YABA 6
RAHUL BOSE 19
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 6 2013
vol 1 Issue 2 0
DAVID FROST 27
1
CONTENTS 2 This Week in Pictures
4 Bottled Up
5 Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Caught in the middle
Between consenting adults
Nazrul works
8 Post-Riposte 9 Top 10
A Wee kly Production of
DhakaTribune
10 Feature
Volume 1, Issue 20 SEPTEMB ER 6 , 2 0 1 3
Science education
Straight talking vs tedious writing
Going green
Weekend Tribune Team Sumaiya Shams Sheikh Mohammed Irfan Yusuf Banna Fuad M Hossain Joseph Allchin Adil Sakhawat Shah Nahian Phil Humphreys
Legal system
Are you one?
Ashes
Art Direction/Photography Syed Latif Hossain
Demarcation of land boundaries
22 Tough Love
12 Big Mouth Strikes Again
Editor Zafar Sobhan Magazine Editor Faruq Hasan
13 Photo Story
6 Pick of the Week Yaba
17 What’s the Problem?
18 6° of Connotations 20 Game On
21 Realpolitik
23 WT | Leisure
Cartoon Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy Contributors Zubier Abd Naheed Kamal Adeyanju Pinheiro Muktasree Chakma Sathi Ikhtisad Ahmed Dina Sobhan Ibtisam Ahmed Md Akhlas Uddin Design Mohammad Mahbub Alam Production Masum Billah Advertising Shahidan Khurshed Circulation Wahid Murad Web: www.dhakatribune.com Cover Photography A science class in progress by Syed Latif Hossain Send us your feedback at weekend@dhakatribune.com
24 Travelogue
Middle East sojourn
Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue
The Japanese Wife
25 The Way Dhaka Was 19 INTERVIEW Rahul Bose
27 Obituary David Frost
26 Culture Vulture 28 Last Word Los Crudos vs Hefazat
EDITOR’S NOTE
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Where have all the scientists gone? T
elevision makes science sound sexy. Shows like “The Big Bang Theory” and “The X Files,” and the resurgence of sci-fi movies in Hollywood at least would strike as an indicator that mainstream society is slowly accepting science and scientists as their own. Unfortunately, such a message is lost to our students. The HSC results in the last decade indicate an alarming trend: our youth no longer seem to be interested in studying science. Zubier Abd talks to his fellow students and gives us an idea as to why science majors are dwindling in numbers. Elsewhere, we received a plethora of letters, both condemning and
CardiovasCuLar diseases in BangLadesH 18
Mark sutton 27
FRIDAY AUGUST 30 2013
vo L 1 i ssu e 1 9
praising Bassema Karaki’s vilification of Bangladeshi etiquette, or lack thereof. Check out or Bottled Up section to read some of the highlights, and while you are at it, please do send us a line with your thoughts on our other sections. We close off with the obituary of David Frost, who had captured the hearts of a global audience with his insightful interviews of some controversial personalities over the decades. Ibtisam Ahmed gives us an insight into the life of a true television star. Hope everyone has a restful weekend. n
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THIS WEEK
INTERNATIONAL
A Free Syrian Army fighter runs as he holds his weapon in Al Rasheddin, Aleppo, on August 28 REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
People and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday on August 28. AP/Khalid Mohammed
Mourners wait for a mass funeral for four men killed when a parked car bomb hit a coffee shop in the largely Sunni neighbourhood of Azamiyah on Wednesday, August 28, at Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah, Baghdad, Iraq AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed
A Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil woman supporting the Dead and Missing Person’s Parents Front holds a placard as police officers stand guard during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, on August 30. AP/Eranga Jayawardena
Protesters from leftist parties demonstrate against military strikes on the Syrian government and to show their support for the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, after Friday prayers in Amman on August 30 REUTERS/Majed Jaber
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NATIONAL
Pushpo Rani Chakma, left, and her mother-in-law stand among the ruins of her house that was burnt down by Bangali miscreants on August 3.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Members of Sex Workers’ Network observe a human chain programme in front of the National Press Club on August 29, protesting the recent attacks on sex workers in Madaripur Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
The daughter of retired ASP Fazlur Karim, who was shot dead on August 28 by miscreants in the capital’s Rampura, bares a blank look while she waits to see her father’s dead body at the DMCH morgue with her uncle Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
A child imitates Lord Krishna at a procession brought out from the capital’s Dhakeshwari temple on August 28 on the occasion of Janmashtami, the celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth. Nashirul Islam/Dhaka Tribune
A mob of local people, in the capital’s Banglamotor area, stage a blockade on a road after a child was killed being hit by a passenger-bus on September 1
Dhaka Tribune
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4
BOTTLED UP
letters to the editor
Please don’t slander our home
LETTER
of the week You’re excused! I
was profoundly insulted by your decision to publish Bassema Karaki’s distasteful article “Excuse You?” in your weekend magazine. I find this article utterly “appalling and vulgar”(words the writer herself used to describe us Bangladeshis). No country, or its people, is perfect, but the writer seems to be living in a delusional world where even the poor and illiterate behave like kings and queens. We may lack etiquette, but we have the minimum decency to refrain from publicly humiliating another country. Our illiteracy and poverty have somehow succeeded in teaching us this minimum “etiquette,” whereas her foreign blood and education seem to have failed to do the same. What proved to be more disturbing was your lack of sensibility to publish such a cheap piece of writing. There can always be two ways of expressing things, one can say “Shut up” or “please be quiet,” and the choice remains on the individual’s sense of decency. If the writer really wanted to express her shock, then as a writer she should have chosen a less “vulgar” manner. Since I believe that such a person will not have the “etiquette” to apologise for her writing, I hope that you at least stay more choosy and careful about your future publications. n Thanking you
Shagufta M Trishna Dhaka
I am not a big fan of writing in the wake of other people’s discontentment, but after reading Bassema Karaki’s piece “Excuse You?,” and the reaction it has stirred up in the online community surrounding it, I felt I had to write. I don’t deny that our countrymen have a long way to go where mannerisms are concerned, but when did it become okay for someone who is not a native of Bangladesh to criticise us and our habits? Let us look at some of the Middle Eastern countries, their Sukks, the rednecks or hillbillies of North America and so on. I have seen that lack of manner and hygiene exists in many other countries outside of Bangladesh. I don’t understand what gives her the right to sit on a high and mighty horse and say such crude things about a
country they are residing in. You see, Bangladesh with all its craziness and colour, is still our home; we love the heat, the hustle bustle, the in-your-face treatment, the hospitality, the spice and colours - everything about it beckons us, not due to its perfection but rather because of its imperfections. Aliya Khan North America
The truth hurts I wholeheartedly agree with Bassema’s points about Bangladeshis and their bad manners. I am surprised by how offended some of my friends got after reading this article. Chill out people! I even asked people what exactly offended them about the article, the fact that it was true or that Bassema didn’t sugarcoat her words? They were angry because they knew it was true, but didn’t want it pointed out by a foreigner. Instead of attacking Bassema for speaking the truth and reinforcing her experiences with bad manners, we should acknowledge the problem and
work together to fix it. The column is about a foreigner’s view of Bangladesh after all. Let’s not forget that she wasn’t talking about the entire population. Tanjim Mehran Dhaka
Please send us your letters at: weekend@dhakatribune.com
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5
WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
Caught in the middle Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, senior AL leader
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary-general of BNP Muhammad Yunus
Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
“There is no scope to have a peaceful election without a non-party neutral government. There must be an election and that is under a non-party neutral government to make it credible, acceptable and peaceful. I meet and talk to different political party leaders as they come to me. I myself didn’t go to anybody to share my opinion. So, if anyone from the government wants to hear me or want to know anything from me, I’ll gladly accept it.”
“Dr Yunus is a traitor because he advocated for restoration of the caretaker government system violating the constitution. He should be punished for the offence.” Abdul Latif Siddique, textiles and jute minister
“Every citizen has the right to talk about the country’s situation and crisis. There is nothing wrong with that! Muhammad Yunus also expressed his concern. We thank him.” Rafiqul Islam Miah, member of the BNP standing committee
“To find a way out of the escalating political crisis, Dr Kamal could hold a national convention together with Dr Muhammad Yunus and Justice Habibur Rahman.” Mahmudur Rahman Manna, politician
Dr Muhammad Yunus W E E K E N D TR IBUN E FR I DAY, SE PTE MB E R 6, 20 1 3
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PICK OF THE WEEK
Yaba
Joseph Allchin Is a senior reporter at Dhaka Tribune. Follow him on twitter: @J_Allchin
Yaba is a type of amphetamine, or as they are sometimes Rajib/Dhaka Tribune known, Teenaged Oishee Rahman, who allegedly murdered her mother and policeman father amphetamine type stimulant (ATS), which are noted to be the fastest growing category of Joseph Allchin looks at the murky world behind the sensational double murder case illegal drug consumed in the world. In or most of the last 10 years, in laboratories in northern Myanmar. prices are, however, over 10 times that taken by the euphoria, the energy and CREA rehabilitation centre in Here, powerful private armies exist in of prices in MaungDaw, the border the sweet smelling vapours these pills Asia, the UN was filled with semi autonomous zones in peripheral town just over the river from Teknaf. give off. However, after several years of notes that use heroinMohammadpur addicts. Some 80% of patients areas of the country. Here, a single pill can retail for around continual use, in which he would stay of ATS increased were hardened users, with the odd According to a recent article Tk20. By the time they reach the awake for three or four days at a time, in Jane’s Intelligence Review, a capital, a good pill retails for around he started dealing to fund his habit. fivefold since Phensydyl fiend thrown in. “Then,” says Tarun Kanti Gayen, respected journal for the defence and Tk500. “I was a dealer myself. Once people 2007 the centre’s director and clinical intelligence sector, “The trafficking There are several reasons for this. become addicted they have to, because
Why, Oishee, why? F
psychologist, “things started to change; now 60-70% of our patients are Yaba addicts.” Yabas are small pink pills, whose active ingredient is methamphetamine, an extremely potent stimulant that can see users stay awake for days. The vast majority of Yaba pills are produced
organisation inside Myanmar is deliberately providing a promotional rate for exports to Bangladesh.” This has seen interdiction rates by law enforcers go from some 36,000 pills in 2008 to two million in 2012. Prices for Yaba in Yangon, the commercial capital of the country, are more expensive than Dhaka. Dhaka
Tarun says: “It’s not a need that was created in the society; it was something that was created by international drug cartels. It was their design, their thing, they designed the drugs to be like this and that’s what is happening.” Tarique is a patient at CREA. He is only 24 but has been taking Yaba for 10 years. As an adolescent, he was
it’s so easy to get access to it, and the bigger dealers will give you Yaba pills for free.” He would then sell them on to his friends. “To be honest with you, I only have one clean friend now.” According to Tarun, not only has the numbers of Yaba addicts increased in his centre, but so has the incidence of mental illness. “Now 64% of our
Yaba’s incredible rise in Bangladesh in numbers In 2008 Bangladesh authorities seized 36,000 yaba tablets W E E K E N D TRIBUNE F R I DAY, S E PTE M B E R 6 , 201 3
In 2009 that figure had risen to 130,000
In 2010 it was 812,000
In 2011, it was 1,360,000
And last year saw 1,950,000 tablets seized
7 clients have psychiatric problems; that means they have drug problems and psychiatric problems induced by Yaba.” This is compared with some 10% of his clients who are in for heroin use. It is widely acknowledged that Myanmar is Asia’s largest exporter of Yaba and methamphetamine, the active ingredient in Yaba/Meth is also consumed on its own, when it is sometimes known as “ice,” the form it is commonly consumed as in the West, (made famous by TV show “Breaking Bad”). The resurgence of Yaba has replaced the traditional manufacture and export of heroin, says Bertil Lintner, author of “Merchants of Madness,” the seminal work on the subject. “Unlike heroin, it requires very little investment (no fancy equipment or skilled, and therefore expensive, chemists are needed) for quick returns (the main market is in the region), and it’s a synthetic drug, so it’s not dependent on a notoriously unreliable crop like the opium poppy, which has to be grown and harvested to make heroin,” he explains. Thus, the market in Bangladesh was flooded with Yaba shortly after Thailand, the most popular export destination for Yaba, declared a war on drugs in 2003, in which some 2,500 alleged dealers or users were reportedly killed extrajudicially. The Burmese producers of Yaba are believed to have corrupt business dealings with their central government, or as Jane’s puts it, it’s narcotic “business opportunities implicit in the agreement” between rebel armies and the government. Tarique’s honeymoon with Yaba lasted for about four years. “Then I
Yaba seized by Myanmar authorities on display
took Tk300,000 that was meant for my exams registration and spent that on Yaba, and then I ran away from home. That’s when my parents knew I was into Yaba,” Tarique says. “I spent the money in seven days; it’s a lot of money.” He says his initial years were filled with gregarious chatting brought on by the stimulants. He would stay awake for days, socialising and “roaming around with friends.” However, soon he started experiencing paranoia. “After a while, it changed me; it changed my mentality. After having it, I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. I was all alone. I was freaking out, because even a little pin drop of sound … I mean paranoia. Pretty crazy; I mean, a lot.”
Our Narco-desh
Imported, synthetic drugs only became prevalent in Bangladesh in the late 1980s, when Ershad banned the use of Marijuana. “Ganja was restricted from the 80s under the military rule of Ershad. After that we saw a rise in use of hard drugs, so maybe there is a correlation,” Tarun says. Initially, this saw widespread availability of heroin. However, Yaba is fast competing in the market. Its image is still one of higher class. It’s more sociable and acceptable. It is less associated with the slums and sunken eyes. What’s more, it smells like chocolate, which Tarique acknowledges is a draw for a 14-year-old. “Still today, in Bangladesh, heroin is a low-collar drug; it’s not for the white collars. But Yaba is white collar, so those who take Yaba are of higher class, because its expensive and you
Courtesy of IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review
can use it anywhere – at the work place, at your home – because it’s still very easy to use and it is used by students, executives,” Tarun says. Note that it fits in better with a “hi-tech” aspirational society, which Bangladesh, like many Asian societies, is becoming.
Corruption nexus
Tarique’s dealer, however, was a man
Democratic Voice of Burma
with connections in Teknaf; he was not a user, just a business man, “to survive.” He was not a “white collar.” Reflecting this class divide, a teacher at a private university says because “higher class” students will not talk to “lower class” people, a member of a higher class group of friends will be recruited to distribute narcotics. Tarique believes his dealer also set him up with the connivance of the police. “Even the police are into Yaba these days.” He says, whilst meeting his dealer one day, the police showed up and arrested him with 700 pills he had just taken off his dealer. He was carted off in chains, while his dealer was released. “Even hell is better than prison,” Tarique recalls. He was incarcerated with lifers – those whose crimes included murder and rape-who, he says, would threaten other inmates with sexual abuse and violence. “I cried all the time.” Tarique was lucky; with influential parents he was out after three weeks. However, many are not so lucky, and the government, it seems, is out of ideas. “We have seen that the war on drugs strategy has failed the US government completely. If the US cannot do that, how can our government do that?” Tarun says. With the explosion of Yaba, it is clear that efforts to restrict drugs here have failed. The Bangladesh government may want to heed the lessons of South America, where billions of dollars have been spent on a war that was effectively lost. Prohibition can be said to have failed elsewhere as well. Bangladesh may want to consider alternative routes, now that the little pink pill is firmly on our doorstep. n
Myanmar has the world’s longest running civil war, which has seen armed ethnic insurgents in the hills on the country’s borders fighting the government for over 60 years. The Wa (an ethnic group in Myanmar) are thought to be the most powerful, with their United Wa State Army, which is funded through the production and sale of narcotics. They could have as many as 30,000 armed men
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POST-RIPOSTE
between consenting adults
Freedom to choose?
The ‘marriage’ between two women, Sanjida Akhter and Shribonty Roy Puja, has stirred up a debate
Traditions must be upheld Faruq Hasan
I
Photos: Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
Mind your own business Joseph Allchin
B
angladesh is possibly the child marriage capital of the world, with some 20% of females marrying under the age of 15. The vast majority of these do not result in legal scrutiny, even though the law states that the legal age is 18. Many of these marry well under the age of 15. This can induce horrible complications such as fistula, where pregnancy in an undeveloped girl can result in incontinence from the internal injuries that pregnancy at that age can cause. If there is no scandal about this, why complain about a consensual relationship between two females of 16 and 21? In many countries ,16 is the “age of consent,” consent being the most important issue here. If she consents to the relationship and is of an age in which she can legally do many things in many places, is that not the most important issue? Is it, moreover, not gross hypocrisy to condone old men non-consentingly marrying 13 year olds, but condemn a consenting marriage between two females? n
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n Bangladesh, the definition of consenting adults takes on a whole new meaning, especially when marriage is concerned. What the country lacks in ethnic diversity is more than made up by a multitude of social mores, disparity in economic and class backgrounds, not to mention gender and a person’s politics. A marriage between a Khulna girl and a Barisal boy, districts 100km apart, is enough to raise questions about “compatibility” issues. Given the number of variables that go within the decisionmaking process, a marriage is never merely a “couple” affair. In fact, gender slanted social-ills like physical abuse, dowry, acid violence, and even rape within marriage can actually be decreased with more stakeholders on board. Would a husband be less likely to beat his wife if he knew that his mother also has a strong say in how the family is run? Would a wife who is more comfortable talking to her sister-in-law about her problems, more likely to report sexual abuse, either within her home or outside? The answers to both the questions would probably be a yes. Same sex marriage is still a very taboo subject in conservative Bangladesh. In order to broaden horizons, we need more people to be involved to bring down barriers. Marriages, relationships and friendships are everyone’s business, not just between consensual couple. n
TOP 10
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Nazrul’s Works
Know the rebel Yusuf Banna compiles a list of the top works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, our national poet who is also known as “Bidrohi Kobi” (rebel poet). Always vocal in support of the oppressed, Nazrul’s works speak of revolution, and freedom from fascism and bigotry
Yusuf Banna is a staff writer at Weekend Tribune. He would be happier if he could be a poet. He also dreams of being a painter and is envious of those who are artistically gifted
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Jugbani It is a collection of essays that reflects the communist ideology of Nazrul, a motivational and inspirational prose appraising the infinite strength and power of youth.
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Samyobadi O Sorbohara This anthology contains poems and songs for the workers and peasants, and the downtrodden members of society.
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Rajbondir Jobanbondi
It is basically a speech given in court after he was arrested for his book “Pralayshikha” in 1930. It is based on the life and condition of the oppressed masses in then India.
7
Aleya
Published in 1931, this musical play (which translates to “mirage” in English) is yet another successful attempt by the poet in exploring a different genre of literature.
6
Chittanama
It is a collection of songs and poems composed by Nazrul right after the demise of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, a pioneer in uniting Hindus and Muslims in British India.
Khaled Muntasir Dipto
5
3
A political novel published in 1930, it is the most noteworthy example of his secularism. Nazrul was the first who wrote about the Christian minority in the Indian subcontinent.
This anthology of poems and songs was published in 1927 and has the tone of the artless man of art along with the undercurrent of flame and fury. At this point, Nazrul’s work gained both mass appraisal and criticism by the elite and enthusiasts of literature.
Mrityukhuda
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Rubaiyat-e-Hafiz
It is one of the best translations of poetry in Bangla literature. Worked on in 1929, beside his son Bulbul’s sickbed, it was when the poet was drawn to spirituality.
1
Phonimonsha
2
Dolan Champa
Agni Beena
Published in 1922, this collection of poetry contains the famous “Bidrohi,” as well as “Shat-il-Arab,” “Kheya Parer Tarani” and “Kamal Pasha.” These poems were not only critically acclaimed, but they also changed the tenor of Bangla literature. n
An anthology of poems and songs published in 1923, it unveils the romantic side of the poet. The poem “Pujarini” manifested and established Nazrul’s diverse perception of romantic love.
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Feature Zubier Abd is a writer, thinker, scientist, and avid ice cream lover all rolled into one
Science Education
Unlearning science
Zubier Abd observes how science is losing steam in Bangladesh “I want to be an engineer when I grow up.” “I want to be a scientist when I grow up.” Future plans like these are rarely heard from the young students of today, and that has to be a sad thing. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM subjects, are a great boon to any society. However, with the explosion in the private education sector in Bangladesh in recent years, we have seen an ever
they choose BBA, economics or other non-science related subjects. When asked about why he decided to study economics despite having a science background, Kingshuk Barua, a student at North South University, said he “took the easy way out.” And he is far from the only one. Nazia Huda, an economics student with an A-Level
Percentage of the students of science and general subject of public universities in 2006
17
Science
83 General Source: University Grant Commission
greater shift in the educational aspirations of our youth to non-STEM subjects. A country needs its scientists, engineers and mathematicians. So what are the reasons for this disconcerting trend?
Awareness
One of the main reasons why there is a decline in the number of science students in higher education is the flawed idea that students have regarding them. Growing up, they are exposed to a wide variety of role models on television or in movies, but one should stop to ask this: how many of them are scientists? Children usually decide on what they want to be when they grow up, based on what they are exposed to when they are young. As youngsters, they are used to seeing flashy businessmen with expensive suits, fast-talking lawyers and extrovert musicians. It’s not common for the youngsters to be privy to the day-today life of a scientist.
Keeping options open
Many students tend to take science subjects in school (even up to their SSC/HSC or O/A Levels), yet when pursuing undergraduate degrees,
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background in science, disclosed she “found more practical applications to her knowledge in economics than in science related subjects.” Ask any preuniversity student what they think about pursuing a career in science, and most of them will say it is “too hard” or is “all about math.”
Experimental failure
Science is an inquisitive subject. It is how the human race understands the cosmos. Properly received, science is fascinating and illuminating, and it is certainly not boring. Yet, it is taught in our schools and classrooms in a dry and forced fashion. Students are made to wade through the minutiae of formulas and laws, focusing more on memorisation and theoretical learning that, rather than encouraging burgeoning scientists, ends up daunting them. Students, especially in Bangladeshi schools and universities, are also not properly encouraged to experiment. Science is all about tinkering and toying until something interesting happens. Our students receive inadequate practical scientific knowledge. They are given demonstrations of simple experiments and asked to recreate
Photos: Syed Latif Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
The purpose of science is supposed to make young minds curious about how things work. Unless science students are provided with appropriate tools in schools in order to meet that curiosity, it is only natural they will find the learning process difficult and give it up
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them to revalidate century-old laws and theorems, but they are not given any practical applications of what they are learning. They are not given a lamp or a watch or a calculator, and asked to break it open to see what is going on inside. Thus students, when choosing subjects for their undergraduate studies, do not possess the practical base on which to apply their knowledge. Most will end up daunted by the prospect of hedging their entire careers on recollections of musty labs, of beakers and simple electrical circuits.
Following footsteps
Parental pressure is another factor. After the Liberation War, there was a shortage of doctors and engineers and it was a popular aspiration among parents for their children to marry doctors or engineers, or even better, to become doctors or engineers themselves. This attitude persists today and children are pressured into studying subjects they may not have much vocation for in order to satisfy their parents’ wishes. This can partly
explain the sharp drop off in the number of students who receive an education in science and those who opt to make careers out of it.
DECLINE IN 20 YEARS
Year
Exams
Science Students of the total examinees
1990
SSC
42.18%
2010
SSC
22.35%
1990
HSC
28.13%
2010
HSC
18.34% Source: BANBEIS
The following table gives us a clear picture of the condition. According to the “Bangladeshe Madyamik Parjaye Bigyaan Shiksha (Science Education in Secondary Level in Bangladesh,” a research paper published by Bangladesh Freedom Foundation: “The decreasing rate of science students is 31.33% in the last eight years. In the secondary level in 1988, around 41.35% students studied science. According to the research, the
rate came down to 25.4% in 1995 and 23.76% in 2008.” The research identified several reasons behind such fall, including a dearth of trained and competent science teachers which has prompted students to take private tuition at their own expense, a lack of motivation of guardians, higher expenses for science education, irregular practical classes and a preference among students to take easy subjects to pass.
Lack of job opportunities is a great obstacle in the progress of technical field in Bangladesh. If studying science was as promising as studying business was, as far as making money is concerned, there probably would be more students pursuing STEM subjects at university level
Upon graduation
global business sector is booming. Finally, students in our country do not get the necessary facilities to study science properly and do not get proper jobs when they graduate.” In a county without many job prospects, without a proper idea of the kind of work a scientist or an engineer does, with an absurd amount of parental pressure and with a lack of practical experience, it is little wonder that our students are no longer pursuing scientific careers. The question we now need to ask ourselves is: how can we reverse the trend? n
Finally, we must consider the perilous state of the job market for engineers in Bangladesh. Typically, students with engineering qualifications either apply for a master’s degree abroad, or they diversify into some other line of work. When asked why students are no longer pursuing careers in science, Dr Amanullah, a professor of sociology at Dhaka University, said: “There is stagnation in science and technology around the world. Because of that, the industry is no longer growing and there is less demand. Also, due to globalisation, the
Note: We would like to thank Sea Breeze International School for the pictures
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Big Mouth strikes again
Naheed Kamal
Straight talking vs tedious writing Naheed Kamal is an irreverent and irreligious feminist. An old soul of indeterminate age, with one too many opinions and a very loud voice (for a little person), she laughs a lot, mostly at herself. She lives in Dhaka, against her best judgement. Mostly, Ms Kamal rants, a lot!
Don’t be sloppy in your use of pronouns. Don’t hide your verbs inside nouns. Literally must be used sparingly, literally. Wikipedia is not the last word on any topic; check other sources. Read both sides of an argument (for and against) on any given subject, before you make up your own mind about it
When we write, why we write and for whom we write needs to be considered
R
ecently, articles written by a colleague in the magazine caused quite a stir, upsetting many people. Some may say any publicity is better than no publicity, but I would like to think a publication such as this magazine would rather be known for constructive, positive and thought-provoking adult journalism, not the reverse. In my colleague’s defence, she was aiming for satire, or perhaps she wanted to share her opinions in a straight - talking manner without recourse to humour, because it was her straight, no-nonsense criticism that upset readers. I can’t tell for certain; I do know they were opinions many of us share, but we do not appreciate hearing them from a “foreigner.” There exists a fine line between irreverence and insults, and often we lose ourselves in our tirades – I know I do. I try not to waffle, because any astute reader will soon recognise a writer reverting to this doesn’t know what they are writing about. It is not uncommon to find them everywhere, but we will take Liz Jones as an example (I have mentioned her in my columns twice in a row, something I didn’t think was possible because she is what I aspire NOT to be). In my openion, Ms Jones is a train wreck; she has a love-hate relationship with the whole world. Even when she has valid points, I think her generalisations and vicious personal attacks make her laughable. An embarrassment at best and an abomination at worst, the cringe-worthy columns she writes for the Daily Mail continue to be published, so I suspect she is having a laugh at all our expense. But why does she write at all? Why do any of us write? What makes some writing honest, critical and humorous, while others are considered insulting, embarrassing and a bad joke? I am not talking about fiction or blogs, I am going to go off on a tangent here: some people don’t know what this word stands for, which boggles the mind. Blog is short for web-log, and anything goes on a blog; it is a personal log/journal/diary. I mean how
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we report in newspaper and write for serious publications. George Orwell, in his 1946 essay “Why I Write,” cites four reasons: historical impulse and political purpose, egoism and aesthetic enthusiasm. The latter is the “pleasure in the impact of one sound on another, in the firmness of good prose …” Orwell took great pride in being called, and calling himself, a “political writer.” The Wikipedia entry for the essay is misleading as it implies he was not very political, when in fact, he was the most succinct political writer of our times (in my opinion; he is someone I DO want to emulate). He expended more time and effort on the newspaper columns than he did on the books, using them to hone his skills as a writer and develop his political thoughts. His ability to write clearly and his courage to express his political views precisely continue to guide many of us today. Clear writing is orderly and follows from clear thinking. If you make your readers work too hard and/or upset them, then they will stop reading. So try not to state the obvious or write mind-numbing generalisations, because you will eventually lose your readers to better writers. Orwell’s rules for uncluttered writing from “Politics and the English Language” include never using metaphors, similes, or other figures of speech common in print, never using a long word where a short one will do, not using the passive in place of active, taking a word (or words) out if it can be taken out, and avoiding foreign phrases, scientific words and jargon when an everyday English equivalent will do. Finally, he says a writer should “break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous,” which I think is satire at its best. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes satire as a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn, and as trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly. Fact is, we are either funny, or we are not. We can’t learn to be humorous,
because we either have a sense of humour, or we don’t. Here’s a test: see if you ever laugh at yourself, and if you do, you possess wit. If you are easily upset when people laugh at you, then you are a miserable git, simple. Joan Didion “borrowed” the title from Orwell when she wrote that writing is a way of “imposing oneself upon other people, of saying ‘listen to me, see it my way ...’ It’s an aggressive, even a hostile act … setting words on paper is the tactic of a secret bully...” which is a bit harsh, but hilarious. Didion never held back from writing what she thought. When I read her piece, I realised that, just like her, I too was “out of school” when the rules (of grammar) were taught, and just like her I also intrinsically knew (know) of the infinite powers of grammar. I recognise that by merely shifting a word in a sentence or changing its structure, we change its meaning. My battle against the world revolves around the need to be concise and precise. In one of the finest blogs on clear writing, I found this charmingly cheeky piece of advice: “Break the rules of grammar all you want; just don’t expect your readers to trust you. If you want to be taken seriously, write like a serious adult, not like a wilful child who refused to learn the structure of (his own) language.” Sir David Frost, who passed away last Sunday, was a cunning journalist and a clever satirist. What I admired most about him was how he always spoke precisely. He didn’t assume viewers would “understand” what he meant to say; he said what he meant to say. I have shared here with you some of the lessons I have gleaned over the years by listening to clear thinkers and reading good writers I admire, such as Frost, Orwell and Didion. You may have other preferences and lessons. In the end, dear readers, the devil is in the detail. n
As journalists we owe it to our readers to write clearly. The best advice I have ever been given about writing is this: it is rude to expect your readers to correct your sentences for you. I couldn’t agree more. Say what you mean. Don’t insult your readers
PHOTO STORY
GOING GREEN
Recycle Life
PHOTO STORY BY
Akhlas Uddin
Plastic packaging and plastic rings, Plastic bags for more plastic things, Plastic bottles for the water you drink, But plastic causes death so stop and think! Millions of sea birds and turtles painfully die, After eating plastic that floats on by, Plastic thrown away and out of reach, Ends up as plastic sand on a plastic beach, Plastic sold for consumer cash, Fills our oceans with plastic trash.
“Recycle Life� is an ongoing photography project of Akhlas Uddin, which is about recycling waste plastic carried out by migrant workers moved from villages into cities. Most of these people involved in recycling are poor women and their families who come to the cities and work in small factories. They work in extreme conditions without any safety measures and are exposed to high risk of health hazard. Everyday they work 12 to 14 hours and earn only Tk100 to Tk120.
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PHOTO STORY GOING GREEN
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PHOTO STORY GOING GREEN
Md. Akhlas Uddin is a freelance photographer since 1995. A recipient of photographic honour “EFIAP” from the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), his domain of photography ranges from culture, social documentary, nature and everything in between. He is a member of Sylhet Photographic Society (SPS) and can be reached at akhlas70@yahoo.com
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What’s the Problem?
17
Legal System
Order! Order! Let the chaos end! Sheikh Mohammed Irfan reveals loopholes in the legal system that breed graft Derivative of two differing systems
Law is the essence of order, and the absence of law results in the breakdown of society. By setting a benchmark between right and wrong, law brings discipline from chaos. While it is expected for certain individuals to rebel against the legal system, when the bearers of law themselves fail to conform to the law, society’s foundation becomes questionable. The Bangladeshi law system derives from the English legal system, but has managed to mould itself according to our socio-cultural background. The Judiciary of Bangladesh consists of the Supreme Court, subordinate courts and tribunals. With a Supreme Court that comprises the Appellate Division and the High Court Division, it appears we have an excellent legal framework. How, then is it possible for the code of laws to falter so often?
do everything in his realm to bring the accused under his custody. Rest assured, in this battle, the lawyer will be successful. Now comes the best part: the time when the accused goes on a legal battle with the opponent. The lawyers of both parties often share a golden handshake, which means no matter what the outcome, both sides will benefit. In such a case, there is every opportunity for graft to continue: bribes flow to both attorneys, and alterations are purposefully installed to instigate monetary exchange with
Any given Sunday, or any day
On any given day in the courts, it is not difficult to find open corruption. Lawyers and policemen openly demand bribes. The paper pushers also try to jump into the bandwagon by asking for bribes just to write down or fix a date error they made themselves.
The public deserves better
This is not to undermine the thousands of lawyers within the Court of law who are doing a fabulous job while being completely honest. But often, all it takes is one corrupt lawyer or police official to bring the system down.
Sheikh Mohammed Irfan is a pragmatist, bringing spotlight to the persistent problems in Bangladesh
Bangladeshi people have 23 fundamental rights under the Constitution of Bangladesh, Part 3, Articles 26 to 47A, equality being one of them (Article 27)
Out from the frying pan …
During a Weekend Tribune inspection of the courts in Bangladesh, a vivid picture of the system unravelled. The root cause of the faltering legal system lies deep within the court. Unfortunately, money, power and personal interest play a big role in how our courts are operating. Politicisation of the judicial system has played another big role in poisoning it. To clearly depict the procedures of court, let’s begin with a grassroots case. A case is filed by the police department or court that apprehends a person or a group. This file can be easily tampered with, either by bribe or pressure from influential people. This is the beginning of a process whereby law enforcers may take advantage of their position. Once this file reaches the court, it issues an order. To eliminate or alter this order is possible through exchange of cash or interference from powerful positions. Once that is sorted, if the case manages to stay within the court, it becomes a battle of lawyers and prosecutors.
… into the fire
If the police feel they can extort the accused further at this point, they may keep the accused around them. This is to ensure the flow of cash is in their favour. On the other hand, if the accused manages to obtain a lawyer, the lawyer may ensure this “benefit” for himself instead and will
Chanchal Kamal
the client. This is further cemented by the involvement of the opposing lawyer, who shapes his case according to the exchange he receives from his opposing member. As if that harsh reality is not appalling enough, the higher authorities within the realms of court play an even more significant role in corrupting the legal system. The judge has to receive a significant portion of the exchanges made by lawyers and their clients in order to determine the course of justice. Here, there is also room for intervention by prevailing individuals. Once that is sorted, a final hammer is struck to finalise the hearing.
To depict the amount of corruption that currently occurs within the court, here is a recent conversation that took place between a policeman and a group of lawyers within a court in Dhaka. The policeman said: “Amader ke to rakhte dilenna! IO ke khub khawai paper paltai apnader kache nilen. (You didn’t let us keep this guy! By feeding the IO a lot of money and changing the paperwork of the accused, you took him from us.)” The lawyers replied unanimously: “Arre raag koiren nah, apnara to bohud khaisen, ekhon amader khaite den. (“Don’t get upset! You had your share, now it’s our turn.)” To sum it up, you can’t escape graft in our legal system.
The public is becoming increasingly frustrated with how law and order is conducted in the country. The responsibility of law bearers is to quickly abolish such practices and reinstall public faith in such an important institution. After all, a society without law and order is a crippled society. n
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6 DEGREES OF CONNOTATIONS
As a Nigerian journalist, Adeyanju Pinheiro consistently gives a critical eye to activities and events around her. When not working, she is an outspoken and lively person who enjoys travelling, meeting people and playing Scrabble
ADEYANJU PINHEIRO
Are you one? The divas in our lives
I
n today’s society, the word “Diva” is given negative connotations, bringing to mind the bratty, selfobsessive, conceited and rather uppity lady who insists on always having things her way and being glorified at the expense of others. On the contrary, divas are women who have some serious life experience behind them. They don’t take nonsense from people and are never hesitant to blaze a trail into the wilderness when necessary. Divas are enormously secure in who they are, what they have to offer in this life and where they are going and will march there confidently. They are in strong connection to themselves, their spirituality and their place in the world, always insatiable in their quest for personal understanding and greater wisdom. They are able to access hidden truths like treasures under rocks, pushing and turning until the right connection is made. And the smartness flows and don’t ever contradict her when she’s working in that mode. They are well capable of maintaining glorious romances and loving relationships with spouses or partners. Most generally, relationships are not of the “desperate” variety, where she needs to be “complete” or requires the presence of a partner to make her whole. A diva is whole under herself and if she is with someone, it is because she chooses to be, not because she has to be. Divas are passionate,
You cannot be complete without a diva around-either as a mother, sister, wife, fiancée, mentor, role model or queen seductive and sexually confident. Diva friendships are deep and abiding, usually with one or two particularly tight bonds and several additional pals in their realm of influence. They seldom require validation of themselves from others in order to have a good sense of self and quality self-esteem, but occasionally,
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they enjoy a good conversation with their closest confidants as they are always comfortable with and grateful for compliments. The bonds they form with friends and partners are very close; a diva old and experienced enough to have dealt with death in a few ways, not just the physical death of others, but the death of friendships, marriages and dreams. They do understand that the people and situations in our life, both precious and challenging, are transient. These set of females are positively brilliant in the art of revenge; however, they also know exactly how to pick their battles because they are strong, independent and pro-active. People listen when they speak, love them for their fiery, bold spirits and respect the way they carry themselves in the world. A diva loves to express herself dynamically, just as likely to be seen in a business suit and pumps as she is in a top hat or a tiara. She has walked back through her past, made friends with the skeletons in her closet and focused a bright light on the darkest corners. Ghosts from the past no longer come for her in the night. She looks forward to the future with the quiet pleasure of one who is assured that whatever befalls her is propelling her inevitably and unerringly toward her own greatest good. Her faith is immense and often is the rock on which others around her, stand during difficult times. It is hard to shake her into tears of fear or frustration or hurt, but when it happens, it’s with a gale force and she’ll work it and work it and work it until she finds the answer within herself and masters the situation.
W
hen a diva cries, it is more likely from something that has touched her heart in a purely profound way. For both of these reasons, divas often are very protective of their time alone to think, meditate and sort through their own responses and conclusions. While a diva may have resolved her past and will make peace with whatever is to be in the future,
her focus is primarily on the present, moment by moment, as it unfolds in front of her. If she could freeze frame every moment and study it, preserving
They do not suffer fools lightly and are impatient with manipulators, users, slackers and phonies. You won’t see a diva with a partner who doesn’t pull his/her own weight or who is less than respectful on an ongoing basis it in her heart, she would, because that is how precious her “now” is to her. She seeks out the miracles, from the tiniest to the grandest and is grateful to the divine for each and every one in her day. Her capacity for joy is seemingly endless, and she finds it everywhere: in a book she’s reading, a gift she receives, a hug from a loved one, a joke that gives her a good belly laugh, a delightful meal. There is no end to the places from which she can harvest joy and delight in her life. She laughs loudly and appreciatively and the lines on her face reflect her many smiles. The diva speaks her mind confidently, unapologetically and without pretense. Never ask for her opinion or advice unless you really want to hear it unfrosted and straight from the hip. She is invariably honest and unwaveringly direct. The diva is, overall, a private person and there are some parts of her life and heart that are off limits to others. Even though she is so direct and truthful, she is always a bit of a mystery to those who love her. Neither she nor they would have it any other way. n
INTERVIEW
19
RAHUL BOSE
Playing the part
Muktasree Chakma Sathi is a staff reporter at Dhaka Tribune. She specialises in reporting on the International Crimes Tribunal and also covers human rights issues
Muktasree Chakma Sathi chats with the actor and humanitarian Born in 1967, famous Indian actor Rahul Bose loves to describe himself as “Bangali, Punjabi and Maharashtrian.” The first-ever South Asian Global Ambassador for Oxfam, Rahul is working to eliminate Violence Against Women (VAW) along with ensuring communal harmony in South Asia and beyond. He shares his life experiences and thoughts regarding VAW, gender and the roles of people and the media.
dominant in our family, rather than any specific one being the most important. Also, I grew up in a family where my father and mother had very different gender roles, which contrasts most Indian families. My father was a very gentle person. He loved to give us oil massages on weekends, he used to cook in the house and made our lunch boxes for school. My mother, however, never entered the kitchen; she worked and always tried to motivate us to engage ourselves in outdoor sports such as rugby.
Almost every big decision was taken by my mother. Sometimes my father contributed, though it was rarely so. I think it was a wonderful place to grow up and when I started seeing the outside world, I faced a world entirely different than what I am used to
What inspired your interest in working to eradicate violence against women and promote gender equality? My family, and how I grew up seeing
My mother wanted to send me to boarding school and my father wanted to keep me home (smiled). So, it was a reversal of roles. My mother was my father and my father was my mother an outside world which contrasted my family environment is one reason. And, undoubtedly, the Gujrat riots in 2002 is another; I witnessed the tremendous trail of destruction it left behind. During which, I was trying hard to understand the “Hindu-Muslim dilemma,” along with violence against women which can only be described as horrific. Before that, I hadn’t seen much violence against women in my country. Witnessing all that has transpired was enough inspiration for me to start working towards these causes, including communal harmony. Tell us a little more about your family and their influence on you to work for gender equality. My mother is half Maharastrian and half Punjabi, while my father is a Bangali. Hence, I grew up with three cultural influences. And, most interestingly, all these cultures were
About Rahul Bose
• According to TIME magazine, Rahul Bose is one of India’s most
respected actors with seminal roles in “Mr and Mrs Iyer,” “Before the Rains,” “Chameli,” “Bombay Boys,” The Japanese Wife, and “I Am”
• His first movie was Dev Benegal’s “English August” in 1994. It
won the National Film Award for Best English Film. He received “Best Actor- Singapore Film Festival” award for his role in “Split Wide Open” and the Indian National Award for Best Film, 2007 for “Kaalpurush”
• He has lectured on subjects ranging from leadership and gender equality to Indian cinema at Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, MIT, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Cornell University
• He was a recipient of the Lt Governor’s Commendation Award for
his services to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami. He spent two-and-a-half years there and worked for the rehabilitation of those affected by the tsunami.
• Rahul, with his mother’s encouragement, took up boxing,
rugby and cricket and played at the Asian Rugby Football Union Championship as part of the Indian National team. He retired from the Indian Rugby team in 2009. In 2012 he was awarded NDTV’s Celebrity Sports Activist of the Year
As Oxfam’s first-ever South Asian Global Ambassador and a lecturer on gender equality, how would you differentiate between gender and women’s rights? Well, most of the time when the word “gender” surfaces, everybody tends to think it’s about women’s rights. It just happens. Though nowadays, when we say gender we mainly try to emphasise on the inequality between males and females in this region. However, the fact remains that gender encompasses a much broader perspective and not just women’s rights. Gender is the social roles of different sexes determined by our society. Gender talks about every human being, whether it is LGBT (lesbian-gaybisexual-transsexual) or women and men’s rights. According to you, what are the main reasons behind the existence of VAW and the dire situation of women’s rights in this region? In all regions, it is patriarchy and the definition of masculinity. All over the world, the definition of masculinity is being portrayed in the wrong way. For instance, beating up women, the power play of “who is the dominant one” are the scales used for defining masculinity, including the hierarchy. And patriarchy is all about hierarchy. As a youth icon, actor and an advocate for eliminating VAW, what would be your suggestions to the youth? Think about your mothers, daughters and sisters before teasing or disrespecting any woman. n
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game on
Ashes
Ashes to splashes
Sheikh Mohammed Irfan ponders the transformation of the infamous cricket contest
Sheikh Mohammed Irfan is a pragmatist, bringing spotlight to the persistent problems in Bangladesh
“T
he body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.” – this statement was made by the Sporting Times, who carried a mock obituary of English cricket after England lost to Australia for the first time on home soil in 1882. That is how the term “Ashes” was first used, and that is how the test series began. 131 years later, the 2013 Ashes concluded with England winning on the Australian soil. As the name would suggest, this tournament between the cricketing world’s most prestigious outfits is one heated game that seizes the attention of many cricket enthusiasts. However, does the Ashes generate as much glamour and galore as it did a century ago? Many would say otherwise. While the Ashes may still attract a lot of attention, its regal title as the keeper of cricket and champion of the world is uncertain. The cricketing world
The Ashes has always drawn attention due to the balance of play sported and trophies won during the competition. Since its inauguration in 1882-83, each of England’s and Australia’s teams has won 31 titles; hence, the competition lives on, and the true bearer of the Ashes is yet to be determined
Photos: Dhaka Tribune
took a major shift in the last 100 years, during which many cricketing nations rose through the ranks and snatched the title of world’s best team. Different rivalries, both regional and continental, started developing. Consider the mouthwatering ties between India and Pakistan, or the classic battles between the West Indies and Australia. In light of these competitors, it may very well seem that all the recent controversy related to the Ashes is more of a public display to bring back the heat and attention towards cricket’s most coveted rivalry.
Who holds the crown?
England, the founding nation of cricket, has taken a back seat over the years. As football became the daily bread of this sports crazy nation, the dwindling fortune of their cricket team, who constantly failed to achieve a world crown, left the nation unperturbed. Australia, on the contrary, rose to become a cricket superpower over the century, and their team’s achievements left them fighting world-class rivalries for the no 1 ranking. While their fortune may have changed over recent years, allowing the English to capitalise on this period of demise by winning the Ashes, this is surely not the end of the battle for the Aussies. Although the matter of pride is still at stake, the history shared by these two rivals predicts that Aussies will be on top of the game soon enough.
The rise and fall of the Ashes
The continuous domination of one team over a stretched period of time resulted in lack of attraction towards the Ashes, as the battle became more of David vs Goliath. The game typically became the show of a formidable team against a mediocre one. Between the late 80s and the mid-2000s, Australia sported an intimidating team that won three World Cups and boasted record test wins. At the same time, England was in the dark, struggling to establish itself as a strong cricketing nation due to the underachievement of its legendary squad. The generation of Ian Botham, David Gower and Graham Gooch failed to transform the success of the Ashes to world cricket, as their
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success exposed the weaknesses of the Aussies, rather than England’s greatness. England’s failure to become a cricketing super power directly affected the series’ reputation as it was expected of Australia to thrash England during a certain period. This made the Ashes second fiddle to other great cricketing rivalries, most notably the battle between India and Pakistan, both of who boast fierce battling in almost every meet. Such heated competition not only added attraction to the game, but also meant further improvement of cricket, which became more of a battle of wits, style, play and atmosphere. Despite the world’s recoiling fascination with the Ashes, this competition still runs deep in the blood and legacy of the English and Aussies. England may boast a great squad at the moment, but the anticipation of the return of the Aussies adds great fuel to their rivalry. People around the world will still raise eyebrows at the winner of the Ashes, as the prestige associated with winning is immense, but all will wait for the true and deserved “Battle Royale” between these two great cricketing nations. n
REALPOLITIK
21
Demarcation of Land Boundaries
Whose line is it anyway? Ikhtisad Ahmed looks into the age-old dispute between Bangladesh and India Through the years 1713 A misjudged treaty between the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Koch Bihar fails to demarcate distinct boundaries between territories involved in the war between the two parties, creating enclaves in each others’ territories 1947 Rangpur, which includes the enclaves belonging to Koch Bihar, joins East Pakistan 1949 The Kingdom of Koch Bihar merges fully with India, taking with it the enclaves that belonged to the Mughal Empire 1958 An attempt to swap the enclaves between India and Pakistan fails, and is subsequently not brought up again by either side 1972 Discussions resume between India and the now independent Bangladesh about the enclaves 1974 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indira Gandhi sign the complex Land Boundary Agreement on May 16 that resolves the South Berubari dispute for India and allows Bangladesh to exercise sovereignty over its Dahagram and Angorpota enclaves
S
tories of medieval times conjure mystical images of a glorified era. The unbridled lavish lives of monarchs chronicled in paintings, sculptures and written records vindicate these imagined accounts. One such legend says enclaves on either side of the boundary in the northwest of Bangladesh were used as stakes in card and chess games by the Raja of Koch Bihar (1586-1949) and the Maharaja of Rangpur. The truth is less colourful. The only verifiable account in relation to the enclaves that have long been an unresolved issue in the Indian Subcontinent dates back to the early 18th century. A war between the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Koch Bihar ended with the signing of a peace treaty. It stated that the two sides would retain any and all territories that they occupied respectively at the time of the ceasefire. This created enclaves of one in the primary territory of the other, meaning Mughal villages remained in the Koch Bihar region and vice versa. Neither side thought to rectify this. The British Empire neither cared nor saw the need to fix this idiosyncrasy. Thus, nearly 300 years to the date of the conflict between the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Koch Bihar, the nations of Bangladesh and India were still burdened by
their indifference. The 1947 Partition saw Rangpur, containing Koch Bihar enclaves, join East Pakistan and the Kingdom of Koch Bihar, along with Rangpuri enclaves, join India. The two nations aborted their only attempt to remedy the situation in 1958. Fourteen years later, the newly independent Bangladesh started conversations with its ally India with a view to normalising the peculiar situation of the landlocked enclaves. Talks centred on the issue of each country being able to exercise sovereignty over its own territories – a right that was of paramount importance. Initial discussions considered allowing India to retain the Bangladeshi enclaves of Dahagram and Angorpota in return for its South Berubari enclave officially becoming a part of Bangladesh. Such a transfer would mean the people in the two regions would either have to change nationalities, or migrate en masse. The two populations protested, prompting a change in thinking by the two countries.
A
new proposal was put forward that sought to lease an Indian strip of land, known as the Tin Bigha Corridor, to Bangladesh in perpetuity so that its enclaves could enjoy the rights afforded to all other regions that fall within the border of Bangladesh. The
Corridor connected Dahagram, and Angorpota via it, to Panbari Mouza, which was inside said boundary. India, meanwhile, would retain South Berubari. The two premiers agreed to this in 1974. Bangladesh ratified it post haste, its map redrawn to reflect this. However, it became a political issue in India due to the ongoing secessionist movements, causing implementation to be delayed. Bangabandhu’s assassination halted it. The state of limbo that persisted saw access being granted to the Tin Bigha Corridor for 12 hours a day. This changed in 2011, when the lease became indefinite and access became unrestricted. The excessive use of force by the Indian Border Security Forces continues to be a problem, and the issue of citizenship remains unresolved to date. The Bharatia Janata Party has argued that the matter of nationality is too complicated to solve, drawing parallels with post-partition trouble. Such concerns have been echoed on the other side of the border as well, signalling that a line is yet to be definitively drawn under the issue. The 300-year-old plight of the forgotten people seems set to continue as the more things change, the more they stay the same, especially since the change itself has been the same obvious one for years. n
Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer. He is bound by absurdity, and exists, therefore he is
Did you know? • The population of
the 162 enclaves was approximated at 51,000 in 2011
• Despite including
the disputed boundary of the conflicted region of Kashmir on its official map, India has left out the villages of its enclaves since the partition in spite of them being a part of the Jalpaiguri Assembly constituency
• Data collected
in 1967 showed that 80% of the population of the East Pakistani enclave was Muslim, while 90% of the Indian enclave’s population was Hindu
1974 Further agreements are signed between the two prime ministers on December 26 and 30. These call for either the exchange of Bangladeshi and Indian enclaves or to provide easy access for the respective countries 1982 Official discussions that are seen as being part of the 1974 agreements are held between the two countries, but no action takes place 2011 The Land Boundary Agreement Bill is signed between prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Manmohan Singh on September 6 during the latter’s visit to Dhaka 2011 The Tin Bigha Corridor is finally leased to Bangladesh indefinitely in September. This grants it unfettered access to its enclaves so that sovereignty can be exercised. Full implementation begins in October Dhaka Tribune
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22 Dina Sobhan is a freelance writer and cautions readers not to take her “advice” here too seriously! Please send us your problems at: weekend@ dhakatribune.com
TOUGH LOVE 1
I married a career diplomat and it has mostly been a great decision. My only problem is, I have to socialise a lot with my husband’s friends and colleagues. On pretty much every evening, there are cocktail parties, formal receptions, cultural events, and so on. Moreover, I always have to be extra civil and polite to people I couldn’t care less about. During these events, I dream of lounging out on the sofa at home watching Hindi TV serials. Could you give me a few pointers as to how I can survive being the “trophy wife”?
DINA SOBHAN The words “grin and bear it” have never been more applicable than to your present predicament, honey. You signed up for the wrong marriage plan if you are a happy homebody and a closet misanthrope. Your husband’s lifework is to schmooze it up with chumps he wouldn’t share a croissant with on most mornings and you are along for the faux love fest until the fat lady sings. And I don’t mean you. You have little recourse but to suck it up, literally. If your husband is lower on the totem pole, you not only have to go to every event you are invited to, you have to simper and smile and
really make them buy the act. The more people you know, the further you go in this game. It’s only when you reach the top that your husband is powerful enough to go out solo with the excuse that his wife is at home with a debilitating stomach ache, etc. Apply the acting skills of those Hindi serial actresses to your own life and you’re good to go … for the next 25 years or so. n
Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
2
I am the youngest of three sisters and I often wonder whether my dad wanted a boy instead. Ever since I was a kid, he took me out to cricket games, bought me toy guns and trucks instead of dolls, and still buys me jeans and t-shirts all the time, etc. He even named me Rifat, which could just as easily be a boy’s name! I sometimes feel I need to have a chat with him about this. Or maybe I am overreacting and my dad is just being ... my dad. What should I do?
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Well, do you now drive trucks and date dolls? Are you unlike your peers in a shared love of Justin Bieber’s hair and Timberlake’s derriere? Or do you prefer to watch old reruns of “Baywatch?” I guess what I’m trying to ascertain is if your dad’s apparent desire for a male offspring has coloured your present in an unusual
way. If you are otherwise unaffected by your past, let your dad live out his golden years pretending you are the son he never had. If you’ve been okay with it all this time, why rock his Jockeys now? n
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23
WT LEISURE DILBERT
Across 1 6 7 8
Wizard who makes things from clay (6) The old sat around raising agent (5) Mature writer follows Royal Institute (5) Bradford artist loses new sport (6)
Down 2 3 4 5
PEANUTS
I comply about London games (7) Apprentice golf supporter drops in (7) Noise made by conductor? (6) Right church found after main quest (6)
Solution and clues for last week’s crossword
Across 1 5 6 8 10 11
Confuse us with his fish (5) Tea and a short talk (3) None survive cocktail ingredient (5) Sleep without a reason, strangely (5) Initially, a round-keeled boat (3) A version of ye old mountain song (5)
Down 1 2 3 4 7 8 9
Wintry figure now in mans wobbly grasp (7) Sporting equipment for endless slide (3) Hard water found in magic ewer (3) Ale atom converted to porridge ingredient (7) After five, an industrious vehicle (3) The blue half of whisky (3) Weird, like 1, 3, 5 or 7 (3)
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24
Travelogue
Middle East sojourn
A life of strife in the desert state Yusuf Banna is a staff writer at Weekend Tribune. He would be happier if he could be a poet. He also dreams of being a painter and is envious of those who are artistically gifted
Yusuf Banna recalls his turbulent youth as a stranger in Qatar
I
t was a time of intense personal turmoil and jeopardy. In 1990, at the onset of the first Gulf War, most of the families around mine were leaving Qatar. The remaining ones were ready and waiting to go as Allied forces continued massing in their hundreds of thousands over the border in Saudi Arabia, in preparation to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Rumours of potential biological weapons attacks had been widely circulated. Within a month, I saw each and every household in my suburb wrapped with protective plastic sheets, covering the windows, ventilators and air conditioning units. These houses dressed in veils set the mood for more panic, and although Qatar ultimately escaped the air raid drills, I had nevertheless felt the discomfort of the danger zone. The previous summer, a five yearold boy’s dream to fly had been fulfilled, but I was not to know that this first ride in the skies was just the beginning of a 12-year exile on a deserted Arabian peninsula. Within five-and-a-half hours of leaving Bangladesh in 1989, I arrived in Qatar as a total stranger. My world was turned upside down. Qatar welcomed me with a hot, glaring sun and humid air which felt like the breath of a coal mine. Mercifully, there was also a hug from my father - the reason for the family’s exodus. The frustration began when his 1985 amber-coloured Toyota Cressida began moving; all the mental images I had created of my new home shattered one after another as we drove along the miles of desert highway. My mother grew paranoid watching such inhuman solitude and repeatedly asked how much of the road was left. It was the most prolonged 60 minutes of my short life. I grew up in a very small and conservative micro society of Bangladeshi exiles in Qatar. My mother was a lecturer in biology at the school where I studied and so I was constantly surrounded by the surveillance of her colleagues. I had to study hard. The school was administered by the Embassy of Bangladesh and, although it enrolled a maximum of 350 students, it had a poor collection of fiction and there were not enough books or good book shops to be found. In 1998, my father bought me a Pentium-1 PC, through which I first gained access to the virtual world, and a vast library of literature.
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Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
Living in the suburbs, I was bullied many times by the Arab kids of my age. They repeatedly called me “Miskeen,” which literally translates as “poor” in Arabic. I asked them the reason for this and their answer was as straight as it was stupid: the expatriates had come to live in their country to earn a living, they said, as our own countries could not provide us with enough. There was no debate left to counter that and it was not worth it for me to argue with them, because they would surely not understand. During my 12 years of residence in Qatar, I can barely remember more than two or three cases of homicide, rape or any other serious crime against a person appearing in the local daily newspapers. I think those reports that made the press, were published only because the crime was committed by a non–Arab. The only national channel, QTV, would often take a feed of the American news channel CNN for big events. I clearly remember the day in August 1997 when the story of Princess Diana’s death broke across our screens. A few years later in 2001, I turned on the TV and saw the Twin Towers in New York City under attack. The birth of Al-Jazeera changed the scene. Headquartered in Doha,
the capital and only substantial city of Qatar, I used to watch the Arabic broadcast muted, just to see the various happenings. Unfortunately for me, the English broadcast did not begin until a couple years later after I had left Qatar. We were the “9/11 batch” of our school. Beforehand, an American visa was like candy and after passing the HSC, around 95% of the students would go to America. But everything changed after that day in September 2001. The issuing of US visas to Asian Muslims declined dramatically, and so we were denied our shot at the American dream. I was the only student of my batch who made a conscious decision to return to Bangladesh. Most of my class mates waited around for a year in the hope that the restrictions would be relaxed, or some went to Australia. In August 2002, however, my own years of exile came to an end and I made the return journey to my motherland to pursue the dream of becoming a poet. Though my country and I suffered many insults in Qatar, paradoxically my love for Bangladesh deepened while I was living so far away from it for so long. I think this must be true for every Bangladeshi abroad. During
each and every National celebration at my school, for example, I saw people crying while listening to the national anthem or “Amar bhaiyer rokte rangano.” Despite the bullying, I must pay gratitude to the generosity and hospitality of the Arab people. They know how to celebrate and their ways of singing, eating, and dancing in the outdoors has a genuine beat and rhythm of originality. Now that the five year-old kid has grown up, all I can reason is that my early mental pictures for Qatar were actually drawn in the West, when I actually crash landed in the Middle East at a time before rapid economic development, and during a period of heightened regional turmoil. Fast forward two decades and the price of petrol is still less than the price of water, but almost everything else has changed. For this energy-rich state is building for a future without natural gas and liquid gold, and it has a master plan of becoming a super-metro ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Few would bet against that. n
THE WAY DHAKA WAS
Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue
I would get dropped off on my way to work at Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue since by bus stopped there. Back then, there was not much traffic and only one bus stopped there every six hours or so. Nowadays, six buses stop there every hour. How times have changed!
25
1975
Shahed Khan (51), engineer, Malibagh resident
Bangladesh Old Photo Archive
Today
Syed Latif Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
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26
Culture Vulture
The Japanese Wife
A utopian companion Yusuf Banna reviews the Aparna Sen flick Yusuf Banna is a staff writer at Weekend Tribune. He would be happier if he could be a poet. He also dreams of being a painter and is envious of those who are artistically gifted
At a glance • Direction
Aparna Sen
Screenplay Aparna Sen
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Music Sagar Desai
Running Time 105 minutes
Country India
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I
n this day and age, when a new set of values has emerged, giving relationships a new meaning, the term “platonic love” may sound like “all that jazz” to the modern masses. But film it with a dose of magical cinematography and boost it with great acting by a brilliant cast, and you will certainly get thumbs up from the movie buffs. The Japanese Wife, Aparna Sen’s latest masterpiece, is not a typical romance. It is the product of her keen observations on humanity, lifestyle and cultural distinction. In a fast-paced world, the movie, set in a remote little village of the Sundarbans, is good enough to catch the attention of the tired urban eye. The idea of penfriendship also adds an essence of serendipity to the plot, which soothes the drained metropolitan soul of the audience. Unconventional as it might be, it is Aparna’s forte, and she does it masterfully in this film. Based on the short story of the same title by Kunal Basu, the plot is simple – too simple, indeed. Snehamoy (Rahul Bose) is a teacher at a dilapidated village school in the Sundarbans. His world centres on his Mashi (aunt – Moushumi Chatterjee), who is as good as his mother. He develops a friendship with Miyage (Chigusa Takaku) from Japan through letters. Eventually, they fall in love and decide to tie the knot – through letters. The pen-friendship turns into a marriage, and the newlyweds start a unique journey without meeting each other in person.
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Sen highlights an unusual relationship with extraordinary compassion and empathy. The ending is tragic, but the director leaves us with a bittersweet taste of what could have been and what will be To put this unusual relationship to test, Sandhya (Raima Sen),a young widow, with her eight-yearold son Poltu, comes to stay with Snehamoy. Over time, he develops an inexplicable thread of understanding with Sandhya and patriarchic bond with Poltu, which threatens to jeopardise his marriage, but his dogged loyalty for his unseen wife works as Snehamoy’s saviour.
T
he film turns tragic when Miyage falls ill with cancer. While searching for a cure for his wife, Snehamoy catches pneumonia and dies. The end scene is equally dramatic and symbolic, as a bald Miyage donning a white saree – the traditional attire of an Indian widow – visits the house of her late husband and is welcomed by two other widows: Sandhya and Mashi (aunt). What gives this rather simple story a divine impression is its spool of uncomplicated sub-plots. For the city-dwellers, the kite-flying scene shot in a vast area comes as a respite and is well-harmonised with the story. The little visit that Snehamoy and Sandhya make together to the town market gives the audience an expected tension of a budding love, and the sacrosanct relationship between the iconic Mashi and Snehamoy is just a little more than adorable.
Cast Rahul Bose Raima Sen Chigusa Takaku Moushumi Chaterjee
Language English Bangla Japanese Bangladesh Release date 2010
The pace might be slow for some; the character development might be coined as ill-synchronised with the set ambience. The whole script might sound rather anachronistic, but The Japanese Wife does provide food for thought to the audience. For those who prefer the lyrical tale of simplicity, marked with a developed frustration that results from watching blind love,” it leaves room for discussion too. Critics have a lot to say about the movie, including the absent explanation of how Snehamoy and Miyage’s relationship came to be, and a little history the close relationship between Mashi and Snehamoy. However, the picturesque ambience and the superb performances of the cast are good enough to hide the loopholes and give the story an epic face. n
OBITUARY
27
DAVID FROST
‘Hello, good evening, and welcome!’
Ibtisam Ahmed is a student of history and politics. He lives in a fantasy and writes about reality
Ibtisam Ahmed reminisces the multi-talented icon
P
At a glance 1939 Born in Tenterden, Kent, United Kingdom 1962 Starts hosting “That Was the Week that Was,” skyrocketing to fame and hosting multiple shows after its cancellation 1977 Seven years after being made OBE, conducts the now-famous Frost/ Nixon Interviews, which contributed to Richard Nixon’s fall from public grace over Watergate 1993 Made Knight Bachelor for his services to broadcasting, which he continues to be involved with over the next two decades 2013 After countless television shows, awards and achievements, passes away on the cruise ship “Queen Elizabeth,” having gone on board as a public speaker
eople who first heard about David Frost from the 2008 critical hit Frost/Nixon are bound to think of a suave party-lover who managed to strike gold with one gutsy interview with Richard Nixon. The gutsy interview was real, but anyone who really thinks Frost was more flash than substance seriously misjudged his character. The man was a broadcasting legend, working as a journalist, comedian, writer and television game show host. His death from a heart attack on August 31, 2013 has arguably been the biggest blow to the industry for years. David Paradine Frost was born on April 7, 1939 to a Methodist minister and his wife. Initially training to be a preacher, Frost gave up on that vocation – and a potential professional contract with Nottingham Forest football club – before studying English at Cambridge. While there, he edited the student newspaper, Varsity, and he became secretary of the Footlights Dramatic Club. After working at two ITV channels, he was approached by Ned Sherrin to host a new BBC programme called That Was the Week that Was. The show unabashedly satirised the British establishment, a fresh approach in a country that had been used to showing deference to its leaders. Frost’s natural charisma and wit, coupled with the show’s innovative filming techniques (with cameras often appearing in-shot) and flexible run time, made him an instant star. Although the show was dropped ahead of the 1964 general election over fears of its influence on voters, Frost achieved a cult following and coined his famous catchphrase, “Hello, good evening, and welcome!” He would help launch the careers of the Monty Python team during his next show, a comedy sketch programme, before helming an interview show. Guests included The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles and Prince Charles. His interview of fraudster Emil Savundra pioneered the way for hard-hitting interview journalism, with no questions softened and no punches pulled. In 1977, by which time he had already become famous in the USA as well by hosting “The David Frost
Wikimedia Commons
Show,” on American television, he used his probing interview style to take Richard Nixon to task over Watergate. The interviews, conducted over several parts, were key in making Nixon appear culpable in obstructing justice. Although President Gerald Ford issued him a full pardon, Nixon’s haltering admissions during the Frost interviews are among the biggest reasons why he is still remembered as a villain in the public consciousness. Frost went on to host the panel game “Through the Keyhole” throughout the 1990s. He also hosted “Breakfast with Frost,” another interview show on the BBC, before he switched to hosting a weekly current affairs programme on Al Jazeera English. His interviewees included Nelson Mandela, Gordon Brown and John McCain. Having started
his career as a verbose satirist, Frost had successfully transitioned into a seasoned and welcoming interviewer, having gone through a confrontational anti-establishment phase in between. He was the only journalist to have interviewed all seven British prime ministers between 1964 and 2010, and every US president who had occupied the White House between 1969 and 2008. In addition to his television endeavours, he also wrote several books, produced eight films and received multiple awards and honours, including knighthood. At the end of the day, Frost himself summed up his life best: “John Smith said to me, ‘You have a way of asking beguiling questions with potentially lethal consequences.’ I would be content to have that on my tombstone.” n
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28 Phil Humphreys is a British former journalist who worked as a management adviser to an NGO in Rangpur, before joining the Dhaka Tribune as a consultant
LAST WORD PHIL HUMPHREYS
The NGOS are still working. Why? Bangladesh should reduce its reliance on foreign aid and expertise
I
n his finest hour, he was unequivocal in his call: “The souls of the martyrs will be contented only when the people of this independent country get enough to eat and live a dignified life. No nation can ever expect to become self-reliant and great depending on borrowed resources. I have made an appeal to the world for help. I want help, but not at the cost of independence.” It is over 40 years since Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made his impassioned plea before a quarter of a million pro-independence supporters at Dhaka Race Course. He would live only four more years before he, too, was martyred, by the bullets of his own national army officers. The war had already been won by then, but the struggle continues and the words of his landmark March 1971 speech hang as fresh in the air today as when they first thundered out across the Indian subcontinent. Bangabandhu knew then that his long-held dream of a sovereign state for his people would not be secured by a military victory alone, and so he was reaching out to the world for help.
The BRAC example
BRAC is the shining homegrown example, but there are too many outside agencies helping Bangladesh by helping themselves
The world was slow to respond. In London, Fazle Hasan Abed, a Glasgow University-educated former corporate executive at Shell Oil, had been working on a Liberation War campaign called Help Bangladesh. While national leaders watched on, he returned home and in 1972 founded the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) to help rehabilitate refugees returning to the northeast of the ruined country. By 1990, BRAC was still 100% reliant on foreign donations. Gradually, it has been lessening its dependency through its own enterprises and investments, and the stated aim now is to be entirely self-financing by 2021. In the present, BRAC has over 100,000 employees reaching an estimated 135 million people worldwide, making it the “largest, fastest growing nongovernmental organisation in the world,” according to The Economist. Even Bill Clinton has paid tribute to Abed’s vision. Justifiably, every Bangladeshi should be proud of what that has realised. Belatedly, the rest of the world followed Abed’s lead, and Bangladesh has never been able to let go. According
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to official estimates, there are 50,000 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating here. Immediately, international agencies such as Oxfam, Save The Children, Water Aid and others spring to mind, but the overwhelming majority are locally run and donor-funded, servicing the needs of people at the most micro of levels. They reach parts the government simply cannot hope to, for this is a country lacking basic services on an almost unparalleled scale. Universal healthcare and education, sewerage and refuse collection, a fully national grid, safe water supply and welfare state, are all either entirely missing, or woefully inadequate.
Production potential
Bangladesh, like many other countries struggling near the bottom of most key development indices, is caught up in a culture of dependency. Even after four decades of outside help, it still cannot bite off the hands that feed its people, despite not having to borrow the most treasured of all Bangabandhu’s resources: people. The working population of this country far out-muscles that of the UK and Germany combined, yet its GDP per capita is barely 2% of the average of those two ($700 a year compared to $41,000). Make no mistake, though; this “is” a productive country and there are many causes for optimism. The textile industry boom shows no sign of waning, despite recent and deserved bad press from the very same countries that import its produce by the container load. Beyond Savar and the Tejgaon industrial area, an estimated 70% of the land is given over to agriculture, and this returns an impressive yield of 175%. In other words, Bangladeshi “krishoks” (farmers) have developed and been shown innovative ways of realising almost twice as much from each plot of land through High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of crops and seeds, and other Green Revolution technologies. The World Bank believes Bangladesh can become an “export powerhouse” through double-digit growth in the manufacturing and service sectors, but only if it “speeds up government decision-making.” The bank says state agencies at all levels face “overlapping functions, lack
of coordination, low skill levels and incentives, and lack of responsiveness, exacerbated by an urban bias.” Bangabandhu, surely, would lament this slow rate of progress in his motherland, and despair that many of his people still do not have enough to “live a dignified life.” The sad reality is that over four decades after his March 7, 1971 clarion call to repressed people, the country he lived, fought and paid the ultimate price for remains shackled by an over reliance on foreign aid and expertise.
Filling the void
To the outsider, the burgeoning development sector here can resemble a bun fight, and there will always be those who see it as too sustainably self-serving. Although the end goal of every NGO should be to work itself out of existence, in my mind industries as active as this will inherently resist any attempts at downsizing, especially with a weak government unable to meet the most basic of human needs. Put like this, the overseas agencies are merely filling their own boots, by filling the state’s voids. But for how much longer? Last year, the Awami League government announced a commission to regulate the NGOs. Human Rights Watch at once dismissed it as a “smokescreen” for “controlling civil society,” but set against the waves of unrest which have been washing over the country, it would be hard to conceive this government controlling anything. Maybe the new body really is a belated attempt to make good on the promises of Bangabandhu, but with so many obstacles blocking safe operations here as it is, the ruling party would be wise to exercise restraint. For as the political sparks continue to fly around parliament and CNGs and buses burn in the streets, the last thing the Bangladeshi people need right now is a bonfire of the quangos. The souls of the martyrs, therefore, may not rest easy for some years to come. n
Bangladesh can haul itself out of poverty through double digit growth in manufacturing exports