Drishtipat Blog

I met Smriti Kona Biswas a couple of times — first when I was working on an article on CHT and I was meeting a friend of hers for information. The next time I met her I was doing a story on lead pollution. A Fulbright scholar, Dr Amal Mitra, wanted to carry out a survey on the level of lead in the blood of Bangladeshi children. Her NGO, Society to Uplift Social Harmony (SUSH) helped Dr. Mitra carry out the survey on schools in some parts of Bangladesh, including the night school that was part of her organisation.

Later I came to know that this Smriti Kona was the same person who was brutally gang-raped in 1995 (when she was a college student) by a notorious gang of miscreants who used to haunt the campus of Barisal’s Brojmohon University College (BM College). The only thing that saved Smriti Kona’s life was that the incident, which took place in an abandoned building inside the college, was spotted by someone who informed the college authorities who rushed in and caught them. The culprits received 10 years rigorous imprisonment each.

Winning the court battle was not the end of the story though. She faced constant prejudice from society. Only after getting admission into Dhaka University did she get some peace of mind. Her organisation SUSH is an attempt to help women like her, who are struggling to earn a place for themselves in this cruel society. Unfortunately, her organisation is in trouble. Read all about it here.

From Rahnuma Ahmed’s op-ed: Another woman said, I was so scared when he said I would have to go to his office, but I was angry too, I knew what was going to happen, I told a friend, I’ll carry a brick in my bag. I want to mark him, so that people know. But the women also spoke of how they themselves felt marked. When I went back to the hostel and told the girls there they wanted to know, what did he do to you? where did he touch you? how long did he hold you? I wept inside, she said. Why didn’t anyone say, where’s that bastard? Let’s go and get him. Such responses make it so difficult to come out. Why should I take on this social pressure?

Protest against campus rape, led by the students union, at Jahangir Nagar University. August 24, 1998. © Abir Abdullah/Drik/Majority World
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Time to time, we will highlight pictures from artists and photographers of Bangladesh in this series.  The first picture in this series is this brilliant one by Nazia Andaleeb Preema.

Trying to find a caption for it, I thought of two.  Reaching out and Unveiling the mystery.  What’s your take?

Preema’s exhibition is currently ongoing.  Details can be found in her website.

Well-paid jobs at garment factories in Dhaka. Employment at steel mills in India or the UAE. Highly-paid work at beauty parlours in Singapore. Marriage. These are the lucrative offers made to women and children in vulnerable situations. Often, however, they turn out to be false promises and victims are trapped and trafficked either from rural to urban areas within the country or to foreign lands, and forced into the sex trade. Unlike victims of other crimes, most victims of trafficking do not even make statistics, because the actual number of people being trafficked is unknown. (more…)

The Newage front-page reports that among other things in Bangladesh, the state of gender-based violence at the work place is also deteriorating. Big surprise! The news comes as a result of a survey conducted by the Social Science Research Council of the Planning Commission, under Ministry of Finance and Planning. The news report by BSS states that ‘92.3 per cent working women of urban areas and 88.3 per cent of rural areas have been badly treated by various types of violence by their male counterparts’. Therefore, on an average, 90% of all women suffer from gender violence at their workplaces. I honestly can’t say that I am surprised. (more…)

As part of a programme marking the International Women’s Day, the government announced a National Women Development Policy on 8 March (see here). The announced policy was condemned by a section of the clerics as un-Islamic. Specifically, the clerics objected to any possible change to the inheritance laws such that women could get equal inheritance rights as men. On 11 March, the government announced that it had no intention of passing any law that is ‘anti-Islam’ (see here). On 27 March, the government formed a 20-member committee to identify inconsistencies in the policy as per Islamic rules and suggest steps (see here). While the committee deliberated, the clerical opposition continued. Following the Friday prayers on 11 April, violent protests broke out around Baitul Mukarram (see here). On 17 April, the committee recommended that the government amends its policy, replacing any commitment to equality between the sexes with ‘just rights’ for women (see here).

Drishtipat is committed to equal rights - irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity or faith - of all citizens. As such, it supports, without any reservation, equal property and inheritance rights for men and women. But this post is not about the commitment to these rights. Nor is it about theological discussions about what Islam has to say on the matter. Rather, it is about some lessons to be drawn from the developments described in the first paragraph.

(More in Mukti)

In a city where women in general are constantly victimised because of their gender and living alone is considered strange and often looked down upon even for men; there are a few individuals — women in particular — who due to often practical reasons, have opted to break tradition and are unafraid to live their own lives, in their own space. These independent women have chosen to live on their own, without the immediate support system of their families or a male figure — those who decided to set their own rules and redefine their roles in society.

Have you had similar experience that you would like to share?

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International women’s day has been historically the day when people specially in our countries talk about how women are discreminated in their everyday lives, how they are being the victims of violence and all. but I have been thinking about women like us who never fall in that categories. we are independent young women, who control their own lives, i.e, have good careers and earn good money. we learnt at a very early stage of our lives that we were no less than the men.our parents invested the same amount of money they invested for their sons.but on this special day i have been just reflecting on what we are giving up in return (more…)

Depraved, one-track minded men of Bangladesh have found themselves in possession of a new weapon to harass young, defenceless girls. It’s small (fits inside their pockets), it’s easy to manoeuvre and it’s always with them. The innocent mobile phone that brings joy to people for its speed in communication and information exchange, keeps parents happy when their children are out of sight and can even be used to buy and sell products as varied as furniture and vegetables, is now being used by a certain section of people to do something more sinister.
Unsuspecting girls are being victimised by this section of people by having their photos taken or videotaped sometimes in compromising positions. One girl (according to a Prothom Alo report) was in a shop buying personal items when a man secretly took a shot of her using her phone camera. At public places there is no rest from the wicked phone-clicking menace to society. Jilted lovers have also found a much more powerful weapon of revenge in the cell phone. So do we blame it all on the cell phones? Of course not! There will always be such people who will find new ways to harass people. But the laws regarding this form of harassment need to be stricter. People need to be more aware of the terrible consequences of such acts that cause so much trauma to the victims and their families. ‘Eve teasing’ has led to an end of many girls education and even suicides from frustration. This new weapon is much more sophisticated and dangerous. If it is not controlled properly, the situation may go out of control. ‘Eve teasing’ is basically sexual harassment and should be seen as a reprehensible crime that must not go unpunished.

Most of us have our own personal ways of keeping our spiritual well-being, but there are too many people in this country who place their complete trust on religious-attired old men who have limited knowledge of anything, even the religion they claim to be experts of, and take up title prefixes pir- or fakir- and take advantage of simple-minded people of the villages.

Seventeen-year-old Salma Akhter had to pay a huge price for the trust her mother placed on one such pir. On the morning of July 10, while Salma was peacefully sleeping in their room, someone came in and doused her face with acid. She woke up screaming and saw the resident pir running away from the room very fast. She quickly went to the tube well and splashed her face with water. But it was too late. The left side of her face had already been burned. She was rushed to a hospital in Bhairab where doctors advised her to go to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

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গত মাসে আমি যখন রাইজিং ভয়েসেস এর ব্লগ আউটরিচ প্রজেক্টের মাইক্রোগ্রান্ট সম্পর্কে এখানে জানাই তখনও বাংলাদেশে সিটিজেন মিডিয়া উদ্যোগগুলো সম্পর্কে তেমন জানতাম না। বাংলাদেশে আসলেই কিছু কাজ হচ্ছে এ নিয়ে।

৪০টি ভিন্ন দেশ থেকে মোট ১৪২টি প্রকল্প প্রস্তাব এসেছিল রাইজিং ভয়েসেসে। তার মধ্যে বাংলাদেশ থেকে ৫ এর অধিক আবেদন ছিল। আনন্দের সাথে জানাচ্ছি ৫টি সফল প্রকল্প যারা ফান্ড পেয়েছেন তার মধ্য দুটিই বাংলাভাষী এবং একটি বাংলাদেশের। গ্লোবাল ভয়েসেস থেকে তাদের সম্বন্ধে:

কাজী রফিক ইসলাম এবং ক্যাথরিন ওয়ার্ড – ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ:

কাজী রফিক ইসলাম এবং ক্যাথি ওয়ার্ড হচ্ছেন ঢাকার নারী জীবন প্রকল্পের যথাক্রমে সমন্বয়কারী এবং নির্বাহী পরিচালক। এদের ওয়েবসাইট থেকে আপনি জানতে পারবেন তারা ঢাকার যুবনারীদের নিয়ে চোখে পড়ার মত কাজ করছেন। রাইজিং ভয়েসেস ক্ষুদ্র অনুদানের সহায়তায় তারা তাদের বর্তমানে সেবাদানরত বাংলা, ইংলিশ এবং কম্পিউটার ক্লাসের মাধ্যমে বাংলাদেশী নারীদের ব্লগিং, ফটোগ্রাফী এবং ভিডিওব্লগিং করতে শেখাবেন। আপনারা ‘বাংলাদেশ আমাদের চোখে’ এই ব্লগের মাধ্যমে ইতিমধ্যে এইসব নারীদের পোস্ট করা কিছু নমুনা দেখতে পারবেন।

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Blogger Shafiur Rahman is a very passionate man. It is evident from his papertrail that the plight of the poorly paid readymade garments industry workers in Bangladesh is one of the subjects where his passion runs specifically very high. And probably out of that drive, Shafiur decided to step beyond the domains of blogging and internet research. He joins hands with film maker Tanvir Mokammel and photographer Anowar Hossain to make the ultimate documentary on the state of Bangladesh ready made garments industry.

The name of the documentary is Bostrobalikara. Famed Bangladeshi film maker Tanvir Mokammel is the script-writer and director. Shafiur Rahman is co-producer and researcher in making of the documentary.

In Tanvir Mokammel’s words, this is why the documentary was made,

I have been watching these garment girls for the last two decades. Like any conscientious person in contemporary Bangladesh, I have deep sympathy for this hardworking, silent army of working girls who walk up to their factories at dawn and return, often very late at time. They are very conspicuous as a social group on the streets of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chittagong. We know they are very low paid, and they receive very little respect from the mainstream community. I once wrote a poem about these BOSTROBALIKARA. I wanted to make this film with the aim to sensitize concerned people about their plight, which, in turn, may help achieve better wages and more respect for these hapless girls.

The theme question of the documentary is aptly put in words by coproducer and researcher Shafiur Rahman,

Bengal once had a vibrant and renowned textile industry in the 17th and 18th centuries. Now that it has again risen, is it prepared to sustain itself in the future and to face the many challenges international trade poses?

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The following harrowing report was sent to us by a student from a London university. The name of the victim has been changed to hide the identify. Email address is below, should you try to act and find out how you can help.

Dear colleagues,

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Going home for the summer after hanging around “international development” students of myriad nationalities throughout the academic year was always a falling-back-to-earth sort of experience. Whereas these students - rarely Bangladeshi - were generally cautiously optimistic and well-informed about Bangladesh’s socio-economic progress since 1971, our fellow countrymen were not. This became doubly true when it came to comparisons with the rest of South Asia.

Back home, one is likely to encounter disbelief more often than not if one mentions that we are doing better than India and/or Pakistan (the rest of South Asia somehow never matters). Yet, in some very important dimensions of development, we are actually ahead. Rehan’s excellent post on UV last week brought back memories of making this very point with people back home, only to be met with disbelief. Yet, if I had said, “Bangladesh is a poor country”, everyone would have nodded with that blanket, almost meaningless statement without hesitation…

Hard though it may be to believe, Bangladesh is actually doing better than our bigger neighbours on several fronts.

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There is a saying in Bangladesh “শিশুরাই জাতির ভব্বিশ্যত”. Save the Children’s annual State of the World’s Mothers for 2007 indicates that impressive progress in cutting down the infant and child mortality rates and placed us well over India and Pakistan among 60 developing nations in this regard. In fact, the percentage drop in the mortality rates is much higher than South Asian average of thirty percent. If things progess at this rate, Bangladesh is sure to have a positive contribution to the Millennium Development Goals that targets to reduce child mortality rate by two thirds by 2015.

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