Unheard Voices

My feeling is that Rezwan bhai has hit the nail on the head. He has hinted at a link between democracy and disaster response/management in the case of Cyclone Nargis. Democracies thrive in open societies with free flow of information. A person’s right to know and people’s right to speak are fundamental to democracies. While some have tried to portray this flow of information and the different media through which they flow as “wastes of time”/ “distractions” that keep people from going about their daily lives, that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire situation. (more…)

Bangladesh’s Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed (L) receives a horse from his Indian counterpart Deepak Kapoor after inspecting the guard of honour in New Delhi February 25, 2008. The Indian Army presented the Bangladesh Army with two horses and two mares. Ahmed is on a week-long official visit to India
Photo: Reuters
Title: with due credit to SAY

We received a copy of an email from Prof Anu Muhammad stated below. The professor’s clear principled positions have rattled quite a few and he has successfully managed to put together a strong coalition of groups in protecting national interest in the government’s dealing concerning national coal and gas. We’d like to demand extra protection and security for him as he has now clearly become a high value target in this game of high stakes.

Last night (21-22 Feb) at 12.16 I received a phone call. The caller identified himself as Mahmud Hasan. He started referring my writings on Phulbari. ‘Why you are writing all these? Stop
writing. Why you talk in TV programmes? Stop these.’

He continued saying, ‘this is time for your retirement. Take final retirement. You have done enough.’

At the end he said, ‘no more speaking in dialogues, discussions or seminars from now on. If you do, we will use human bomb to blow you up.’ - Anu

You can read more of Anu Muhammad’s recent pieces at New Age here.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate release:
22nd January 2007

Bangladesh: Pardons of teachers not enough

Amnesty International welcomed the pardon and release of three Dhaka university professors but said they should never have been charged in the first place.

Amnesty International considered the Dhaka University lectures to be prisoners of conscience and had been calling for their immediate and unconditional release. The professors were held without bail since last August on charges of inciting violence.

“Charges should never have been brought against the Rajshahi and Dhaka University professors in the first place,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

“The arrest and prosecution of the Rajshahi and Dhaka University professors are illustrative of the manner in which emergency regulations are open to abuse in cases involving the right to peaceful protest.”

“The restrictions imposed through the Emergency Powers Rules (EPRs) exceed what is permissible under international law. The current rules and restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association are too widely framed and are being selectively applied.”

Amnesty International calls on the Caretaker Government to urgently review and amend the restrictions on rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association invoked under the state of emergency.

For further information, please see www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/one-year-human-rights-bangladesh-under-state-emergency-20080110

William Little
Asia Pacific Press Officer
Amnesty International
International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
+44 (0) 207 413 5810
+44 (0) 7904 398 285
william.little@amnesty.org

The one year anniversary of 1/11, the day that was perceived to be the turning point of Bangladesh, could not have come in a better day than today – Friday, the weekly holiday. It’s a perfect winter day for people to get up and glance at the morning newspapers over a cup of tea and reflect back on the full year of the army backed caretaker government. (more…)

We welcome the announcement by the Cabinet Division to approve the
long-pending draft law on a National Human Rights Commission.

We call for urgent steps to be taken to establish the Commission with full
powers and, most importantly, institutional independence to enforce the
human rights of all persons, citizens and non-citizens, and to address
violations of rights by any person, regardless of their identity or
institutional affiliation.

We further demand that the Commission’s jurisdiction extend to all
universally recognised human rights.

We express our concern that the proposed Selection Committee is too
executive-dependent and urge that it be revised to include persons with a
track record and credibility in promoting and protecting human rights,
including from within the Bar, media and academia.

(more…)

DHAKA (AFP) — The plight of survivors was causing increasing concern as relief workers struggled Friday to ferry in aid more than a week after Bangladesh’s killer cyclone Sidr struck.

A huge military-led aid effort was underway but officials said logistical problems meant only small amounts of relief were getting through and the pace was slow.

UN resident coordinator Renata Lok Dessallien said the army believed most victims had now received some aid.

“It is not enough necessarily for everyone but at least they have the first batch and the next batch will be close behind. Every day it has been growing steadily,” she told AFP.

(more…)

It seems like the other day when our very own Mohammed Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to become the first Bangladeshi to reach that stature. In reality, a year has gone by and we witnessed a situation escalating almost to a civil war, a state of emergency which is still in effect, an army backed caretaker government taking over the control of the government with a promise to bring mass reforms to the nation, a terrible flood, rise and fall of many powerful men and women and many other myriad events in Bangladesh.

During my morning commute today, I got to know from radio news that Al Gore (former vice-president and presidential candidate) was nominated as the 2007 Nobel Peace Price winner for his climate change campaign. First thing that came to my mind was “global warming” and then “Bangladesh”. It is without a doubt that Bangladesh is one of the top countries to suffer the consequences of climate change or global warming if we are not seeing some of the affects already. Inadvertently but undoubtedly, the Noble Peace Prize touched Bangladesh profoundly two years in a row.

Al Gore is a man with probably equal share of critics and exponents from the left to the right. Leaving aside you political view on Gore, he deserves accolades for bringing global awareness to this very serious global issue. We have not seen much needed broadened and elevated conversation on global warning until recently and if you recall it was at the top of recently concluded UN general assembly meeting. It is hard to believe the number of people still denying global warming as a scientific fact – it is like believing the Earth is flat simply because we can’t see the arch. Congratulations to Al Gore for his campaign that directly affects millions of lives in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has avoided the top 10 for the first time in 6 years and is not perceived to be one of the ten most corrupt countries in the world. Bangladesh’s ranking has improved and its better than 13 countries. However, the CPI score remained at 2.0 like last year. In effect, this means that the perception about Bangladesh’s corruption has not really improved. Only other countries have fared worse. Burma was ranked the worst.

Western governments have accused Burma’s junta — which seized power in 1988 — of turning what was once a jewel of Southeast Asia into one of its most miserable places through repression, mismanagement and corruption.

Burma’s business elite thrive by serving the generals, while many in the country go without regular food and electricity, the top U.S. diplomat in Burma, Shari Villarosa, told reporters earlier this year.

Details at BBC

the full list here

Mrs Khaleda Zia, an ex prime minister of Bangladesh for more than ten years, opposition leader for nearly 11 years, head of government’s wife for about five years, has been arrested this morning. After her bail petition got rejected she was sent to a subjail in the parliament premises. Also arrested was Khaleda and late president Ziaur Rahman’s younger son, Arafat Rahmahn Coco, who was sent to seven days remand.

(courtesy BDnews.)

(more…)

Shahidul Alam’s take on the whole week deserves a special entry.

Take a look.

Perhaps taking cue from some of our bloggers the average students are getting beaten black and blue. Listen to bbcnews here. In the meantime, DHaka’s internet is down mostly and private tv is censored. This is definitely not the way to go.

Latest BBC News

More on the internet mystery from shadakalo

Rezwan’s summary

Shafiur’s Snaps

• Protests spread all across the country
• Curphew imposed from 8 PM
• All educational institutes closed sine die.
• mobile network shutdown from 6-9pm. Clampdown feared

BBC reports:

The BBC’s Qadir Kallol in Dhaka says slum dwellers, shop keepers, rickshaw pullers and businessmen joined stone-throwing students in violent and bloody demonstrations. They confronted police who baton charged them and fired tear gas. Our correspondent says the protests appear to be growing more violent across the country, and are turning into a popular movement demanding the immediate restoration of democracy.

More updates from the ground at bangla website Sachalayatan and Somewherein
Please use this thread for regular news updates and use other threads for analysis.

Comment from Dhaka by “eishob-dinratri”
Night in Dhaka. ALl day, traffic snarled, burning cars, protests spreading to BUET, JNU. In late afternoon, the Army man who instigated the brawl removed by army command. Then in evening, the bombshell– Army removed from DU campus. But students now have 5 demands, including personal apology from Army Chief.

I celebrate student activism, I salute student politics, I applaud their brave role in ousting Ayub/Yahya, Ershad. But I hesitate to celebrate them now. We are in very dangerous, unstable & uncertain times, and we are all wondering what the exit strategy is. For Army, for CTG, and most importantly, for us. For Bangladesh. Because if protests oust the CTG, then what? What comes in its place? I worry constantly about what will fill that dangerous vacuum.

(more…)

History repeats?
*Police fired teargas Tuesday to quell protests that spilled into its second day amid a strike at Dhaka University as more than 1,000 angry students marched through the troubled campus.
*Marauding students smashed several vehicles at Shahbagh and Nilkhet on the fringe of the campus as the overnight battle raged on. Demonstrators also set fire to an army car in front of Aziz Super Market. *DUTA has thrown their weight behind the students demanding army pullout from the campus…Sirajul Islam, convenor of the provost standing committee, speaking separately to reporters, condemned Monday night’s police action at the dormitories.
*Protests spilled over into other institutions including the Jahangirnagar University, as students boycotted class and put up barricades on Dhaka-Aricha highway for a while. They smashed several passing vehicles on the highway and briefly clashed with police.
*Angry students chased a senior army official on the campus when he had gone to talk to them introducing himself as a teacher of the university. The students however recognised and swore at him before they started kicking and pushing him. The students swooped on another security official, who tried to save the troubled army officer.
*The protests are the first major defiance of the restrictions clamped under the emergency rules. More than 100 students were injured in violent clashes with troops and police Monday night after the students burst into protest against army action. [bdnews24]

photo: Jewel Samad AFP