Can one of our younger members initiate a move to protest use of these stereotypes by the print media? We Bangladeshis or anyone of Bangladeshi origin find it very humiliating. It should not be allowed to go unchallenged as they do not use the same or similar stereotypes for other countries worse off than Bangladesh. Attention of the media should be
drawn to the fact that UNDP has recognized Bangladesh as a medium developed country per its human development index criteria since 2003. Would greatly appreciate it if someone takes the lead to protest such derogatory remarks about Bangladesh. Jahangir
--- On Mon, 10/5/09, Isha Khan <bd_mailer@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Isha Khan <bd_mailer@yahoo.com>
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Look how REUTERS slips in insults, humiliation and racist stereotype of Bangladesh
To: "Dhaka Mails" <dhakamails@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009, 8:24 PM
| Bangladesh set to export a luxury product : farmed Crocodile skin... look how REUTERS slips in insults, humiliation and racist stereotype of Bangladesh I know some of you will say the story seems to be harmless. Please compare the competent reporting by BSS with the one by Reuters (impoverished and violence ravaged India is the editorial office for Bangladesh) on the same story.
Almost every article on Bangladesh uses similar byline. It's very unusual but for many years BBC reporters, usually same guys act as stringers for Reuters, AFP and AP supplying exactly same one or two sentence description on Bangladesh no matter what the report's about. It's a calculated attempt to delegitimise Bangladesh and Bengali people. Such is the debilitating effect of this style that all over the world that the name Bangladesh is immediately linked with calamity, crime, violence, famine, sex tourism (Yes, sex tourism!), AIDS, and every other horror. Even though Bangladesh is not deserving of such negative accolades. What is really sad is the total acceptance of such stereotypes by Bangladesh people themselves.
There is great deal of truth in the saying: REPEATING A LIE OFTEN AND FREQUENTLY, AND YOU SUCCEED IN PLANTING A TRUTH.
Taslima ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ------- | Bangladesh set to export crocodiles by Dec |
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An unconventional product is being added to Bangladesh's export basket very soon as the country's lone crocodile farm is going to export crocs by December this year.
"We are very much hopeful of exporting 50 to 60 frozen crocodiles from our farm to Europe by December this year," Mushtaq Ahmed, Managing Director and CEO of Reptile Farm Ltd (RFL), told BSS Wednesday.
He said they are expecting that the maiden export of crocodiles from Bangladesh would fetch US Dollar 100,000, ushering in a new hope in the croc business in the country.
Mushtaq said the farm, situated at Hatiber village under Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh district, has now 825 saltwater crocodiles (scientific name: crocodydylus porosus). Of them, 67 are big size (average length 14 feet) and the rest are small to medium size (9 inches to four and a half feet), he added.
After the end of this year's breeding season (July- September), he said, 411 baby crocodiles were born at their farm, which was 240 in last year and 140 in 2007.
Narrating his experience in croc business, Mushtaq, a university graduate, said he had tested different professions, including doing a job in the UNHCR, but could not settle anywhere.
"I had been in search of a profession with somewhat a difference and at last my choice landed in a commercial crocodile farm at Bhaluka, the first such project in the Southeast Asian region," he said.
Thereafter, he along with Mesbahul Huq, a pharmacist and now the chairman of RFL, then set up the croc farm on an area of 15 acres at Hatiber village.
In one hand, the project is Mushtaq's brainchild and, on the other, Haque's investment has helped a lot to turn their dream into a reality.
The two entrepreneurs were aided in their maiden venture with technical assistance from South Asian Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) and financial support from the Equity and Entrepreneur Fund (EEF) unit of Bangladesh Bank. RFL has also received assistance from Southeast Bank Ltd.
The duo brought 75 reptiles ranging from 7 feet to 12 feet in length from Malaysia for commercial breeding of crocs at a cost of Taka 1.25 crore. Of them, eight died on the way to the farm established in October 2004.
Mushtaq said they set up the farm with an aim to export over 5,000 pieces of crocodile skin annually and create a base for earning up to US$ 5 million by 2015.
Different countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, have shown their keen interest in importing croc skins from their farm, he said, expressing the hope that their farm would be able to export 500 croc skins by next two or three years.
"There is a huge demand for croc skins, meat and bones in Europe, America and other developed countries like Australia, Japan, Singapore and China, and charcoal made from crocodile bones is indispensable for the global perfume industry. To meet this demand, more croc farms could be set up in Bangladesh," Mushtaq opined.
In this respect, he stressed the need for a policy on setting up such unconventional business, otherwise its future could be disastrous like what was seen in the country's shrimp industry.
"We hope the government will formulate an exotic wildlife farming policy to facilitate further exploration of this field, as the sector can make valuable contributions to our export basket," he added.
Mushtaq said their farm follows the Australian standard and fulfills the criteria of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in breeding crocs.
--BSS, Dhaka
| | http://www.banglade shinfo.com/ business/ headline_ news.php? nid=20128 | Bangladesh crocodile farm aims to bite into luxury market |
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A Bangladeshi entrepreneur wants to add bite to the country's meager exports with skin and meat from crocodiles, products he says are largely recession-proof as they're targeted at the rich.
Mushtaq Ahmed's Reptiles Farm Ltd is the first to commercially farm saltwater crocodiles in largely impoverished Bangladesh, with the aim of supplying the luxury goods market.
It took Ahmed several years to get the necessary financing and bureaucratic approvals to set up the farm, which started operating in late 2005 with imported crocodiles and fulfils all international wildlife protection treaties.
"People first thought it was a crazy idea. But I always knew it was going be a successful project," Ahmed told Reuters.
"Four years on, it is now home to over 400 crocodiles, which is more than the combined total of wild saltwater crocodiles in Bangladesh," he said at the farm in the village of Bhaluka, 110 km (65 miles) north of the capital Dhaka.
Later this year, the farm will start exporting baby crocodiles and skin from the larger ones, with several European buyers already showing interest, Ahmed said.
The skin is used to make luxury leather products such as belts and handbags, and Ahmed aims to export over 5,000 crocodile parts annually, eyeing an income of about $5 million by 2015.
Crocodile teeth are used to make necklaces or decorative pieces, while bones are used in perfume production. Crocodile meat is also widely consumed in several parts of the world.
With all these commercial prospects Ahmed is confident his business will succeed, even in difficult times.
"This industry is not going to a affected by the global recession because those who use crocodile skin are targeting the really rich," he said.
Commercial crocodile farming exists in several countries, notably Australia, Thailand and Malaysia, but Ahmed says Bangladesh has a competitive advantage because of special import tariff agreements with the European Union.
--Reuters, Bhaluka
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