Unheard Voices

I was going to start this update with a big moan about GMG airlines who I was in the most unfortunate position of flying with, or should I say in the end didn’t end up flying with, as they were not given permission to land in Dhaka to take passengers to Bangkok, but more pressing events over the last few days pales that whole experience into insignificance.
In an attempt to escape from the crazy frenzy of Eid shopping I decided to take myself off to Thailand and hibernate at a yoga retreat for a week. I arrived back in Dhaka last Friday and on leaving the airport I heard that the Prime Minister has stepped down from office and Dhaka was burning. I managed to get back to my flat safely but nearby a public bus lay burning and abandoned outside Ramna Police station.
An aunt of mine who was suppposed to be staying with me that night called to say that there was heavy rioting in her area and that her driver was refusing to take her anywhere.
My father who had came out to see me a couple of weeks ago had gone to his village for Eid and was supposed to be at home that evening. I came back to an empty flat and frantic phone calls from my Mother who was beside herself with worry after watching the news and not getting through to him on his mobile all day. The neighbours knocked on the door to tell me that my Dad had come back, forgotton his keys and so left his luggage with them.
At 11pm still no sign of him and then a relative called to ask if I had heard from him as he had called her at 8.30pm to say that he was on his way to Mirpur. She was panicking as Mirpur was particularly volatile and she was concerned that he would get caught up in the violence and riots.

That started a chain of events that lasted till midday the next day when he finally called to say that he was fine. That night I called everyone I knew looking for him and when noone had heard from him, my friend started calling hotels then at 1.30am we went out to look for him in the public hospitals. Never having gone into a state run hospital before the scene was petrifying. Those patients found in the streets- “the unknowns” lay languishing on the floor bleeding, urinating and dying. Those more fortunate with family or friends lay two or three on dirty broken bed. No doctors or nurses from I could see. The smell was horrendous. Even if my father had been found the chances of him surviving till the next morning were slim if he was seriously hurt. I called the British High Commission to notify them that he was missing and also informed a relative who was a retired Police Inspector General so he could try and use any influence he had with the police. My relative was quite pesamistic saying that the police would probably do nothing. The Consular section at the High Commission relentlessly persued the police angle assuring me that the police had to give priority to this as my father was a British citizen but when I went to the Police Station to file the missing person’s report what was most disturbing was the fact that they didn’t ask for any photos and the extent of their search was looking through their list of detainees. In a country where they was no active government and no law and order, the priorities of the police certainly didn’t include a missing UK national. By 10am when he still wasn’t back the worst was feared and a search of the city’s morgues commenced.
By Allah’s grace he came back to me safe and alive. What actually happened I don’t know. He claims that he was on his way to Baitul Mokarum to do some food shopping and decided to stay in a hotel for the night thinking I had missed my flight. The worst of the riots had been in that area where a ‘144′ had been declared. In the 40 years my father has been visiting Dhaka since he left Bangladesh he has never stayed in a hotel particulary when my relatives live nearby and for him not to call anyone is unprecedented. Everyone I have spoken to here susects that he was highkacked and kept for the night. Unfortunately he will not say and never will say what happened to him that night.
This experience has put an entirely new complexion on living in Dhaka. I had always heard about this happening to other people but never expected it to happen to me or someone in my family. All I can do is pray that my friends and family stay safe and for noone else to ever go through this awful experience.

Ramadan Mubarak! We in Bangladesh started yesterday, two days after Saudi and a day after some other places- it never ceases to amaze me why the Muslim world can’t get their act together and start fasting on the same day. I imagined that with ramadan the city would somehow quieten down but it seems the traffic jams start earlier with the mad rash to reach home before iftar. Our office hours have shortened to accomodate for this but my initial thoughts of using the extra time to get housekeeping affairs in order have been firmly put aside. Thank goodness for the advent of the supermarket here- I would not have managed otherwise having already experienced the dual charging system in shops- the desi rate and the foreigner rate. I thought that I was getting a bargain when I paid 40 taka for 5 stems of rajani gandha to discover later when I went to the same shop with a colleague that I should be paying 10 taka! Despite the vast number of shopping malls around the city I still find that bargaining needs to be done and being hopeless at it I have stuck to the safety of Arong when buying clothes, housey knicknacks and even my shampoo.
I experienced my first american styley coffee shop experience and was impressed- unfortunately its about an hour away from where I live so I suspect that I will be sticking to drinking street tea and eating chotputi on Bailly Road which in itself is a treat. There is nothing finer on earth than chai made sold on the footpath.
My work so far has been going really well. I have been roped into a team working on a pilot project to “legally empower” communities who are already working with the Local Government Engineering Department on small scale water projects in 61 out of the 64 districts in Bangladesh. The pilot will take place in one district involving three projects and will run for 12 months. The Asia Foundation has been contracted by the Asia Development Bank (who are the international donors of the LGED projects) to run the pilot and they in turn commissioned ASK. We went on a field visit to Dhamria on the the outskirts of Dhaka to do an initial feasibility study and it was excellent getting hands on experience with the local women. Hopefully I will be able to contribute meanigfully to the project by the time I leave Dhaka and keep in contact with it when I am back in the UK.
ASK also celebrated its 20th anniversary last week and it was a fantastic opportunity to meet all the staff, many who work out of the office in the field, clients, management committee members and founding members. They had a function in the national theatre which involved speaches, dance and drama. Made our local Bangladeshi Association functions in Glasgow seem very amateur!
As for life in the city…I have my up and down days but I think that would be same for anywhere. It rained for 4 days straight last week which brought the first fresh air I have breathed since I got here though it was interesting to see the impact the rain had on so many. Life seemed to grind to a halt for Dhaka people not venturing out unless absolutely necessary and sadly death for many people in other parts of the country and mass flooding.
So far the volatile political situation hasn’t affected me but with ramadan apparently its a relatively peaceful time. Ideas of fun things to do around the city would be great from Dhakaites reading this as well as any leads on yoga classes. Take care y’all.

Piya Muqit is Drishtipat’s first intern and currently working with ASK. She is a barrister and worked USA and in London specialising in Public Law. She is currently specialising in Asylum and Immigration Law, Judicial Review and Islamic Family Law and has appeared in both the Inner and Outer House of the Court of Session. She is also a door tenant at Plowden Chambers in
Newcastle. Notable case: Syed v Ahmed 2006 SC 165.

Good luck, Piya !!

Her blog can be read regularly at the DP blog or directly at this link

Here is a description of the projects that she will undertake.

Partner: Ain O Shalish Kendro
Duration September 4th - December 5th 2006

Description

(a) Developing a Position Paper on Addressing Medical Negligence through the Law in Bangladesh. In Jan 2006 ASK filed a writ petition to ensure proper monitoring of medical services in private clinics and laboratories.
The writ petition covers private sectors only. But in fact medical services in Bangladesh are provided by both public and private sectors. We are looking to develop a thorough research document on medical negligence that also covers public hospitals and medical centres. Apart from the issue of professional negligence this research should cover a parallel issue, that of medical waste management. Basically, we need a holistic view of the entire system of medical service so as to bring it under a uniform monitoring system. The broad aim is to ensure accountability in medical sectors and thus protect the fundamental right of citizens. The Position Paper will look at provisions and practices in other jurisdictions, including India. The more immediate aim is to strengthen our present Writ Petition.

(b) Developing ASK’s Petition on Release of Under-trial Prisoners - In November 2005, ASK filed a writ petition demanding the release of 1013 prisoners languishing in various jails. These prisoners have not been produced before the court even for a single day in the last five (5) years!
While ASK works out how the pending cases against them can be brought under speedy trial and/or, whether bail can be sought for them, and seek interim orders, we would like to have a thorough comparative research of best practices in other jurisdictions. While the short term aim of this research would be strengthen ASK’s petition, the overall aim would be to identify present legal and procedural loop-holes and work out a comprehensive mechanism for speedy trial of undertrial prisoners.

(c) Developing a Paper that sets out clarifications on specific questions on the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) 1961. These questions have arisen in the course of implemenation and practise of the Ordinance. They are very specific questions, but would require some indepth research or flagging of existing research on the issue for a proper response.

(d) Writing up short pieces for ASK’s website on judgments obtained through ASK litigation, various interventions and strategies adopted etc.

This will be accompanied by some field visits and also Court visits.

Having been in Dhaka for over a week now, experienced my first hartal (strike) and started my internship with ASK much to reflect on and write about. Its been over 5 years since I last came to Bangladesh and at that time it was for three weeks and amongst a flurry of weddings and family events. The city has changed- for the better? The jury is still out. The most prevalent change is the arrival of the mobile phone- everyone has one from young children to my elderly relatives in their eighties. Its cheap and convenient and texting is far more simpler than hunting down a cyber cafe. The other huge change is the volume of traffic on the roads. I live pretty centrally, Shideswari and the office in is Porona Polton, but trying to get to other areas a complete nightmare- a 20 minute journey can take anything up to 2 hrs in the evenings particularly if there has been a strike during the day. I have got thoroughly fed up of sitting in traffic jams and have taken to walking to work much to the horror of many but its only 25 mins from the office to the flat and its a relatively straighforward journey- the biggest challenge is crossing the road without getting run down by a baby taxi or a rickshaw. There is an abundance of traffic lights but on the whole signals are ignored and the police manually control the traffic at busy times. The other big change is being able to walk around without experiencing any harassment. Folk will still stare but so far have not had any cat calling or cheesy recitations of lines from popular hindi songs. The electricity has just cut out- thankfully I saved this seconds before -so will wrap it up for today