M. Tawsif Salam
11 September, 2009, Dhaka

Clockwise: Mohammed Salahuddin Chowdhury, Mohammad Shahjahan, Nurul Haque Miah, Abul Kashem Chowdhury, Shakila Yasmin and Shabbir Ahmed.

Immediately after the horrible 9/11 attacks, the perception about Bangladeshi fatalities was that at least 50 of our countrymen have been missing in the rubles, dead or else. Watching the twin towers of the World Trade Center emitting smokes almost like two sky-scrapping chimneys, initially very few people overseas were concerned about knowing how much people of what nationalities have been victims, apart from those who knowingly had family members, coworkers or friends working in New York’s Lower Manhattan that day.

People of approximately 60 nationalities were among the victims. The initial perception of around 50 Bangladeshis killed was later corrected as there were 12 Bangladeshi victims documented. Now this information too ain’t assuring as there were talks that there could be some Bangladeshis working around but ‘not documented’, might have been in terms of legal measures. This means disappointment, that the actual number of how many Bangladeshis were killed in 11 September 2001 attacks won’t be known ever.

For someone looking for stuffs about the Bangladeshi victims of 9/11, the initial disgust will be offered by the authority of Bangladesh, that’s our government. Throughout a staggering hunt for information about brothers & sisters we lost that day, one will completely fail to get something that can be thought is given or provided by any agencies or departments of Bangladesh government. It’s understandable that during the attack the administration at home was to execute a general election of nearly 70 million voters, so it couldn’t respond at once. But not only years passed rather it’s being almost a decade after a number of Bangladeshi deaths overseas, we rarely found any of our government people to pronounce a word about it or to provide at least some statistics. It can be that we ain’t keen enough to get them so they ain’t keen enough to provide.

Among 12 confirmed Bangladeshis who were killed on September 11, 2001 there are Mohammad Sadeque Ali, Shabbir Ahmed, Nurul Haque Miah, Nurul’s wife Shakila Yasmin, Mohammad Shahjahan, Mohammed Salahuddin Chowdhury, Abul Kashem Chowdhury, Navid Hossain, Osman Ghani and Ashfaq Ahmed. As the Bangladesh High Commission at United States has a confirmation of 12 victims, definitely there are two more names those I’ve failed to mention here. However all the mentioned 10 were the citizens of United States of America and except Ashfaq Ahmed, Navid Hossain & Osman Ghani, I can provide at least something about seven others.

Mohammad Sadeque Ali

Mohammad Sadeque Ali, 62, according to a former Bangladeshi diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali, was a newspaper vendor. He lived in New York’s Jackson Heights with his wife Mumtaz. During the attack Ali was at Lower Manhattan presumably somewhere too-close-to or inside the World Trade Center and was later never found.

Shabbir Ahmed

Shabbir Ahmed

Shabbir Ahmed, 47, worked in the famous ‘Windows on The World’ restaurant on the 106th floor of the WTC North Tower. Migrated to US from Bangladesh in 1981, he loved the job he had in ‘Windows on The World’ and he stayed there for 11 years. Ahmed was married to Jeba and the couple had three children. Ahmed became able to meet his dream of sending all of them for college education. At the time of Ahmed’s death, a son named Tanvir was 16-year old and a daughter that went to Brooklyn College were 19-year old. The family’s home is at Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York. At the time a plane penetrated the tower, Ahmed was at work in his beloved workplace with 89 other coworkers including Mohammed Salahuddin Chowdhury, another Bangladeshi employee in there, reportedly were serving 76 guests; none of the people survived.

Mohammad Shahjahan

Mohammad Shahjahan

Mohammad Shahjahan, 41, lived with his wife Mansura at Spring Valley, a neighborhood at the border of towns Ramapo and Clarkstown at Rockland County, New York. He was a Computer Administrator in the professional service provider & insurance brokerage farm Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC)., which held offices between floors 93 & 100, the ultimate impact zone of the attack. 295 employees including Shahjahan and two other Bangladeshis, Nurul Haque Miah & Shakila Yasmin, were working at MMC at the time of attack; among them nobody survived.

Abul Kashem Chowdhury

Abul Kashem Chowdhury

Abul Kashem Chowdhury, 30, was 2nd generation Bangladeshi-American, child of a former Bangladeshi diplomat. He resided in New York with his family of his wife, parents, a brother and two sisters. A College of Staten Island graduate, Chowdhury was about to pursue a career on computer expertise, which even he had one at financial services farm Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. as a Senior Assistant Analyst. His brother Abul Qaiser Chowdhury said that he and his brother worked to support their family; have been like two arms to their loved ones. During the attack Chowdhury was on the 103rd floor, who even called his brother after the plane made the hit and he was approaching to come down, but the communication was tragically brief and everything was finished in hours. Months before the attack Chowdhury got married to Young Kim, a 2nd generation Korean-American. Kim, remarking his husband as a ‘devoted moviegoer’, was about to go to movies with him after work on the fateful day.

Mohammed Salahuddin Chowdhury

Mohammad Salahuddin Chowdhury

Mohammed Salahuddin Chowdhury, 38, was a Queens, New York resident where he lived with his wife Baraheen Ashrafi. Salahuddin, a Dhaka University physics graduate, migrated to US in 1987. In US he studied real-estate and also obtained a diploma in Computer Science. Initially he worked in Baltimore but later came to New York for something better would come up. He decided to stay in New York in anyways so he started working in the famous ‘Windows on The World’ restaurant as a waiter. Salahuddin & Baraheen had a 6-year old boy. In the time of attacks Baraheen was pregnant and was due to operate at late hours of the fateful date. In fact Salahuddin usually attended the work in evening hours but that day chose to serve in the morning so that he could stay with his wife to the operation. Farqad Chowdhury, born 48-hours after deadly attack took away his father with 88 other coworkers, has been perhaps one of the first 9/11 orphans to be born. HBO’s 9/11 documentary “In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01” has covered the tragic fate of Salahuddin’s family.

Nurul Haque Miah

Nurul Haque Miah

Nurul Haque Miah, 35, was born in Bangladesh to an immensely pious family in 1966. A mid-80s immigrant to US, Nurul started working for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., (MMC) in 1986. In 1999 he married Shakila Yasmin; an early-90s immigrant whom he met in a friend’s wedding in 1995 & dated for 5 years. Nurul had a very good reputation at work & was awarded as recognition of merit in MMC. Nurul studied and had a degree in audiovisual technology, as the final position he had in MMC was an Audiovisual Technologist where he worked for 15 years. Nurul’s workplace was on the 93rd floor. But during the attack he was in a meeting on the 99th floor, while his wife Shakila, also an MMC employee, was on the 97th floor; MMC was a tenant holding 8 floors from 93rd to 100th. To mention, all these floors got the worst impact after the plane made hit especially the floors 93th-99th through where the plane actually penetrated, let as assume Nurul and his wife to be two of the very initial victims of the deadly attack.

Shakila Yasmin

Shakila Yasmin

Shakila Yasmin, 26, wife of Nurul Haque Miah, went to US with her parents Sharif A. Chowdhury and Shawkat Ara Sharif when she was 16. She did her S.S.C in Bangladesh and in US got admitted in Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. Obtaining US citizenship in the sixth year of stay, she graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1999 with a degree of Management Information Systems. As told before, she was married to Nurul Haque Miah in 1999, joined her husband’s workplace MMC as a Computer Assistant one year prior to the deadly attack. She was on the 93rd floor when the first plane penetrated the building.

Renaming Brooklyn Streets after Shakila and Nurul

Shakila Yasmin and Nurul Haque Miah

Nurul and Shakila lived in Brooklyn, New York and they had a very good relationship with the neighbors. One of their neighbors Diane Hunt, touched by her neighbors’ tragic deaths, took an initiative to propose renaming of the street in Brooklyn in names of Shakila and Nurul, took the matter to the city council. At her proposition and consent from the fellow councilors, the Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg (world’s 8th richest man, the Republican politician who owns Bloomberg L.P) passed a bill 746-A on 29 December, 2005 that renamed a total 67 streets of New York, including the Evington Avenue and the Third Avenue in Brooklyn those got the new name “Shakila Yasmin & Nurul Haque Miah 9-11 Memorial Way”. Mayor Bloomberg, fellow New Yorker Hunt and others who consented in paying respect to our fallen countrymen are yet to receive gratitude officially from Bangladesh. You know we have a lot of real works to do than just go thanking people like recently dead Senator Ted Kennedy who was singled out in US Senate just for talking for Bangladesh in 1971, or the Jewish NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg who honored Bangladesh by naming streets whereas he could choose from people of 59 other nationalities.

© AFP

Majority of the Bangladeshi cricket fans no matter in times of disappointment or pleasure, rarely have denied the fact that the national team contains skilled players required for a pleasant end of a game. It can be that people around have been disappointed immensely for a batsman’s getting out in almost the same way he gets out in most of the occasions; or the one which happens to be more usual for Bangladesh throughout the time that is sudden collapse of the batting order. But rarely has it been told that they couldn’t do because they weren’t meant to do.

However while talking about what they still need and is quite difficult to have, is the consistency of their better performances. In other sense and though it’s a fact that not necessarily a winning game is always the one with good cricket, we can interpret that one of the things the tigers were still looking for has been the consistency of winning. Bangladesh’s consecutive outfighting of Zimbabwe and West Indies can be taken to set up as what we repeatedly call Bangladesh team to have required for years.

Beside good cricket from both the sides a better contribution from the neutral part of the game also seems as a mandatory, which Shane Warne has recently appeared to be concerned about. Recently he was found to lambaste the present day umpiring stating, “The standard of umpiring is as low as I’ve known it in 20 years.” Well, let not just take few disputable decisions to specify a general deterioration. Especially in case of relating the matter with time, it has to be accepted that the advanced use of an advanced technology have made some stuffs quite outcast and mistakes at the grounds are now exposed in a better way. But what really makes us take seriously that are consecutively disputed decisions from certain umpires have very scant record of accountabilities or dramatic improvement.

Celebration

It really hurts to accommodate any criticism about the ultimate decider of the game in a post-game talk. But talks really do favor in such situations where it sometimes turns to be unbearable and an explication comes up as precedence.

For example we must not mind if Asoka De Silva’s umpiring is brought to attention to at least some extent. Bangladesh team already has received unexpected damages by what appeared to have been disputable decisions of the Sri Lankan umpire. Bangladesh’s tours to Pakistan in 2003 and to West Indies this year are the noted ones.

Asoka as a cricketer has however been impressive in his test debut where he bowled stood nearly as a solid obstacle on ways of the Indian scorers in Colombo back in 1985. As an umpire, well his decisions gave births to few notable flaps. Considering the fact that technology nowadays does even a cruder exposure of man’s mistakes at instance and instead of just regretting a sum of ‘regrettable’ decisions at the international level, there can be suggested a tradeoff between technological aspects and their acceptable contributions to evade any contentiousness among the people around.

The post-game at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka.

Sunil Gavaskar once has regretted a fact which also we often do; that as the time has advanced it has took away what once was innocence in cricket they had back in their times. Gavaskar told Ayaz Memon on 10 July this year, “There was an innocence about the game when I was kid, which is perhaps not quite there now. I think I would prefer the innocence of the game that was there when I was a teenager.” Things take place which make us think in the same way too. Like, there was some sort of celebration among the fielders in the ground after an opponent batsman made a half-century. It ain’t like such things have disappeared nowadays, but the players are aware that the TV cameras are on them, according to Gavaskar.

After the 4th ODI of Bangladesh-Zimbabwe series in Bulawayo this year, Tamim Iqbal did set something easing Sunil Gavaskar and ourselves too. Charles Coventry’s spectacular 194 not-out ultimately came at nothing for Zimbabwe as Iqbal’s decisive 154 did it sealing the match for Bangladesh. It was the ‘Man of the Match’ trophy that Iqbal was co-chosen for with Coventry and it’s where our point lies. Tamim Iqbal, who’s steady and epic 154 won the match for Bangladesh, stated “I congratulated him (Coventry) and told him that he could keep the trophy. He deserved it… You don’t make world records every day. It was a truly magnificent innings.” That was a good one to ease us as well as Sunil Gavaskar; really a winning habit and else.

This has also been published in the 23 August, 2009 issue of Weekly Economic Times.

Prothom Alo and Daily Star. I actually don’t blame myself while being highly skeptical about two most notable newspapers of our country, because they practically were correlated to my association with blogging in past. I remember the role that Prothom Alo and Daily Star played amid the 1/11 misrule in fact when I started active blogging, where I and many other bloggers can quite rightfully state based upon facts that they were becoming the engineers to establish the public support for the 1/11 regime which appeared to have been having ill-motives against Bangladesh. Whenever we had a confusion about what the then ‘Lord of the Rings’ Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed were trying to say or do, we were used to read Prothom Alo or Daily Star editorials or others’ write-ups inside them. In fact their articles or news reports at that time were written in such way that Gen. Moeen and his conmen were being quite well explained.

Prothom Alo and Daily Star, have been subjected to several controversies.

Prothom Alo and Daily Star claim themselves to have the highest circulation among those of their competitors, which I don’t deny. And considering them as two leading newspapers of Bangladesh, they have so far faced handful of allegations which I believe no other leading newspaper in Bangladesh did and in most of the countries are too much rare to face. The series of allegations include with, being weapons to knock down their owner’s business rivals, being an unofficial media body to provide subsequent explications of an undemocratic and unlawful government’s series of ill-motivated steps etc. Deeds they did to viciously support the undemocratic 1/11 government should be enough to completely discourage number of people who could have respect on them as honest journalists.

The Gulshan Avenue house which was raided by perpetrators with sign-board saying “Owner of This Land is ATN Bangla – এই জমি ক্রয়সূত্রে মালিক এটিএন বাংলা”

What Salman F. Rahman today has told, I consider it to be his right to defend himself if someone throws dirt to him. We remember that after the unlawful grab attempt of a Gulshan Avenue residential building by group of people claiming themselves to be conmen of Mahfuzur Rahman holding a signboard which says “This Property Belongs to ATN Bangla”, Salman F. Rahman being a relative to the actual owner of the building got involved in the case to support his family member, and that was the beginning of a series of ATN Bangla reports against both Salman F. Rahman and BEXIMCO. As similar sort of allegations have come forward about Prothom Alo and Daily Star for a number of times before, we cannot mark someone to be completely without logic if he says a same affair might have taken place between Salman F. Rahman and Prothom Alo & Daily Star. More importantly, according to Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam’s claim that they are committed to present substantial news to their readers, Prothom Alo and Daily Star were supposed to carry out at least a follow-up of the Gulshan Avenue flap, which they eventually didn’t do. So Prothom Alo and Daily Star’s general claim having ‘social responsibilities’ eventually becomes arguable.

As a reader and subscriber of both Prothom Alo and Daily Star which I was two years back, I will strongly support if someone claims that Prothom Alo and Daily Star both have been a party to the previous 1/11 regime to help them build their public support, as Salman F. Rahman.

I just can put a shortlist of their assistances. Incidentally and now I feel it was most unfortunate that it were Prothom Alo and Daily Star who gave me the first details of the 1/11 coup d’état. However as the 1/11 regime accommodate some tasks in their plans those where necessary for the harmonious run of a state, distinctive parts of their plans can be marked as they were not completely malicious. These not-malicious plans are often chosen to state that “1/11 also did some good things”. These ‘good things’ were given good coverage by Prothom Alo and Daily Star which I don’t think to be disappointing, and to some extent I was not suspecting about their roles or any of its appeared-to-be-association with the 1/11 government till those moments. But after the 1/11 government was on its political plans like minus-1/2, gagging major parties, creating king’s factions in name of reformists, forcing media to filter presentations, torturing journalists, politicians, teachers, students etc., I attentively noticed that Prothom Alo and Daily Star were being at very effective assistance where number of stories were being made to help the government have a convinced group of people and an apparent public support to their position completely against the ongoing political system. Following this notice, my delivery boy was told that no Prothom Alo and Daily Star should be seen in my house any further. Yes, I subscribed both and I unsubscribed both.

ATN Bangla and Daily Star seem to have collaboration.

Now, one can ask if I have made detached from two newspapers. Well I haven’t been detached. When any important issue takes place and becomes attention of the majority media, I become curious about what role Prothom Alo & Daily Star are playing and I get in touch with their online edition. In fact their apparent apathy on the grab attempt on that Gulshan Avenue residential building came by my eyes when I specially checked that what’ve been their remark about allegation on their partial media partner (as ATN Bangla and Daily Star works together online in some cases) ATN Bangla in that illegal operation.

Anyways, about the beginning of 1/11, their reports really gave me and most of their readers an idea that the 10 January late night at Bangabhaban was really a scene full of merriness where D. Iajuddin Ahmed laterally handed over the state-running scepter to hands of the then military chief Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed. In fact the book written by Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed almost echoed what was reported by those newspapers on January 11, 2007. These ‘truths’ started being differed after other officials of Bangabhaban who were present during the overthrow and who were notable ‘non-military’, started to open mouths. Claims of the then Press Secretary of the President hint that Bangabhaban that night was an exact stereotype of how a presidential palace becomes amid a coup d’état; military officials in every rooms, regular house officials with faces like they were looking at ghosts, raiding military officials threatening Bangabhaban officials, officials getting to the President with prepared papers and having them signed etc. As the topic Press Secretary has come, I must mention that Syed Fahim Munaim, who was chosen as the Press Secretary to Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, was a Daily Star official prior to his appointment to the Chief Advisor’s office.

For sake of better acceptability of the claims Salman F. Rahman has made, I will suggest that the matter should be taken to the court as soon as possible so that there can be set an exemplary judicial action against Prothom Alo and Daily Star, if Rahman’s claims are found evident.

Incidentally the political targets of the 1/11 regime have been interesting matches with Prothom Alo and Daily Star targets to be defamed with series reports, substantial or insubstantial. Now those newspapers can defend this that the matches have been coincidental or they were simply doing the duties of ideal journalists. But we, the people who read those (at least once have read) newspapers, have opportunities of their analysis and do know that there exists a term called ‘yellow journalism’, won’t like to be fed and satisfied with these fancy ‘social responsibility’ explanations. People will play with the facts. And the claim that Prothom Alo and Daily Star were party to the promotion of unconstitutional and unlawful regime does have facts to back.

At least this has to be appreciated that Salman F. Rahman stood vocal against Prothom Alo and Daily Star despite many of their targets simply had things forgone or dealt by other means. I will expect that the information that Rahman provided have been substantial. For sake of better acceptability of the claims Salman F. Rahman has made, I will suggest that the matter should be taken to the court as soon as possible so that there can be set an exemplary judicial action against Prothom Alo and Daily Star, if Rahman’s claims are found evident. I also wish courage to the honorable judges that before ensuring justice against the practice of any illegitimate journalism, they will overcome the uneasiness of possibilities that they also can become suitable targets of Prothom Alo and Daily Star.

Group of responsible personalities including government people and the Indian diplomat, have been showing unpalatable stubbornness over the Tipaimukh Dam issue.

Dr. Dipu Moni’s remark about Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty that he breached a diplomat’s code of conduct was not her first remark to be considered as a flap. She received spectacular criticisms after forgoing an Indian journalist who marked Bangladesh as a ‘buffer state’ in a press conference presided by her. People from the top brass of present Awami League government power structure have set some more examples of being kind to forgo a couple of must-protest commentaries of people associated with India. The most recent one was Dipu Moni’s presence in a seminar where Indian High Commissioner added the adjective ‘so-called’ while naming Bangladeshi experts, especially those who are critical to India’s unpopular Tipaimukh dam. After the Chakravarty’s flawless conduct, BNP’s lawmaker Adv. Mahbubuddin Khokon, who is also BNP’s sole representative to the parliamentary body for foreign affairs, demanded immediate expulsion of the rowdy diplomat.

Following Khokon’s demand, Dr. Dipu Moni’s popular remark about Chakravarty’s breaching the code of conduct was almost covering up the controversy that she caused by her silence against humiliation of Bangladesh. Now, it’s to be noted that Dr. Dipu Moni became a part of several events where she received criticisms by either her humiliating silence, or her apparent incompetence to put thrashing replies against what it’s been insulting remark against Bangladesh; and throughout all these Awami League’s attention to her activities never became public. But at a certain point Awami League top brass became really tensed about her statements and took no time to differ what she told about the rowdy diplomat. After no time from Dr. Dipu Moni became coldly vocal about Chakravarty’s rowdiness, Awami League’s spokesperson and the Minister of Local Government and Cooperatives Syed Ashraful Islam said that he at no point thinks that Chakravarty has breached a diplomat’s code of conduct.

Ramesh Sen, the Minister of Water Resources, has done most of the contributions to the series of erratic speeches over Tipaimukh Dam issue. The recent of his performances has been utterly denying that Begum Khaleda Zia has ever sent a letter to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Khaleda Zia’s letter to the Prime Minister over her concerns about Tipaimukh has been covered by entire of the media, which our minister Ramesh Sen has confidently denied to have ever taken place.

The Tipaimukh Dam issue has seen more passes than sometimes satirically presented Dutch ‘total football’ could ever have produced or suggested. We don’t know who were midfielders, attackers or defenders, but the passes have been subsequently carried out by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Water Resources, and Environment & Forest, without much of the senses of their particular roles. Whenever the responsible individuals received stern quizzes about the issue, they either kept passing it to other offices, or made remarks those are solely enough to humiliate the sovereignty of a nation.

The Minister of Commerce Col. Faruk Khan, who in accordance with his official functions wasn’t supposed to be concerned with the issue, claimed all of a sudden that the Bangladeshi experts who are being critical to Tipaimukh issue don’t know anything. Following his statement, Chakravarty made two subsequent comments; one is that the protest against Tipaimukh issue was politically ill-motivated, and the other is no laws on earth could bar India from building Tipaimukh dam. Quoting Chakravarty, Minister of Communication Abul Hossain also told the protest against Tipaimukh dam is insubstantial. Minister of Water Resources Ramesh Sen, who did something more serious than a quotation, told that if there is any negative impact of Tipaimukh dam, Bangladesh should concede the damages at least for sake of the alliance with her greater neighbor.

As it has been told earlier, this series of comments is solely enough to humiliate the sovereignty of a nation. The present government as well as the ruling party, and most importantly Syed Ashraful Islam who was in a hurry to reestablish the submissiveness of his government to the Indian authority by differing Dr. Dipu Moni’s cold protest within hours, should get the note that friendship cannot be imposed. You just cannot pick up a group of people and ask them to recite “Bangladesh and India are friends”, who already are holding newspapers with headlines of Bangladeshi frontier population body-counts to the BSF bullets. Or, you cannot just ask people to accept long-lasting damages just for sake of alliance with a nation which appoints ‘so-called’ diplomats to meddle in our internal politics and humiliate our sovereignty.

People won’t accept speeches from a minister like Ramesh Sen hints to sacrifice Bangladeshi resources for sake of India’s friendship, or of lawmakers like Abdur Razzaq states Bangladesh can make up her desertification by importing Tipaimukh produced power; hence Bangladesh can accept both her desertification and Indian bills just to have power produced in Tipaimukh. These comments hint their loyalties being to something else than the sovereignty of Bangladesh.

From left: Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed, Brig-Gen. Fazlul Bari, Maj-Gen. A.T.M Amin, Lt-Gen. Masud Uddin Chowdhury

Although Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed claimed his 11 January, 2007 unlawful intervention to be something other than a typical coup d’état, the significance of his acts have been too crudely typical. Almost all of the initiatives he took were typical; saving the nation from a nearing ‘civil war’, proposition of all out political reformation, crackdown over corruption etc. Actually there don’t remain a lot more cover-ups that a military ruler can use to defend his outspoken unlawfulness. So the mentioned lollypops were the instruments Gen. Moeen used to form up a façade of his unconstitutional and unlawful regime, suspending the fundamental rights those the people of an independent sovereign state can expect to have.

I’ve heard many people to claim the events of early January 2007 could have triggered a civil war in Bangladesh. It’s highly arguable that whether crying out the imminence of a civil war was really a substantial speculation or was just an excuse to overthrow a uniform government. Such excuses can eventually leave us skeptical because although adversary political activists took the streets no matter whatever ratio they had, no parts of the belligerents were recognized to have ‘military’ wings to drive through a ‘civil war’. At least Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed surely was not a Patton or a Monty to ‘give a chop’ to everything within a night that could have instrumented a countrywide civil war. So probably it was just an excuse to be used to form the public image of the setup that Moeen U. Ahmed with his errand men appeared to have done.

Moeen, however, had to be at good terms with the Indian authority. To mention, his relationship with India has been considerably better than any other military leaders of Bangladesh, becoming the only Bangladesh Army Chief of Staff to be befriended by India's far-right political masterminds.

Now for sake of arguments, I can be looked for to be asked, should Moeen have waited for the civil war getting truly imminent? Well I like to rule out the issue of a civil war, because for a country like Bangladesh which took less than 20 years from her birth to take the track of a consistent democracy, which in fact has had democracy smoothly and praiseworthily running for 16 long years, a civil war just for two conflicting political parties happens to be too fictitious. In fact as a country recognized to have moderate political and religious views, the civil war issue should have been taken as an insult to Bangladesh.

It’s arguable that whether the sudden intervention, or let me say the 1/11 coup d’état can be justified considering the then situation. Some or many people haven’t been disappointed after completely unlawful and unconstitutional sudden intervention of a man and suspension of people’s fundamental rights for indefinite period of time. People haven’t been disappointed at once because they were confused that whether they had lived better in past couple of months in the then atmosphere. Series of street agitations and two party’s being distant everyday turned Bangladeshi politics to severe disarray. Senior leaders of both the parties were set to negotiate and work a solution out but they could give nothing but smiles after they met. So the series of violence and an almost stalemate of Bangladesh, they have been failure of politicians, not politics. But after taking over the state machine what Gen. Moeen U. Ahmed was after has not been just politicians, he was after politics along with all the apparatuses he could have had a control over, legitimately or else.

We often see commentators among us who appear to have allergies of a system other than democracy, especially if it comes as a subject to military takeover of the state machine. Certain class of people now suddenly appear to be looking for rooms to thank Gen. Moeen at for least something he did. After considerably a protracted quest, its told that whatsoever Moeen U. Ahmed once initiated, have come to an end by resuming the democratic process, so he is to be thanked. In fact a military ruler who overthrew a uniform authority which was a party to state’s democratic process, if can be that fortunate ending up by resuming the democratic process, righteously can be considered as something better than just money lending, thus deserves a Novel Peace Prize.

However the Sheikh Hasina government does contain some of Awami League personalities who will like to give these kingpins real hard time.

But the immediate next democratic government of Moeen’s 1/11 rule didn’t act in the way that of a Novel Peace Prize contender should have acted. Ordinances the 1/11 cabinet once passed, the democratic government turned them into laws. Breaching of the constitutions the 1/11 regime frequently did, the democratic government desperately avoids to sue those matters. Not only has this, a cabinet member at the government of Moeen’s ‘resumed’ democracy, stated that Moeen U. Ahmed has been an Abraham Lincoln in the context of Bangladesh. It’s merely unbelievable that how a person under whose command politicians were tortured, university teachers were jailed and tortured, under whose command the fundamental rights of people were suspended, under whose command journalist was beaten half to death for criticizing him, can be compared with Abraham Lincoln. And it appears things won’t remain up to just comparison with great statesmen. Instead of dealing with the allegations, instead of suing for ousting democracy and hundred more criminal offenses at least attributed to have been done, there have been authoritative talks that there can be rewards for. And eventually this reward part, though haven’t taken place yet, explains everything.

*****

This post has also been published in The Weekly Economic Times, 21 June, 2009 issue.

The following day of Bangladesh’s humiliating defeat to Ireland in ICC T20 World Cup, was my first day at the new campus of North South University. We had no idea about how much time it would take to reach the new campus so we were pretty early from home. On the way while crossing American Embassy, my friend Saikat who I was riding with, and me, for sake of keeping on exuberance of the new campus, made a deal that throughout the time we will avoid any discussion not only on Bangladesh Cricket team but also of T20 World Cup. Both of us rather we found hundreds like us in the campus later who abode by this deal.

“…Actually he ain’t to be blamed because he didn’t learn to act with modesty; not when it’s a humiliation, and not on earth whiles its celebrations…”

It’s undeniable that there were definite reasons for Bangladeshi cricket fans refusing talks on the team’s humiliating incompetence in T20 World Cup. Bangladesh played two matches where the players will like to put result against India as an important factor to their defence against the anticipated probe over their tournament performance.

Today, one of the selector, I missed his name, was talking to a private FM radio station and was desperately defending the national team. He said the disappointment of the fans was indeed their tendency to get upset with just the result of a certain match. This brilliant selector and sounds-like-a-wise-guy told that Bangladesh cricket fans will have to reform their attitude over performances of their team. I mean this is absolutely ridiculous that a national cricket team selector talks like that rather after ridiculous performances of the team which he appears to have co-selected. He could have talked like that if there were plenty of contrasts between the result and the overall game-play of his team.

In matches against India and Ireland, runs scored by the lower order were respectably 50 and 54, that is what ultimately the score got built on was the lower order’s scuffling with their bats. More importantly, the top order in both the matches collapsed before the 9th overs could be bowled. Two middle order batsmen had excellent ties between them that in both matches they made same scores, respectably 8 and 7. The overall middle-order batting scores are already enough to think of a probe, they were 34 and 35 respectably. Because how important a full-fit and performing middle order is in T20s, I hope all the selectors and players will undisputedly admit.

“…the captain who did bat not more than 23 deliveries and scored not more than 25 runs in the entire international T20 competition, has told the team performances was not as poor as words appear to have been spread on it…” © Getty Images

So it’s not that throughout the games Bangladeshi players saturated with good cricket and tragedies suddenly came. Both the games had their 10th overs of the second innings where everyone was able to say Bangladesh’s not going to make it. So what our players and selectors have to be is a little modest while talking to anybody. The one gets upset, gets upset because that ‘one’ indeed does care. Players beef up the spirits with this ‘care’ so the players will have to be modest when they turn the ‘carers’ upset. Asking for reforms in attitudes is not the way.

Same words are for our mighty captain Mohammad Ashraful, who, covered by Armed Police Battalion personnels, yards away of people’s outrage and fed with assurance that there have been arrangements to keep him away of the mob, has proudly pronounced that point of his stepping down from captaincy doesn’t really arise. Mohammad Ashraful, the captain who did bat not more than 23 deliveries and scored not more than 25 runs in the entire international T20 competition, has told the team performances was not as poor as words are spread on it, rather they have plenty of achievements from this competition. Actually he ain’t to be blamed because he didn’t learn to act with modesty; not when it’s a humiliation, and not on earth whiles its celebrations.

07:35 AM

Although it wouldn’t be anything incredible, I never thought of a day that will have me writing one of the pieces in mobile. However the keypad of this Nokia 6288 doesn’t seem too bad to keep pushing on it for a while.

So far I can remember, in Comilla this has been the first time for me to witness the whole process of a night to have the sunrise, subsequently becoming a dawn and then a sunny, bright and lovely morning. The morning today in fact ain’t being a sunny and shiny one because the sky seems to have a very thick cloud. It can be a shower later on the day, I don’t know, but I realize that it’d be a relief from the heat that’s having us almost sweating to hell. But at least to me, a shiny and sunny morning is a priority, I mean I could do it with the heat and sweating but a gloomy morning really does mean a bad starting of the day. That’s what happening in Comilla on this 28 May, 2009. However I haven’t gave up being optimistic for a sunny morning because there’re still some hours for the noon to come.

I’ve reached in Comilla at 9:20 last night, and will be starting for Dhaka on this evening Inshallah. It’s really being a too short tour, in fact still I have to hold a smile of pleasure for this mighty one night stay because I am accompanied by some people who’s summer vacations are almost at end. This of my tours has been quite distant from the last one but it ain’t like I’ve been well detached from the issues of Comilla. For last couple of months I’ve been active with the Facebook group of Comilla more than any other online stuffs. I’ve been viewing the photos those member from the town have been uploading, I’ve been however communicating with these people, internet messengers or telephone, I wasn’t detached at all. But still paying a visit to this most favorite place with the family, really is pleasant.

I have the whole day to put efforts making this of my trips pleasantly successful. With me there are representatives of several families. Plans of this short trip was being talked about for last few weeks but the ultimate event that triggered the plan to action is that Tahnik and Maisha finally have got done with their months long H.S.C exams.

I wish myself a nice trip however.

To Be Continued

Ratnagarbha Ma, an Azad Products award that is given to a successful mother with her properly raised and successful children, has been given to Saleha Akhtar, wife of Shahid Uddin Ahmed, a resident of Thakur Para, Comilla.

Saleha Akhtar lives in their family home ‘Ziapur House’ at Thakur Para. M. Zakir S. Ahmad a Vice President of National Bank Ltd., Brig-Gen. M. Baker S. Ahmad a National Defence College teacher, Engr. M. Manzur S. Ahmad a Canadian Nuclear Inspector, Dr. M. Masrur Ahmad an officer at UNICEF Dhaka Programme and Maj. M. Ahmad Saifur Rahman a Deputy Director of Rapid Action Battalion, are sons of Saleha Akhtar.

Saleha Akhtar told in her reaction, “Braving the then social system I tried to have my children grown up as honest and ideal. I have put my efforts with sincerity like every other mothers of Bangladesh. It’s been a challenge for me facing crucial household matters to have my children grown up as good citizens.”

We congratulate Saleha Akhtar on behalf of all members and fans of Comilla’s Facebook group and fan-page.

It was inside Principal’s room where formalities were being done of my admission to Dhaka Residential Model College. I don’t know about other colleges, but DRMC had rules for its students to choose compulsory and elective subjects during the admission, I mean at the very beginning. When I was about to name my subjects, my mother was looking at me, to read my face what really I was going to do. My sister along with my mother, often wanted me to have Biology at least as a fourth (elective) subject so that I could at least seat for medical admissions after higher secondary. But I had my memories. I saw my sister to study up to a limit that a human being possibly can and I was never comfortable with studying this much.

Not only for admission, after getting admitted in Dhaka Medical College my sister had to put her studies in one side and rest of her world aside. I told I was never comfortable with this much studies. So for only to avoid studying 18 hours a day, I never even thought about being a doctor in anyways. So in an afternoon of 2003’s fall inside Principal’s room in Residential Model College, when I named my subjects ‘Higher Maths’ and ‘Statistics’ instead of ‘Higher Maths’ and ‘Biology’, my mother told nothing. But her face left a message that at that moment she gave up her hope of another of her children could be a doctor, and she didn’t look much happy with that.

Being a doctor in anywhere is always thought to be the fulfilment of dreams of the one who became and the people around him. In all over the world medical schools appear to be pretty different from other schools just because it contains its pupils who beside studies receive lessons to get prepared mentally to serve the people with devotion and adoration. We can look over an array of essays with title “aim in life” where confirmedly majority of the essays will hail the dreams of kids those want to be doctors. When parents look forward to have their child in the journey of being a doctor, their sights remain with immense hope and expectations.

Violence in our educational institutions is not new to claim lives of students. In Bangladesh more students have died from internal campus violence than the savageries of various repression-friendly regimes. The freshest claim of this nasty part of our politics has been Abul Kalam Asad Rajib.

Abul Kalam Asad Rajib was in his room in Dhaka Medical College hostel Fazle-Rabbi Hall on the second floor. A group of above twenty people with sticks, cricket-stamps, rods and other melee weapons broke in Rajib’s room. Reportedly Rajib was beaten by the group inside the room until some of the attackers took him and threw him down from the balcony of 2nd floor. After an above 25 feet free-fall on concrete slab on the ground, he was taken care of by another group waiting downstairs. There again Rajib was beaten mercilessly until a crowd converged to the spot. The attackers left the scene with more than 25 casualties including one seriously injured, Abul Kalam Asad Rajib, who is a leader and General Secretary of Dhaka Medical College unit of Bangladesh Chhatro League, the student wing of the presently ruling party.

Noted number of the injured students at hospital has named a doctor called Bidyut Barua, who is another Chhatro League leader of the campus, an ex general secretary of the unit and appears to have led a faction of DMCH Chhatro League which is rival of the one Abul Kalam Asad Rajib led. Most of the injured students have stated attackers contained a few DMC Chhatro League activists, and a large number of outsiders led by some Chhatro Union (Bangladesh Student Union) activists. Abul Kalam Asad Rajib, who could have served us in health services or in politics or in anywhere in coming years, has succumbed his injuries, has been declared dead by the doctors of Community Military Hospital at Dhaka Cantonment at 6:30PM local time.

One of my recent posts was written about the student politics. A question was thrown through the post that whether a ban is appropriate and my post outlined a trail that ends in answer ‘no to ban and yes to reformation’. Many of the readers have been people close to me and I wasn’t out of touch when they came up with unending criticism of my views. Many of the readers directly said a ‘yes’ to permanent ban over student politics. Very few had a voice over the reformation but what exactly hasn’t been seen in them was optimism. They ain’t sure about a reformation that can make student politics work is in fact possible.

Abul Kalam Asad Rajib

What Bangladesh Chhatro League have been doing after the present government took oath, is not indeed any individual characteristic of Chhatro League as an organization. It has been a custom that student wings of a ruling party will act like what Chhatro League has been doing since last January, what Chhatro Dal has done in January 2002 and what Chhatro League did in May 1996.

My saying ‘no’ to banning student politics, was some sort of saying ‘yes’ to the path of progressive advancement of our national politics. To back this ‘no’ to the ban, there have been a lot of arguments which I had to get involved in with those who support a ban. But today it appears that my being stubborn with a ‘no to ban’ gives me a feeling of standing upon a street perplexedly, the street which is full of blood, bled by those who attacked, bled by those who were attacked.

Abul Kalam Asad will never know that what he succumbed was not his wounds given by his rivals. He has succumbed the wounds that are stigmatizing our politics every day. Abul Kalam Asad will never know that the prominence of notoriety that he had in his campus, didn’t require him to battle for it, he easily grabbed it from the characteristic of our politics. The failure is ours that we have ourselves ruled by politics with such a type, which creates leaders of characteristics who died and the media finds nothing to add at end of their obituaries that could make us say “Ahare…” after reading it.

It appears that the nuclear deal between India and United States has been followed by numerous violent events in adjacent countries of India. Pakistan has seen a fresh phase of anarchies that includes a tremendous escalation of terrorism in both frontier and deep inside the territory. Terrorist organizations those had their actions mostly based in frontier regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are being seen tending to converge deep inside Pakistani, specially the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). Series escalation of terrorism those are spreading furiously in urban Pakistan has also become the most concerning to date.

Violence in Pakistan that is only in Pakistan still could be considered as internal matters of a country. But observing commotions in other South Asian countries have urged the observers to note it that this might be something bigger than internal matters of a single state. Series of unexpected incidents in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is leading South Asia to be an endangered region. The carnage took place in Bangladesh’s border guard headquarters that left an almost hundred slain military officers, has been a major notification in South Asia that peace is at a vulnerable position. The whole matter around Pilkhana has been immensely fishy where the government of Bangladesh has been found to be more conservative that they should have been. Initially the senior members of the government tried to create a political division over the matter by blaming their political rival for the carnage. An unexpected and fruitless political blame-game was triggered that was leaving a lot of cloud for the investigators. So far the governmental bodies cannot be kept out of suspicion because a many questions still remain unanswered. The federal investigating committee has been largely politicized by putting government ministers and ruling party leaders to lead the committee. Keeping the fact in mind that the perpetrators caused an irreparable damage to the defence apparatus of the country, the perpetrators appear to receive a number of advantages for bewildering decisions of the government. Hence the biggest attack to the date on Bangladeshi defence apparatus has been made.

Events taking place in Bangladesh those chronically have followed the medieval carnage at Pilkhana, could be a part of the efforts where the overall peace of South Asia is being bullied. An army officer was found stabbed to death in a Dhaka hotel in the same week of the carnage. Three other army officers were killed in an event which appears to be a helicopter crash, including a two-star General. Another two-star general and a single-star general were killed in Pilkhana. Series of hits on the people who are deeply associated with the national security structure of Bangladesh are not at all scattered incidents. Initially Bangladesh security analysts told the border guards carnage could be a retaliation of an incident of 2001 where a wave of Indian raiders were valiantly pushed away by Bangladesh border guards, leaving a death toll of 21 Indian soldiers, 3 Bangladeshi soldiers and hundred more casualties.

Another incident in this second Friday of March 2009 has escalated the security tensions of Bangladesh up to a concerning height. A fire outbreak in the biggest shopping mall of Bangladesh, the Bashundhara City can appear as a powerful hit over Bangladesh economy. The economy of Bangladesh already has become a victim of global economical shrinking and massive curtailment at global job market. Still no formula has been found out that the Bashundhara incident indeed has been a hit, but our intelligence apparatus has to work it out. There has to be found that whether this has been part of the effort which is gradually breaching the peace of South Asia, after the powerful alliance of two malicious giants of world diplomacy. We have to learn if this has been a part of the process that has been initiated in order to bring changes in the map of South Asia. If all the mishaps taking place in recent times are all related, these will no more be considered as attacks on certain sectors rather than it will be considered as attack on the sovereignty and independence of Bangladesh.

একজন বাংলাদেশী, যে তার দেশকে ভালোবাসে, যে তার দেশের সেনানীদের বিশ্বের সর্বশ্রেষ্ঠজ্ঞান করে, যে দেশকে আক্রান্ত হতে দেখলে নিজেদের ভেতর মতাদর্শের বিভাজনকে গৌণ মনে করে, দেশের সবাইকে ঐক্যবদ্ধ হতে দেখবার জন্য ছটফট করে, তার মন ভেঙ্গে দেয়ার জন্যে পিলখানার ঘটনাটি যথেষ্ট ছিল। স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশে দেশের সেনাবাহিনীর উপর এত বড় আঘাত আর হয়নি। ঘটনাটি যেদিন ঘটে সেদিন কেউই বুঝে উঠতে পারেননি যে আসলে কি হয়েছে কিংবা এই অবস্থায় কি মনোভাব প্রদর্শন করা প্রয়োজন। যখন পিলখানার ভেতরে ও আশেপাশে পাওয়া যেতে থাকল দেশের গর্বের সন্তানদের ক্ষতবিক্ষত দেহ, তখন আর কারওরই বুঝতে বাকি থাকেনি যে এ কোন বিদ্রোহ, অসন্তোষ ও ক্ষোভের ফল হতে পারেনা। এ দেশের নিরাপত্তা বুহ্যের উপর এক আচমকা ও নৃশংস আঘাত, যা বাংলাদেশের শত্রুরা ঘটিয়েছে। বাংলাদেশের ক্ষতি হলে যাদের লাভ হয়, বাংলাদেশ এগিয়ে গেলে যাদের ক্ষতি হয়, তারাই এই কান্ড ঘটিয়েছে। এই ঘটনার ধারক বাহক যারা, তারা এই দেশের কেউ হতে পারে না, খোঁজ নিলে জানা যাবে কাগজে কলমে তারা হয়তো এদেশেরই মানুষ, কিংবা নয়, কিন্ত তারা বাংলাদেশের ঘৃণ্যতম শত্রু। এখন পর্যন্ত দৃশ্যমান ঘটনাগুলো পিলখানার ভেতর ঘটলেও ধারণা করা কঠিন নয় যে পরিকল্পনা ছিল দেশের আরও ক্ষতি করার। দেশের সেনাবাহিনীতে চূড়ান্ত ক্ষোভের সঞ্চার করে সেখান থেকে প্রতিক্রিয়া আসতে পারে এমনটা আশা করা স্বাভাবিক, এমনটা ঘটতেই পারত। সেক্ষেত্রে দেশকে ইতমধ্যেই যে পরিমাণ দূর্বল করা হয়েছে, দেশ তার থেকে আরও অনেক বেশি দূর্বল হয়ে পড়ত। পরম করুণাময়ের কাছে অশেষ কৃতজ্ঞতা জ্ঞাপন করছি যে তা অবশেষে ঘটেনি। আবেগ ও ক্ষোভের বশে তাৎক্ষণাৎ প্রতিক্রিয়া প্রদর্শনের চেয়ে ধৈর্য্য ও দক্ষতার সাথে পরিস্থিতি সামাল দেয়াকেই আমাদের সশস্ত্র বাহিনী সঠিক মনে করেছে। এতে সেনাবাহিনীর প্রতি দেশের মানুষের শ্রদ্ধা বেড়েছে, সেনাবাহিনীর অধিনায়কদের প্রতি শ্রদ্ধা ও আস্থা বেড়েছে। আমরা আশা করি নিয়মতান্ত্রিক ভাবে ধাপে ধাপে এগিয়ে আমাদের সেনাবাহিনী দেশের উপর এই নৃশংস আক্রমনের নেপথ্য খুঁজে বের করবেন, এই ঘটনার দায়ীদের বিচারের সামনে উপস্থিত করবেন ও দেশের শত্রুদের নিধন করবেন।

আমাদের দেশে রাজনীতির সাথে জড়িত ব্যাক্তিবর্গ দেশের স্বার্থকে পাশ কাটিয়ে যখন একান্তই নিজ রাজনৈতিক উদ্দেশ্যকে সামনে রেখে নানা পদক্ষেপ গ্রহণ করেন, তখন তাকে আমরা বলি রাজনীতির নোংরা খেলা, কিংবা ডার্টি গেম। পিলখানায় সার সার পড়ে থাকা অফিসারদের মৃতদেহ গুলো দেখে মনে ভেঙ্গে গিয়েছিল। কিন্তু তারপরও সংশ্লিষ্ট সবার বিশেষ করে সশস্ত্র বাহিনীর অশ্রুসজল অথচ ধীরস্থির অবস্থান দেখে একটু একটু করে মনোবল ফিরে পাচ্ছিলাম। এই বোধটা জাগ্রত হতে শুরু করেছিল যে ঠিক সময় আমরা ঠিকই একতা ও মনোবল ফিরে পাই। কিন্তু এই প্রক্রিয়ায় বাধ সাধছে দেশের রাজনীতি। আজ সংসদ অধিবেশনে জনপ্রতিনিধিদের বক্তব্যদানের ধরণ দেখে নিরাশ না হয়ে উপায় ছিলনা। আমি পুরো অধিবেশনটির সম্প্রচার দেখিনি। কিন্তু একদেড় ঘন্টা যাই দেখেছি, তাতে পারষ্পরিক দোষারোপ ছাড়া কিছুই ছিলনা। বিশেষ করে এই ক্রন্দনরত হৃদয়ে সবচেয়ে শক্তিশালী আঘাতটা বোধ হয় করলেন আমাদের স্বয়ং প্রধানমন্ত্রী। শুনেছি ওয়াশিংটন পোস্ট, টেলিগ্রাফ, গার্ডিয়ান নাকি গত কয়েকদিনের ঘটনায় মাননীয় প্রধানমন্ত্রীর ভূমিকার ভূয়সী প্রশংসা করেছে। পরম করুণাময়ের কাছে প্রার্থনা করি ঐ পত্রিকার সংবাদদাতারা যেন সংসদে প্রধানমন্ত্রীর আজকের ভাষণটির ব্যাপারে জানতে না পারেন। কারণ আজকের ভাষণ খুবই নগ্ন সাক্ষ্য বহন করে যে আমাদের রাজনীতি তার গতানুগতিক আচরণ থেকে বেরুতে পারে নাই, পারে তো নাইই বরং এই সংকটের সময়ও তার কুৎসিত দিক বেরিয়ে এল। মাননীয় প্রধানমন্ত্রীর বক্তব্য থেকে আমরা জানতে পারলাম বিরোধী দলীয় নেত্রী বেগম খালেদা জিয়া নাকি পরোক্ষ ভাবে ঐ অফিসারদের হত্যাকান্ডে জড়িত ছিলেন। সাংগঠনিক ভাবে বিরোধী দল অর্থাৎ বিএনপি নাকি এই নির্মম হত্যাকান্ডে মদদ জুগিয়েচছে। শুধু তাই নয়, হত্যাকারীদের পালিয়ে যেতে সাহায্য করেছে এই বিএনপিই। গোয়েন্দা মারফত প্রধানমন্ত্রী নিশ্চিত হয়েছেন যে ঘটনার আগের দুরাত বেগম জিয়া তাঁর বাসায় ছিলেননা, এবং আমাদের মাননীন প্রধানমন্ত্রী সন্দেহ প্রকাশ করেছেন যে সেই দুরাত বেগম জিয়া অফিসারদের হত্যা করার ষড়যন্ত্রে ব্যায় করে থাকতে পারেন। প্রধানমন্ত্রী সংসদের কোন প্রমাণ প্রদর্শন না করলেও বলেছেন বিরোধী দলের এগুলো অস্বীকার করার কোন উপায় নাই। এই প্রত্যেকটি কথা প্রধানমন্ত্রী আজ সংসদ অধিবেশন চলাকালীন সময়ে দ্ব্যার্থ কন্ঠে বলে গেলেন।

মাননীয় প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা যিনি বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাসে নির্বাচনে সবচেয়ে বড় বিজয় নিয়ে ক্ষমতায় আরোহণ করেছেন, এই পরিস্থিতে সংসদের দাঁড়িয়ে তাঁর এই বক্তব্যদানের কি উদ্দেশ্য থাকতে পারে? উদ্দেশ্য আপাতদৃষ্টিতে একটাই হতে পারে যে এধরণের সরাসরি অভিযোগের একটি কড়া জবাব দেয়ার জন্য বিএনপি ছটফট করতে থাকবে। বিএনপির এর জবাবে হয়তো এরকমই সারশূণ্য একটি বক্তব্য দিবে, কে জানে বিএনপির বক্তব্য এর চেয়েও সারশূণ্য হতে পারে। তার জবাবে রাজনৈতিক প্রতিপক্ষ আওয়ামী লীগ আরেকটি কড়া জবাব দিবে। এই নিয়ে পরষ্পরকে দোষারোপের প্রক্রিয়া চলতে থাকবে। আর এর মাঝে বিভ্রান্ত হবে দেশের সব মানুষ। শুনেছি স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রীকে প্রধান করে নাকি তদন্ত কমিটি গঠন করা হয়েছে। স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী যত বড় রাজনীতিকই হোননা কেন, তিনি দেশের ক্যাবিনেটের মেম্বার। সেই ক্যাবিনেটের নেতা হলেন স্বয়ং প্রধানমন্ত্রী। তদন্তর কোন কুলকিনারা কেউ জেনে উঠবার আগেই প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কাছ থেকে যদি এসব কথা শুনতে হয়, তবে সেই প্রধানমন্ত্রীর অধস্তন স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রীর নেতৃত্বে সম্পাদিত তদন্তের ফলাফল কি হবে, তা কি আমরা আগে থেকে ধারণা করতে পারিনা?

দেশের উপর এত বড় একটা আঘাত এল। তাতেও যদি আমরা শিক্ষিত না হই, তাতেও যদি আমরা গতানুগতিকের একটুও বাইরে কিছু করতে বা ভাবতে না পারি, তবে কি সামনে এগুনো সম্ভব? ২০০৭ সালের শুরু থেকে যখন ঢালাও ভাবে দেশের রাজনীতিকদের উপর আক্রমণ আসছিল, তখন রাজনীতির পক্ষে কথা বলে বলে আমরা মুখের ফেনা তুলেছি। তখন রাজনীতিকে কেউ গালমন্দ করলে সেই গালমন্দ নিজের গায়ে নিয়েছি এবং তার উপযুক্ত জবাব দিতে চেয়েছি। দুবছর পর আজ দেশের উপর এত বড় আঘাত হানা হল। এই সংকটের মুহুর্তে যদি দেখি ঐক্যের পথে, এগুনোর পথে বাধা হয়ে দাড়াচ্ছে সেই রাজনীতি, তবে এর উপর মানুষের শ্রদ্ধা থাকা কি সম্ভব? এর উপর মানুষ কেন আস্থা রাখবে? যখন কেউ বলেছে রাজনীতিবিদরাই দেশের এই হাল করেছেন, তখন তার জবাব দিয়েছি এই বলে যে দেশের প্রতিটি মানুষই রাজনীতিবিদ, রাজনীতিকে গালি দিলে নিজেকেও গালি দেয়া হয়। তো আমরা এ কোন রাজনীতির পক্ষে কথা বলেছিলাম? এতকিছুর পরও মানসিকতার বদল হয় না কেন? দায়িত্মবান পদের থেকে দায়িত্মহীন বক্তব্য দানের অবসান কবে হবে?

It’s been exact three years of my nearly witnessing a severe road accident. It was the October 26 night of 2005 on our way to Cambridge from Stratford, East London; a dark blue Lotus M1oo overtook our National Express bus. The vehicle was dangerously quick and the driver looked too good with his wheels as it had the tremendous speed although there was quite a rush at the highway. But I said it was mere dangerous. Hardly some minutes passed after I, for the last saw the rear lights of Lotus M100, as our bus went ahead a little far and the worst was found. The blue Lotus M100 crashed at the place where the right-handed lane of the highway was divided to two routes, one to Cambridge and straight I didn’t know. The crash initially looked pretty bad. We could see the rear part of the car was a little lifted up to few inches from the asphalt. Rear glasses were transparent so the suddenly appeared bluish airbags were visible. Our driver was grudgingly passing by the scene too slowly for a highway as well as all the vehicles on our line were doing so. The crash site which was never more than two to three minutes old when we first had that at our sight and the surprise for all South Asians of the bus including myself from Bangladesh was the surroundings of the crash, cordoned by police personnels, the whole highway was turned to nearly illuminated with blue and red lights of ambulances and patrol cars. We passed by and the bus got back its usual highway speed. After some while the driver of our bus god knows from where learnt so, did let us know that two passengers, both male, survived the severe crash and have been rushed to hospital. The accident chapter at my thought was soon shut as we were in a hurry to Cambridge. It was my mother’s birthday and we were carrying a chocolate cake bought from a Sainsbury’s shop at Stratford. The cake was about to lose its speciality if we couldn’t make it before 11:59PM, before her birthday’s getting a day older. But it was beyond everything that I was really amazed with a so rapid response of police and medical agencies to rush to the crash site and rescuing the victims.

Bangladesh Highway Police was first introduced in 2004. We have never got in touch with any statistics that how the situation of Bangladesh road traffic accidents (RTA) have gone better after the formation of a whole new unit devoted to serve the highway matters. We are also not familiar with the reality that whether there has been any improvement or it has gone worse. Heavy rain, foggy weather in the winter, extra rush due to two Eid vacations are special cases when we are never to miss the news headlines of deadly automobile accidents at our highways, specially two notorious ones, the Jamuna Bridge link road at Elenga, Tangail and the whole of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Bangladesh is one of the most usual to face this problem increasingly and we can blame and we can throw the responsibilities of these mishaps arbitrarily to the police forces for their poor management of putting some control on highway drivers and off course the post-accident handling. But those who have got in touch with some severe highway accidents anyways, will be found a little exceptional about this blaming part, must protest it and must state it that the Bangladesh Police are the first and fastest governmental agency to respond any deadly or any highway automobile accidents. Their transportation, their manpower and their effort is almost one of the unique one that accident victims get for being helped.

The thing needed is the proper coordination of all government abilities behind helping the issue of these highway accidents and massive loss of lives. Medic teams after each five miles won’t serve the purpose if the drivers on the highway are presented with a relaxed enforcement of traffic rules. We hailed the services of police at the aftermath of a highway automobile accident, but their role before the occurrence must be strengthened. In most of the cases of highway accidents in Bangladesh, the spot is almost never found without fatalities. Especially reckless driving in special occasions mentioned earlier, end up with a larger number of fatalities and in most of the cases with dead and badly disfigured drivers themselves. Little strict coordination of related institutions of the government can deal with these mishaps. It’s about saving lives of people, on their way to home or work or elsewhere.

When The Media
Turns Into
Evil

Sunita Paul
6 September, 2008. India.

Media can play important role in up building a nation, while the same media, being influenced by evil forces or vested interest, could turn into devastating element for any nation. Take the example of Bangladesh’s leading media group named Transcom Media, which owns a vernacular daily newspaper named Prothom Alo, an English language daily named The Daily Star, two periodicals named Shaptahik 2000 and Anandadhara. Recently the group has acquired ownership of an FM radio station named ‘Aina Broadcasting Corporation’ (ABC). The group is rather known as ‘Daily Star Group’ in Bangladesh, because of tremendous influence of its English language daily as well as its top most position amongst all competitor dailies.

Before going into notoriety of Daily Star group, let me first put focus at the back ground of the emergence of this business-media group. During early nineties, present owners of ‘Star Group’ turned financially bankrupt when its main figure Latifur Rahman’s paternal property W Rahman Jute Mills at country’s Chandpur district had to declare lay-off thus leaving thousands of workers and labors unemployed. Numerous cases were filed with the Chandpur district labor and criminal courts against Latifur Rahman and other members of the factory, as they defaulted payment of worker’s wages. On the other hand, W Rahman Jute Mills was listed as one of the top defaulting enterprises with Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank) for long standing loans.

But, luck started moving in positive direction, when Latifur Rahman’s wife’s cousin Anup Chetia (leader of ULFA separatist group) came forward with hidden help of finance in businesses in Bangladesh through Rahman. It is learnt that a few million dollars were placed with Latifur Rahman in re-organizing his collapsed business and ULFA kept a secret stake of shares in all businesses initiated by Latifur Rahman after receipt of this secret fund.

Latifur Rahman understanding his failure in running industrial enterprise profitably launched a company named Transcom, which began businesses as the sole distributor of Nestle brand milk products in Bangladesh. Initial response although was very poor from the local market, due to solid financial back up from ULFA, Latifur Rahman managed to ultimately penetrate in the business and in few years, Transcom emerged as one of the mightiest enterprises in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, when Dhaka’s well respected journalist S M Ali took the initiative of launching an English language newspaper, Latifur was suggested by ULFA to buy shares, as such investment would buy media influence for the separatist group, which fights against Indian government in separating seven North-Eastern states within India.

S M Ali was successful in placing Daily Star at the forefront of Dhaka’s English press, because of his extra-ordinary qualities and courage. Just in few years, this newly launched newspaper sub sided most of the competitor dailies such as Bangladesh Observer, Bangladesh Times (now defunct), New Nation, Morning Sun (now defunct) and Financial Express. But sudden demise of S M Ali opened the opportunity for Latifur Rahman to swallow the newspaper. He brought Mahfuz Anam as the editor of the newspaper, who subsequently ousted ancestors of S M Ali and grabbed his shares. This was the beginning of notorious journey of Daily Star group.

Later, when Anup Chetia was arrested by Bangladeshi law enforcing agencies, Latifur Rahman stopped paying any share to ULFA. This was the first beginning of feud between notorious ULFA separatists and Latifur Rahman. It is widely rumored in Dhaka that, ULFA had hidden hands behind murder of Latifur’s daughter Shazneed Rahman, who was brutally raped and murdered right inside her residence at Dhaka’s posh Gulshan area.

But, the handsome investment from ULFA, gave Transcom an excellent opportunity to grow. Latifur decided to launch a vernacular daily newspaper with the initial capital of 10 million Taka in 1997. Prothom Alo recruited large number of top newsmen from Dhaka’s press community. It also had dynamic Matiur Rahman as its editor, which helped the newspaper to rapidly turn into one of the leading dailies in the country. Later two vernacular periodicals were also launched by this group, one with celebrated journalist Shahadat Chowdhury as its editor.

In some years, Transcom group acquired ownership of Pepsi, Phillips and several large industrial enterprises. Luck always clicked in favor of this business group, as far as its investments in media was concerned. None of the newspapers, belonging to Transcom group had ever faced any financial adversity.

Due to such influential ownership of media projects, Latifur Rahman got the excellent opportunity of continuing various illegal businesses including import of goods from abroad under false declaration. Several consignments imported by Transcom were stopped by customs officials in Bangladesh and evidence of revenue evasion of millions of Taka was unearthed. But, everything was managed, by using the influence of Prothom Alo and Daily Star. Even after the political changes in Bangladesh on January 11, 2007, Daily Star group managed to send its Executive Editor Syed Fahim Munayem as the Press Secretary to the Chief Executive of the interim government. Even at later stage, when Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) issued notice on Latifur Rahman asking declaration of his wealth and assets, the entire issue was some how put into suppression with the help of Daily Star-Prothom Alo group.

Everyone knows the news about cracks in Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge in Bangladesh. But, possibly no one knows the fact that the main reason behind such cracks was due to use of a particular brand of cement, which in the name of Portland Grey Cement is in fact fly ash mixed lowest grade cement. And, this inferior quality of cement went into various high cost projects in Bangladesh just because; chairman of the company producing and marketing this brand is none but Transcom’s Latifur Rahman. No one in the government dares to utter even a single word about Holcim, which supplied such cement to various projects, as they are afraid of wrath of Daily Star and Prothom Alo. Despite the fact that, both the newspapers are largest in circulation in Bangladesh, main purpose of these publications is serving the interests of Corporate Crime.

Prime intention of Daily Star group is to stand against various business groups, whenever there is any business rivalry with that specific company or individual. This group went into heinous propaganda against Beximco Group, Bashundhara Group and many others in past. There is even clean track record of dubious behavior of this group is sabotaging various projects in Bangladesh, with the ulterior motive of either supporting businesses of Latifur Rahman, Transcom or members of this syndicate.

Many projects were already sabotaged by this group, thus causing tremendous loss to Bangladesh’s economy. The latest episode of such rivalry of Daily Star group was with Bangladesh’s lone hard rock mining project at country’s Dinazpur district. Maddhyapara Hard Rock Mining Project (MHMP) became a pray of Daily Star for past several years. It is learnt that, some vested interest groups, including importers of stones and stone-chips from India, Myanmar and Malaysia are patronizing such media terror by Star, thus attempting to sabotage country’s most prospective project, which not only is already saving millions of dollars, but, also is set to turn into a huge prospect of earning millions of dollars from export of world-class Granite Tiles.

First rivalry with the MHMP began when Bangladesh government appointed Polish consulting firm Kopex SA, defying the fact that this firm had no experience of hard rock mining. It is learnt that, appointment of this Polish firm was a result of heavy persuasion from some high level corrupt bureaucrats in the Energy Ministry and Petrobangla. From the very appointment, the Polish consultant had been frantically trying to sabotage the project for reason unknown.

In June 2006, Kopex SA submitted a paper with the Energy and Mineral Resources Division saying, “Maddhyapara Hard Rock Mining project has become ‘virtually sick’ and the employer (the government) has suffered huge financial loss.”

It said Petrobangla and the project authorities, Madhyapara Granite Mining Company Limited, should ask Nam-Nam for final commissioning and test production immediately to ascertain the actual status of mine development.

“The Petrobangla and MGMCL should take over the mine after ascertaining its actual state and on documentation to establish the legal ownership of the mine,” it said.

Kopex said, “The Nam-Nam has complemented major installation of the mine in over 12 years but they have not yet done the final commissioning and test run although the original development period of the mine was 6.5 years since the signing of the agreement between Petrobangla and the company in 1994.”

Sources in Petrobangla, however, ditched the Kopex report, saying that the consultant should also be held responsible for the delay as it failed to come up with proper plan.

“Kopex also wants to be involved more with the mine for which it came up with such a report,” Petrobangla source added.

Meanwhile, on October 15, 2005, The Daily Star published a front page news item titled ‘North Korean company looks for legal coverage to finish task’. In this report, Daily Star said, “When completed, the Maddyapara hard rock mine will commercially sell 1.65 million tonnes of granite a year. The country annually imports 3.4 million tonnes of granite. Local production will save between $38 million to $58 million US dollars. The project has a life span of 45 years. However, the price of Maddhyapara granite will not be cheaper than the rocks that are commonly imported from India because of the increased project cost.”

It was clearly understood that the report was published with the very intention of killing the project to protect the interest of importers-exporters syndicate, which enjoys business of millions of dollars every year by continuing to import stone from India and other countries. In this report, Daily Star claimed that the cost of production of MHMP hark rock was higher than imported one, which is nothing but a clean deviation from truth. It is learnt from dependable sources that, production cost for each tons of hard rock from Maddhyapara project stands at US$ 10 while the minimum import cost is US$ 22.

On May 18, 2006, Daily Star once again published a front page report titled “Petrobangla to take it over from DPRK firm”, where it repeated the same lie on the price of the locally extorted hard rock. It said, “Maddhyapara granite will however not be cheaper than the rocks that are commonly imported from India because of the increased project cost.”

Nam-Nam Corporation successfully completed and handed over the project in May last year and meanwhile; commercial production in the project is already going on. Due to timely steps taken by the present government in Dhaka, locally produced stones are purchased and used in various domestic projects on priority basis, while the cost of local stones are more than half the cost of imported ones. Being totally frustrated at the completion of the project, vested interest groups once again managed to published another front page report in The daily Star on May 16, 2008 titled “Miner now wants return of non-existent loans”.

In this report, Daily Star wrote, “Nam-nam is now operating the mine with 65 South Koreans under a one-year service contract due to expire on May 27. As it did not fully transfer the South Korean technology to the MGMCL, it will get yet another year’s service contract, the sources said.”

This part of the news shows two things. One, the reporter knows nothing of the project but was writing thing being dictated by vested interest groups. In the same news, while the reporter said Nam-Nam is a North Korean company, how he could discover 65 South Koreans in the project (does he lack the minimum knowledge that North and South Korea do not have any diplomatic relations as yet?). The reporter also said that, Nam-Nam is not fully transferring South Korean technology to MGMCL. Ridiculous, who edits and passes such rubbish news in Daily Star? Being Dhaka’s leading dailies, it should be ashamed of such poor journalistic quality. The entire report as well as all previous reports is part of propaganda and conspiracy to kill the entire project, which stands as the most prospective one for Bangladesh. Anyone can easily understand that, vested interest groups, including enemies of North Korea are patronizing such dangerous campaign not only to sabotage the project, but, also to give a good lesson to the North Korean company for being dedicated and helpful to Bangladesh is saving millions of dollars from import of hard rock.

Bangladesh government not only needs to patronize this extremely profitable and viable project, but even needs to go into fresh negotiations with Nam-Nam or the North Korean government in signing fresh agreements for exploration of more mining projects in the country. According to mining experts several more hard rock mines are already existing in the Northern region of Bangladesh, which will be able to help the country in stopping import of stones from abroad, thus saving billions of dollars each year. At the same time, government needs to identify vested interest groups within Energy Ministry and Petrobangla in order to not only protect the national interest but also to punish the culprits for their notorious roles.

Further harassment of the North Korean company will earn bad reputation for Bangladesh from the potential foreign investors. Nam-Nam deserves to be appreciated for completion of the MHMP despite series of harassment and non-cooperation from the Energy Ministry and Petrobangla.

* * * * *

Sunita Paul is a Indian writer, columnist, political analyst and regular contributor of American Chronicle, The Global Politician and The Asian Tribune.

After a long time period of waiting and expectations, finally we have found our most beloved place on Google Earth. Specifically the main town along with the Housing Estate & EPZ areas has been focused. EPZ has been highlighted for its being the formerly airfield of this region. Now, most interesting thing is image quality for Comilla is much better than those of Dhaka. Prime reason behind it is pollution, which is much more tolerable and considerably low in Comilla than Dhaka. Pollution created a man made layer of smoke upon a certain altitude that makes us see Dhaka some sort of foggy all over the year. On the other hand, images of Comilla are much sharper and clearer, and excessive influence of pond-type water bodies will attract anybody’s eyes. I haven’t seen a place like Comilla yet, having this enormous number of ponds. I have uploaded an image of a good resolution that’ll help you to have a look on major landmarks of Comilla.

Click here to get the full image of 4800×3893 resolution.

Nowadays

A recent review on present overall situation of Comilla, from the point of view of current political atmosphere of Bangladesh

Originally published on the homepage of xanthis

posted by xanthis on February 24, 2008

Comilla was going through a massive urbanization. In Dhaka, many of us heard of a word “Comilla Body” in discussions regarding rickshaw. This name “Comilla Body” means a specialized version of rickshaw that is built in Comilla and this is special for its comparatively wider seats than others. As Comilla is one of major production places, Comilla herself is a place well-filled up by rickshaws. Though all of these, Comilla was near to be a town with better traffic system. After the Municipality election in 2005, Comilla’s city life was started to be reconstructed in multiple dimensions. A massive upgrade was planned and the implementation was going on in a good speed. After all Comilla’s people were convinced very much that they are now going to get something which their fellow ministers never could or tried to provide. Every cabinet since liberation contained with one or more ministers from constituencies of Comilla. But the major reformation was started in 2005-06 time line. Plans to upgrade sewerage system, traffic systems were made and started to work. Comilla town is basically divided into to parts, one is the main town and the other is the expanding suburbs of Housing Estate. Ultimately the whole town was started changing her face. Sidewalks, squares, the court area and other governmental establishments, started appearing in excellent look with gardens and plantations. Other areas like Jail Road, Court Road and even Chakbazar were brought under beautification plans, which Comilla people have never seen before. In 2006, almost all of Comilla’s streets were nearly filled up with drainage rubbishes. This was the part of upgrading the sewerage system and this upgrade resulted with no inner-town flood in 2006 & 2007. All of these development efforts have been well driven up to January 11 of 2007.

Manirul Haque Shakku is one of those who have been black-listed on this regime’s first hour purge (?) after 1/11. But Shakku however slipped of the raid as well as the arrest, somehow made it to get out of Bangladesh. Like many other of BNP & Awami League leaders, residence of Manirul Haque Shakku was ravaged by the raid of security forces. But Shakku was nowhere there. This regime fortunately or unfortunately missed Shakku. The job they did on Qaiyum Commissioner, couldn’t do it on Shakku. I don’t know where he lives now. Rumors almost forthright, says that Shakku now lives in a place near to Indo-Bangladesh border, definitely on Indian territory. You will be surprised, the massive city reformation or upgrade or development whatever you say, was initiated by Comilla’s Municipality Chairman this Manirul Haque Shakku. As Manirul Haque Shakku has left the scene, Comilla’s development work that Shakku started is apparently closed.

Right this time, Comilla people have nobody to reach for their problems to be heard. No municipality chairman, no MP, no BNP or Awami League’s top leaders there are now reachable. I could not find a single person who is capable of being an active & effective listener of public when they will come with problems. People are exhausted with rocketing price hike, especially rice price. Rickshaw pullers say,

“We can buy the rice that costs Tk.34, but this ain’t worthy to eat. Now we have to buy the rice that costs Tk.42, that we cannot afford to buy for both of meals in the day…”, “…we cannot afford for children to eat rice two times for school. They have to eat either before the school, or after the school…”, “…coming days are going to be harder & harsher, we don’t know what to do then”…”…how will political reformation help us if we can’t eat properly…?”

Another group of people have been found, who lost their living after this regime started wrecking illegal establishments. Their shops were under those roofs and for fault of the landlord, they are now one of them who keep walking around different NGOs and other organizations, if there is any job or any scheme to get a loan & start afresh. But no hope is found. Their faces remain gloomy. Eventually those faces get gloomier when they find that their families have to remain unfed/half-fed for one more day.

A Bangladesh cricket fan at a moment asked a very clever question. He was eagerly keeping eyes on TV, watching Bangladesh South Africa test match. He found that Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, his Press Secretary Fahim Munaim & Election Commissioner Brig.Gen. Sakhawat Hussain are seating inside the Mirpur Stadium hospitality box. They were enjoying the match. This was Brig. Sakhawat who was talking to Dr. Fakhruddin with a wide smile, and Dr. Fakhruddin’s reactions let us know they were talking about amazing six that Ashraful hit to the gallery. The question was, as the Chief Adviser are enjoying the test match with his Press Secretary & Election Commissioner, it’s very easy to assume that there is at least peace in Bangladesh right this moment. There is fury, depression & may be anger inside people but those still are kept inside and no sign of bursting out is seen yet. There is also no foreign threat to attack Bangladesh in near future. So, why still there is the State of Emergency? What’s the reason of this now? The only logic this regime can show to validate their stance with SoE, that Bangladesh is still not calm & quiet. Well, if so, if still Bangladesh ain’t calm & quiet, how a Chief Adviser desires to enjoy a test match?

There is nothing wrong if a man desires some amusement. But at least they should admit that there is yet nothing violently wrong! At least they should lift the SoE up!

I guess Interior Adviser Gen. Matin somehow guessed that a blogger today is writing on their stance of SoE. So he made a speech. That off course is not about lifting up emergency orders, rather Mr. Matin wanted to know whether there is any legal barrier to hold the election amid State of Emergency, if there is no, what’s wrong if they hold the election amid SoE ?!?

I am waiting for Barrister Rafiqul Haque to say something and some other bloggers to write further on it. Because I am in completely “mukher bhasha hariye felechhi” situation. I can’t say anything.

* * * * *