A Fulbright scholar from Bangladesh, Rumana was pursuing a Masters degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. She was visiting her family in Bangladesh during the summer break when this incident took place.  Hassan absconded after the incident and was picked up by the police on June 15 from a relative’s house where he was hiding. [The arrest came hours after the High Court took suo moto notice of the case based on media reports and asked the police to appear before it to explain the delay in arresting him].

Soon after his arrest, Hassan gave an interview to journalists where he blamed Rumana for having an extra-marital affair with an Iranian man during her stay in Vancouver. According to reports, he said that a fight broke out between them when she found out that he had deleted this person’s name from her Facebook friends list while she was in the bathroom. He denied having assaulted her and said that possibly she got injured during the scuffle.

Rumana now risks losing vision in both her eyes. She was flown to India for treatment but had to return home to Dhaka disappointed after doctors there informed her family of the severity of the damaged caused to her eyes and saw little hope of restoring her vision. Currently Hassan has been remanaded to police custody where he is being questioned about the case.

The Rumana story has shocked Bangladeshi society – both at home and abroad. Her students and colleagues – both at the Dhaka University as well as UBC have come forward in her support and strongly condemned this brutality. Bangladeshi families in Vancouver and the UBC have also sent an open letter expressing their sentiments about the incident.

Much is being discussed and debated both offline as well as online. Friends and supporters of Rumana have set up groups on Facebook such as Justice for Rumana where they are seeking exemplary punishment for her husband. Bloggers too have lent their voice in this demand for justice, expressing anger, outrage and shock.

Taef Ahmad writes in Choturmatrik [bn]:

দশটা বছর সংসার করে, নিজের সন্তানের মমতাময়ী মা’কে সন্তানের সামনেই মেরে অন্ধ করে- চেহারা বিকৃত করে দেবার জন্য কতদুর নির্মম-পাষন্ড হতে হয়? জঙ্গলের নখ-দন্তবিশিষ্ট হিংস্র পশুও বোধহয় আরেকটু বেশি মানবিক!

Manobi writes on Somewherein blog [bn]:

পাশবিক নির্যাতনের শিকার এই মায়ের অপরাধ তিনি তাঁর পেশার সর্বোচ্চ ডিগ্রী অর্জন করতে চেয়েছিলেন এবং তার যোগ্যতা অর্জন করেছিলেন।

At Sachalayatan, blogger S.M. Mahbub Murshed expressed his anger at the husband, whom he compared to a cruel animal. Mahbub warns that MSM may soon forget the story but it remains the reponsibility of bloggers to keep this story in the limelight until the culprit is suitably punished. He also urged women to recognise the early signs of abuse in the relationship and take appropriate steps before the situation gets out of hand.

An online petition has been started to seek speedy justice for Rumana.

Amidst all the expression of outrage, a small segment of netizens have also been blaming Rumana for her current plight. Amongt them a few have even expressed sympathy for Hassan, especially after his initial claims about his wife’s ‘infidelity’ .

The arguments put forward by the sympathisers mainly veered around the premise that Rumana must have given her husband a solid reason for his uncontrollable anger. Others argued that Rumana is to blame for not walking out of this marriage earlier. Other bloggers have been quick to denounce these arguments using strong words.

Blogger Zakaria Swapan comments[bn]:

প্রথমেই কেউ কেউ রিএ্যাকশন দেখালেন এভাবে – ডাল মে ক্যুছ কালা হ্যায়। যার অর্থ হলো, নিশ্চই মেয়েটি এমন কিছু করেছে, যে কারণে স্বামীটি এমন খর্গ হস্তে আভির্ভূত হয়েছেন। তাদের জন্য উত্তর হলো – আপনি একজন মানসিক রোগী। সেজন্য আপনার মাথায় প্রথমেই এমন একটি চিন্তা এসেছে। আরেক দল আছেন যারা মনে করছেন, মেয়েটি কেন এতোদিন এমন একটি ছেলেটির সাথে ছিল। তাই মেয়েটিরই দোষ। এখন ভোগ করো শাস্তি। আমরা বাংলাদেশে মেয়েদেরকে যেভাবে বড় করি, যেভাবে গড়ে তুলি, তাতে কয়টা মেয়ের পক্ষে সম্ভব সংসার ছেড়ে চলে যাওয়া?

Other netizens are discussing, not only about this specific case but about the broader issue of marital relationships, domestic violence and the culture of silence that exists around it.

Asif Saleh, writing at Drishtipat Writers’ Collective discusses this culture of silence in a post aptly titled ‘Whose face are we saving?’. Asif writes:

Hers was an extreme case, perhaps, and the ‘shobhbhyo shomaj’ (civilised society), as one newspaper called it, has been stunned by the sheer brutality of the crime. But this very ‘shobhbhyo shomaj’ would regularly pressurise the woman to ‘compromise’ (maniye cholo) in the other not so brutal (to-be-more-brutal) cases.

Rubana Huq at Priyo.com points out the irony that despite South Asia having an impressive number of women leaders, the region continues to have such a poor track record as far as women’s rights are concerned.According to her, “women are one of the easiest commodities in the market of abuse”.

Blogger Upopadya however feels that an instance of gender related crime should not be escalated to the extent of blaming all men, thereby placing the genders on a path of conflict [bn]:

নারী-পুরুষকে পরস্পরের বিপরীত অবস্থানে আনা বা মুখোমুখী দাঁড় করানো উচিত হবেনা। আমাদের বুঝতে হবে সমাজটা নারীর একার না, সমাজটা পুরুষের একার না, সমাজটা নারী-পুরুষ সকলের

Today, Rumana waits for a miracle that will bring back her vision and allow her to see her daughter’s face once again. She wants her husband to be brought to justice. Hassan is still in police custody. And the discussion on domestic violence continues unabated.

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First published at Global  Voice Online.

In August 2010, the government of Bangladesh endorsed an ambitious infrastructure project, namely the construction of a new, modern, world-class International airport. A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture, the initial cost of the project was estimated at Tk. 500 billion. The land required for the project was estimated to be around 6000 acres.

A beel at Tangail. Image by P. K. Niyogi. Courtesy Wikimedia.

Initially, three possible sites were explored — two in Madhupur of Tangail and one in Mymensingh’s Trishal — with Trishal emerging as the favorable choice. However, on realising that in Trishal the task would be to displace/relocate a large number of people, the government, fearing resistance, changed its mind and without conducting any sort of feasibility study or environment impact assessment, earmarked the low-lying vast wetland Arial Beel (currently the 3rd largest beel in Bangladesh which stretches across parts of Sreenagar of Munshiganj, and Dohar and Nawabganj of Dhaka) situated 6km south of Dhaka city, as its chosen location. Interestingly, by then the proposed project had grown from an airport to include a satellite city as well, bringing up the land requirement from the erstwhile 6000 acres to 25000 acres. (See some pictures of Areal Beel by Lonely Traveler).

The Controversy

No sooner had the project been announced, heated debates erupted among citizens in those localities. Many feared displacement and offered stiff resistance to the government’s decision and willingness to sacrifice the wetlands in its quest to build a shining new airport and city. Environmental activists pointed out that the move to erase the wetlands would severely impact both environment as well as livlihoods of the local people living in the beel area. There were concerns that the government had finalised the location based on land survey records that were over 100 years old, without taking into account a) the changes that have come about over time in terms of habitations, land usage and overall terrain of the land and b) the critical role played by wetlands in recharging the groundwater resources.

However, there were others who welcomed the initiative, hoping that the project will usher in employment opportunities and overall development of the area concerned. Apart from local residents, there was also excitement about the project among a section of non-resident Bangladeshis. After all, the project promised a world-class airport and city, an IT hub, a textile hub and many other such initiatives and a new expressway and monorail system that would connect the airport with Dhaka city. The Minister of Urban Development, Mr. Abdul Mannan Khan claimed that once the project was underway, the current legal landowners would get 5-10 kathas of land in the project area which would then be as valuable as a diamond mine – much higher than its current yield value. He stated that the people could not even imagine how their standard of living would leapfrog once the project materialised.

Protests against the proposed international airport at Arial Beel. Image courtesy www.move4world.com. Click on the image for more.

Both groups (for and against the proposed project on Arial Beel) began to get organised. Soon however, the issue got politicised, with the leading opposition party, the BNP, joining hands with the protesters and raising the volume of the protests and agitations to thwart the proposed land acquisition. The unrest soon spread and when the government tried to use the police force to control the protests, violence erupted in the area which left 1 policeman dead and over 100 injured.

The Online Debate

The protection versus land acquisition debate quickly spread online and fuelled the blogosphere. Bloggers reacted to various points associated with the issue.

For those OPPOSING the project, their arguments were mainly two-fold: a) the ecological importance of preserving the Arial Beel and b) questioning whether a new airport was indeed required at this time. In this post, we look at the ecological arguments advanced by bloggers in voicing their opposition to the project.

Arial Beel – A critical ecosystem that sustains biodiversity & livlihoods

In the International Conference on the Commons at IASC 2011 in Hyderabad, India, a global community came together to reaffirm the importance of conserving and protecting the world’s water resources. Their concerns were reflected among the Bangla bloggers who put forth strong arguments for protecting the Arial Beel.

A.B.M Mohsin at Amarblog writes[bn]:

এমনিতেই জলবায়ুর বিরূপ প্রভাব আর মানুষের অপরিকল্পিত বাঁধ এদেশের জলাভূমিকে ধ্বংসের কিনারে নিয়ে এসেছে। এর সাথে যদি এমন অযাচিত অধিগ্রহণের মত ঘটনা চলতে থাকে তবে জীববৈচিত্র্যে ভরপুর আর ছোট মাছের প্রাকৃতিক প্রজননভূমি এই আড়িয়াল বিলের মত ধীরে ধীরে সব জলজসম্পদ ধ্বংস হয়ে যাবে।

In an open letter to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, blogger Tanvir Rabbani at Sachalayatan, points out[bn]:

মাননীয় প্রধান মন্ত্রী…আপনার পরিকল্পনা কমিটির কেউ কি জানেন না যে বিলটি প্রতিবছর বন্যায় ১৫-২৫ ফুট পানিতে তলিয়ে যায় এবং এই এলাকার মাটিতে পিট কয়লার গভীর স্তর আছে যা বিমান বন্দর সহ যেকোন ভারী স্থাপনার জন্যেই হুমকিস্বরুপ?

[…]মাননীয় প্রধান মন্ত্রী, আপনি হয়ত জানেন তবু আরেকবার বলি; আপনাদের অধিগ্রহন করতে চাওয়া আড়িয়াল বিলের ২৫,০০০ একর জমি থেকে বর্তমানে ৪০,০০০ মেট্রিক টন ধান (প্রায়),১০,০০০ মেট্রিক রবিশস্য (প্রায়) , ৭০০ মেট্রক টন মাছ (প্রায়) উৎপাদিত হয় এবং এই জমি অধিগ্রহন করলে স্থানীয় বেকারত্বের সংখ্যা দাঁড়াবে ১১ লক্ষ।জমি অধিগ্রহনের পর কিভাবে পূরন করবেন এই খাদ্যশষ্যের ঘাটতি? তার চেয়ে বড়কথা কোথায় যাবে এই মানুষগুলো?কি হবে তাদের বাসস্থান,জীবিকা কিংবা স্বপ্নের? জানি আপনারা জানেননা, আর জানেনা বলেই তারা আজ পথে নেমে এসেছে।প্রতিরোধের দেয়াল বানিয়ে সেখানে রক্তের ছোপে লিখে দিয়েছে “আড়িয়াল বিল শাসকের নয়, এই বিল বিলমানুষদের”।

On his blog at Somewherein, blogger Roder Chele wonders how the government could override its own National Water Policy which lays down specific conservation rules restricting landfill of natural waterbodies such as the Arial Beel. Pointing out (through pictures) to the difference in the class of people campaigning for and against the Beel, the blogger concludes that the ordinary, local people are all resisting the project while a section of the elites were campaigning for the project. He writes[bn]:

আড়িয়াল বিল হচ্ছে বাংলাদেশে পরিকল্পিত চাষাবাদের অন্যতম বিল। এখানে সেচের সমস্যা নেই। পুরো বিলে আছে পর্যাপ্ত ডেঙ্গা (বড় পুকুর)। যেখানে মাছ এবং ফসলের চাষে পানির যোগান হয় সমান তালে। মাটির যে উৎপাদন উত্তেজনা, কৃষকের শৃঙ্গারে তার ষোলআনা উসুল হয় এখানে। আড়িয়াল বিলের চেহারা আর বাংলাদেশের চেহারা একই রকম। আমরা সবুজের আধুনিকায়ন লাল দিয়ে করতে চাই না। সবুজ আরো সবুজ হবে, বিস্তৃত সবুজ। মাটির গায়ে মার্বেল পাথর দিয়ে আমাদের মাটিসভ্যতা ধর্ষন করতে চাই না। এ মাটি পরিত্যক্ত নয়, এ মাটি অহেতুক নয়। এ মাটিতে ফসল এবং শ্রমের যে সংগম, তা অভূতপূর্ব।

Many other bloggers too are discussing how the government could bulldoze over their own National Water Policy, opining that this shows that the government is not serious about conservation and protection.

This post concludes in another part. To read more about the ‘Airport versus Arial Beel’ online debate, please look out for part 2 of this series, coming soon.

Note: First published in Global Voices.

Children Park – a type of real social business

(example of MOON PARK & MOON HOUSE)

This was also published in The News Today 09 Dec 2010 and other blogs

http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=14376&date=2010-12-09

http://www.bdcomcn.com/English-Articles/children-park-a-type-of-real-social-business-of-moon-park-a-moon-house.html

 http://bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidRecord=343086  



Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, of Bangladesh while addressing the prize giving ceremony of a painting competition at Dhaka Osmani Smriti Auditorium on October 18, 2010, has directed the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to recover all the children’s parks in the capital. The prime minister, according to UNB Dhaka, vowed to establish a safe and prosperous Bangladesh for every child.

Yes, there is no doubt that concerned authorities would try their best to recover all government children parks, no matter how successful they would be to maintain and keep the campaign according to given directives from the highest executive of the government. But I, like many others, am little wondered as to how much those local influential illegal occupants have gone regarding places like Children parks too. There is no need to emphasize the requirement of children parks for the over all development of a total Children. Considering their importance’s, government did their parts and hopefully would continue doing the best in this regard always. But we being the brothers and sisters, parents and relatives, teachers and lovers of every child also got to think and do exactly in the same way as our Prime Minister thought and gave directives.

Because the government can not establish more and more children parks all of a sudden, and because we all also have the morale and social responsibilities too for all the children, so, we got to also do some thing, either individually or being in a group. We may think of taking following measures to ensure so that more and more children get the facilities of Children parks:

1. Authorities of schools and other educational institutions may consider establishing children parks at their own premises, no matter how small or big those could be. They should also ensure the proper maintenances of all existing children parks.

2. Those who, specially at rural area, can effort to make few items of children park at their own premises may also make such facilities available for their own and local children. There are few such items directly related to physical exercises which don’t need lot of space, cost or electricity. Besides, such can be made with collective efforts too. Some one may also think of making the same at their roof top at city location too. The idea is so that every child gets the minimum facilities of Children Park.

3. Many rich people of our society already have hundreds and thousands of “Farm Houses” (bagan bari in bengali pronunciation) of their own. Those are indeed their spare houses out side the city areas mostly for their personal leisure and pleasure. Of course I am not trying to say any thing against their farm houses, however, would like to humbly suggest so that they could also think of making those, whole or part of those, in to some thing like children park for the local children and thus allow local children to play there either free of cost or with little ticket money. We always talk about social responsibilities and social businesses. Arranging such facilities for the children could be one of the best social responsibilities. Again the concepts of social businesses often emphasized by our Noble Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus are known to the whole world and also widely discussed. So, from that point of view too, some token ticket money may also be charged from incoming children, however, the ticket fee got to be within affordable limit of those rural parents too.

Frankly speaking, I won’t suggest any of above if I won’t believe on those totally. I use to always think in the past about these children park facilities for our rural poor children. That is the reason I tried to establish two such children park at my own according to my personal interest, planning, limited economic capabilities and efforts. Spending my pension money, I have established one Children park named Moon Park at village PIRUJALI in General Area Hotapara, Gazipur. The area is near writer Humayun Ahmed’s Nuhash Polli and really green and comfortable in all seasons.

Well, for this case, I tried to establish and experiences by myself first and then now trying to suggest some thing for others too. It is said in the religion also that you try to do the same first before you suggest the same to others. When ever, I heard or read about the social businesses expressed by noble laureate Dr. Yunus, tried to think and identify as to how many types of social businesses could there be, specially for a country like Bangladesh? I also tried to think always as to what maximum social benefits can be offered with what minimum charges from different types of social businesses. Well, there can be many different types, but, for me, I have desired to do some thing related to children’s health, enjoyment, excitement, mental growth, physical exercise etc, and so thought of establishing one children park for them as part of so-well-discussed social business.

Now at this stage, being little encouraged by the noble directives of honorable prime minister of Bangladesh, I have only one aim of mentioning this as an example and that is, so that others who are interested may also establish such children parks at different parts of our country. Besides, those who are already having their Farm Houses (bagan bari) may also become interested as well as feel responsible to tern their those farm houses, part or whole, into children park for the local rural children and allow them to play either free of charge or with little token ticket money.

“Moon Park” is a small eco friendly green garden which is also used for picnic or outing spot for those city people who may afford to rent it and be interested to enjoy the green nature as part of their rest and refreshment. However, the focus is always given to the local children’s playing and that is why the word “park” is associated with it’s name. Any one may be wondered to know that a local child may visit and play at Moon Park with only taka ten ($ US 10 cents only) per person. The Moon Park was inaugurated on 14 April 2010 (pohela boishak) through arrangement of boishakhi mela (local fair organized on the bengali new year) where all the incoming children along with their parents, friends and relatives were allowed to go inside and play with free of charge. Surprisingly the total presence on that very single day crossed the figure 2500 (almost 100% children of that general area) which really proved in my mind that, yes, our children really need such facilities. I also felt very comfortable inside for being able to make one such park for our rural children. The smiling faces of our rural deprived children are still in my memories, pictures of which can also be shared by readers from below web link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/113734232071731875096/MoonPark#

“Moon House” is also another such place, same eco friendly garden with children park facilities where children can not only play but also see life birds and fishes. No matter how many facilities children are enjoying inside but only taka 30 ($ US 40 cents only) is charged per person. It is designed to be a real safe house for the playing of children and that is why the word “house” is associated with it’s name.

It may be mention that the eco friendly green gardens of both Moon Park and Moon House are also attracting foreigners and as such contributing to the tourism in Bangladesh too. Hope the scope of tourism in this sector would also increase in future.

I hope both Moon Park and Moon House would be able to contribute for children’s playing in the long run as part of social businesses in real sense. I also hope that many other persons having similar feelings like me would also try to do some thing better for our children which are so necessary for their total development. Children would carry us forward, they are our future hopes and so we must do our best to do best for them.

For those who may be interested to know about Moon House and Moon Park for their picnic or outing purposes may also brows below web link:

http://www.moonhousemoonpark.com/

 email: moonhouse.moonpark@gmail.com,

Given the absence of a transparent system, bribery and other irregularities are common. People in the administration who are responsible for creating and maintaining land records often prepare incorrect records intentionally, and land owners are forced to pay bribes to officials to get the records approved. Officials and surveyors are often in cahoots with touts and land sharks; cases abound where people have paid bribes to officials and/or surveyors and gotten land ownership transferred/recorded illegally in their names, leaving the real owner(s) running pillar to post to get justice. In 2006 alone, bribes worth about 83 billion Bangladeshi Taka were paid for land related services such as registration and altering of records.

Over 3.2 million land-related cases are pending before the judiciary in Bangladesh. This huge figure does not take into account the large number of the aggrieved who do not feel empowered enough to approach the courts for litigation. Land disputes often lead to violence and criminal offenses. It is said that 80 percent of criminal offenses today stem from land disputes.

The Directorate Of Land Records and Surveys (DLRS) preparing a digital archive and a spatial database. Image courtesy Cegis

However, concerns have been raised regarding the limited success of past endeavors, which were localized and used different assumptions and follow-up actions. There is a growing realization and acknowledgment of the fact that isolated initiatives will not do much good. A consolidated plan has to be worked out under the public-private partnership (PPP) umbrella. In a recent dialogue [BN] on the effective use of ICT in the arena of Land Management, the Assistant Country Director of UNDP Bangladesh, Mr. K.A.M Morshed, presented a paper titled “Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh: Land”, which stressed the need for a correct database through proper surveys, the creation of digital land zoning systems (namely GIS based maps with zones), a digital land registration system, and an up-to-date digital land information system integrated with the voter/national ID database that would offer easy access, search and verification facilities, and a digital land revenue tracking and management system.

GIS and Web based Land Record Information System of National Housing Authority. Click image for more information.

In one of his articles on Digital Land Systems [BN] on the blog Blogymate, Mustafa Jabbar, who is the proprietor of the Bijoy Bangla software and keyboard in Bangladesh, has pointed out that the mere digitization of land records will not be enough to achieve transparency and accountability. According to him, a complete overhaul of the land related laws and the current mechanism of service delivery is needed, as the current system is pretty much archaic. Mr. Jabbar states that the new, automated land information system should have an integrated approach so that a person searching the database can get all information pertaining to the land at one glance: ownership, registration, mutation, transfer, disputes, judicial cases, land map, taxes paid and pending, land related wills and such other legal documents. Furthermore, he feels that having all of this information is not enough. It needs to be made accessible to people in an easy, user-friendly manner, not only via the Internet but through the telephony system as well. According to him, just as a consumer can now access his/ her telephone bill from home through the interactive voice response system, it should be as easy for a person to access land related information.

There is a lot of hope riding on the effective use of ICT in the Land Management System of Bangladesh to usher in modernization, user-friendliness, transparency and accountability in this very important sector.

This post was first published in Global Voices Online as a part of its Technology for Transparency Network Project, which highlights technology initiatives and ideas that promote accountability and transparency worldwide·

Since the last few days, we have been reading a curious and interesting piece of news from Bangladesh. Apparently it was first reported by AFP and then quickly picked up by the MSM in Bangladesh, India and International markets (links 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 to name a few).

The news is this: a wealthy film producer in Bangladesh has constructed ‘an exact copy’ of Agra’s legendary Taj Mahal in Sonargaon, a small town 30km outside the capital Dhaka. Apparently the wealthy gentleman Ahsanullah Moni fell in love with the historic monument on his visit to Agra and decided to construct an exact replica of it in his country, to give his fellowmen a taste of the original without having to make an expensive journey all the way to Agra.

According to what Mr. Moni has reported to the media (and played back religiously by the media, in turn), it has taken him just over 5years (the original had taken over 20years to build) to create this life-size replica and that it has been built at a cost of 58mn USD. The MSM also reported that hundreds of workers and designers were used for this project (the original needed about 20,000 people) and as a mark of precise attention to detail, a team had actually gone to Agra and measured the original structure inch by inch. There were reports that in order to recreate the dazzling original, 160kg (353lb) of bronze, marble and granite was imported from Italy and diamonds were flown in from Belgium to be used in its construction.

The lavishness of the description immediately created a buzz among the people and soon the replica drew the attention of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, who expressed their irritation at having to deal with a ‘fake’ Taj created right under their nose. Interestingly, at a time when tension between neighbors are running high, the MSM soon ran hyped up reports about this reaction with strong lines such as ” Tensions between Bangladesh and India have escalated after it emerged a film director is constructing a life-size copy of the Taj Mahal”. There were write-ups about the “diplomatic fracas, India’s “anger” so on and so forth. These articles in turn drew comments from a section of Bangladeshi officialdom who felt that if they indeed did re-create the Taj, India had no right to create a storm as historic monuments could not be a copyrighted.Only a few in the media, later reported that the Indian High Commission, after investigating the incident had stated that it was unlikely that visitors would mistake one for the other and that the replica was unlikely to detract from the magnificence of the original.

While the MSM was having a field day, people in Bangladesh thronged in hundreds to have a look at this new wonder, brought to their door-step. Some Bangla bloggers too visited the site to check out what this brouhaha was all about. It was then that it was discovered that this entire hype was perhaps just a gimmick, a money making scam in the name of the Taj.

Blogger Jhorohaowa writes about his experience [bn]:

মদনপুর বাসস্টান্ড নেমে দেখি টেমপুওয়ালারা ’তাজমহল’ বলে চিল্লাইতেছে। কেউ ভাড়া চাচ্ছে ৩০/- টাকা, কেউ ৪০/- টাকা। আধঘন্টা টেম্পু দিয়ে চলার পর একগ্রামে এসে থামলাম। সামনে বিশাল জ্যাম আর হাজার হাজার মানুষ। সবাই তাজমহল দেখতে আসছে। অপেক্ষা না করে নেমে হাটা দিলাম। প্রায় দুই কিলো হাটার পর তাজমহল কম্পাউন্ডে আসলাম, প্রবেশ মুল্য ৫০/- টাকা। কোন ব্যাপার না, আগ্রা গেলে আরো খরচ হইতো। তাড়াতাড়ি টিকেট কেটে ভিড় ঠেলে ভিতরে প্রবেশ করলাম।তাজমহলের চেহারা দেইখা মুখটা অটোমেটিক হা হয়ে ’শালা’ শব্দটা যে কেমনে বের হয়ে আসলো বুঝবার পারি নাই। আমার ঢাকাইয়া বন্ধুটি মুখ আর আটকাইয়া রাখা গেলো না। সে গাইল শুরু করলো- (গালি)রা টয়লেটের টাইলস লাগাইছে, মালিক পক্ষের সব (গালি)’রা ভাগছে, একটারে ডাইকা আইনা যে পাবলিক গাইলাইবো সেই উপায় নাই, (গালি)রা এই ঈদের দিনে পাবলিকরে ’বাকরা’ টুপি লাগায় দিলো … ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি।

At the Madanpur bus stand, we heard the tempo (motorized Rickshaw, a public transport) drivers yelling “Taj Mahal”. Some were demanding a fare of 30 Taka, others were asking for 40Taka. After travelling for 30 minutes by tempo we came to a village. The road ahead was packed with thousands of people who had come to see the “Taj Mahal”. We got down from the tempo and walked for about 2km and reached the “Taj Mahal” compound. The entry fee was 50Taka. Ok, we thought, a trip to the original would have been way more expensive. After buying the tickets we pushed through the crowd and entered the compound. After seeing the “Taj” we could not help the various abuses that escaped our lips. My friend from Dhaka was unstoppable. He said, “they have used toilet tiles, and now the owners have run away so that we cannot catch hold of them and give them a piece of our minds…on this day of Eid, they made such fools of us…” etc., etc.”

Jhorohaowa also writes that by inaugurating an incomplete, poorly designed construction with such media hype the promoters of the project clearly betrayed their intention of making a quick buck during the Eid season.

Bibortonbadi , another blogger who visited the site was also very upset at falling prey to yellow journalism; he wrote in his blog [bn]:

কিছুই না দেখবার মত। শুভ্র তাজমহলের সোকলড রেপ্লিকা বানিয়েছে সাদার মাঝে নানা রঙ্গের টাইলস দিয়ে। সংবাদপত্রে কত কিছুই না পড়লাম। খরচ ৪০০ কোটি টাকা, ইতালি থেকে আনা মুল্যবান পাথর ও টাইলস্‌, বেলজিয়াম থেকে আনা ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, গম্বুজের উপরে চারমন ওজনের ব্রোঞ্জ, কোথায় এসব??? ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি পান্তা ভাত নাকি! নরমাল ইট-সিমেন্টের একটা স্ট্রাকচারের উপরে দেশী টাইলস্‌ (আমার বন্ধু বাড়ির কাজকর্ম ভাল বোঝে, তার মতে টাইলস গুলো দেশী) বসানো। এমন কি টাইলসের কাটাও ঠিক মত হয় নাই, আনাড়ি হাতের কাজ। এখনও ফিনিশিং সম্পূর্ণ হয় নাই। ইতালির পাথর যদি পরে বসাবার ইচ্ছাও থাকে তবে কোথায় বসাবে? দর্শনার্থিরা সবাই বিরক্ত এবং নিজেদের প্রতারিত ভাবছেন…প্রায় ১০ মিনিট দেখবার পরেই বুঝতে পারলাম আমাদের জন্য ভেতরে আর কিছুই নেই। বেরিয়ে হাটা ধরলাম। পথে অনান্য দর্শনার্থিদের সাথে কথা হল, সবার একই উত্তর “ভূয়া”। [bn]
There’s nothing worth seeing. The so-called replica of the brilliant Taj has been made with colored tiles. I had read so many things in the newspapers – 400crores of Taka, valuable marble and tiles from Italy, 172 diamonds from Belgium, 160kgs of bronze on the dome…where is all of that? Is 400crores Taka such a little thing? Local tiles on a plain and simple brick structure…even the tiling work is that of an amateur…the structure is still incomplete. Even if after all this they want to put Italian marble where will they put it? All the visitors were upset and were feeling cheated. …After 10minutes we realised that there was nothing to see inside. We left. On the way back we spoke to other visitors and there was only one word going around — “what a scam!”

The blogger posts a video which shows people flocking to see the Taj and uttering their disappointment:

Prothom Bangla catches the sentiments of the visitors describing Ahsanullah Moni’s effort [bn]:

পাগল হিন্দি সিনেমা নকল করতে করতে, মাথা আওলাইয়া গেছে। দেখছে। ভাল আয় রোজগার। এখন তাজ মহল নির্মান করছে।

পাঁজি যে টাকা খরচ করেচে, সেই টাকা যদি দেশের হত-দরিদ্র মানুষের উন্নয়নে কাজে লাগাত তাহলে হত গরীবের উপকার।

“This guy has lost his head by producing copycat Hindi cinemas. He has seen that this brings good money. So he has built this (copycat) Taj Mahal.

If he would spend the millions he spent here in poor peoples cause that could bring good for the country.”

Bibortonbadi goes on to question the role of the MSM in aiding this scam with their hyped up reporting. He says [bn]:

অবাক লাগল এই যে দেশের শীর্ষ স্থানীয় পত্রিকা গুলো কিভাবে কোন রকম খোজ খবর ছাড়াই ৪০০ কোটি টাকার বিনিয়োগ, ১৭২ টি হীরক খন্ড, ইতালির টাইলস/পাথরের ভূয়া খবর ছাপালেন। ৪০০ কোটি টাকা কি কম? এত টাকার বিনিয়োগে, একটি বিখ্যাত স্থাপনার রেপ্লিকা তৈরি ব্যাপারে তারা কি সরোজমিনে একবারও ঘুরে দেখে আসবার সময় করতে পারলেননা। ঢাকা থেকে নারায়নগঞ্জের, সোনারগাঁয়ের পেরাবো গ্রামে যেতে বড়জোর এক দেড় ঘন্টাই লাগত!! এই দেশে কি খবরের অভাব আছে? নাকি টাকা দিলেই খবর ছাপানো যায়। খুব বেশী হলে এই স্থাপনাতে ৩/৪ কোটি টাকার মত খরচ হয়েছে।
I was surprised to note that the leading dailies of the country did not do any verification before writing about these false claims such as 400crores BD Taka (58mn USD), 172 diamonds, Italian marble etc. Is 400crores a child’s play? When someone claimed to have spent that kind of money, did they (the MSM) not find the time to verify these tall claims before publishing them as is? At best they would have had to travel for about 1.5hours to do this verification. Is there such dearth of news in this country (that there is no need to verify – anything will do) or can money power get anything published these days? At best only 3/4 crores were spent.

Blogger Raihan called up the newsdesk of a leading Bangla daily Prothom Alo , who had also published the “Taj” article complete with details of lavishness, and questioned them whether their reporter had physically visited the site before publishing the article and if not, how they could publish an article without first verifying the facts themselves. He says that in response the newsdesk informed him that they had merely reported the AFP article. After he alerted the person on the line about the facts, he was told that they would surely send a reporter to visit the site and write another article on the same.

With Bangladeshi bloggers uploading their first-hand experience of visiting the site through posts, pictures and videos, it is only now we are getting the real picture of the “fake Taj” story.

Image of the original Taj Mahal in India by Wikipedia, used under a Creative Commons License. Other images were taken by Bibortonbadi and used with permission.

Note: First published in Global Voices Online.