In April 2006 the inhabitants of Kansat, a village in central Bangladesh, had had enough with the persisting power shortages and corruption which were blighting their lives. They decided to unite under ‘The Action Committee for Rural Power Development’ and lead a peaceful movement for their rights. But their attempt to remedy the power shortage situation and bring about greater justice through protest was met brutal suppression. Last April when Kansat, a remote village in Rajshahi, was on fire, I was in Dhaka. I was distraught like anyone else seeing the news of such injustice. These poor farmers were getting beaten, killed, battered for demanding their very basic right.
In spite of all odds, under the leadership of Rabbani, a non political leader, they kept on fighting. Although they won an eventual victory, there was absolutely no accountability of the killings. A few of us in Dhaka got together and protested during the new year celebration against this atrocity. However, we wanted to do more. Just as the news fell off the headline, we didn’t want this story of amazing courage and injustice to be forgotten. That’s when I met Omi and Ritu of Counter Foto. I saw some amazing work that Omi had done on political violence. He did have the heart in the issues. We got together and thought of doing something to capture the Kansat incidents. I came home and wrote to a few well wishers to help this project and people like Rumi, Zafa, Litu bhai and others enthusiastically did. In the meantime, OMI got his group together in Dhaka. Akram, Maruf, Omi, Ritu, Mridul in Dhaka and Shahed, Shumon, me, Zafa, Rumi, Tariq in the US got together. Those of us in the US, helped with the research and the funds raised and also created a blog to document our thinking and the making of the film. In the meantime, we managed to convince ASK to get involved in the project. Finally after months of efforts all across the globe, Drishtipat and Counterfoto are ready to tell the story of Kansat tonight. “Mondrito Kansat” or “Roaring Kansat” is ready to premier tonight in London. We picked up the film last Saturday in London after the last minute rush and saw glimpses of it. Boy am I glad that we pursued the project! This story is simply AMAZING ! Since then Omi won the National Geographic award and he will be presenting some of his works along with the movie in London tonight as well.
If you are in London, please do come and check out this unforgettable story of courage tonight, if you are elsewhere, there will be a screening hopefully near your city soon.
Screening details: http://www.drishtipat.org/london
Making of the film and the background on the issue: http://www.drishtipat.org/kansat
Some Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/kansat/
This also tells you a bit about our organization. We like to find likeminded people and WORK (not just talk) together for a change for the better. No matter how much we argue over our political beliefs , at the end of the day we work for the common cause of speaking for the unheard voices from bangladesh.
We hear, we speak out and we help.
The Boston Conference on Bangladesh in the 21st Century was envisioned by Bangladesh Development Initiative, a small group of academics and professionals who for the past decade or longer, run an organization that puts out the Journal of Bangladesh Studies (JBS) and occasional books on development.