead a life free of want, with enough leisure to indulge in art, politics, opinion-making and, of course, adda. Meanwhile, our farmers’ sons and daughters look at another generation on the farm with ever-shrinking land and ever-more complex global linkages, our domestic help bring their children to the city to serve our children, and the garment workers’ daughters line the streets of Tejgaon as our children go to school in BMWs and Volvos. Generations going by, no change at all.

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I reached Vietnam today for a conference. Thanks to Shubinoy Mustofi, I loaded up on my reading on Vietnam for my long arduous 15 hour plane ride from London. The story of Vietnam is a story of resurgence and the story of fighting against all odds. But ever since coming here I couldn’t help but just sigh deeply, thinking about how this could also have been the story of Bangladesh.

Don’t get me wrong, as a human rights activist, I don’t envy the fact that there is no freedom of speech or politics in Vietnam. But I also believe living a life of dignity with basic rights to food, shelter and security is every person’s most fundamental human rights. That is where Vietnam is a success story. With growths averaging to 7 percent every year, Vietnam is now the darling of investors, multi-lateral donors and every Tom, Dick and Harry. So how does this Vietnam look? A bustling capital city with eye popping sky scrapers, hotels and every signs of fancy globalization? Hardly.

The airport in Hanoi looks like the ones we have in Tejgaon — our old airport from 30 years ago. One small luggage belt, one terminal, three floors. (more…)

It appears that the Shahjalal Bank has made it mandatory for female employees to wear the headscarf. The decree was given yesterday, according to the Sachal blogger. I have not seen this story covered elsewhere, so I cannot vouch for its truthiness. Readers back home may have better information.

The question is - would such a move be legally permitted? At the very least, the decree would appear to discriminate against minority employees. Then again, if you were to go through the staff rolls of Shahjalal Bank, I wonder how many minority employees you would actually find.

Subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) discrimination against Hindu, Buddhist and Christian employees is commonplace in Bangladesh. But this move appears to institutionalize such discrimination. It is also further evidence of the creeping Islamization of the public sphere that started as far back as Zia/Ershad and which seems to be gaining pace with time, as its practitioners become more and more emboldened.

It’s almost enough to make one wish for the appearance of our own Ataturk.

What does the constitution have to say about this? In the West, such a move would be immediately hammered with lawsuits from all sides - bodies like the ACLU or Liberty exist to challenge such discriminatory practices. Does an outfit like the Ain O Shalish Kendro have a remit to look into the legality of this decree? Although I do not doubt that the merest whiff of a legal challenge will bring the bearded cave-dwellers out on to the streets, armed to the back-teeth and screaming Kaffir or Murtad at the top of their voices. O tempora, o mores.

Congratulations are in order. As many of you already know, Tahmima Anam has won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book for A Golden Age, her acclaimed novel about the Liberation War. This is a great honour, and we are certain that this will be only the first of many such accolades in her career. Tahmima’s novel has been translated into Bangla by Leesa Gazi, and this edition was released at the February Boi Mela in Dhaka. The Bangla title is ‘Shona Jhora Din’. The novel has also been transformed into a 30-minute playscript by the Drishtipat Creative group in London, and this has already been performed a number of times at various arts events in London.

Tahmima also writes regularly in the UK press, for the New Statesman magazine (where she is a contributing editor) and for the Guardian newspaper. Click to read her pieces.

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Congratulations also to Tanveer Islam, a regular writer in our Bangla blog, on the publication of his first heavyweight academic tome - Cyclone Wind Analysis and Disaster Planning - An Integrated Approach for the Bangladesh Coast. Tanveer is a specialist in urban planning and disaster management, and teaches and conducts research in the United States (on the Katrina-hit Galveston coast, among other places). He has the enviable gift of explaining complex environmental issues as they relate to Bangladesh in a clear and insightful manner. His ongoing series on the planning problems of Dhaka (and possible solutions) is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of our cities. We hope our policymakers are taking note of the valuable work that the new generation of Bangladeshi academics is performing in these areas.

To read Tanveer’s Dhaka series, click here (this is best viewed on Firefox).

Internship Programme: ‘Fera’

Fera, branching off from Drishtipat, is an internship programme that gives young expatriate Bangladeshis an opportunity to play an active role in contributing to public service in Bangladesh. Ultimately, Fera serves to offer the young people of the Bangladeshi Diaspora a greater understanding of Bangladesh.

Many organisations in Bangladesh are short staffed and are in need of additional human capital. In addition to fulfilling this service, Fera allows non-resident second generation Bangladeshis (NRBs), who are strongly interested in learning more about Bangladesh, to familiarise themselves about pressing issues in the country. Given their international education and experience, the interns will be able to provide fresh perspective and infuse their ideas into the organisation while gaining valuable experience by working in the country.

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The Usual Suspects
by Naeem Mohaiemen
Published in The Daily Star, May 19, 2008

“They let us cook rice-daal for them, let us raise their children, trust us with the keys to house-home-jewelry. And then they turn around and vote for people who call us terrorists and want to cut us into pieces and bury us inside the ground.”
– Bangladeshi taxi driver in Delhi (author interview, 2005)

BOMB blast in Jaipur. Round up the usual suspects. Calling Abdul, Rahman, Rahim, Karim, Salim. All you “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants within our borders. Report to the newest detention centers. It’s not who you say you are, it’s what we say you are.

Bangladesh has emerged as the all-purpose “Nondo Ghosh” (joto dosh) for Indian intelligence agencies. Attack on train station? Defused bombs? Bicycle bombs? Bag bombs? It must be the ultra-efficient, tentacle-spreading spectre of “terrorist organisations based in Bangladesh.”

Within days, we are told that the “modus operandi” of the Jaipur blasts is similar to the Uttar Pradesh court blasts (November 2007), Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blasts (May 2007) and Malegaon blast (2006). Every bomb blast is similar to the one before. They are all connected, except when they aren’t. Working on these leads, police are raiding Bangladeshi localities at Galta Gate, Baghrana, Ramganj, Subhash Chowk, and Bhatta Basti in Jaipur. Very convenient.

I remember the old days of Indian media hysteria about “Pakistani” militants. Bullet riddled bodies (the dead don’t talk) and Pakistani passports (always in their pockets!). But Pakistan has become more complex, with its role in the US axis of the willing. Plus, the public wants new, fresh faces.

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Some developments related to Bangladesh media are raising concerns. All of these may be unrelated. But being put all together, it creates an unsettling picture.

Since Jan 11: Owners and directors of at least 5 tv channels and 5 newspapers are under the ACC anti-corruption dragnet.

Sep, 07: First 24-7 news channel CSB shut down.

Nov 07: Economist reports

For the regime, the anti-graft drive has had some useful side-effects. The intelligence services are systematically acquiring shares in private media companies, by offering the release from detention of their owners in return.

Jan 15, 08: New Age reports that in the first year of emergency 35 journalists were injured, 13 arrested, 35 assaulted, 83 threatened and 13 sued while one media practitioner was forced to sign an undertaking and another came under attack.

April, 08 Popular nightly talk show on Ekushey TV closes down amid on/off restriction.

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Na Bola Kotha, our Bangla blog, with a spate of interesting articles in quick succession:
Snigdha writes about Africa, biodiversity, development and globalization in an essay discussing the documentary Darwin’s Nightmare.
Shubinoy discusses the rising backlash against biofuels, specifically ethanol production in the West, which has turned primary crops away from the food chain and contributed to spiking food prices worldwide.
Husainuzzaman, who is an environmental scientist as well as a popular blogger in the Banglasphere, contributes his first piece to NBK - an in-depth look at water conservation techniques for the future. Lessons for our policymakers in this piece; the writer also contributed a fascinating piece on how to clean up the river Buriganga in Sachalayatan a few weeks ago. Highly recommended. Go to Na Bola Kotha.