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Sunday, January 16, 2011

[ALOCHONA] Sohrab Hasan on AL politricks



Sohrab Hasan ( sohrab03@dhaka.net ) on AL politricks
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] Crime and criminals



Crime and criminals
 
 
 


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[ALOCHONA] Revolution in Tunisia



Revolution in Tunisia


Tariq Ramadan

All honor and praise to the people of Tunisia ! Their resistance and non-violent civic revolutionary action, their determination and sacrifice, has shaken the dictatorship to its foundations. President Ben Ali has fled—he and his close collaborators should have been put on trial—and the country's prime minister (a long time Ben Ali's support) has taken the helm…but for how much longer ? What we are witnessing is the first stage ; the stakes are high, the situation fraught with danger. Anything can happen : an attempt by the regime to play for time or to manipulate the people's demands (with a sham "new" government) ; shadowy maneuvers by internal or outside forces. Vigilance is essential ; there is no place for naivety ; we must remain alert, and beware of hasty expedients. Tunisia's informal citizens' revolution has revealed an extraordinary power, but the new counter-power's strength can also become a weakness if confronted with political forces that will attempt to use the constitution, international political alignments or profit from a cooling-off period simply to reshuffle the deck. We must be equally vigilant about the role of the army. The people may be offered the appearance of freedom minus the dictator, followed by a new clampdown on Tunisian political life. Let us indeed hail this first victory—but be aware that the outcome is far from settled.

The people of Tunisia have taken to the streets in a spirit of non-violence, and have said "No !" The end of the dictatorship has come. We must salute it, respect it, and commit ourselves to supporting it. Without bending. We must pay close attention to all the new voices promising their "support ;" voices that were perfectly silent under Ben Ali yet today present themselves as "democrats" without a past. Likewise, we must draw up a balance sheet of the individual and international accomplices who would like nothing more, now that non-violent resistance has triumphed, than for us to forget their treachery, their lies and their hypocrisy. Lives have been lost ; men and women have been tortured, suffered exile and humiliation : these are the people we must stand shoulder to shoulder with. Their sacrifices, their suffering and their tears have not been in vain. The lesson is a beautiful one ; the historical moment, a great one : a people have overthrown their dictator. Now, that people must have done with his system, his lackeys and his partners in crime.

As Tunisia's extraordinary revolution unfolds in all its dignity and massive participation, images of a possible dream fill our hearts and our hopes : that the Arab peoples oppressed by dictatorship rise up and with the same massive, pacific determination, overthrow the autocrats that rule them and liberate their countries. At last ! What a beautiful example : an uprising of the people and of the heart ! If only all peoples could muster the strength of their example, of this alertness, of their nonviolent, revolutionary resistance : the historic definition of liberation itself.


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[ALOCHONA] DGFI and US embassy push for a madrasa university



DGFI and US embassy push for a madrasa university: concern about incompetence
 
 
Afsan Chowdhury
 
News has recently appeared that DGFI or Bangladesh's military intelligence agency has recommended that a Qaumi University be set up. The Qaumi stream of education is Islam/religion based education of the fundamentalist variety which has steadily supplied the most conservative section of Bangladesh society from which jihadist political actions have also been generated. Local US embassy staff has been involved in this project along with proponents of madrasa education in the country.
 
* * *
DGFI or the US embassy is not keen about improving education but to stop militant Islamic activities. Apparently, 300 to 400 crore taka arrives every year and is channelled to these institutions and the government has no supervision over spending these fees. The idea is that if a madrasa is opened under DGFI scrutiny control and US advice, all the money that flows in and the people who have militant interests can be contained and the funds can also be used as a tracer of sorts leading to those who resort to terrorist activities.
 
This is a move that has been going on for quite sometime and the US embassy has been supporting a number of DGFI-friendly outfits in modelling this strategy. Most of them are active in the Chittagong area and the US embassy staff have been closely involved with the DGFI in this. It is not a unique proposition but if jihadists are to be contained, new ways must be found and explored. The problem is that there is no evidence that the DGFI, going by record, has the competence to run such activities. And the US has such a long and dismal record in counter-terrorism that one fears that a mess up is almost inevitable. And neither the DGFI nor the US embassy will pay a price. It will have to be those who have nothing to do with the decision, the voters of Bangladesh.
 
* * *
The US counter-terrorism activities have mostly failed whether in Iraq and Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East. Of course these are the two main centres of action in the world but while the frontal war has been won in Iraq, stability is very far away. In Afghanistan, the war is far from being over, fatigue has set in and several NATO countries have declared their intent to withdraw troops by certain dates hoping that trained Afghan police and military personnel will be up to the job, the combined forces of NATO have failed to do.
 
Winning an assault war is not difficult for a superpower like the US against a ragtag band of Saddam forces in a frontal war with an even more disabled Taliban military, but the Taliban guerrilla forces have proven too wily to be put down. A great advantage of the Taliban has been the corrupt and incompetent Karzai regime which is totally incapable of managing the situation on its own which the US set up.
 
Although the West has claimed that securing Afghanistan is in its urgent interest, there is no evidence that it has made any progress in that direction so far.
 
* * *
Neighbour Pakistan on which the US pinned a lot of hope in carrying out Afghan actions has proven to be a hugely unreliable ally. Not only has the US failed to obtain a workable relationship going with Pakistan, but Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI — DGFI's dad of sort — has acted on its own, often working in favour of the anti-US forces there including the Taliban. It obviously doesn't see the war the same way as the US does. Not only has the ISI swelled with power because of such relationships, its grip on Pakistan has enhanced enormously and it has emerged as the main political player in Pakistan. If there is any beneficiary in the whole Afghan fracas, it is the ISI and the armed forces. Pakistan's losers are obvious.
 
* * *
I had a very candid interview with Benazir Bhutto at her residence after she had lost power to Nawaz Sharif in 2000. She was very bitter and said that Pakistan had always needed the US for survival. In the earliest days, it was the anti-Communist SEATO –CENTO pacts as Pakistan emerged as US' loyalist ally in the region. Subsequently, China filled up a major space and ultimately it was as the broker of US-China rapprochement that it benefited. Then came the Afghan invasion of the erstwhile Soviet Union in which Pakistan became involved. Benazir was frank and said that many Pakistanis benefited from the resultant drug trade as well. "But now what will save Pakistan?" She had felt that at this stage, Pakistan was not able to offer anything to the US and would therefore suffer.
 
On September 11 2001, the US was bombed and in October 2001, Afghanistan was invaded by US-led forces.
 
Pakistan was 'saved' if that is the appropriate word.
 
* * *
DGFI or its sibling's success record is not good. In the early days, it was more known for its elaborate questioning and torture methods of the state opponents and essentially, it has always been above scrutiny and law befitting most agencies of this sort in South Asia. It failed to prevent any of the coups that killed Sheikh Mujib, Zia and many others. One is informed that it was part of Ershad's takeover but in the end it produced a civilian government that has proven to be iconically unpopular. It has built an international reputation through its actions in the CHT causing state embarrassment. It has a formidable list of 'friends' particularly from amongst the politicians and journalists but they hardly matter in Bangladesh because what does it matter who is in power in this town and how. It has been accused of involvement in many activities which have proven to be counter-productive including its involvement in the Indian north-east. If this has been done to gain leverage against India, it awaits to be proven. Instead, the Chittagong arms haul case shows how such operations can fail leading to arrests and the players looking like fools.
 
It tried to cow down Hasina and Khaleda and failed forcing the army to negotiate with the politicians.
 
It doesn't look impressive.
 
* * *
A DGFI chief once told me that its strategy against India was like this. "We look upon India as a brute who wants to rape beautiful Bangladesh. When it will grab us, we will scream, that is defend ourselves — militarily. This will give a window of a few days.
 
That will bring our allies to our rescue."
 
Suppose they don't come to our rescue? Excuse me but this is what the Pakistanis did in 1971! They thought if they could defend for two weeks, the US and China would arrive. They didn't and Pakistan paid a pretty steep price fort this miscalculation. It is the continuity of this kind of ancient Pakistani thinking that has influenced the army and the DGFI the most. It is not Pakistan but the tradition of adopting plans that are so full of loopholes and proven disasters that causes concern.
 
* * *
If the government  including the DGFI has no way of even knowing how 3-400 crores are flowing in every year to the madrasa system from the Arab countries and don't have a handle on the affairs at all, it seems extremely doubtful that just by setting up a university all control will happen. It is assuming with the support of US advisers that the jihadists are so dumb that they will immediately put themselves up for scrutiny and allow the network to be traced by joining the University.
 
The DGFI has assumed the responsibility of guarantying the safety and security of Bangladesh. This is the standard practice in many places where civil and democratic forcers have failed to emerge and the military calls the shots. It is not what the DGFI is doing but what the political institutions have failed to achieve and deliver. Since coming to power is not done without the involvement of the security agencies, it is only natural that they should feel that politicians really don't have it.
 
In Pakistan the rise of ISI was because it wanted a convenient 'save' hoping the US would pay their bills. Pakistan also played dirty in Afghanistan treating it as its backyard and hoped that the Taliban would cause pain to India. Many Pakistanis also don't mind the ISI's power as their primary objective in life is to contest India.
 
Bangladesh has no such compulsion and its principal objective is poverty alleviation and growth of democratic and participatory polity not fighting with an external enemy.
 
* * *
The US government is very focussed in its objective which is however hampered by its inability to find good plan. The DGFI has an unviable track record and has gone along with US advises using its rather archaic methodology. By organising the Qaumis, it will be providing a great deal of support and skills to the very people it plans to monitor and counter. It is hoping to achieve success in a sector in which both the US and Pakistan failed.
 
——————————
Afsan Chowdhury is a journalist and researcher.
 


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[ALOCHONA] Fwd: Bangladesh protests alleged killing of youth by BSF



------ Forwarded message ----------

From: Tanvir Ahmed <tanvir608@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 12:21 AM



Bangladesh protests alleged killing of youth by BSF

http://www.indiatalkies.com/2011/01/bangladesh-protests-alleged-killing-youth-bsf.html



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[ALOCHONA] Remembering Faiz Ahmed Faiz.



Birth centennial of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz will be observed on Feb 13, 2011. A great oriental Urdu poet of versatile qualities who showed deep social consciousness for the downtrodden. He was basically a rebellious poet who was seen as a threat to the establishment. He grew up surrounded by literature with a father who was a friend to many writers, including Allama Iqbal. His schooling took him to Lahore where he studied Arabic and English literature. His literary studies laid the foundation for him to create a modern Urdu verse that took on larger social and political issues of his times yet retained the polished style and diction of the ghazal. He began his career as the editor of the leftist English-language daily, Pakistan Times, as well as the managing editor for the Urdu daily, Imroz. Although his first volume of poetry, Naqsh-e-Faryadi, was published in Lucknow in 1941; he became widely known after the 1952 publication of Dast-e Saba, poems written during his imprisonment by the Pakistani Government. After the military coup led by general Zia ul haq in 1979, Faiz lived in self-exile in Beirut writing for the Afro-Asia Writers Association journal, Lotus, until his return to Pakistan in 1982.
As a Marxist Faiz Ahmad Faiz rejected the notion of "art for art's sake". He has been described as a "committed" poet who used his simple verse to probe not only beauty and love but also humanism and justice. His imprisonment was evident in more than his two collections of poems written during his political detention. His translator Shiv K Kumar sees his imprisonment as a "metaphor that embodies his poetic vision." Aside from poet, Faiz was a journalist, songwriter, and activist.
In spite of his Marxist beliefs, Faiz did not burden his poems with ideological rhetoric. He fused classic traditional forms of poetry with new symbols derived from Western political ideas. However, in an interview Faiz has criticized the view that a poet "should always present some kind of philosophical, political or some other sort of thesis..." Like Muhammad Iqbal, he reinterpreted the most important theme in the Urdu ghazal, the theme of love. The word ghazal comes from Arabic and has been translated as "to talk with women" or "to talk of women." Faiz often addressed his poem to his "beloved", which can be interpreted as his muse, his country, or his concept of beauty or social change. "Your beauty still delights me, but what can I do? / The world knows how to deal out pain, apart from passion, / and manna for the heart, beyond realm of love. / don't ask from me, Beloved, love like that one long ago." (from 'Don't Ask Me Now, Beloved') The traditional beloved of ghazal cannot offer the poet answer to human suffering and social problems - "Bitter threads began to unravel before me / as I went into alleys and in open markets / saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood. / I saw them sold and bought / again and again. / This too deserves my attention."
The beauty of Urdu poetry may be called unparalleled for its presentation, pain and depth. Faiz took full advantage of this opportunity and used his exceptional capability in producing some of world's best poems. After Mirza Ghalib he was one of the foremost poets in Urdu language. There is a saying in Urdu that, chand sher mila diziye ghazal tho bunn jati hain, leking zigar ka khoon bhi chahiye asr kay liye. By putting some lines a ghazal can be made but to make it effective blood from the heart is necessary. Faiz put all the blood from his heart into his poems.
I will place here an original Urdu poem and its English translation


Original Urdu

Raat yunh dil mein teri khoee hui yaad aayee
Jaise veeraaney mein chupkey sey bahaar aa jaye
Jaisey sehra on mein howley se chaley baadey naseem
Jaisey beemaar ko bey wajhey Qaraar aa jaaye

English Translation

Last night, your lost memories crept into my heart
as spring arrives secretly into a barren garden
as a cool morning breeze blows slowly in a desert
as a sick person feels well, for no reason.

 

Another one is so touching,

 

Sham-e-firaq aab na pooch, aai aur aa ke Tul gai
dil tha ke phir bhehal gaya, jaaN thee ke phir sanbhal gai

 

bazm-e-Khayal maiN tere husn ki shama jal gai
dard ka chaand bujh gaya, hijr ki raat Dhal gai

 

jab tujhey yaad kar liya subha mehak mehak uThee
jab tera ghum jaga liya raat machal machal gai

 

dil se to her muamla kar ke chale thai saaf hum
kehney maiN onkey samney baat badal badal gai

 

aaKhir-e-shab ke humsafar "faiz" najaney kya hoey
reh gai kis jaga saba, subha kidhar nikal gai

 

Translation:

 

Ask no more (about) the night of separation; it came, and passed
The heart got diverted again; life found its feet again

 

in the salon of (my) thoughts, the candle of your beauty was lighted
the moon-of-pain extinguished itself, the night of separation slipped away

 

whenever you were remembered, the mornings became fragrant
when your pain was awakened, the nights grew restless

 

in the heart i had sorted out all the issues before setting out
(however) while recounting before her, (my) words changed themselves

 

who knows where the fellow-travellers of the end-of-the-night went, Faiz?
at which spot did the breeze get left behind? and which way did the dawn walk off?


Akbar Hussain




 

 

 

 



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RE: [ALOCHONA] Fwd: The promised 10-taka rice



How often AL chamchas respond to these type of facts in Bangladesh?


Are they behaving in similar fashion...as they did in 1972 - 1975, that ALL IS WELL!

Where is DIGITAL BANGLADESH & SHONAR BANGLADESH, for th majority for Bangladeshis?

Havn't we blamed other countries + other forces for our failure and inefficiency, while a group of
people/politicians, have looted public money and living in palaces?

For how long a community like ours can continue, where 5% people are sucking the blood of the rest
and ruling ruthlessly?

khoda hafez.







From: bdmailer@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 13:48:13 +0600
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Fwd: The promised 10-taka rice



------ Forwarded message ----------
From: Zoglul Husain <zoglul@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Subject: RE: The promised 10-taka rice
To: Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com>


The report of a mother with 9-month-old baby in arms in a chilly breezy morning queuing in the street for 4 hours to buy subsidised rice, which saves her Tk 55, is a scenario of desperate poverty. How does it compare with last Eid's market report about some saris selling at Tk 250,000 each? The disparity may make many sane heads spin. But, the realisation must be there that the socio-economic problem needs to be redressed.


Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 11:37:10 +0600
Subject: The promised 10-taka rice
From: bdmailer@gmail.com


Pricier the rice, longer the queue
 
Long queues for open-market-sale rice at Kamrangirchar on the outskirts of the capital
yesterday, an evidence of how people are in need of grains.
 
Holding her nine-month-old baby in one arm, Salma Khanam braved the chilly morning breeze to buy subsidised rice at the Open Market Sales (OMS) point at Begum Rokeya Sarani in the capital's Mirpur area.She had to wait for more than four hours for her turn.
 "I am here for the first time. I dared not come here carrying my baby. But I had to change my mind for the soaring prices of rice," said Salma, wife of a bus helper, who earns Tk 5,000 a month.She said they have to pay a house rent of Tk 2,000 a month and spend nearly Tk 500 on food for the baby.
 
Like Salma nearly a hundred men and women waited in queues for hours to buy a 5-kilogram pack of coarse rice for Tk 24 a kg.
It saved them at least Tk 55 each as coarse rice now sells at a minimum price of Tk 35 a kg in city markets.
 
Long queues are now longer and more frequent in almost all OMS points with more people from fixed and lower income brackets thronging them to buy subsidised rice to save money for buying other essentials.Nearly 125 OMS trucks with 3,000 kgs of rice each sell subsidised rice to 75,000 people every five days a week while many return home empty-handed in the city.
 
The latest picture is a sharp contrast to the one just three months ago when the OMS points drew small crowds.But they started to see longer queues as the gap between the OMS and retail prices of rice, apart from other essentials, widened over the last few months.
 
Sixty-year-old Aleya Begum said, "It will save us some money to buy vegetables."Another consumer Abdul Khaleque said he had no choice but to take a break from his daily work to buy rice at the OMS point on Tipu Sultan Road in Old Dhaka.People waiting in long queues said rising prices of rice and other essentials forced them to throng the OMS points.
 
Prices of coarse rice, consumed mainly by people from lower income bracket, went up by 33 percent to Tk 35-37 a kg in the last one year.
 
Other essentials also saw their prices rise. Prices of unpackaged palm oil soared by 49 percent to Tk 90-92 and onion by 26 percent to Tk 38-44 a kg in city markets.
 
 





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[ALOCHONA] Professor Yunus

Dear moderator at Alochona,
As a group whose mission is the well being of Bangladesh and its citizen, some of your members might be interested in the following.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear Friends,

Professor Muhammad Yunus has recently come under criticism following a Norwegian documentary. He has tirelessly worked for the poor of Bangladesh and his micro-finance model has been replicated around the world. He has brought tremendous prestige for the country by showing a pioneering way to alleviate poverty, and by also winning the Nobel Prize.

We feel that these recent criticism tarnishes the image of both Professor Yunus and Bangladesh. The least we can do is to express how we feel on this issue, and render our support to Professor Yunus. To this end, we have drafted an open letter stating our feelings. If you share similar views, please read and sign the petition. In addition we encourage you to share it with your friends and social groups all over the world.
Thanks

http://www.petitiononline.com/a110115z/petition.html

------------------------------------

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[ALOCHONA] A senseless killing.



I was appalled to see the picture of a minor Bangladeshi girl hanging cold and dead from the barbed wire fence on the India Bangladesh border. No, I am not going to touch politics in this matter but I would definitely write something on the state of the mind of the people on the both side of the border. I find a serious gap between their perceived human culture and the realities of life. The concept of human dignity is a general term but it starts from a single human being. This unfortunate innocent girl whose brutal killing hardly made any wave in the conscience of the people of Bangladesh and India proves one truth that they are far away from the meaning of human dignity. Life is unpredictable but life is not something that can be wasted. This is a mockery of truth when people claim legendary wisdom from their ancestry but after thousands of years they are yet to know the implications of wisdom. Many enraged people who will blame the Awami League government for their inaction to this gruesome crime and will hold the Indian government responsible for not doing anything to ameliorate the charged feelings of the aggrieved but I would strongly advise them to look into this matter from another angle.

The refinement of moral senses is not a matter of time; it's a development which takes place in the human psyche through social development. The notion of social progress is not based on history; it's based on enlightenment and economic stability of life. If the number of people brings down the value of life than morality is a victim of ignorance.

When I look at the picture of this unfortunate girl hanging from the barbed wire fence in a desolate place, I find the human conscious hanging from there.

If such a thing would have happened in the western world the reaction and repercussion would have been totally different. A charge of murder and manslaughter would have followed against the culprit. The national conscious would have been questioned. The government responsible would have been sued for millions of dollars. The minister responsible would have resigned in shame and remorse.

 Finally I would say societies that tolerate and appease such medieval barbarian actions end up being consumed by those actions.

 

Akbar Hussain





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[ALOCHONA] Border atrocities and India's hostilities



Salam,
 
Here is a write-up:must read
 

M.A.Mannan AZAD



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[ALOCHONA] An Open Letter to the PM on a Party-man's Death & Police Officers' Suspension



News Blaze, January 15, 2011

http://newsblaze.com/story/20110115083624zzzz.nb/topstory.html

 

Op-Ed Contributor

An Open Letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Dear Prime Minister,

On Friday the 14th of January 2011, an activist of your party from Sher-e-Banglanagar in Dhaka was shot dead. The media reports suggest that the cause of the murder could be rivalry among your party men of that particular area. We do not know if the police could have prevented that tragedy. However, what we know is that our police forces have been wrongly used and been treated as your party musclemen since you came to power. They have shown complete loyalty to you and your party affiliates.

 

Without any official investigation, you suspended the officer-in-charge, Reaz Hossain, and a sub-inspector, Kamaruzzaman, of Sher-e-Banglanagar Police Station. (For more details, please see:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=170111)

I highly appreciate your quick action if that was intended to stop unlawful killings in the country.

 

However, the crime records of the country since you came to power do not persuade us to believe that your intention was crime prevention. Your party hooligans and government forces have killed dozens of opposition political leaders and activists (many of them in broad daylight). But no police officers have ever been suspended or terminated for those killings. In the border region, the Indian BSF has killed hundreds of Bangladeshis, including my younger sister Felani, since you came to power. You have remained totally silent!

Dear Prime Minister, kidnapping and the culture of 'disappearance' was never the practice in the political history of our nation. You started that on 25th of June 2010. Your forces arrested Dhaka City Corporation ward councilor and BNP central leader Chowdhury Alam at around 9:30 pm while he was leaving the party's central office at Naya Paltan.

 

Dear Prime Minister, where is Chowdhury Alam? I know you have no satisfactory answer to this question. However, his family members now understand that he is no longer alive! We hear the stories of many other 'disappeared' opposition leaders and activists. We do not know whether or not they are still alive.

 

Dear Prime Minister, soon after you came to power, you established a good diplomatic tie with Tunisia, for which no previous governments felt any need. We comprehended very well the reason for that sudden diplomatic move. Tunisia has little to give to our country. The only thing Tunisia's Ben Ali could give you was a model to remain in power undemocratically for a very long time.

 

Dear Prime Minister, such grip on power always brings tragic end for the power-wielders, especially the one at the top of the hierarchy.

 

Dear Prime Minister, we know that your main strength lies beyond Bangladesh. Big powers are now with you and using you. They are the beneficiaries for the time being. But I warn you, once people rise up against your totalitarian practices. Once your police forces and party musclemen are overwhelmed by the courage of the people, your foreign patrons will desert you. They will discard you and will try to find new 'friends'. They discarded your father and his Iraqi friend Saddam Hussein. When your father was brutally killed, where were they?

 

Dear Prime Minister, France and America used to be Ben Ali's patrons and main supporters. When people forced him out from power and he tried to take shelter in France, according to the BBC's report, "President Nicolas Sarkozy had rejected a request for the aircraft to land in France." And US President Barack Obama applauded "the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people" and did not stand by Ben Ali.

 

Madame Prime Minister, please do not torture your citizens and never think that big powers will remain with you forever. Big powers will discard you after use, and only the people of Bangladesh will be there rain or shine.

 

One last word: please do not pin too much hope on people around you. They appeared extremely coward when your father was killed.

 

Yours,

A Citizen of Bangladesh and Your Well-wisher


 

 

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[ALOCHONA] Fwd: Felani’s Hanging Body, Connectivity and the quiet Govt



------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zoglul Husain <zoglul@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 3:51 PM
Subject: RE: Felani's Hanging Body, Connectivity and the quiet Govt
To: Isha Khan bdmailer@gmail.com

We need many demos and meetings throughout the country similar to the ones as follows, remembering that actions speak louder than words:

Human chain in Chittagong against BSF atrocities
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/01/14/63069   

Press conference on border killings demands: BSF must stop killings and abductions:
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2011/01/15/63228    
 


Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 13:51:02 +0600
Subject: Felani's Hanging Body, Connectivity and the quiet Govt
From:
bdmailer@gmail.com


Felani's Hanging Body, Connectivity and our quiet Government
 
A new year came upon us, so is the 3rd year of the government of Sheikh Hasina- HM Ershad- Hasanul Inu – Maolana Misbah-Ul-Islam- Comrade Moinuddin Khan Badal.  Under siege by police and neo-gestapo RAB; the new years eve was fairly uneventful. At least there was no public display of sexual harassment in the form of a torn clothe student at Dhaka University Student center premises.
 
 
 
There were some upheavals though. The long line for the upcoming World Cup Cricket tickets were lead news/ talking point in the news media. The world cup ticket hoopla was duly followed by  nearly 24/7 news coverage of the roller coaster ride of the stock market.  TV news as well as the talk shows were all filled with footage of angry investors, bleeding from RAB baton Charge, rallying and pelting stones at nearby cars and government offices. The Government took the challenge politically and made sure that the following day the stock index rebound with a two fold vigor.
 
Other than all these discussable and forgettable stuff, the new year as well as the second year anniversary of Hasina Ershad brother sister Government was supposed to be a happy and holy event. Well… except for the unhappy and ugly scene of a bright red deep blue spot hanging fifteen feet above the ground on our horizon.
 
It is irony that her name was Felani. Like Kurani, Felani is Generic name in Bangla literature. While Kurani is the name of a little girl living on the street, Felani usually describes an orphan or poor girl who serves her master's household 24/7 only two get abused and deprived. Felani was a born in a very poor family in Northern Bangladesh. It is that region of Bangladesh where 'Monga' — seasonal shortage of work and food is endemic. In quest of the most basic of basic human needs, at least once or twice a day food to meet hunger, five year old Felani, her  parents, along with many others like them, crossed international political border and managed the lowest wage job in a far away land, in Southwest India. They would do the hardest and lowest paid jobs which even the locals would pass. At least there was a job for little Felani and her family and that ensured food to eat. While politicians can have political borders, basic need like hunger does not care for any border.
 
While working as a child laborer carrying and washing brick in a far away land, Felani grew up and reached marriageable age per the standards of rural poor sections of Bangladesh.  She was returning home after ten years to get married. All were set up.
 
Poor folks cross the border for meeting basic living needs. They don't read newspapers or blogs. They don't understand India's growing stature and accompanying security concern. They only heard that there are jobs in this and that far away land. The procession is rather big. Some will stop in nearby Calcutta, some will travel to Delhi, Bombay and half of them will cross another fearsome border to land in Karachi, Pakistan.
 
Nahari's mother used to help run errands in my grandmothers rural home in Chittagong. Two of her sons work in Pakistan. I met them during one of my trips. Many of them don't have passport, visa — some don't bother spending all the airfare money. For them getting into India costs more money and there are higher chances of getting arrested. Crossing border into Bangladesh costs much less, no chance of getting arrested but there are chances of getting killed.
 
Indiscriminate killing of Bangladeshis in Indian border started soon after independence. But over the last few years the killings have become a near daily event. In a blog post Rezwan compiles different write ups on this issue and quotes Bangladeshi Human Rights organization Odhikar this way,
 
Bangladeshi human rights organization Odhikar says in a report that BSF kills one Bangladeshi in every four days. It also says that BSF killed 74 innocent Bangladeshi citizens in 2010, injured seventy-two and kidnapped 43. In the past decade more than 1000 Bangladeshis were killed in the border regions by BSF.
 
Like 13 year old Parul who was shot by Indian security, Felani was shot as she her traditional clothes got stuck high up in the barbed wire fence. Felani was alive reportedly at least 4 hours after being shot. Local villagers report hearing her screaming and asking for water.
 
Felani bled to death. In the photos we see, blood could not be distinguished from her bright red and deep blue dress.Local people protested. Bangla blogosphere erupted. Some newspapers ( especially those cunning-smart ones who can read peoples pulse way in advance) published the news.
 
And yet some folks saw Jamaati conspiracy to hamper "war Crimes trial" in Felani's hanging dead body. Like the comment on a facebook page where image of Felani's hanging body was posted.  As one soul, in that facebook page, rather getting upset at the photo, questioned the source of the photo, other replies, " It must be an act of the Jamaatis".
 
The Government kept quite quite. Not a single word about Felani could be heard from the mouth of our ever talking prime Minister or her men-women.Felani means disposable. Felani is really disposable to our Government. Felani's death is not important enough to seek justice for or start a trial process.
 
We want connectivity. We are enclosed with 15 feet high barbed wire from all sides to prevent connecting, yet we are for connectivity.Our folks are being shot and killed indiscriminately. Shoot at sight if caught in the process of connecting. Hell Yeah. We are for connectivity.
 
India's truck, 18 wheeler lorries will drive through Bangladesh via special road built for them with our peoples' money. But Parul or Felani or many Shafiq, Rafiq, Karim, Habib will be shot to death if seen crossing India-Bangladesh border.
 
If we talk more connectivity, more regional cooperation, like EU, why can't we have EU style open border? Let's open our borders. Let's real economic cooperation begin.  Let our Felani's and their parents travel fearlessly providing cheap labor to the growing economies in this region.
 



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[ALOCHONA] Bangladeshi dies after BSF torture

Bangladeshi dies after BSF torture
Sun, Jan 16th, 2011 3:01 pm BdST
Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news  
Chapainawabganj, Jan 16 (bdnews24.com) — A Bangladeshi youth who was tortured by Indian border guards has died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

The victim, identified as Shahjahan Ali, 25, died at the hospital around 12.30pm Sunday.

BDR sources said BSF troops picked Shahjahan up early Saturday from Masudpur border area while trying to cross the border and severely tortured him. Later, Bangladeshi border guards took him to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Officer-in-charge of Shibganj Police Station Anwar Hossen told bdnews24.com that the body was sent to Chapainawabganj General Hospital for autopsy.

Before his death, Shahjahan had told bdnews24.com that BSF men beat him up with iron rods and sticks.

Commander of the 39 Rifles Battalion Lt Col Abu Bakar said, "Shahjahan was trying to go to India on a trip along with his friends. But BSF troops from Shuvapur camp captured him and left him near Shingnagar border point after torture."

Lt Col Abu Bakar of BDR told bdnews24.com that they sent a letter to BSF protesting the killing and urged them to sit in a flag meeting.

A BDR officer told bdnews24.com that killing along the border by BSF was on despite their assurance that there would be no more murder in the frontier areas.

In the last one year, 13 Bangladeshis were killed and 11 others injured in BSF firings along the border in Chapainawabganj alone. They killed three Bangladeshis and injured six others in September, 2010.