Fri 22 Aug 2008
The following clip seems to have caught the imagination among Bangladeshis outside Bangladesh.
UV Highlight
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- Friday, Aug 22nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
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August 22nd, 2008 at 10:49 pm
This reminds me of something posted by Shafiur Rahman.
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:18 am
what? No Mullahs/Hijabis in Bangladesh? :))
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 am
havent been back home for a year…cried my heart out when i saw this video…esp the smiles on ppl’s faces
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:26 am
A contrarian view
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5456
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Re a contrarian view (follow link to read whole article) -
“Since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, most leaders have embraced the mantra of trade liberalization and privatization as the key to solving the countries problems, though it consistently has not worked. This giant mall has become a symbol of this overall approach: Bangladesh can shop its way out of its problems.”
How stereotypical and shallow! This is what I expect from the Economist, the WSJ, the Washington Post etc. when they talk about Bangladesh. Not from a fellow Bangladeshi and then not something that gets highlighted as worth paying attention to.
Before anyone jumps in to ask the silly question of whether it is ok to be critical or not - yes - we should absolutely be critical of our government’s policies and our own shortcomings when the criticism is deserved: with proper analysis! Throwaway stereotypical negative statements like the above are simply rubbish - nothing worth highlighting, and potentially harmful when they are highlighted.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I believe a better image of Bangladesh may be seen here. And it definitely counters the nay sayers.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Anon at # 2
Yes you definitely would see a lot of bearded Mullah marka or Hizabed Ninja marka in Dhaka streets. The number of hizab may be more visible in Dhaka than it used to be in 1968. But what does it mean? And what did you imply anon? Is the sight of a lot of bearded or Hizabed man/women in the streets is a negative marker of a nation’s development/integrity or strengh?
If you zoom deep into those bearded or Hizab clad people, you will sure find your or mine parents, siblings or friends.
Please refrain from cheap stereotyping of beard/Hizab = Mullah = Islamist = fundamentalist = terrorist = Pakistan Afghanistan border area = middle age life style = bad = very bad.
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I was trying to point out the film’s producers’ insecurity. If you are branding Bangladesh to a business community in outside world - please don’t show the religious side of the people. Its like hiding the not-so-beautiful matters while filming an advertisement. The fact that the ad never shows anything Islam related tells a volume about where we are. (Don’t get me wrong, I like the predicament of the Mullah)
Can you deny that islami-beard/hijab is the symbol of middle age life style?
The fact that Islam as a whole is struggling to adopt to the modern world is why people can’t get rid of this lifestyle of the middle-ages. Even if your father has Islami dari-topi, do you wear them as well?
August 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Thank you Rumi bhai! And thanks for sharing that video.
I don’t know what disappoints me more, the video or the commenter anon. I believe it is the commenter. The video is made for investors abroad and shows the “nicer” side of things, where “nice” is obviously seen through foreign eyes. Leaving aside the Hijabi/Tupi-beard stuff, they showed Dhaka without an image of a ricksha, a krishnochura or a girl in rags selling random objects at the traffic light with her winning smile? Eita kemon incomplete Dhaka?
But anon takes the cake. To paraphrase Einstein, “9/11 changed everything except our ways of looking at the world.”
Actually the Islam of the middle ages gave us modernity, to repeat a tired cliche that is nevertheless true. That Islam tolerated the drunken Khayyam, a thousand deviant dervishes and the erotic tales now known as the Arabian Nights.
They very fact that the phrase “middle ages” comes up says everything. Anon’s views are fatalistically Euro-centric, for that phrase applies to the history of Europe and only to Europe. It does not apply to South Asia, to China, to Japan, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas (need I go on?).
Thus “development” and “progress” to him/her is to become more Caucasian, culturally of course. Probably the same definition of progress underlies this video. In other words, the Dutch disease is besetting our dear anon, where a woman in a hijab is a sign of “medieval” times and lack of “progress”. Would it still be medievalism if she were wearing a denim hijab?
Lastly, the whole idea that Islam comes down to “dari-topi” is so depressingly familiar. It comes to us both from islam-critics like anon, and from islam-fanatics like our “furry” crowd. So what about clean-shaven people who pray? Lesser Muslims?
August 24th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
The use of the word “middle ages” was started by Rumi. I merely carried the word forward and exposed the mentality. To be fair, I should have used middle ages of all humanity when all cultures were more or less “medieval” within some degree.
Even if we think that the best period of Islam was the middle ages, no one in same mind would argue to go back to that time. It’s time to move forward.
For arguments’ sake I concede that it is a euro-centric view. However, what views can support these ‘Islam’s Golden Age’ type propaganda? If you have an Africa-centric view, you’ll see Islam of the middle ages as another the slave-trading, labor exploiting, supremacist, culturally intolerant colonial power. If you have an Indo-centric view, you’ll see another culturally expansionist, religiously intolerant, temple and idol destroying, wealth looting foreign power. It is only the Arab-centric views that boasts on and on of these nostalgia.
The type of nostalgia for the ‘golden ages’ keeps the mass in the Arab (and Islamic) world in the darkness where they are rejecting the modern world (I’m using another euro-centric word ‘modern’ for the lack of a better world)
We need to step outside of the religious point of views (not you or me or Rumi, all of us) and embrace modernity with its good and try to correct its bad. Islam had some good, had a golden age during the middle ages, and influenced the ushering of the modern ages in Europe; but currently it is horribly out-dated as it has been very slow to understand its drawbacks and backwardness and failed to evolve.
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This whole point may remind you of the Clash of the Civilizations type discussions. I’m not a proponent of it. All the segregated civilizations of the past had their respective good and bad in all the ages. Even in this ‘modern’ world, we saw the colonialism, slave trading and wealth looting of the Europeanism. We are seeing the Imperialistic, wealth accumulating cultural hegemony of the US. So I am in no way in favor of one ‘civilization better than the other’ type argument. My main complaint of the Dari-Topi world is it is a horribly outdated culture and fatalistically anti-progressive.
This whole video, my provocative gleeful slant, and subsequently Rumi’s comment shows our unease/dilemmas with Islam (as it is).
August 25th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Coming back to the crux of the post, ‘branding bangladesh’
I would like to know why the makers of this ‘touristy’ video think a wishy-washy, feel-good visualization of Bangladesh completely devoid of any energy of the unrelenting spirit of her people (barring the nouka baich scene) is a representation of the brand ‘bangladesh’. What does the red, in the red and green logo, stand for? What is our USP, if not the uncomprising spirit of our people?
Bangladesh is the poster child for ‘Never Never Never Never Give Up’. This video is not represetative of the brand ‘Bangladesh’.It’s too banglalink-gp-ads-given-malaysia truly asia-flavor-ish.
Good stuff for promoting Tourism Bangladesh at expos though.
If you want people to spend money on Bangladesh show them how hard the people work (not just in those pink garments uniforms in just a handful of compliant factories), how they get over all odds (e.g. Sidr) and how they never fail to move forward with a smile e.g. DS’s traffic girl example). Also show them how we also rise to the cause when our backs are pushed against the wall(’52,’ 71, ‘90, Phulbari) so that anyone would think twice before trying to exploit us again.
I don’t mean to put down the efforts of the makers of this video or their good intentions. It’s a good video production wise. But I live and work in Bangladesh and this video is not reflective of Bangladesh or its workforce.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
It looks like people expect everything from a 4 min vdo. If the purpose is to give a positive view of Bangladesh, then why should one include the negatives? whats wrong with a feel good vdo?
How many of you include all the negative attributes in your resume?
August 26th, 2008 at 10:28 am
….This video was done by a local business firm and shown in Canada for investor presentation. This is NOT suppose to be a DOCUMENTARY. The producers can show whatever pleases them. they dont need anyone’s permission. If you have a better idea for a video they go make it by yourself. And this is for all of you: please respect other people’s work, no one forced you to watch it.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Anon#10,
I’d like to start by thanking you for a civilised attempt at answering. Given the kind of people I had to respond to in the last two weeks, that is a welcome change.
I said no such thing about any “golden age”. Imaginary notions such as that do not concern me. I know very well that there is such propaganda put out all throughout the Muslim world. Which is why I chose my examples very carefully. I am yet to come across many outside Western academia who praise those three examples I mentioned as positives of “Islamic” civilisation.
re: “you have an Africa-centric view, you’ll see Islam of the middle ages as another the slave-trading, labor exploiting, supremacist, culturally intolerant colonial power”
I am not an expert on African history, but I am well aware of the slave trade carried out by Muslims and the enslavement of Muslims. I cannot speak of “medieval” Islam, but it seems that the earliest Muslim conquerors of North Africa saw it fit to leave pagan Egyptian symbols such as the pyramids and other Pharaonic relics in place. Hardly “culturally intolerant” I’m sorry to say. Once again, this has been done by Muslims of all ethnicities, not just Arabs. Are we SURE that it was Islam rather than Arab supremacy that led to the subjugation/inequalities carried out against the indigenous people of North Africa? Can we ever be?
I don’t know much about African Islam to my great shame. But I do know that Islam spread in West Africa at least because of Arab traders rather than conquerors. These Arab traders adopted the indigenous Mandingo language for trading, and thus their success at conversion. Hardly the brutal “colonial” power you are depicting. Something for both you and our fellow Urdu-pasand bhaisahibs to think about.
Re:”If you have an Indo-centric view, you’ll see another culturally expansionist, religiously intolerant, temple and idol destroying, wealth looting foreign power”
Once again, I agree that temple and idol destruction took place and represented the worst side of Muslims. But as we both know, temples and other religions are still extant in the subcontinent (and long may it remain so). Perhaps Islamic zeal had less to do with it and power politics had more? I refer you to Richard Eaton’s conclusions along the same lines.
(on that note, a mini-rant for whoever is still reading: why is it we talk of Hindu and Muslim civilizations/eras in our history books? Did all Hindus get together in Benares and all Muslims in Makkah and decide to duke it out for the subcontinent? What ridiculous categories! Let us identify these political entities by their own self-identification rather than the communal lenses our forefathers saw them through! May I humbly add, that these lenses are what the right-wing parties throughout the subcontinent still see our present day politics through.)
So yes, I’m sorry that despite your politeness and your professed disavowal of Huntington’s theory, I still find your views too Huntingtonian and thus ridiculous. “Civilizations” are not appropriate categories for the study of either history or politics, sorry. Your diagnosis of the cancer inflicting modern day Muslims is equally erroneous.
Just so we’re both clear, I agree that the Muslims in the modern world are extremely conflicted as to how to deal with modernity (to say the least). But your worldview is not about to help them in that quest, and might just breed more extremism in hte process.
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Fariha and admin, sorry for the long digression. I don’t think that this was too irrelevant though. How third world people - whether Muslims or not - see ourselves and like to be seen by outsiders is intricately connected to these debates about our history, of which this small debate about Islam is a subset.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Yikes, I really do get argumentative.
“Your diagnosis of the cancer inflicting modern day Muslims is equally erroneous” - to be honest, they are more “simplistic” than erroneous. Please don’t take that as a challenge and ask me what I think is wrong. If I had the answer, I’d be a genius.