3rd Bangla blog day

Blogging has revolutionized the life and politics of Bengalis around the globe in general and in Bangladesh in particular. During the last BNP-Jamaat regime when media licenses were handed out to the business elites in power and when militancy started rearing its ugly head, and after 1/11 when the magic phantom of minus 2 formula was being raised on online media, blogging became the only medium of communication amongst global Bangladeshis. When Shaikh Hasina was stopped from coming back to Bangladesh by the military supported 1/11 government, blogs were the ones to revolt against the undemocratic decision.

Since then bloggers have been actively combating information terrorism. This A-team of first-generation blog freedom fighters rejuvenated the spirit of 1971 and demanded war criminals’ trials. Although, the Awami League-led grand alliance is at present trying them but it is the bloggers who are minutely monitoring the proceedings to ensure closure.

Corporate online media are also inspiring young bloggers to develop netizen journalism, because bloggers now have the power to break news. Mainstream TV channels don’t have the kind of outreach which the blog network has. Daily Prothom Alo, bdnews24.com, the editor.net andbanglnews24.com are all flying the kites of citizen journalism with moderated blogs.

Muktomona gave the first invitation to freedom and liberal thoughts in the Bengali blogosphere. Somewhereinblog.net came next, with a bigger platform. Subsequently, the A-team, after facing virtual abuse, created platforms like Sachalayatan, amarblog, nagorikblog and unmochonblog that emerged with the spirit of secular and free thoughts. This very A-team is now fighting a second liberation war against groups of fanatic bloggers who are trying to make our history controversial with their distortion of facts in places like somewherein. The same fanatics have now created sonablog where they continue their support of war criminals and infuse religious intolerance amongst the youth. That’s why muktomona is highly criticized by such Muslim and Hindi bigots whose sole aim is to maintain social & political divisions in order to further their religion trade.

Bangla bloggers also enjoy freedom through venues like facebook: a kind of timeout cigar balcony. By signing Rousseau’s social contract individuals entered the spider net of institutions, giving ivory society the contract to write the history of our world. But blogs and social networking sites are attempts at breaking away from the spider nets; a counter hegemony of Tim Berners-Lee who is the inventor of the World Wide Web. Now, freedom is just clicks away, an emancipated world away from the subjugation of institution. In due time, blogs will become un-moderated. Unless bloggers achieve self censorship and a sense of proportion, corporate and/or voluntary blogs will not allow for un-moderated freedom. The process has, however, started taking baby steps. Gradually, bloggers are reflecting maturity and authenticity in their reports, analysis and socio-cultural discourse. The day when blog journalists will break news and produce exclusive multi-media electronic blogs, we may even not need television anymore.

In Bangladesh everyone wants to flaunt some authority, so has happened in the blogosphere. Somewherein unilaterally decided to hold Bangla Blog Day in the month of December. But as February marks the month of language martyrs with 21st February having earned the glory of being the International Mother Language Day and the prestigious Dhaka Ekushe Book Fair also takes place in this same month, voluntary bloggers have quite logically chosen the 1st of February as their Bangla Blog Day. Amarblog has taken the lead to rejoin the Bangla speaking netizens around the world by offering un-moderated freedom. Luckily enough, amarblog has succeeded in maintaining a secular, artistic and tolerant atmosphere where any Bengali can speak out and speak up. So, join amarblog: let’s write and let’s fly an un-moderated kite.

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,

Gandhi had to live through the Spanish tragedies of trains to India and Pakistan.- But he had by then become irrelevant or irritating to the power structure. Hindu militants especially could not take Bapu’s wailings for Muslim kids and Nathuram Godsey killed him in anguish. Bangabandhu’s murmurs for Hindu kids earned the wrath of a few western-educated Pakistan trained army officers. They didn’t just dare to kill the mountain, rather sent militant Muslims to burn down the mountain altogether.

The British left and Americans filled the vacuum. Jinnah wasn’t even buried before our colonial cousins once again started their divide and rule machinations. One by one Ayub, Yahia, Zia-P, Zia-B, Ershad, Musharraf and Moyeen all carried out the role of James Bonds with pre-scripted precision.

A group of nihilistic academicians, wrote the Machiavellian screenplay for South Asia. But now it’s our turn to tune back the clock by offering two Socratic chairs, for Gandhi Ji and Bangabandhu.

Despite all odds Nehru pushed India onto the ride to globalization. Alas, his nemesis, Jinnah, didn’t get the chance to enter that race. When Pakistan was shining with Army stars, Nehru ignited candles in the huts of India. Armed with the same light Jyoti Basu maintained the mantle of leftism, yet died with yearnings for his sweet home in Bangladesh. On the eastern flank, Bangabandhu tried to use the Cuban model for a Dream Bangladesh, but lacked efficient comrades who could hold that dream.

The British Raj had already shown us what shortcuts to success could feel like, by awarding the Rai and Khan Bahadurs, so we chose to undermine Gandhi’s Dream India or Bangabandhu’s Dream Bangladesh. We could neither draw inspiration from Quran nor from Das Capital and so South Asia became Las Vegas for the corrupt, the powerful and the Freudians of politics, business, showbiz: all in a rat race for a dog’s death.

We have been left at the mercy of Islamic militants acting as mercenaries of death. Pakistan is burning in extremism; some would say it’s paying the price for the ‘71 genocide which cost Bangladesh three million human lives. Unless Pakistan tries the war criminals of 1971 and pays indemnity for war losses, it can never develop with a clean conscience. We have the Germans as an example: they tried the Nazis, brought closure to the affectees of WW-2 and are now living a happy civilized life. The citizens of Bangladesh also want closure.

We have tried the traitors who killed our Father of the Nation and his family, including a pregnant daughter-in-law and a 6-year-old son, in cold blood. But we are still far from bringing to justice those who collaborated with the enemies of humanity during 1971.

Judiciary in Bangladesh is free to try the Golam Azam-led Jamaat trio of Nijami, Mujahid, and Sayeedi , as well as other war criminals of ’71, who tried to buy freedom through the age-old politics of matrimonial alliances at different geometrical corners. There is not a sliver of remorse on their faces or in their words for destroying Muslim-Hindu harmony in Bangladesh or for their misdeeds as masterminds of rapes, kills and pillage. In my chance interviews of German war criminals, I recorded both regret and reconciliation. But, alas, I saw none in Bangladesh traitors. I only saw them smiling with cannibalistic pleasure on showbiz screens.

Emboldened by our cowardice, this very Jamaat trio recently went so far as to compare their petty political hazards with that of the glorious peace struggle of Prophet Muhammad. They also had the audacity to proclaim that Bangla Bhai was nothing but a media creation, thereby siding with the militants.

They have taken their operational successes of 1971 and the freedom to float religious shares through public offices as a carte blanche for selling profit-based jihad, with their counterparts in Pakistan managing the funds, weapons, training, Afghan joints and the dream of 70 virgins.

American and Russian egos over Vodka-Cognac conflicts resulted in tearing apart the harmonic soul of South Asia. Muslim and Hindu militants then divided the spoils amongst themselves. Under the guise of creating religious harmony their top guns hold meetings in Dhaka, Mumbai, Peshawar or Kandahar. These war mafias-for-hire can be identified by their religio-political masks and their reverence for darkness. They are born collaborators of evil, be it in any country. By selling fire and tears, they buy 10-year-old boys for sacrifice at the altar of their gods.

What we are going through is a clash of homogeneous civilizations. This is the time for our religious thinkers and scholars to break their oath of silence. The vicious cycle of arms- politics-media-war-reconstruction-money-power-prostitution can only be broken by minimizing the gap between state leaders and citizens through dialogue and roaring debate. An eye for an eye will only cost us another useful life.

For starters we would like to see justice served for ’71, to pave a peaceful future for our friends and children.

Their treason notwithstanding, Bangladesh came into existence. But they didn’t give up; were neither apologetic nor repentant. Instead the traitors took to vengeance and collaborated with a discontent faction of the Bangladesh army to assassinate the Father of the Nation and prominent national leaders.

Vengeance later took another twist with the torturing of religious minorities and aboriginal communities in the name of God. The spirit of Islam was exploited to generate global terror. Offshoots of the same vengeance sprouted up under the shadows of BNP’s pro-right mindset, having been disgusted with Awami League’s village politics and its political idiosyncrasies. Thus, we saw another wave of crimes against fellow humans on the pretext of Shariah. But nature probably has had enough of this. It is being impelled to bring the perpetrators face-to-face with their crimes, even after 35 to 40 years. All the extrajudicial and political killings of leftists, freedom fighters, students and civilians in last 40 years could have been avoided if only the war criminals of 1971 had not been allowed to establish the myth that in Bangladesh everything is permissible, even crime.

Bangladesh is rife with success stories of crime and corruption. Awami League and BNP have both earned Champion’s Trophy term after term for encouraging cardinal vices. And that’s the yardstick dangling in front of our youth. They are a generation with potential worth gold, yet teetering at the crossroads between white and black. Really, it’s sad that despite knowing the difference between good and bad, our youth can still be tempted to waver in their choices. They have come to think that the road to crime and corruption at least has a success span of 35 to 40 years, and if they are very good at being very bad, they might even not be prosecuted in their lifetime.
An entire generation saw freedom fighters and honest to God patriots die without treatment while the corrupt, dishonest and selfish leaders would fly out to Mount Elizabeth or some other five-star hospital abroad. This comparison alone is enough to make it easy for the young of mind to choose the road that drives through Mount Elizabeth. But the criminal trials of ’71 and ’75 are proving to be Aesop’s proverbial dog in the manger. It’s like nature wants the accused to live longer so that they are fit enough for the gallows.

News has it that top BNP leader Tareq Rahman plans to build a health city of global standard in Bangladesh. A profitable project, no doubt, but only if our corrupt top guns find it as comfortable as Mount Elizabeth. Digressing back to nature, space and time are forever big avengers of justice. Awami League’s call for ‘Digital Bangladesh’ has already made the free flow of information irreversible, allowing the youth unadulterated access to facts related to events like the trial of Bangabandhu’s killers, the ongoing war criminals’ trials, extrajudicial killings and nationwide corruption. With historical truths just a click away, each young internet user is gradually becoming as empowered and vigilant as a freedom fighter of 1971.

This had to happen. Through the rise and fall of nations history has proven that nature intervenes when the state of affairs go from bad to worse. No longer can the ruling elite of Bangladesh live in denial. Despite reaping the fruits of political polarization and dynastic democracy, BNP leader Tareq Rahman and AL think-tank Sajib Wajed Joy are both tech-savvy enough to pre-empt the winds of change.

Not all of the 40 years of our existence were in vain. Bangladesh has, after all, nurtured a deprived-of-rights but conscious generation striving to hold onto the secular traditions of our society. Those who died unattended in government hospitals uttered till their last breath that truth and justice were no myths, that nature didn’t wield unequal yardsticks whether it came to AL, BNP, Jamaat or any other person or group. We sympathized with those thoughts, but were never quite sure of their manifestations. But now those very thoughts are beginning to take shape, at least we have started questioning faults in the system at every step. I believe the age of reckoning and enlightenment has arrived in Bangladesh, a moment of awakening at the crossroads: that there can be no left or no right on the highway to social justice.

It was our achievement through the language movement of 1952 that inspired the Bangla speaking regions of India to organize demands for the state recognition of this language. The 21st of February is now marked as the International Mother Language Day; a day that reminds the world the importance of restoring the rights of languages that are endangered by cultural glo-colonization. Due to those efforts, Bangla is now the fourth largest spoken language in the world.

Bengalis are so passionate about their language that it is a common sight at international forums to see two random Bengalis, completely oblivious of their surroundings, starting a conversation in Bangla. Likewise, I have found expatriate Bengali parents desperate to pass on their language and associated culture to their kids who are being raised in an otherwise non-Bangla atmosphere. Bengalis, whether living in the Middle East, Europe or America, passionately observe Pohela Baishakh, the Bangla New Year and 21st February. Recently, Bangla blogs and online outlets have also taken to strengthening the grandeur of the language. Non-Resident Bengalis make sure to plan their visits home to coincide with Ekushe Book Fair, the biggest event that celebrates Bangla Language.

What this amounts to is that we have all the reasons to be happy about the continuity of our language, especially when compared to our Bengali friends in Kolkata who feel victimized by non-Bangla aggression. But something went wrong in Dhaka as well.

On the first day of the Ekushe Book Fair in February 2008, my colleagues and I were working at a mobile newsroom set up at the fairgrounds. It became painful after a while of tolerating the music being played in neighboring FM radio stalls. Senior sub-editors even refused to work with us, being ‘disgusted’ by the noise and language pollution emanating from those surroundings. The situation became more uncouth when two radio jockeys appeared on the scene mimicking the starry smiles of Shahrukh Khan and Karina Kapoor. Stationing themselves at a strategic corner nearby, they started their monologue addressed to a gathering young crowd. This grandstanding spoiled the entire artistic ambience of our Little Magazine corner.

We did try to listen to their lecture but miserably failed to understand the language: English superimposed on Bangla and mixed with some sounds unknown to our ears. Every sentence comprised of distorted Bangla words and wrongly used English expressions hyphenated with sounds of unhuman-like laughter. Feeling the misery and rage of our mobile newsroom colleagues, I had to humbly request the FM radio stall to cut short the starbiz event. To be fair to them, they complied. But it dawned on me that this newly acquired Benglish language has managed to earn popularity.

Here, I would rather not deviate into the definition of pop-culture. Suffice to say, if there is a monkey show near a kindergarten, children will naturally rush to see it. But if that show goes on forever most children will not go back to their classrooms, because by that time the monkey will have become more popular than their teachers. In the same fashion when Bangla movies like Beder Meye Jotsna (The Voluptuous Gypsy Daughter) snatched the box office, viewers refused to go back to Jibon Theke Neya, Jahir Raihan’s trendsetting film. When cheap adaptations of Moliere’s comedies started hitting the theatre hub at Dhaka’s Baily Road, people became unwilling to return to Bangla theatre works of legends like Selim Al-Deen. Once youngsters started giving their hearts to aimless band music concerts, they forgot our legends like Kalim Sharafi or Farida Parveen. When obscene dances destroy our traditional folk theatre ‘Jatra’ and when popularity becomes the yardstick of everything, it isn’t far when Benglish as a sub-language and culture will claim its power share.

It started with students studying in English-medium schools talking amongst themselves in this distorted medium. Their parents, knowing little and believing that only the slaughter of Bangla was the way out for their kids to prosper, gladly accepted the birth of Benglish. For sometime thence Benglish remained confined to the neo-elites of Dhaka, and then as the speakers of this sub-language gradually succeeded in making inroads into other strata of society with their superficial smartness and fashion-based glamour, Benglish became trendy. In today’s world anything ‘modern’ goes. So did Benglish.

It was picked up, more recently, by several FM radio channels which are popularizing it via their jockeys. The irony or comedy (whichever way you take it) is that the majority of these radio jockeys don’t have an English-based education, neither were they raised or born abroad. So competition and lack of common sense compels them to memorize a few American sitcom words, at times even entire expressions, just so they can throw these in between their on-air ramblings in Bangla. The result: not only are both Bangla and English delivered in distorted accents, their disjointed sentences mostly make no sense.

Perhaps, if our language movement martyrs knew they were shedding their blood in vain, they would have, at least, thought twice about sacrificing their lives. Little did they know that one day Benglish would outsmart Bangla.

In February 2009, while training a batch of journalism students of private universities of Dhaka, I was, again, rudely awakened when they proudly told me that they couldn’t write reports in Bangla as English was their language of learning. OK, fine. But when I went through their English transcripts I was further shocked by their bad and wrong English. I had no choice but to take refuge in Rabindranath Thakur’s wisdom: Alas, in a futile attempt to learn English, you missed to learn Bangla as well.

It can be nothing but a twist of our own making that out of colonial fear we failed to teach English in Bangla-medium schools and out of colonial hangover failed to teach Bangla in English-medium schools.

One doesn’t need to be a linguist or rocket scientist to understand that without having command on mother tongue, no one can truly anchor into some other language. Benglish is nothing but a tragic outcome of this reality.

Photo: People from all walks of life paid homage to the Language Martyrs by placing flowers and garlands at the Central Shahid Minar, the monument built in remembrance of the young men who were killed in 1952 when police opened fire on a students’ protest demonstration at the Dhaka University Campus demanding Bangla as the state language from the then East Pakistan government. In 1999 UNESCO declared the day as the “International Mother Language Day”. Dhaka, Bangladesh. February 21 2009.by: Shafiqul Islam Kajol,DrikNEWS.

		People from all walks of life paid homage to the Language Martyrs by placing flowers and garlands at the Central Shahid Minar, the monument built in remembrance of the young men who were killed in 1952 when police opened fire on a students’ protest demonstration at the Dhaka University Campus demanding Bangla as the state language from the then East Pakistan government. In 1999 UNESCO declared the day as the “International Mother Language Day”. Dhaka, Bangladesh. February 21 2009 by: Shafiqul Islam Kajol

It’s a party that bears the spirit of liberation war and secular institutions, a party that considers Bengali culture as the guiding element, supports the campaign for’71 war criminals’ trail and works towards bringing about change in the faulty system. Inspired by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s struggle for independence, the party considers BNP pro-Pakistan or a party with loose cultural-ideological features that do not reflect the wishes of an independent progressive Bangladesh.

BNP as a Political Party

It takes its inspiration from President Ziaur Rahman’s policies in the post ’75 political scenario. A pro-Islamist party, it believes that religion should be the basis of nationalism, sides with war criminals and the killers of Bangabandhu and other national leaders, and considers that the killing of the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an army rebel operation backed by pro-Pakistan and leftist forces. BNP claims that Ziaur Rahman, as an army Major, had announced the declaration of Independence, and hence refuses to accept Bangabandhu as the Father of the Nation. It labels Awami League a pro-India party which seems quite unjustified in the sense that Awami League, as government power, have had the most fierce rows with Indian governments. But, ‘pro-India’ is somehow a stigma in the political conscience of Bangladesh.

BNP & Awami League: Similarities when in Power

a) Politicize civil and military administrations

b) Support the illegal activities of their student wings

c) Radically change names of organizations

d) Party workers go on the rampage of extortion, tender terrorism and human rights violations

e) Buy tax-free cars for their solvent members of parliament

f) MPs and Ministers purchase land through proxy means

g) Provide immunity to their cadres to grab plots and riverine areas

h) Want to rule Bangladesh for the rest of the country’s life

BNP & Awami League: Similarities when in Opposition

a) Boycott National Assembly sessions but take salaries without performing and/or delivering

b) Claim conspiracies against the pro-India / pro-Pakistan tendencies of the party in power

c) Look for an excuse to incite movements for change of government

d) Their non-co-operation in National Assembly and their wrath towards the government are not appeased till they win back power

Hence, the row between the government and the opposition remains repetitive and as time-wasting as Samuel Beckett’s stagnant stage of Waiting for Godot. Nothing changes. People don’t get security or health service from the state; education fails to accommodate a wider generation and police continues to humiliate civil citizens. No political party works towards establishing social welfare services in rural areas to discourage urban migration. Election success offers only the mandate to rule, not serve. Political mudslinging doesn’t abate and this wrestling is ceaselessly aired by our electronic media.

People who survive on hand- to-mouth incomes and those who work hard and are capable of entrepreneurship get zero support from the government. They are, on top of this, harassed and hindered by the prevalent political culture.

So unless Awami League and BNP start making and talking sense, curb the tendency of political coquetry and stop issuing misplaced rhetoric, nothing will ever change.

Ignoring education as the accelerator of the country has already impeded the growth of skilled workers, while nepotism & political favoritism in the employment process has weakened talent hunting.

In the absence of a genuine opposition party in the parliament, media in Bangladesh has taken on the role of a shadow government on behalf of the people. Interestingly, the very political leaders who fail to deliver show no qualms in enjoying media publicity. Access to information and social networking sites on the internet have played a key part in making the people of Bangladesh more politically aware and critical than ever before.

The voters, as well as the non-voters, expect the Awami League-led government to ensure affordable food, sound law & order, education without political violence and a society based on secular values. People naturally understand Awami League’s desire to carry out trials of war criminals, provided other mandated issues are pursued with equal passion. (In Germany even casting doubt on the Holocaust is a crime.)

As for BNP, it will have to take lessons in democratic practices. For starters: judicious handling of the whirl castle corruption scandal and taking steps to clear up its image of being pro-fundamentalism. Regional foreign policy needs to be reassessed. Anti-India or anti-Pakistan propaganda has started to sound boring, if nothing else. In an age of information super highway, political rumors or yellow comments don’t sell like before. BNP should rethink its manifesto and plan a constructive political campaign.

While Awami League should not appear arrogant, over confident or vindictive, BNP should not look conspiratory or destructive. Leaders must understand the meaning of ‘change’ before they use it so casually. We still carry hope that these parties and their leaders will respond to a changed info-socio-political reality and say ‘YES’ to good politics only.

I should know better that Bengalis are traditionally a secular, peace-loving, hospitable and honest race. So how and when did it transmorph into a mine of thieves? Frantz Fanon studied Bengali villages and identified changes in the dynamics of the Asiatic mode of production: the introduction of modern-day irrigation system by the British Raj institutionalized power abuse when peasants had to bow before a handful of water godfathers to ensure food cultivation. That also opened an avenue for land-grabbing. This genesis of power abuse and exploitation led by the British masters and their sycophants mutated the peace-loving societies of Bengal. Licensed as British contractors, those native sycophants initiated the culture of bribes and favors. A sub-society of brokers emerged; neo-elitism was further catalyzed by the strategic British allure of cocktail parties, wine glasses, white women and their mysteries. Divide and rule dogma prepared the breeding ground for the criminalization of society.

On their way out, the British handed over power to the native brokers they had raised from ashes. By that time the inheritors of greed had already mastered the art of wearing suits, speaking fluent English and courting Hades, the god of the netherworld and dispenser of earthly riches in exchange for the souls of thieves. Time passed and the success of these under-world brokers established them as role models of our society. Learning English, stabbing in the back to become part of the powers structure, looting the powerless and exploiting the poor became a package deal for Bengali success. So was the case in other parts of British India. Father of the nation of India, Mohanlal Karamchand Gandhi, as patriotic, honest and lonely as Bangabandhu, was killed in the same fashion. The destiny of Muhammad Ali Jinnah was no different. In killing their fathers of the nation, Indian subcontinental thieves showed the same precise conformity that they learnt from the school of colonial politics. Positive aspects of colonial discourse, if any, didn’t carry any weight for them at all.

Bengali thieves started their business immediately after 1947 when Hindus were forced to abandon their homes and wealth in exchange for their lives, just so that Bengali Muslim looters could live lavish lives without hard work. Their counterparts in India and West Pakistan simultaneously followed suit. Hence, 1947 marked the year of opportunity for this community of thieves.

With visionary cold-heartedness unique to this brotherhood, Bengali sycophants were quick to butter their new Pakistani masters for the same materialistic ideology that saw them succeed the Raj. On the other scale were patriots who carried over their pre-1947 struggle to new frontiers: this time against the excesses of Pakistani rulers. The success of 1971 cost them their blood, their dreams and their lives. Those freedom fighters who survived the independence continue to die in poverty and hunger just like their brethren who fought against the Raj. As if by cosmic design the fate these freedom fighters is linked to the destiny of Bangabandhu, Gandhi ji and Quaid-e-Azam, whereas the community of thieves has genetically modified to the needs and demands of modern life, amassing riches from the ruins of 1857, 1947 and 1971. The number ‘7’ has indeed proven lucky for the great gamblers of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Bangabandhu was surprised to see that the brokers of wealth from the time of the Raj onwards had a commonness that helped them survive one ruler after the other: the soul of a thief. It is for this evil strength that despite hosting a majority of honest, hardworking and peace loving people, Bangladesh is fast losing itself in the labyrinth of corruption. Gandhi ji foresaw this tragedy: “The Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s needs but not everyone’s greed.”

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Maskawaith Ahsan is a broadcaster, journalist, author, blogger and the editor of  The-Editor.net.

Ershad took over power by removing a democratically elected BNP president, Abdus Sattar, after which he went on to shelter war criminals as well as the killers of the Father of the Nation, gifted Bangladesh with a state religion, implemented Ayub Khan-style basic democracy that was nothing but mere eye-wash, and wrote poetry. All this catalyzed the twin processes of criminalization and Islamisation in politics. Then came the mass democratic movement of the ‘90s and Ershad was jailed. It’s easy to assume that he passed his days and nights like Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar by staring at the red bricks. The subsequent 15-year democratic spin ended with the installment of a military supported 1/11 caretaker government in 2007. Khaleda Zia and Shaikh Hasina were in turn relocated to those same red brick premises.

Khaleda Zia was incarcerated for her desire to rule over Bangladesh till her death. She came to power in 1991, and as a means to an end followed in the footsteps of her arch-enemy Ershad by tolerating political criminalization and promoting the killers of Mujibur Rahman. People’s choice ousted her 5 years later but as luck would have it, Shaikh Hasina too failed to hold her party godfathers on a tight leash and had to relinquish power after five years.

BNP won the 2001 polls with a brute majority, and we assumed Khaleda Zia must have learnt from her mistakes. We were again disappointed. This time round her son Tareq Rehman, like Sanjay Gandhi, started a parallel government from his whirl castle. Tareq’s sycophants launched percentage terrorism while simultaneously courting and facilitating the Talibanisation of Bangladesh, and prepared ground for election engineering. Tareq could not play the Nero’s flute as times would not permit him to go that far, so he took to cricket to ridicule an opposition protest. But it had the same effect: Dhaka started burning like Rome. Sadly, Khaleda Zia’s affections for her son turned out to be blinder than that of Indra Gandhi.

Having said that, it’s lamentable the kind of physical abuse Tareq Rehman had to face during the 1/11 administration. Such penance cannot be expected in a modern state. One can simply hope Tareq has realized that no power is absolute. He could have avoided being the target of such harassment had his involvement in politics been fair enough to win the hearts of an apolitical majority. Then there would have been no reason for the masses and the military to support 1/11. If leaders consider relying on political institutions a long winded wait and try to take fate into their own hands, nature inevitably steps in to put things back on course, sometimes rectifying a wrong with another wrong.

One might add that it’s still quite early to judge if lessons have been learnt, but a time-tested maxim does arise: without respect for democracy and people’s will, political ground can overnight turn into ashes.

And what did Shaikh Hasina learn during her confinement within the red bricks of soul? She displayed courage by getting rid of a few party godfathers and power abusers who had made her ’96 government unpopular. She, however, has not been able to stop her party cadres from changing the names of institutions in the BNP fashion, nor restrain their attempts to paint the face of Bangladesh with the colors of Awami League.

Politicians of questionable ethics and pseudo media-intellectuals talk about 1/11 as if they had no contribution to the rise of that undemocratic setup. Such political businessmen and opportunist intellectuals would do better if they learnt to earn their bread and butter just like the hardworking people they claim to represent.

Had there been no Hawa Bhaban (Tareq’s whirl castle), had the BNP not tried to install a favorable caretaker government to engineer elections, had there been an impartial election commission with a fair voters’ list and had the civil bureaucracy not been lego-ised to support election fraud, the political scene today would been much friendlier.

The current Awami League-led grand alliance will have to show conformity with democratic institutions and will have to rely on people’s will alone. It will have to realize that voters are neither supporters of Awami League not of BNP. Voters are only clients of democracy, willing to give mandate to the party that delivers. Neither they nor anyone else wants to see the shadows of 1/11 haunting the collective fate of peace-loving nation.

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Maskawaith Ahsan is a broadcaster, journalist, author, blogger and the editor of  The-Editor.net.

Photo: Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, in her first public speech after her party’s landslide victory in the 29th December 2008 Parliamentary Election, urged all parties to work together for the betterment of Bangladesh stressing on the importance of the opposition in the country’s future as a democratic state. Dhaka, Bangladesh. December 31 2008. by: Khandakar Anisur Rahman, Japan,DrikNEWS.

BNP beneficiaries would say ‘Paradise Lost’; Awami Leaguers would claim ‘Paradise Regained’, while the apolitical ones would assess the situation as ‘So Far So Good’.

Just when the Awami League-led grand alliance stepped out of the pavilion to start governance, Pilkhana tragedy took place, forcing the government into a tight spot. The prime minister handled the conspiracy with the care it demanded, and even though the trial of the perpetrators has been delayed, hopefully justice will not be denied.

The initial cabinet was full of freshmen; AL subsequently got rid of the stereotyped political faces but purging veterans from the playing field has not been an easy task; they are after all a burden of the Awami League legacy. And freshmen, who are trying to prove better replacements, clearly lack the efficiency and political subtlety required to keep up with modern day politics. To be fair, it deserves to be mentioned that the veterans, too, have had serious shortcoming in areas of diplomacy and constructive efficiency.

The new government controlled price hike well during the first six months of attaining power, but syndicate horses are at best wild, and conformity proves less profitable. We well know the mantra of third world laissez faire: pure profit without social responsibility.

Brownouts continue to make life miserable in Bangladesh, yet some credit is owed to the AI-led government’s attempts at stabilizing power supply.

Shaikh Hasina promised to change the old ways; a few sons of old MPs understand this ‘change’ to be a coinage good enough only to lure people. Genetic propensity to grab lands of the retreating parties (post ’47 and again post ’71) cannot be curbed with an up to date election manifesto alone. It needs more than cosmetic ideals. Ironically, in a changed global reality threatening journalists the old fashioned way didn’t work to their benefit either. For seven years tender terrorists and un-studently student leaders had to sit on the sidelines and watch their BNP counterparts succeed through loot, plunder and torture. When their time came, the media didn’t let them enjoy their honeymoon. Central leaders of the Awami League also signaled to the notorious party cadres to behave.

For the first time in 38 years, the Education Minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, has come out with a meaningful policy; overcoming all hurdles he lived up to his promise of providing free books to young learners.

Finance minister, Abdul Mal Muhit, active with economic reforms, has taken peasants’ rights into consideration, urged reforms in the banking sector and offered revised pay scales to public servants. Matia Chowdhury, a legend of political honesty, continues with her success in the agricultural sector, but unfortunately even she hasn’t been able to come out of the political blame game culture. It’s really quite unnecessary to speak ill of the opposition while sitting with a brute majority.

The law and order situation has improved. However, ongoing extrajudicial killings question the credibility of a democratic government. Manpower diplomacy has been average; there are still many needs to be taken care of. The looming threat of recession alone may send more workers back home. Environmental diplomacy, too, has failed to be come through as extraordinary; perhaps because our Prime Minister didn’t voice enough concern over carbon emissions, yet forcefully demanded financial compensation. This could be ignored as a mere reflection of an overall mindset of a poor nation perpetually occupied with making ends meet.

The government’s initiative towards improving relations with India is timely, while our opposition is still trying to sell its anti-India propaganda not realizing that New Delhi and Beijing are emerging realities in the current world order.

Verdict in the Father of the Nation killing case has come as a relief for the conscience of Bangladesh. Now the war criminal trial should be activated to uphold human rights as promised in the election manifesto. Diplomacy with the Muslim world must be strengthened for many reasons, not less of which is that war criminals should be stopped from seeking sympathy in the name of their Islamic outfit.

Militants tried to Talibanize Bangladesh during the BNP-Jamaat rule, but as the people of Bangladesh are generally secular and the media played a constructive role, we got a clean slate from the western world. The AL-led government shares the credit in allowing people to practice Islam peacefully.

Shaikh Hasina claims that her government this time round is truly green and free from corruption. But she should not forget that the British and Pakistani colonial rules successfully cultivated political criminalization in Bangladesh; a process continued by the military rulers. That’s why it’s generally understood that people enroll into politics to earn or to loot. No one can change this mindset overnight. Nevertheless, things are moving towards the better; realizing the end result and having paid the price of political corruption BNP has promised to transform its whirl palace into a light house.

BNP ought to keep its promise or risk losing more votes. One must, however, say that being in the opposition has been an advantage in Bangladesh since 1991: when the party in power fails to deliver people opt for the opposition. So Awami League will have to work hard to maintain popularity, at least till the next elections. By then almost 70 per cent voters will emerge from a generation that holds information in a cell phone. Political coquetry will have become old fashioned by that time. So either you deliver or No Thanks – that’s going to be the political reality in Bangladesh.

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Maskawaith Ahsan is a broadcaster, journalist, author, blogger and the editor of  The-Editor.net.

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Understanding this metamorphosis of Dhaka, I usually try to interact with the glitterati with caution; knowing quite well that their attitude and mode of socializing changes with their position in the power structure. It’s almost like visiting a house in Dhanmandi or Gulshan after a gap of two or three years and expecting an apartment building in place of the small house surrounded by a piece of green.

But it’s been a great relief to discover that unlike the social stereotypes of Dhaka, our English department teachers have remained as warm as our parents, untouched by the wave of decay that seems to have permeated everywhere else. I wonder if our department is a secluded island or a planet outside the effects of social eclipse.

Syed Manjoorul Islam once wrote a word on the blackboard of the first year class: aesthetics. Many will agree that his gift of aesthetics has been a precious asset in our lives. As a teacher, writer and moderator of our university debating society I have experienced him to be the same loving person over the last two decades who could easily maintain a distance from the temptation of an uncouth reality.

Anis Ahmed was a young teacher in the late ‘80s who used to passionately promote our cultural and theatre activities. He left our department to work as an international broadcaster abroad. Time and space are cruel entities for mercilessly taking a huge toll on our existence, but meeting Anis Ahmed in Washington was like going back to my teen years when I used to talk to him in his department chamber.

Kashinath Roy, an introvert, romantic teacher wearing pyjama punjabi, explained to us the meaning of the word ‘philistines’, narrating the nouveau-riche mannerism with amusing accuracy. We imbibed his clear judgment of our philistine society. I haven’t seen him in the last 15 years but that hardly matters. I can refresh my memory any time and see him walking through our department corridor as if it was yesterday.

Imtiaz Habib left the department disappointed with his future in Bangladesh. His inspiration and outlook on creative writing, and dislike for summarized-notes eaters made him an icon, even for those who couldn’t have him as their teacher.

Fakhrul Alam, Kaisar Hamidul Haq, Shaukat Hossain, Anwarul Haq are still our heroes. They always made time for our cricket matches, river cruises and cultural activities. Nazmin Haq would even participate alongside us in our chorus picnics and outings.

Our English department teachers offered optimum attention to every one of their students, in and outside the classroom. Every single student was and is important to them. Before entering into the chambers of living legends like Sirajul Islam Chowdhury or Razia Khan Amin we used to tremble in fear as how to settle a missed tutorial exam. Gifting them the latest edition of Little Magazine often succeeded as an excuse. Can I ever forget Razia Amin Khan who smiled and scolded with affection, “Such a bribe will definitely help get you a chance to retake the tutorial.”

My missing out any name of our teachers hardly matters; Shushil da or Bulbul da could perhaps fill in the gap to encompass the legacy of English department. I have only tried to sketch a few of our role models who were the dwellers of a light house, who changed and gave meaning to our lives. Quite unlike the youth of today who are forced by the ground realities of a crude materialistic society, when we came out of the English department it wasn’t just the degrees we carried with us.

Our role models helped us maintain the romanticism of an atypical way of thought. Whether in civil service, journalism, creative writing and corporate boardrooms or anywhere around the globe, English department alumni are bearing the torch of that tradition infused with individual talent. Our teachers didn’t only offer class lectures or confine our world within the bars of curriculum. They instead deconstructed the syllabus and infused our horizon with depth, confidence and aesthetics. In the wake of burgeoning social inequilibrium and commercialization of education, will this fairytale of our English department be able to continue? I wonder if our new generations will readily sacrifice their lives the way our role models did to carry on the legacy of the English department. Unless we rejuvenate the glory of Dhaka University the relics of the Oxford of the East will be relegated to memories alone; the memories of a ‘light house’.

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Maskawaith Ahsan is a broadcaster, journalist, author, blogger and the editor of  The-Editor.net.

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