- As a matter of fact, Dr. Majid's "main message did not catch" Dr. Roy's "attention". He totally ignored a severe problem that Bangladesh is going to face in near future and tried to do divert our attention to another problem that India is going to face.
- There are two issues here and each of them needs serious attention from the leaders, thinkers, professionals, and policy-makers of both Bangladesh and India. Each of these two issues has to be dealt with separately. These need to be brought to the attention of UNO and major countries.
- We have heard about the threat from the sea long before publication of Al Gore's recent article. Do our political leaders have any headache about this? It is not that a part of Bangladesh will go under water overnight. The process is already under way. If they have not yet started thinking about it, they should not waste any more time.
From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, February 3, 2012 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
Well, I heard about the Bangladeshi-slum near Mumbai after one of those bomb blasts, a few years back, when police were looking for a Bangladeshi-perpetrator. Police traced him through his cell phone record. Police were looking at the Bangladeshi-slum where he used to dwell. I can't remember where I got this information from (TV or online report). I learned about the Bangladeshi slum around Delhi right around the time of Push-back initiative by Indian authority. They were talking about these slums. After hearing this news, I was scratching my head as to how they went there. I remember an interview of a person from the settler by an Indian reporter. Again, I don't remember where this information came from TV or online report. I would have definitely recorded sources, if I knew somebody will quiz me on them later.
Main stream media will not talk about these sensitive issues; they are afraid of retaliation on these poor people. They exist, no doubt about it. Assam and the North Eastern belt of India have more than ~ 4 millions of those settlers (please don't ask for the proof). Authority in Assam is talking about push-back initiative there also. West Bengal has plenty of these people. The push-in from Bangladeshi settlers is displacing the locals inward.
I am not trying to blame these poor people. The population in Bangladesh is growing like mushroom; no end in sight. Nobody is talking about it. Where will they go? If you want to do something about it, talk about birth control program in Bangladesh, instead of investigating Bangladeshi-settlement information in India. They exist. They are in India, whether main stream media report or not. Many of my relatives left Bangladesh for India for a totally different reason. I pay attention to these issues, because their fates are also attached to it.
My main message did not catch your attention. And that was, I wanted to convey that - politics in Bangladesh create anti-Indian sentiment. That is the only political capital BNP/Jamat has. They can't run on their record. They have nothing to show, except anti-Indian propaganda. Under the circumstances, I believe, it will not be wrong to say 60 - 70% of Bangladeshi possess anti-Indian sentiment, that includes many Awami Leagers also. How are you going to heal these mental wounds? You can't, because there is no initiative, and there will be none in the future. Are you not going to infiltrate India with anti-Indian people? Don't you think, once 37 million more move to India, they will create problems there to destabilize the whole region forever, just like Kashmir? Where is our long term remedial program for that? Every time I want to talk about it, people will call me RSS or RAW or Shangh Parivar member, as you have inferred also. How can we change the Anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh - if the so called intellectuals possess the very same sentiment also?
This reminds me of a quote from Bhutto: "We want A-bomb even if we have to live on grass." He will be happy to see from his grave that both of his dreams are fulfilled.
Jiten Roy
From: Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2012 12:03 PM
Subject: RE: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2012 12:03 PM
Subject: RE: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
<< Colonies after colonies of Bangladeshi settlers are already present all around Delhi, Bombay, and Gujrat; >>
What is the source of this information? Give us one news story published in the Indian mainstream media dealing with the overwhelming presence of Bangladeshi refugees.
You may have access to 'special' sources that are not available to ordinary Indians. Such statements are regularly concocted by RSS and other Sangh Parivar outfits whenever they are spewing anti-Muslim rhetoric, statements that are never ever verified by the media when they are reporting on these Hindu Nationalists gatherings.
What is the source of this information? Give us one news story published in the Indian mainstream media dealing with the overwhelming presence of Bangladeshi refugees.
You may have access to 'special' sources that are not available to ordinary Indians. Such statements are regularly concocted by RSS and other Sangh Parivar outfits whenever they are spewing anti-Muslim rhetoric, statements that are never ever verified by the media when they are reporting on these Hindu Nationalists gatherings.
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
From: jnrsr53@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 18:19:55 -0800
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
Portrait, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, 11/03/09. (photo: Graeme Robertson) 
fter crossing the legendary Drake Passage, we came in sight of the Antarctic continent. It is a majestic, otherworldly place. The Antarctic Peninsula, which juts northward toward South America, is lined with ice-covered mountains and surrounded by abundant wildlife in the sea. But even on this continent that looks and feels pristine, a troubling process is underway because of global warming.
From: jnrsr53@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 18:19:55 -0800
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
"Then there is Bangladesh. A one-meter sea level rise - which could happen as soon as 2050 according to some Antarctic specialists - could result in between 22 and 35 million people in Bangladesh relocating from the areas in which they now live and work. Two-thirds of this nation is less than five meters above sea level."
If the above prediction of Al Gore really comes true, can you guess where those 35 million people will go? All of them will move in to India. The eastern belt of West Bengal and Assam is already saturated with Bangladeshi settlers and migrant workers. Colonies after colonies of Bangladeshi settlers are already present all around Delhi, Bombay, and Gujrat; can they take another 35 million Bangladeshi settlers? Most of them will probably be brain-washed anti-Indian or down-right communal cadres of BNP/Jamat. What can India do with such unwanted guests? I do not envision a happy ending. Do you?
Jiten Roy
From: Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 3:38 PM
Subject: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 3:38 PM
Subject: [mukto-mona] Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
Portrait, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, 11/03/09. (photo: Graeme Robertson)
Rising Seas From Antarctica to Bangladesh
01 February 12
fter crossing the legendary Drake Passage, we came in sight of the Antarctic continent. It is a majestic, otherworldly place. The Antarctic Peninsula, which juts northward toward South America, is lined with ice-covered mountains and surrounded by abundant wildlife in the sea. But even on this continent that looks and feels pristine, a troubling process is underway because of global warming.The ice on land is melting at a faster rate and large ice sheets are moving toward the ocean more rapidly. As a result, sea levels are rising worldwide. Most of the world's ice is contained in Antarctica - more than 90 percent. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which lies south of the Peninsula, contains enough water to raise sea levels worldwide by more than 20 feet. Part of the ice sheet, the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, is among the many in Antarctica that are shrinking at an accelerating rate. This has direct consequences for low-lying coastal and island communities all over the world - and for their inland neighbors.
In analyzing the relationship between melting ice and sea level rise, it is important to distinguish between two kinds of ice: the ice on land and the ice floating on top of the sea. When floating ice melts, sea level is not affected, because its weight has already pushed the sea level upward. But the melting of glaciers and ice sheets resting on land does increase sea level rise. So far, the melting of small mountain glaciers and portions of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland has been the main contributor to sea level rise from the loss of ice. (As the oceans warm up, their volume naturally expands, and this too has been a contributor to a small portion of the sea level rise that has occurred in the age of global warming).
Scientists aren't yet sure precisely how much sea levels will rise over the next century. What we do know is that sea level rise is occurring already, with real consequences for human beings who live near the coasts. In the world's largest port cities, 40 million people are now already at risk of severe coastal flooding. That number could well triple within the next half-century or so.
Even wealthier countries are not immune to the impacts. In the United States, for example, particularly vulnerable areas are: Miami Beach, the Chesapeake region, coastal Louisiana, and coastal Texas. In some of these areas, the land is sinking even as the oceans rise. This will have implications that extend right up to the steps of our nation's Capitol. A recent study found that sea level rise of only a tenth of a meter would lead to $2 billion in property damage and affect almost 68,000 people in Washington, D.C. In addition, the enhanced threat of storm surges was illustrated last year when tropical storm Irene led to warnings that the New York City subway system and tunnels into the city could be flooded.
But the most vulnerable regions lie in developing countries, where populations are still rising fast and there is little money to shore up infrastructure. The cities most threatened by sea level rise are places like Calcutta and Mumbai in India; Guangzhou, China; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. And of course, there are more than a few low-lying island nations - like the Maldives - that are already in imminent danger.
Then there is Bangladesh. A one-meter sea level rise - which could happen as soon as 2050 according to some Antarctic specialists - could result in between 22 and 35 million people in Bangladesh relocating from the areas in which they now live and work. Two-thirds of this nation is less than five meters above sea level. For the nation's 142 million people packed into a small space, climate change poses a nearly unimaginable challenge. The threat of sea level rise is not simply flooding, but saltwater intrusion that hurts the production of rice, the country's staple crop. Increased damage to rice farmers could soon put 20 million farmers out of work and force them into crowded cities.
Here in Antarctica, it's easy to feel isolated from the rest of the world. But as I look at this exquisite continent buried deep under the ice, it's troubling to think about what will happen as this ice melts ever more rapidly.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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