POOR CONTRY RICH PEOPLE
"The condition of the country would have been much better if you all stayed back……." commented my very young nephew born after I left Bangladesh, with all the seriousness, while talking to me during my recent visit to Bangladesh. He was also born long after the birth of Bangladesh. I tried to reply rather meekly: "what could we do or can we do?".
While in Bangladesh, I made a determined effort to see my childhood friend who had a stroke and recently lost his wife, visited relatives either ailing, or who have lost nearest family members, fed the young members of the local "Yatimkhana", visited a Madrassah, traveled to the village where my forefathers lived, toured Sonargaon (capital of historic Bangladesh) and of course talked with people.
My visit to the Madrassah was quite an experience. I saw 85 students of all ages deep asleep in a huge single room. These kids are preparing to be Huffaz. I was told that their daily program starts at 4:00 AM in the morning and goes up to 9:00 AM, then they sleep for a few hours and again the exercise of memorization of the Qur'an starts. I came out with sad memories of their poor living conditions.
Feeding the children of the "Yatimkhana" was another experience. I was told that these children were waiting with their plates spread out in front of them with utmost eagerness to enjoy the improved diet of the week or may be the month. It takes so little to feed the whole boarding house full of kids. When I mentioned this incident to a well-to-do member of the Bangladeshi society he commented with scorn: "these people (meaning the kids in the orphanage are always fed well by the grace of the rich members of the society. My personal information from other sources did not quite corroborate that.
My visit to Sonargaon fulfilled my long cherished dream even though I did not see what I expected to see. I was told that the city I visited is not where the Sultans of the olden days lived that has been destroyed by the river. The museum is housed in a Hindu Zamindar's house and the artifacts have been acquired from all over Bangladesh and are of recent origin. The day trip was unexpectedly pleasant. If one is not looking for the history of the Sutanate of Bangladesh it would be alright.
Where ever I went, I tried to give a talk on the beauty of Islam. Questions repeatedly asked were accompanied by the questioner's narrative of personal experience of unclean, unfriendly and corrupt Muslims. Why were Muslims doing these things if Islam is so beautiful? They asked.
What struck me most was the presence of squalor, trash, traffic and pollution almost all over the city. The time taken even for short trips is long and frustrating.
I was talking with a highly placed intellectual in the academia who commented, in the course of our conversation: "we are very happy in this country, the people are content and the common people do not complain", I remarked that one has to simply travel to another country to find out what the common people of Bangladesh are missing.
Another interesting comment came from a hard core Maoist/Leninist of the olden times, who had visited the Islamic Republic of Iran. His comment was interesting: "I always thought these Iranians to be the Mullahs of the worst kind, but was shocked to find out that even they are running the country much better than our Bangladeshi leaders".
Bangladesh used to be a peaceful country, the people are simple, decent, peace loving and God-fearing. At one time the members of the educated middle to upper middle class were rather idealistic, intellectual and moderate in view and life style. I spent time talking to the young generation of Bangladesh, which I found very fascinating.
While it is quite impossible to draw any conclusion from talking to a small number of people yet what I found was that some people seemed to be leading rather comfortable life while most people have very little hope for the future.
In the recent days many people have lost jobs while many others feel insecure because of the prevailing political situation in this country. Even in normal times, life here is not easy, it has gotten much harder these days. Many people think of going back home not necessarily for the love of the family, the country or the common people but are tired of hard work, absence of house-help (servants) and loneliness. Their counter parts in Bangladesh, are in most cases better off in terms of social status, acquisition of tangible assets and comfortable life style.
I remember the experience of a fellow Bangladeshi who told us recently that when he went to Bangladesh and took out his camera to take picture, people laughed at him for using such an inexpensive and outdated camera. We saw the abundance of consumer goods in the country and the purchasing power of some people. It is not simply purchasing power but large sums of money.
However, I found several things worth taking note of. The functioning of the Dhaka airport seemed efficient and smooth. The Masjid at the Basundhara housing complex impressed me greatly. The Basundhara multi storied shopping complex was a pleasant surprise.
However, I constantly bumped on to practicing Muslims critical of the length of my beard, length of my trouser, absence of cap on my head, my understanding and practice of shortening/joining five daily prayers and multiple other Fiqh issues. The people I encountered were decent, sincere and God fearing simple people of Bangladesh. What ever they said, did or try to do was out of their sincerity and love and I have no doubt about that but many a times these seemed trivial and irritating to me.
Before leaving for Dhaka I had vowed to myself that I will not get into any debate or argument on any political and religious issues. I stayed with my plan as such I had to digest uncalled for advise.
Experience with the people from the other end of the spectrum was equally frustrating. Educated, affluent and maybe well meaning people volunteered to render advise. We were informed that most of the things we do (my beard, my wife's Hijab) and our five times daily prayers were things of the past. Many adults were seen glued to the local and foreign TV programs, mostly dealing with culture, sports and news while some young members of the society were seen enjoying wonderful programs from the "Peace TV" and the "Islamic TV".
The other day a coworker asked me if I felt fortunate to be living in America. I was silent for a moment then I answered rather silently: "Yes" and then I explained why I felt that way. Even though I am gainfully employed by a multi billion dollar global giant but materially, I feel that I am worse off than my counter parts back home. What I gained in America can not be easily explained. I found Islam in America. A mixture of things helped me achieve that, most important being acquiring the knowledge of Islam and the opportunity to practice unhindered.
We do a monthly family based educational Islamic Halaqa. A visiting Bangladeshi couple keeps showering lavish praise of the program. Last night I asked them if they find such programs back home. The answer was a quick "NO". I think I know the reason why.
Aziz Huq
May 23, 2010
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