Me,Myself and Bangladesh

I have seen it all...

2009-02-27T14:30:00.002Z

I have seen it all.
Those dazzling lights shine so ecstatic,
that glitter, the glamour and the night
-so neurotic.
As the smell of biryani chased the burning moon,
the bride and the groom danced to the frantic dhoon.

That place is now empty.
That flimsy night sky has lost her sufi soul,
Rebels brawl and the tanks roll.
Gunshots fired in thick air breathe so deep,
Dead bodies swirl in drain water -
These lives are so cheap !

Nights now growl here with sadness,
I am left here with only madness.

I have seen it all -
Darbar Hall.

--------------------------------------------
27th Feb. 2009 - 7 am

Did you know ?

2007-10-23T13:18:00.000+01:00

Lieutenant General JFR Jacob (Jacob-Farj-Rafael Jacob) is widely known in India as one of the military masterminds behind India's successful liberation of Bangladesh in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

He is a former governor of the Indian states of Punjab and Goa and Lieutenant General (Retired) of the Indian Army.

His family were Baghdadi Jews who were originally from Iraq but settled in the Indian City of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in the middle of the 18th century.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, Jacob has paid many visits to Israel. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin invited him to attend the Jerusalem 3,000 celebrations. On his recent visit here, he contributed items of Judaica from his parent's home to the Museum of Babylonian Jewry in Or Yehuda. His home in New Delhi has for years been a pilgrimage site for Israeli diplomats, researchers and security officers.

In the late `90s, Jacob joined the Hindu-majority center-right Indian political party "Bharatiya Janata Party". He served as the party's security adviser for many years.

Lt. General Jacob is the author of the book: "Surrender at Dacca : Birth of a Nation"

Help ! Mom ! There are Liberals under my Bed !

2007-10-05T17:19:00.000+01:00

Fugstar reminded me that I need to do some blogging ! So here I am blogging after a long time. Yesterday I was watching the daily show with John Stewert and it showed both sides of the bipartisan book publishing in the US. I liked the title of the children's book published by a conservative- ' Help ! Mom ! There are Liberals under my Bed !' The liberals, on the other hand, published a book called 'Why my mom is a democrat'. Isn't it time the conservatives publish some books like these in Bangladesh ? Too many ignorant copy cat liberals in Bangladesh - they really give me bad stomach !

Bush Seals Hasina's Fate ?

2007-07-27T18:42:00.000+01:00

Today George Bush has expressed his support for the present CTG. So what does this mean to the 'voice of resistance' Hasina ? It seems that she will never be able to become the prime minister of Bangladesh again and she could even end up spending rest of her life behind bars. Ah ! so sad !!

U.S. President George W. Bush has lauded a drive in Bangladesh against corruption and terrorism as the country's army-backed interim government prepares to hold a general election late next year.

"Both the countries have strong values in upholding democracy and were committed to work together against terrorism," a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement quoted Bush as saying.

"We support your efforts to fight corruption and collect taxes" and appreciate the interim government's efforts for "sticking to its promise to hold elections in 2008.."

Bush, according to the statement, said that Bangladesh "affirmed and re-affirmed its dedication to democratic principles in numerous elections" and termed the country as an "example of moderate and tolerant Muslim nation."

Reuters and Hindu

Here is a video of Bush making fun of himself ! Hope you enjot it -

The next video is a cartoon of Jesus visiting Bush. Great comedy !

Stop the Clash of Civilizations !

2007-07-24T19:29:00.000+01:00

OK I am back again ! I was in hibernation for a long time beacuse I was busy with my research. Anyway, this video titled "stop the clash of civilizations" is one of my favourite videos and I thought why not start the blogging again with this wonderful message. I hope you enjoy the video as much I did.

Nationalism, Islam and Bangladesh

2007-05-07T19:38:00.000+01:00

Nationalism is an ideology that holds that a nation is the fundamental unit for human social life, and takes precedence over any other social and political principles. Nationalists see nations as an inclusive categorization of human beings - assigning every individual to one specific nation. In fact, nationalism sees most human activity as national in character. Nations have national symbols, a national culture, a national music and national literature; national folklore, a national mythology and - in some cases - even a national religion. Individuals share national values and a national identity, admire the national hero, eat the national dish and play the national sport. Nationalists define individual nations on the basis of certain criteria, which distinguish one nation from another; and determine who is a member of each nation. These criteria typically include a shared language, culture, and/or shared values which are predominantly represented within a specific ethnic group. [1]

Nationalism is a concept that imposes unity based on ethnicity and tribalistic ties, whereas Islam does not impose but rather calls for unity based on a person’s ideology. Therefore, according to Islamic principle, an individual has the right and the freedom to choose whichever group he/she wishes to be associated with based on his/her ideology. As a universal religion, Islam is nominally opposed to any categorisation of people not based on one's beliefs. Islam condemns the division of mankind on the basis of blood and territory in national and racial units, and grants no authenticity to national and racial differences. Its only test of individual worth is chastity, belief, faith and good deeds.

Islam promotes a strong feeling of community among all Muslims, who collectively constitute the Ummah. A common ideology is the basis of the unity of the Islamic Ummah, not race, country, language or even culture. The goal of nationalism is to create national units, whereas the goal of Islam is universal unity. To nationalism what matters the most is loyalty and attachment to the homeland, whereas to Islam, it is God and religion. Nationalism gives authenticity to geographical boundaries and racial distinctions, whereas Islam negates them. Nationalism inclines to limitation and race, but Islam assumes a universal outlook. Nationalism attaches value only to the historical traditions, culture, civilization, ideas and historical figures of its own nation, but Islam's vision goes beyond the frontier, race, tribe and nation [2]. These are the reasons why nationalists seek separation from Islam a condition for nationalism to succeed, even if they do not utter it. Their acts reveal their hatred towards those who seek Islam.

It should be noted that at the advent of Islam and the Islamic revolution, the only social and political organizations of the pre-Islamic Arabs were the tribe, race and language which were used as measures of superiority or inferiority. Blood and tribal bond was the basis of unity, a rough and raw form of modern nationalism and racism. Language, too, was regarded as a sign of superiority and for this reason, the Arabs considered non-Arabs as “Ajam", which means dumb [2].

The Prophet (s) who founded the classless and universal society of Islam, actually brought various nations together and removed their tribal hues. At a gathering of three Muslims from three countries, namely Salman from Pars, Soheib from White Romans and Bilal from Black Ethiopia, an Arab named Gheys-bin- Motateba entered and addressed the above as 'foreigners'. The Prophet (s) said in anger: “Your father is the same and your religion is the same, and the Arabism of which you seem to be proud belongs neither to your father, nor to your mother (meaning Adam and Eve are the parents of all of you)". Then he declared: “He, who propagates the creed of tribal solidarity or fights for its sake or offers his life for it, is not of us." [Abu Da'wud]

And in another Hadith, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) referring to nationalism and racism said: "Leave it, it is rotten."

Also, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,

"Undoubtedly Allah has removed from you the pride of arrogance of the age of Jahilliyah (ignorance) and the glorification of ancestors. Now people are of two kinds. Either believers who are aware or transgressors who do wrong. You are all the children of Adam and Adam was made of clay. People should give up their pride in nations because that is a coal from the coals of Hell-fire. If they do not give this up Allah (swt) will consider them lower than the lowly worm which pushes itself through Khara (dung)." [Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi]

Various incidents narrated in different hadiths demonstrate that tribal ties have no place in Islam. Muslims are commanded to stick together and not to disassociate themselves from each other just because they come from different tribes. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) also said,

"The believers, in their love, mutual kindness, and close ties, are like one body; when any part complains, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever." [Muslim],

"The faithful are like one man: if his eyes suffer, his whole body suffers." [Muslim],

"An Arab is no better than a non-Arab. In return, a non-Arab is no better than an Arab. A red raced man was not better than a black one except in piety. Mankind are all Adam's children and Adam was created out of clay." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Musa]

Meaning that the Muslims, whether they are of Chinese, African, European or Asian origin, are one Ummah and they cannot be separated from each other. No tribalistic ties should ever break their unity. It should be noted that the Constitution of Medina, an early document said to have been negotiated by Muhammad (PBUH) in AD 622 with the leading clans of Medinah, explicitly refers to Jewish and pagan citizens of Medinah as members of the same Ummah.

When East Pakistan broke away from the main Western part of the country to form Bangladesh in 1971, it was in opposition to the notion that all Muslim areas of former British India should unite in one state. The Awami League, which led the struggle for independence, grew out of the Bangla language movement, and was based on Bengali nationalism, not religion. At the same time, independent, secular Bangladesh became the only country in the subcontinent with one dominant language group and very few ethnic and religious minorities. It should be noted that, in 1971, apart from Islamists many hardline socialists were also opposed to the idea of a separate Bengali state in Bangladesh, which they branded as “bourgeois nationalism.”

After the war of liberation in 1971, myth-making attempts have been made to project the groups in power and exclude others from the process. The list of exclusion is very long. There is no place for Maulana Akram Khan, Abul Qasim Fazl Haq, and Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy as they were the products of pre-Partition politics and contributed nothing to Bangladesh. Even Maulana Bhashani was pushed outside the pail of the new history and his role marginalized. Instead, Mukti Bahini became the main force that fought bravely against the Pakistan army and successfully liberated the country. Atrocities and genocide of the Pakistan army emerged as the second element in mobilizing the people emotionally in order to convince them that freedom was not cheap and people paid a heavy price for it. Mujib emerges as the great leader who led his people through all ups and downs. Mujib and his party took full advantage of the situation to assume total power. Soon the sacrifices and atrocities were forgotten and the people were denied participation in the power structure. Rakshi Bahini, a praetorian force, was used to silence the opposition. The leftist politicians were marginalized, bureaucracy became dominant, and the personality cult of Mujib was established. To keep the nation united, violence was permitted. Thus ended the era of romantic nationalism and the hope of the people for a better future collapsed. [3]

It was decided to make 1971 as a starting point of the new history. This raised the question: how then should Bangladesh nationalism be defined? If language becomes the basis of nationhood, how should West Bengal, which is now a part of India, be treated? To extricate themselves from this paradox, the historians chose to deny Bengali nationalism and instead promote Bangladeshi nationalism. This has consequently brought back religion as an element in the construction of Bengali national identity. [4]

Today, following an initial brutal secular dictatorship run by the original "fathers for freedom,"[4] Bangladesh is a more economically diverse state with good relations with other Muslim countries. One where the majority of the people are in-favor of an Islamic lifestyle and want to see a sincere effort to abide by it within strong institutions.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism
2. Islam and Nationalism by Dr. Ali Mohammed Naqvi
3. Bangladesh and its Nationalism by Mubarak Ali
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Muslim_Nationalism

On the present situation in Bangladesh - "state of emergency" declared

2007-01-17T23:07:00.000Z

The political climate in Bangladesh remains as violent and unstable as ever... but has electoral politics, for the moment, derailed workers' struggle?

After a year of intense nationwide class struggle in 2006, (see our previous reports here) for the last 3 months Bangladesh has been in a different kind of turmoil. Media sources give the impression that the class struggle has been largely submerged by political conflicts between the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) bloc and the Awami League-led opposition alliance, as they jockey for position in the run-up to the General Election (now postponed). The opposition has led several large blockades of major cities - involving strikes, riots, transport stoppages - as a political lever to influence the composition of the Election Commission overseeing the voting procedure; appointments by the BNP were challenged and some eventually overturned as being too favourable to the ruling party. The updating of the Electoral Register also remains a source of major conflict, with disputes over dead persons fraudulently registered to vote etc. 35 people have died in the street clashes; in one incident TV cameras captured the public lynching of several rival activists by Awami League militants.

Clampdown, meltdown?

Yesterday (Thurs 11th Jan) BNP President Iajuddin stood down as chief of the caretaker government - though he still retains effective control and has now declared a countrywide state of emergency/martial law in a bid to restore order amid the opposition protests and disruption of the economy by their political blockades. Curfews (11pm -5am) and roadblocks were last night established, and police and army control the streets. A gagging order was also issued by a government "official of the Press Information Department (PID) to the TV news channels and the press not to print any news, pictures and cartoons and editorials critical of the present government". (Daily Star, 12/Jan/07) The President stated he still looked forward to resolution of political differences and eventual "free and fair election to be participated by all political parties". But the UN, EU and Commonwealth have suspended their election monitors, seeing little imminent chance of this; and the President said today that, due to problems with the Electoral Register, elections set for January 22nd are now not likely for some time. The prospect of indefinite turmoil, possibly leading to a bloody civil war, becomes a stark, if not immediate, possibility. The southern port city of Chittagong is a well known centre of the illegal arms trade; the main political parties all have affiliations with the arms 'godfathers' dominating the business. Smuggled weapons are plentiful in the local bazzars and the city also contains several underground arms manufacturing workshops.

Lawyers trash court!

The political divisions run right through the Bangladeshi ruling class: in late November pro-Awami League lawyers attacked the Supreme Court building, damaging courtrooms and the chief justice’s chamber. The car of a former state minister of law, parked on the court premises, was also set on fire. 12 Supreme Court lawyers were later charged with vandalism. This attack was a response to perceived pro-government bias by the higher judiciary. Legislation enforcing separation between government and judiciary had been stalled by pro-government legal factions, led by the Chief Justice. A retiring High Court judge this week commented on the blatant political corruption of the legal system; “I have seen during my long 13 years in judicial career how the evil partisan political influence engulfed the sacred institution..." (Western democracies are generally more subtle, and therefore more stable, in their means of control.)

Politricks?

Now that the Awami League has achieved many of its gains and the Election remains the central issue, the murky corruption of Bangladeshi politics becomes more open - the smaller parties in both rival blocs begin to complain they have been short-changed by the leading parties by the small number of nominations they have been allocated. There has been much argument about nominations, with the judges ruling in their political masters' favour; "...on December 20, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed [halted] the operation of the High Court’s verdict that made it mandatory for parliamentary candidates to furnish their educational status, criminal records, if any, statement of assets and sources of income while filing nomination papers." The situation would be little different with the equally-corrupt Awami League in power.

Quote:

The four major political parties of Bangladesh on the basis of the 2001 general election are BNP, Awami League, Jamat-e-Islam and Jatiya Party (E). The first and the last named hold almost identical views and manifestos although they are in the opposite camp at the moment. ... They represent bourgeoisie character and pursue open market policy, Islamic values, not Islamic state, and Bangladeshi nationalism.

Jamat-e-Islam strives hard for a welfare state based on the model of the Republic of Medina during the time of the Prophet (SM). This party discards secularism but nurtures religious tolerance. On the contrary, the Awami League tracks open market economy, secularism and Bangali nationalism, ignoring the existence of the several lakhs [hundred thousands] tribal people. This party is also of bourgeoisie character and stresses on the warm relations with India.
Of the remaining parties, the Communist Party of Bangladesh still dreams of a socialist state while the other Islamic parties eye on a conservative state, however, without detailing. (New Nation, 10/Jan/07) "

Or... class struggle

It's hard to tell if local reporting has just largely ignored class struggle in the run up to the election or if the violent political party rivalry dominating Bangladeshi society has simply limited the class struggle. Maybe the poor are waiting to see how the election plays out before taking any more decisive moves. Certainly the garment workers remain in dispute with the RMG (Ready Made Garment) bosses - the concessions promised after the mass workers revolt of May 06 have not been delivered. There have been occasional reports of strikes and violence; On Tuesday this week there were clashes in the Dhaka RMG zone between workers and factory security thugs, leading to walkouts (libcom.org coverage here). Jute mill workers in Kulna were also again on strike at the end of December, as they have been regularly over the past year:

Quote:

Workers "removed railway slippers and damaged hoardings and shops during a blockade of highway and railway in the industrial belts of Khalishpur, Daulatpur and Atra in Khulna on Friday, the fourth successive day of their programmes to push for their demands.The mill workers under the banner of the Khulna-Jessore unit of the Jute, Yarn and Textile Workers and Employees’ Acton Council have been enforcing the non-stop blockade from December 26 to push for their eight-point charter of demands.The demands include payment of all dues and festival bonus, reopening of the closed mills, abolition of all anti-labour laws and placement of sufficient funds by the government at the mills for the purchase of raw jute.The mill workers removed some railway slippers at three points and set them on fire near Natun Rasta.They damaged a number of hoardings at Khalishpur and Daulatpur where they also battered the shutters of many closed shops.The mill workers barricaded nine kilometres of the Khulna–Jessore Highway from Baikali, disrupting traffic.All types of transports stayed off the main road in the Khalishpur industrial belt and neighbouring areas. No trains could leave the railway station."(New Age) "

With limited information, the picture is necessarily confused. Both workers and bosses have complained about the political blockades; bosses lose profits and workers lose wages by being unable to work. This is particularly serious for a workforce who live largely hand-to-mouth, barely receiving a living wage. Prices of basic commodities have risen consistently recently, partly through hoarding and speculation by suppliers, increasing hardships of the poor. The Awami League has opportunistically organised several 1 day 'general strikes' on popular grievances such as price hikes. To what degree workers' participation in such actions is simply a convenient way of expressing dissatisfaction or if it extends to some expression of support for the opposition alliance is, at this distance, hard to judge. The political blockades also sometimes make it impossible for workers to get to the workplace. But in all their most radical actions of the past year - from the mass revolt in the garment industry, the Phulbari mass uprising against a proposed open cast mine project, numerous other strikes and riots against attacks on living standards of the poor - the Bangladeshi proletariat have shown themselves quite capable of a high level of autonomous self-organisation.

by Ret Marut on Fri, 12/01/2007 on libcom.org

And I quote....

2007-01-09T11:27:00.000Z

"Let me see if I can join the 14 Party and make them Islamic minded"

- Mufti Shahidul Islam, leader of Khelafat Majlis upon joining the Awami League alliance

The above agreement between Khelafat Majlish and Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) include promises:

1. To impose a bar on enacting any law that goes against Quranic values, Sunnah and the Shariah,

2. Initiation of steps for proper implementation of the initiative for government recognition of the degrees awarded by Qaumi Madrasas,

3. Laws will be imposed for the followings:

a. Officially declare Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the greatest and the last prophet - this will automatically turn into the declaration of Ahmediyyas as non Muslims

b. Qualified Alims will have the right to issue Fatwa (Religious Decrees)

c. Impose a ban on criticisms of the prophets and the caliphs

"It is a victory for secular politics"

- Abdul Jalil , Awami League (AL) General Secretary, defending their five-point deal with Khelafat Majlis

Secularism, Islam and Bangladesh

2006-12-20T00:42:00.000Z

The word secularism is very confusing at times in a country like Bangladesh. Sometimes we are called an Islamic nation or a secular nation in the media depending on the writer’s perspective. In Indian sub-continent secularism is mostly about ensuring the rights of the minority and also the separation of religion and politics. Now the part about 'separation of religion and politics' is not clear. Why is it necessary to separate this two and how does religion affect the society? In a country where most people are religious, how do you separate religion from the society and the laws that govern the society? This question applies to many religious countries in the world including Bangladesh.

I think the main problem for the application of secularism in the sub-continent is that 'secularism' (Dhormo-Niropekkhota) is a Western idea. Secularism is the state of being without religious or spiritual qualities. A Godless state is a Secular state. Even in Europe (the liberal West), secularism is partially applicable since most people don't have a religion anymore. All the laws in a secular state should be based on human rights, freedom of expression, tourism, business profits etc. but not on the basis of a religion. For example, Gay marriage have been legalised in UK ignoring the religious sensitivity of many people but the law does ensure that the rights of the minority (Gay people) are protected. Also it ensures a new line of business that caters for Gay people (TV, video, magazine, special days etc.). Still UK remains a non-secular country - the Queen is still the head of state and head of Church, the Bishop has a saying in all the matters of the state, apart from the Christian holidays no other religious holidays are given or even recognized. In the case of USA (more conservative than Europe), application of secularism is also very challenging. After all the campaign by the liberal democrats, Bush won the election second time mainly because he fought for the religious people and their ideas (Not approving gay marriage, stem cell research and so on). Therefore, even in the West where religion is not 'so strong', secularism remains a far cry.

Now the problem gets even complicated when it comes to Islam and secularism. The first conflict is ideological. Islam is a complete way of life and since most Muslims are Sunnis and to them Islam, historically, is not just spiritual but also political. But Secularism asks religious people to be only spiritual. This is always going to be a problem in Muslim countries. The second conflict is historical. Since the colonization of the Islamic world by European countries during the Industrial revolution in the West , secularism have been introduced forcefully to destroy the already existing Islamic laws and also the amiirs, imams and others who use to rule different parts of the Islamic world. The 'destruction' of Islamic identity was necessary for colonization. It also helped to establish a new set of secular rulers who will remain obedient to the 'masters' in new countries (colonies). Hence came the ideas of ‘nationalism’ and ‘secularism’. The shahs in Iran, Tito in Turkey and other secular leaders in many Islamic countries mercilessly killed thousands of Islamic clerics to establish secular nations. Some of the leaders were corrupt and others were insisting more on industrial development rather than moral development (Western approach towards life). So since then the fighting really kicked off between the Islamists and the secularists. From the ashes of dead Islamic clerics and blown rich Islamic heritage, came a new group of Muslims who only had revenge and the aspiration to get back all they had in their mind. Secularists quickly defined them as fundamentalists and decided to rage a war against them. The 'war' is still going on many parts of the world including in Bangladesh. But it has reached new heights now; this is increasingly turning into civil wars in many Muslim countries.

Like other religions, militant secularism has surfaced in many countries around the world and Bangladesh is no exception in this case. Bangladesh was born out of the principles of Bengali nationalism and strict secularism. Therefore there is a tendency among many posh people to shun any kind of religious association. Some would even go as far as hating any religious identity. This culture of hatred leaves religion as a practice for mainly the poor and uneducated mass and as a result of this, wrong interpretations of religious theologies and rise of extremism often take shelter in these impoverished communities. Therefore militant secularism only gives rise to militant religious fascism. The way out of this problem is to cultivate a culture of tolerance in our society and stop promoting and glamorizing violence in the name of Islam, secularism, patriotism or nationalism.

Salute to Arundhati Roy !

2006-11-30T19:35:00.000Z

Earlier this year Arundhati Roy, a prolific writer and a political activist, famous for The God of Small Things has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi award by the Indian government. But Ms. Roy refused the prestigious award because of her very public disagreements with policies (both domestic and international) espoused by the Indian government. This is her letter of refusal to the Chairman of the Akademi:

"I thank the jury of the Sahitya Akademi for giving me this year's Sahitya Akademi Award for my book `The Algebra of Infinite Justice.' I am proud that the jury felt that a collection of political essays deserved to be given India's most prestigious literary prize.

These essays, written between 1998 and 2001, are deeply critical of some of the major policies of the Indian State — on big dams, nuclear weapons, increasing militarisation and on economic neo-liberalism. However, even today this incumbent government shows a continuing commitment to these policies and is clearly prepared to implement them ruthlessly and violently, whatever the cost.

In the last few months, apart from the growing numbers of farmers' suicides [now running into tens of thousands] and the forcible eviction of people from their lands and livelihoods [in the hundreds of thousands], we have witnessed the police brutalisation of industrial workers in Gurgaon, the killing of a dozen people protesting against a dam in Manipur, and the killing of another dozen people protesting their displacement by a steel plant in Orissa. Even as we call ourselves a democracy, Indian security forces control and administer Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland — and the numbers of the dead and disappeared continue to mount.

The `Algebra of Infinite Justice' is also critical of U. S. foreign policy, particularly in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. This present Indian government too has seen it fit to declare itself an ally of the U. S. Government, thereby condoning the American invasion of Afghanistan and its illegal occupation of Iraq, which, under the Nuremburg principles, constitutes the supreme crime of a war of aggression.

I have a great deal of respect for the Sahitya Akademi, for the members of this year's Jury and for many of the writers who have received these awards in the past. But to register my protest and re-affirm my disagreement — indeed my absolute disgust — with these policies of the Indian Government, I must refuse to accept the 2005 Sahitya Akademi Award."

Arundhati Roy , as far as I am aware of, remains the only public voice against the unfair international and domestic policies of Indian government - something other Indians, I wish, should start to follow. Her refusal to accept the award only shows her strong moral character in a rather immoral and messy world. Salute to Arundhati Roy for rasing her voice and speaking out against the crimes of the Indian government !

'Bangali racial fundamentalists' - Part Deux

2006-11-25T15:57:00.000Z

It’s been quite a drama since I published my post on ‘Bangali racial fundamentalists on rampage’. It seems the BAL supporters couldn’t take it so easily and decided to have a go at me. One ‘anonymous’ supporter started personal attack on me by posting stupid comments. Another one decided to go a bit further and started threatening me. Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect things to go this far. Suddenly I felt I am against the mighty ‘Putin’ government. But these unfortunate incidents made one thing clear as far as Bangladeshi politics is concerned – “You cannot criticize any action committed for the sake of politics, if you dare to do you will face the consequences”. One good example is when the Bangali racial fundamentalists beat Jamaat activists to death in front of the TV camera. Now, as I have mentioned in my earlier post on this subject, the BAL activists and supporters claimed that this ‘beaten to death’ action is perfectly legitimate simply because the person who was beaten to death belongs to the ‘anti-liberation’ group. Sadly, even the intellectuals who write numerous articles day and night couldn’t find anything wrong in this atrocity. Zafar Iqbal, the self-proclaimed prophet of Human Rights, who gets mysterious calls from his supporters whenever there is a trouble in Bangladesh, wrote in his article about the incident – “the AL activists bursted in anger”. Full Stop. That’s it. Nothing more than this sentence, as if nothing has happened. This is sickly sad and really unfortunate for Bangladesh.

I want to mention one important issue regarding this incident. Apart from BAL, its supporters and the pro-AL intellectuals, all others have ‘successfully’ condemned this act of violence. However, one important thing is missing here, nobody asked for the punishment for those killers! Even if they were caught live on TV, their pictures available everywhere on the internet and their ‘pro-liberation’ videos available on you tube, Bangladesh have failed to punish these criminals. Does this mean you can get away with ‘anything’ as far as it’s political? A ‘no justice’ trend for political murders will only ensure that incidents like this will happen again in future and ‘NOTHING’ will happen to the criminals. When Sonny, a Bangladesh Engineering University (BUET) student, died as a result of the crossfire between two rival BNP groups few years back – nothing happened. The girl slept to death in the middle of the street while the BNP thugs kept shooting at each other from one hall to another. No, we didn’t have justice that time and we won’t have it this time as well even if we all know who the culprits are.

However, back to the topic, I believe the Bangali racial fundamentalist group popularly known as Bangladesh Awami League and its supporters are posing a dangerous threat to the practice of ‘tolerance’ needed in a democratic country. Their sheer arrogance is nothing new and since they always get success by being ‘anarchists’ , they believe that it’s the only way forward for achieving their targets.

“Just a day after the victory from Pakistani occupation, thirty-five years back a grotesque real-life drama was enacted at Dhaka Stadium on December 17, 1971. The actor was freedom fighter Kader Siddiqi, and the victims were two men. Alleged to be Razakars, they were bayoneted to death by Siddiqi in front of a group of cheery crowd of the Muktibahini or the liberation armed groups. Horst Fass and Michel Laurent of Associated Press (AP) have won the Pulitzer Prize by photographing the grotesque killings of the two persons. The horrifying AP photo series "Death in Dacca' haunted the then government. And it was one of the reasons why all the prisoners of war (POW) of 1971 were immediately shifted to India for safety. A repeat performance of the bizarre stage show on October 28 of beating up one man to death by over young men made Dhaka known as a notorious city across the world. On that date Awami League-led 14-party alliance workers swooped upon allegedly one Jamaat worker and beat him to death in broad daylight in presence of many people.”

As you can see the incident in 1971 and the one in 2006 is pretty much similar and most importantly the Bangali racial fundamentalists haven’t changed their reasoning or behaviour in 35 years time. Perhaps we can draw some conclusions based on their arrogant behaviours. Feel free to suggest more if necessary.

1. BAL claims that they have initiated, executed and brought independence for Bangladesh and therefore ‘they’ are the sole owner of Bangladesh. As a result they automatically belong to the ‘pro-liberation’ group and the rest who don’t believe in their ideology belong to the ‘anti-liberation’ group.

2. BAL firmly believes that they have the authority to kill or ban anyone who poses a threat to the ‘independence’ of the country. This is why Sheikh Mujib initiated a one party political system and banned all the newspapers.

3. BAL arrogantly claims that Bangladesh belongs to ‘Bangalis’ only. They continuously talk and act in such a way as if no other race exists in Bangladesh. After liberation, Sheikh Mujib famously asked all the tribe people to become ‘Bangali’!!

4. As BAL pretends to be the sole owner of Bangladesh, they also act as if they are the sole owner of Bangali culture. BAL and its supporters claim to be only party people in Bangladesh to defend, define and dictate the Bangali culture. If you don’t go by their rules, you are an ‘anti-Bangali’ force. Simply they are the ‘Bangali fanatics’!

5. BAL is, by textbook, a ‘left of the centre’ political party. However, their fanaticism, racial hatred and supremacy, arrogant and violent attitude towards opinions that differ from them puts them in the ‘centre of the right’ position. Bravo to BAL for beating BNP (right of the centre) and becoming a truly ‘fascist’ party!

While the world looks away....Israeli massacre continues.

2006-11-17T22:57:00.001Z

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Links that Matter

2006-11-11T22:44:00.000Z

<1> International Crisis Group has published a report on Bangladesh. International Crisis group report gives a detail analysis on the present political situation and the politial parties. The report is read by many people all around the world and has a significant importance in terms of political analysis. I think the report has managaed to put together all the bits and pieces quite successfully. You can read the whole report in the crisis group website - Bangladesh Today

<2> One good news for Bangladesh is the apparent discovery of the cure for Arsenic problem reported by BBC. The discoery could help more than 60 million people living in Bangladesh and in West Bengal who drink water with dangerous arsenic levels. The researchers from Rice University's Centre for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology in USA reported their work in the journal Science. The idea is brilliant and yet very simple. Particles of iron oxide are dissolved into the water and these particles can bind themselves to large amounts of arsenic in water. When a strong magnet is placed above the particles, they clump together like iron filings and are simple to remove. Clever indeed !

<3> A 53-year-old Bangladeshi imam has been punched and kicked by a man in Glasgow. Witnesses to the attack said the suspect, who was described as white male entered the mosque, verbally abused Imam Shamsuddin before punching and kicking him and then hitting him with a chair and other office equipment. Imam Shamsuddin has been leading prayers at the mosque for seven years. This is perhaps the first report of a Bangladeshi getting assaulted because of the rise of Islamphobia in recent years.

Meanwhile, in UK a Teesside family have returned from holiday to find their house daubed with anti-Muslim graffiti. The Joacph family home and its neighbouring garage, in the Saltersgill area of Middlesbrough, were covered with messages. These claimed that the family were terrorists, and also called for the killing of Muslims. The Joacphs, who are practising Roman Catholics, say they are devastated by the incident. Originally from India, they have lived in the area for three years.

Also, lecturers and university staff across Britain are to be asked to spy on "Asian-looking" and Muslim students they suspect of involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence, the Guardian reported. The Department for Education has drawn up a series of proposals which are to be sent to universities and other centres of higher education before the end of the year. Wakkas Khan, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said: "It sounds to me to be potentially the widest infringement of the rights of Muslim students that there ever has been in this country. It is clearly targeting Muslim students and treating them to a higher level of suspicion and scrutiny. It sounds like you're guilty until you're proven innocent." Gemma Tumelty, president of the National Union of Students, said: "They are going to treat everyone Muslim with suspicion on the basis of their faith. It's bearing on the side of McCarthyism."

<4> Just a day after the victory from Pakistani occupation, thirty-five years back a grotesque real-life drama was enacted at Dhaka Stadium on December 17, 1971. The actor was freedom fighter Kader Siddiqi, and the victims were two men. Alleged to be Razakars, they were bayoneted to death by Siddiqi in front of a group of cheery crowd of the Muktibahini or the liberation armed groups. Horst Fass and Michel Laurent of Associated Press (AP) have won the Pulitzer Prize by photographing the grotesque killings of the two persons. The horrifying AP photo series "Death in Dacca' haunted the then government. And it was one of the reasons why all the prisoners of war (POW) of 1971 were immediately shifted to India for safety. A repeat performance of the bizarre stage show on October 28 of beating up one man to death by over young men made Dhaka known as a notorious city across the world. On that date Awami League-led 14-party alliance workers swooped upon allegedly one Jamaat worker and beat him to death in broad daylight in presence of many people. Video footage recorded from TV channels of the ghastly murders is now being circulating around the world with a note of caution: Youtube, "This video may contain content that is inappropriate for some users. To view this video, please verify that you are 18 or older".

<5> Karen Armstrong, in her paradox of veiling, argues that where the veil is forbidden, women hasten to wear it and she is proven right by a recent report by BBC - How veil remarks reinforced its support

"When Ataturk secularised Turkey, men and women were forced into European costumes that felt like fancy dress. In Iran, the shahs' soldiers used to march through the streets with their bayonets at the ready, tearing off the women's veils and ripping them to pieces. In 1935, Shah Reza Pahlavi ordered the army to shoot at unarmed demonstrators who were protesting against obligatory western dress. Hundreds of Iranians died that day.

Many women, whose mothers had happily discarded the veil, adopted the hijab in order to dissociate themselves from aggressively secular regimes. This happened in Egypt under President Anwar Sadat and it continues under Hosni Mubarak. When the shah banned the chador, during the Iranian revolution, women wore it as a matter of principle - even those who usually wore western clothes. Today in the US, more and more Muslim women are wearing the hijab to distance themselves from the foreign policy of the Bush administration; something similar may well be happening in Britain."

On the same issue, INDIAKNIGHT in her "Muslims are the new Jews" article says that It’s open season on Islam — Muslims are the new Jews.

"Oppressed women are everywhere: there’s probably one living in your street. She may be a Muslim wearing a veil, or a white woman whose husband beats her. She may be covered from head to toe, dressed like a librarian, or fond of micro-skirts. She may be your mother or your sister. She may be you — regardless of how you dress, what you believe or where you come from. And that is the point. Unhappy, abused people come in all colours, shapes and sizes. It is absurd to suddenly, appoint ourselves moral arbiters, and decree, very loudly, that a piece of fabric is an indicator of an unhappy, down-trodden life.

Happy people come in all formats too. The concept of the men hanging out together while the women “work” in the kitchen may seem peculiar to a non-Muslim — though not that peculiar, given that a less formalised version of the same thing happens whenever you have friends round — but I’ve been to many memorable, jolly parties where gangs of Muslim women ate, gossiped and laughed together without seeming overwhelmingly oppressed, or indeed, oppressed at all.

My experience of Muslim life is not that it is the patriarchal nightmare of legend, but that women are powerful, vocal and iron-fisted beneath their velvet gloves. This is a subjective viewpoint: I am not claiming that every Muslim woman in the world is gloriously carefree. They aren’t (who is?), and I am particularly offended by Straw’s comments because the women Straw described are by and large first-generation immigrants — ie, poor working-class women trying to get on with their lives."

'Bangali Racial Fundamentalists' on rampage !

2006-10-28T19:18:00.000+01:00

Yes they have done yet again ! The 'Bangali Racial Fundamentalists' are on rampage once again !! They are burning buses, houses , beating up people and killing the oppsitions. They are doing all these to gain power in the next election. Just when you thought things have improved quite a lot, you watch these dreadful pictures on TV and think 'God ! where is this place !' What a wonderful Eid gift for the Bangladeshi people ! The ever so complicated power struggle between Bangali racial fundamentalists, religious hypocrites and nationalist pigs have given so much sufferings to the average Bangladeshis that the formation of the new 'Liberal Democratic Party' was quite a news for me. But I doubt whether they will be able to make any impact in this coming election. I sincerely wish the LDP would be able organise themselves better in future and become a serious contender for power in five years time.

I wish the situation settles down pretty soon orelse Hasina, the power hungry bitch, would soon resort to her famous 'I want dead bodies' tactic and create a mayhem. Awami League, being a violent political orginization since its birth, would do anything to gain power and it won't be any different this time. The Bangali supremacists (AL) , infront of the TV camera, beat two persons to death and I wonder after watching this incident if this party can't go to power, they will probably end up killing all the people of Bangladesh. Allah save Bangladesh from this mad racial supremacists !

[Update] This is the picture of the person who was beaten to death by 'Bangali' force - the great Awami League ! Awami supporters have claimed that this person belongs to the 'Jamaat-Shibir' and therefore he deserved this kind of treatment !! The Awami bloggers have carefully hidden the whole thing while dreaming of power at last ! I wonder what's the difference between these Bangali patriots and US patriots who claim anything is acceptable as long as it protects their culture and country. I am ashamed of myself to be a Bangali ! Shame on you guys ! Such a disgrace !!

Eid Mubarak !

2006-10-23T00:41:00.000+01:00

Here it is again - Eid ! Eid Mubarak to all of you wherever you are, whoever you are - Muslims , Non-Muslims, Secularists, Veil Wearers, Nudists, Bangalis, Chakmas, Biharis, Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish, heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, homophobic, aquaphobic, Islamphobic, Holocaust victims, Holocaust Survivors, Sunnis, Shiis, Kurds, Sufis, Ummah lovers, Ummah Haters, fundamentalists, freedom fighters, Human Rights Activists, Animal Lovers, Animal Killers, Plant lovers. Plant Killers, Fruit lovers, Fruit Killers, Monogamists, Polygamists, boys and girls, Ladies and Gentlemen, Men and Women of all ages - Eid Mubarak to all of you !!

Like every year there was no mention of Eid in the mainstream media - Newspapers, websites or TV. If not a holiday, atleast mentioning Eid on the media wouldn't do any harm I guess as far as 'integration' is concerned. Would Jack Straw or Tony Blair bother to come on TV and say Eid Mubarak to all the Muslims in Britain. That would have really helped rather than talking about Muslims and Islam all the time. The same goes for Indian media. After Diwali comes Christmas. Eid is omitted. Bravo !!

Thank Allah that Nazrul Islam wrote a song about Eid-Ul-Fitr once and that song kept Bangladesh alive all these years. It's strange that no song writer, in Bangladesh's history, never bothered to write a memorable Eid song. Even a secular country like Britain produces dozens of new Christmas songs every year. I guess the intellectuals in our country have become super seculars. OK let them be secular then while I remain a Muslim and listen shatinath's version of Nazrul Song - 'Romjaner oi Rojar Sheshe...."

Finally a nice Eid Mubarak song found on You Tube ...Enjoy !

[UPDATE] Indian channel B4U dedicated a whole program for Eid ! Walla !! That's the way bro !

BBC website has a picture story on Eid-Al-Fitr in different countries around the world.

The Pakistani-Bangladeshi singer Alamgir, after winning the life time achievement award in the MOTOROLA music award in Pakistan, sang his version of "Amai Bhashai li re ...." - a famous Bangla folk song infront of a packed Pakistani audience. That was really heart-touching and although the show was two months old, the song made us really proud on Eid day !

"Though first, it was now time to honor a lifetime of classic contributions to the field of music- the recipient of TMA's Lifetime Achievement Award was a man who infused new blood in the music of mid-70s. At a time when people thought that after Ahmed Rushdie, Akhlaque Ahmed, Runa Laila and the likes they will breathe in a world without music - Alamgir dawned a new hope at just that point in time. Alamgir's teary-eyed speech was one of the night's more touching moments. After the standing ovation the TMA band came on stage again and for the first time in 15 years, Alamgir was set to belt out a few of his classic songs with four of the most rocking musicians on the scene today." - Insiya Syed

Nobel Peace Prize goes to Bangladeshi Yunus !

2006-10-13T15:43:00.000+01:00

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 was awarded to Muhammad Yunus, the 66-year-old Bangladeshi behind the Grameen Movement micro-banking system.

The Grameen Bank, which means ‘rural bank’ in Bengali, was also given the award jointly.

In 1974 Muhammad Yunus led his students at Chittagong University on a field trip to a poor Bangladeshi village. They met a woman who made bamboo stools, but whose profits were eaten up by the extortionate rates of local lenders. Yunus started lending money himself in the form of "micro-loans" and in 1976 the Grameen Bank Project was born.

Today, Grameen Bank is owned by the rural poor whom it serves. Borrowers of the Bank own 90% of its shares, while the remaining 10% is owned by the government. As of May, the bank had 6.6 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women. With 2,226 branches, the bank claims to provide services to every village in Bangladesh.

The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations including the United States. The World Bank estimates that there are now more than 7,000 microfinance institutions, serving some 16 million poor people in developing countries. Today, more than 100 countries around the world follow the Grameen model.

Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other countries.

Grameen Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world.

Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.

Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions. Economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male.

Yunus' long-term vision is to eliminate poverty in the world. That vision cannot be realised by means of micro-credit alone.

- Official English text of the Norwegian Nobel Committee's citation in awarding the 2006 Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank.

Congratulations to Professor Yunus !!

Someone else got balls !

2006-09-25T15:36:00.000+01:00

Heard about Galloway ?! If you haven't heard his ball breaking interview on Sky news, you have missed something for sure! Few years back he gave a testimony before the US senate and totally blasted them. I remember one famous interviewer (Frank Skinner) telling him - " man - you got balls !"

For your info - George Galloway is the British MP from Bethnal Green and Bow - where almost half of the population is Bangladeshi.

Have a look at the famous Interview -

And if you think Galloway is the only one around who got big balls, think again ! You have to listen to Hugo Chavez - the charismatic president of Venezuela. He spoke at the United nations assembly on 2oth September and called Bush 'the Devil'. What a brilliant speech - not beacuse he called Bush 'devil' but rather the content of his speech makes so much sense than all other bullshits.

If you haven't watched the UN speech, you must read the full transcript of this brave man called Chavez !

Address to the United Nations, 20th September, 2006

Rise Up Against the Empire
By HUGO CHAVEZ

Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it.
Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, ‘Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States.’” [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.] “It’s an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what’s happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet.

The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but, for the sake of time,” [flips through the pages, which are numerous] “I will just leave it as a recommendation.

It reads easily, it is a very good book, I’m sure Madame [President] you are familiar with it. It appears in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German. I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is right in their own house.

The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house.
“And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here.” [crosses himself] “And it smells of sulfur still today.
Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday’s statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.
An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: “The Devil’s Recipe.”

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.

The world parent’s statement — cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.

They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that’s their democratic model. It’s the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that’s imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.

What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I’m quoting, “Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom.”

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother — he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there’s an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It’s not that we are extremists. It’s that the world is waking up. It’s waking up all over. And people are standing up.

I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.

Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.

The president then — and this he said himself, he said: “I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace.”

That’s true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They’ll say yes.

But the government doesn’t want peace. The government of the United States doesn’t want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.It wants peace. But what’s happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What’s happening? What’s happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela — new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?

He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision

This is crossfire? He’s thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.

This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, “We’re suffering because we see homes destroyed.’

The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples — to the peoples of the world. He came to say — I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.

And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?

And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, “Yankee imperialist, go home.” I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.

And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed — fully, fully confirmed.

I don’t think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let’s accept — let’s be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It’s worthless.

Oh, yes, it’s good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel’s yesterday, or President Mullah’s . Yes, it’s good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we’ve heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.

The first is expansion, and Mullah talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That’s step one.

Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.
Point three, the immediate suppression — and that is something everyone’s calling for — of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.
Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.

Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we’ve always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.

Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.

Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar’s home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let’s see. Well, there’s been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.
The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.

And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there’s no need to announce things.
But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.

Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.

And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.

I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela’s thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.

Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said “helplessly optimistic,” because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.

As Silvio Rodriguez says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?

What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.

We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.

Venezuela joins that struggle, and that’s why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.

President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.

And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.

And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.

And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.

And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.

And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.

Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I’m here today.

But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.

We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.
And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don’t worry, I’m not going to read it.

But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter — more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.

And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.
And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.

Unfortunately they thought, “Oh, Fidel was going to die.” But they’re going to be disappointed because he didn’t. And he’s not only alive, he’s back in his green fatigues, and he’s now presiding the nonaligned.

So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.

With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I’m now closing my file. I’m taking the book with me. And, don’t forget, I’m recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We’ve proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.

Links that Matter

2006-09-10T10:11:00.000+01:00

>> Sabbah asks Why should denial of the Holocaust be a crime?

>> Rumi discussed the BJP statement and fears the world will be made to understand the legitimacy of targeting Bangladesh in the war against terror.

>> The UK Terror plot: what's really going on? - "None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn't be a plane bomber for quite some time....What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for over a year - like thousands of other British Muslims. And not just Muslims. Like me. Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for early arrests."

>> Meet Islam's Biggest Rock Star - Sami Yusuf

>> BRIANWASHING document by the CIA - Communist brainwashing according to CIA

>> Clash of Islam and Liberalism - "The "War on Terrorism" is only the latest round in a millennium-old war between Islam and other "world systems"."

And I quote...

2006-09-01T22:09:00.000+01:00

“Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

- Hermann Goering at Nuremberg Trial (a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich)

Campaigns against Bangladesh

2006-08-28T11:34:00.000+01:00

"I demand that after taking the international community into confidence, India attack Pakistan to dismantle terrorist centres, not only Pakistan but Bangladesh should also be attacked where terrorist centres are operating," - BJP president Rajnath Singh ( The Hindu Nationalist party BJP ruled secular india from 1998 t0 2004 and currently holds 138 seats in the parliament as the main opposition party)

The present conditions in the Indo-Bangladesh borders are far from being normal, to say the least. Every day, it seems, innocent Bangladeshis are being shot at like birds by the Indian security forces (BSF). The BSF have been always noted in recent years for their high-handed activities at the common border areas. But the frequency and the scale of the violence by the BSF against Bangladesh have escalated to an unprecedented high degree in recent months. The same is not only causing a lot of concern among countrymen, the same has led to a lot of speculation among the foreign community in Bangladesh about the imminent bigger forays.

An article was noted in a Bangladeshi newspaper recently in which its American writer contemplated the possibility of an Indian attack against Bangladesh. According to him, the attacks could be one for testing the morale and effectiveness of Bangladeshi fighting forces and aimed to occupy and retain physical control over parts of Bangladesh on the plea of keeping the occupied areas free from the activities of Islamic militants who allegedly pose a threat to Indian security. Conspicuously, the writer's prophecy coincides with what the top leader of the previous ruling party in India, BJP, suggested recently that India should attack Bangladesh to free it from Islamic terrorists who are a menace to India's security and for this India can seek the approval of the US government. Interestingly, the US writer in a local newspaper hinted that such an approval might be given since the days of collective security is over in some parts of the world where every country must ensure its own security.

The allegation that Bangladesh poses a threat to India's security is devoid of even common sense because anyone can see for himself that there are enough conditions within India itself to give rise to multiple insurgencies there. The Kashmiri militants rose in revolt against Indian oppression in their homeland. Some years ago the Sikhs rose in similar revolt and they were suppressed with a heavy hand. There are many insurgencies in north-eastern India that feed on local discontent due to the neglect of the federal government to their needs and from pure separatist impulses. Therefore, it does not require a neighbouring country to instigate troubles in India.

Insurgent groups in India

Andhra Pradesh
Political: Jai Andhra

Arunachal Pradesh
Violent: Arunachal Dragon Force
Proposed state: Teola country

Assam
Violent: United Liberation Front of Assam, United People’s Democratic Solidarity, Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organisation, Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam

Bodoland
Political: National Democratic Front of Bodoland, Bodo Liberation Tiger Force

Dimaland
Political: Dima Halim Daogah

Garo
Violent: People's Liberation Front of Meghalaya, Achik National Volunteer Council
Proposed state: Achikland

Goa
Gondwana
Political: Gondwana Ganatantra Party, seeking to create a Gondi state from parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra.

Kangleipak
Violent: People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak

Kamtapur
Political: Kamtapur Peoples Party (political wing of KLO)
Violent: Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organisation

Karbi
Violent: Karbi National Volunteers
Proposed state: Karbi-Anglong

Khasi
Violent: Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council

Kuki
Violent: Kuki National Army

Nagaland
Violent: National Socialist Council of Nagalim
Government-in-exile: Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland
Proposed state: Nagalim, or Peoples Republic of Nagaland

Manipur
Violent: Hmar People's Convention–Democrat, Manipur People’s Liberation Front, United National Liberation Front, Revolutionary People's Front of Manipur

Mizoram
Violent: Zomi Revolutionary Organization, Mizoram Farmers Liberation Force
Proposed state: Zozam

Punjab
Proposed state: Khalistan
Violent: Khalistan Commando Force–Panjwar, Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Zindabad Force, International Sikh Youth Federation

Rabha
Proposed state: Rhabaland
Violent: Rabha National Security Force

Rayalaseema
Reang
Violent: Bru National Liberation Front

Tamil Nadu
Violent: Tamil National Retrieval Troops, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army

Telangana
Political: Telangana Rashtra Samithi, seeking to separate Telangana from Andhra Pradesh state. Various other minor parties such as Jai Telangana Party, Telangana Communist Party, Telangana Janata Party, Telangana Praja Samithi, Telangana Rashtra Party, Telangana Rashtra Sadhana Front, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telangana Sadhana Samithi.

Tripura
Violent: National Liberation Front of Tripura (two factions operating), All Tripura Tiger Force

Vidarbha
Political: Vidarbha Rajya Party, Vidarbha Vikas Party, seeking to separate Vidarbha from Maharashtra.

What then are the reasons for what are perceived as stepped up aggressive activities of India against Bangladesh? It seems that the Indian leadership is disappointed with the incumbent government of Bangladesh for not giving in to Indian pressures on various issues such as transit through Bangladesh, for not allowing the gas resources of Bangladesh to be used in India, among others. The highly resolved and nationalistic stand of the government is unacceptable to India which wants a Bangladesh more compliant to their demands and objectives. It is imperative, therefore, to be extremely careful about the Indian government's intentions and also that of other powers in respect of national security."

Source : The New Nation Editorial and Wikipedia

Iranian president starts his own blog

2006-08-14T20:57:00.000+01:00

If you don't already know by now, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has joined a burgeoning international community - by starting his own weblog. Walla ! I think it's absolutely brilliant !

Mr Ahmadinejad's first posting, entitled autobiography, tells of his childhood, Iran's Islamic revolution, and the country's war with Iraq.

The blog includes a poll asking if users think the US and Israel are trying to trigger a new world war.

There is a postform for users to send in questions for the president, and a picture gallery containing a series of images of the blogger himself.

Mr Ahmadinejad's first entry on his blog, which is available in Persian, Arabic, English and French and includes an RSS feed to get future new entries to readers, is dated Friday.

He begins by telling users of his humble origins. "During the era that nobility was a prestige and living in a city was perfection, I was born in a poor family in a remote village of Garmsar - approximately 90 kilometres west of Tehran," he writes.

His father was a "hard-bitten toiler blacksmith" and a "pious man", who had decided to move the family to Tehran when Mr Ahmadinejad was just a year old.

Describing himself as a "distinguished student", the president tells how he excelled at school, coming 132nd out of more than 400,000 students to take a university entrance test - despite suffering from a nose bleed at the time.

He talks about his admiration and affection for the leader of the Islamic revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and discusses Iran's war with Iraq, calling former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein an "aggressor" who was "intoxicated with power".

The US is also heavily criticised by the president. At one point he describes it as "Great Satan USA" for what he says was its support for the "terrorist groups" which had tried to collapse Iran's Islamic government.

And the blog's current poll asks the question: "Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?"

User figures already appear high - by 1100 BST on Monday, nearly 12,000 people had taken part in the online vote.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blog - www.ahmadinejad.ir

Anti-war Demonstration

2006-08-11T16:35:00.000+01:00

The following pictures were taken from the anti-war demonstration in London on 5th August. About 100,000 people turned out for the march. Amazing ! This is the first series of pictures from the Demo. You can share the album or any individual picture from BubbleShare if you want. Just search for anti-war photos !

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Update: The following is the second series of photographs taken during the demonstration in London. Have a look !

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Links that matter

2006-08-04T15:21:00.000+01:00

>>Fugstar gets back to Dhaka and gives a brilliant description of his day in the city

>> Leading Indian and American Newspapers brands Bangladesh as the new terror hub at the same time (Hey ! what a con-incidence). These should please the AL supporters for sure !

>>Is Islam a Violent Religion? - Such over-simplistic stereotypes tend not to be well thought out and are generally just intellectual laziness on the part of a person who can't win an argument otherwise. Anyone can cherry-pick a verse or two from a book.

>> To Arabs, he's the new Nasser, but to the West he has become the new Bin Laden - Even his mortal enemies admire his charisma, but Israel knows it must kill Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah if it is to claim victory in southern Lebanon. First, however, it has to find him.

>> For Israel, The alternative to Hezbollah may be occupation

>>The secret lives of the babes behind their veils - Another right wing stuff from the great Times !

And I quote.....

2006-08-03T21:39:00.000+01:00

You must know that historically there are two
kinds of slaves. House Negroes and Field
Negroes. The house Negro lived in the big
house; he dressed pretty good; he ate pretty
good and he loved the master. Yeah, he loved
him more than the master loved himself. If the
master's house caught fire, he'd be the first
to put the blaze out. If the master got sick,
he'd say: "What's a matter, boss; we sick?"
WE sick! If someone said to him, "Let's run
away and escape. Let's separate." He'd say,
"Man, are you crazy? What's better than what I
got here?" That was the House Negro. In those
days he was called the House Nigger. Well,
that's what we call them today because we still
got a lot of House Niggers running around."

- Malcolm X ( From the movie 'Malcolm X')

Why Bush should do the Muslim prayer

2006-08-02T16:49:00.000+01:00

Islam: The reason why George Bush will never win in the Middle East

by Jane Stillwater

Yeah, I know you are thinking that I'm gonna try to tell you that Islam
will defeat George Bush because it is a great religion and all that. Wrong.
I'm not even going to say that it's because, even with his head shaved,
Kaysar, the Iraqi-American on Big Brother All-Stars, is totally
CUTE.

No, the real reason why Bush is deluding himself about ever being able to conquer the Middle East is because, even though Bush has better weapons, Muslims are BETTER THINKERS.

Here's proof. Try doing the Muslim prayer. Touch your head to the floor.
Notice how the blood rushes to your brain and you get better ideas and THINK
BETTER?

Bush should try it at home. Who knows? He might even realize how incredibly STUPID he's been to kill all those women and children in Lebanon. Hey, it could happen."

Stop the War: UK Demonstration

2006-08-02T00:13:00.001+01:00

AUGUST 5: EMERGENCY UK DEMONSTRATION
SATURDAY 5 AUGUST, 12 NOON
ASSEMBLE HYDE PARK SPEAKERS CORNER
UNCONDITIONAL CEASEFIRE NOW
STOP ISRAEL'S ATTACKS ON LEBANON & GAZA
END BLAIR'S SUPPORT FOR BUSH'S WAR

After the Qana massacre, no one can deny what we are witnessing: the systematic destruction of two countries. Everyone who is horrified at what is happening can help to bring this carnage to an end. We need the biggest possible turnout on Saturday's emergency demonstration. What you do in the next few days can make a difference. Tony Blair is under the most intense pressure on all sides to detach himself from his master George Bush's catastrophic warmongering and call for an immediate unconditional ceasefire. His party wants him to stop. His cabinet wants him to stop. The vast majority of people in the country want him to stop. Our demonstration can intensify that pressure to breaking point.

Stop the War has not experienced anything like it since the run up to the Iraq war in 2003. Over 1000 people every day are contacting the Stop the War office.

CARDIFF DEMONSTRATION

Thank you to the hundreds who marched on Saturday. The march attracted widespread coverage in the local media, and was supported by many organisations and individuals.

A Bangladeshi newspaper have contacted us requesting photographs of the march, if anybody has photographs, could they get email this address.

We would urge people to urgently write to local MPs, AMs and Councillors urging them to speak out against British blocking of an immediate ceasefire - and send their replies to us. Thus far, very few Welsh public figures, have been prepared to take a stand.

So far, Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, have received indications of support for an immediate ceasefire from John Marek AM, Julie Morgan MP, Leanne Wood AM, Jill Evans MEP, Helen Mary Jones AM. Cllr. Mohammed Islam, Cllr. Ray Davies, Cllr. Gwenllian Lansdown & Lord Dafydd Ellis-Thomas AM - we need to hear from more elected representatives prepared to speak out.

LEBANON SOLIDARITY GIG

We are planning a benefit gig to raise money for Lebanese humanitarian charities and our own solidarity efforts, if anybody is interested in helping organise a concert or knows musicians or other artists, please get in contact.

STOP THE WAR COALITION FINANCIAL APPEAL

Stop the War Coalition urgently needs donations to continue campaigning. Please donate online: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/involved/joinonline.htm

Enjoy Condy's "birth pangs of a new Middle East"

2006-07-31T20:32:00.000+01:00

'Bricklane' unfolds battle of words

2006-07-29T19:20:00.000+01:00

The novel 'Bricklane' by Monica Ali has been the subject of controversy since the novel came out and was chosen for the prestigious Booker prize. Bricklane is perhaps the most celebrated Asian place in Britain, popularly (and officially) known as Bangla town and home to thousands of Bangladeshis. The story of 'Bricklane' revoles around this famous street and Sylhetis is general.

Ali's sharp-witted tale explores the immigrant's dilemma of belonging. Nazneen, a young Bangladeshi woman, moves to London's Bangla Town (around the street of the title) in the mid-nineteen-eighties after an arranged marriage with an older man. Seen through Nazneen's eyes, England is at first utterly baffling, but over the seventeen years of the narrative (which takes us into the post-September 11th era), she gradually finds her way, bringing up two daughters and eventually starting an all-female tailoring business. Meanwhile, the more outwardly assertive characters—her comically pompous husband, her rebellious sister back in Bangladesh, and a young Muslim activist with whom Nazneen has an affair—lose their bearings in their various attempts to embrace or reject their heritage. In Ali's subtle narration, Nazneen's mixture of traditionalism and adaptability, of acceptance and restlessness, emerges as a quiet strength.....New Yorker Read this and other reviews on Amazon

Although the Sylheti community were offended at first when the book first came out, somehow it settled down later on. But the controversy has been re-ignited again when a deceision was taken to turn the controversial book into a movie. Protests were all around Bricklane to stop the filming and the Sylheti leaders were quick to express their anger over the depiction of their community in the book. From BBC......the following report

"People living and working in an area of east London are unhappy at plans to film the adaptation of Monica Ali's book, Brick Lane, in the area. They claim the book is "insulting" towards the predominately Bangladeshi community of Brick Lane, Shoreditch.

"The book is a good work of literature, but is insulting to the community...People are disgusted about the film, and while the authorities have given permission for it to be filmed here, it does not mean they have permission from the community....We will do what the community wants us to do. We are not going to leave it as it is....They have no right to do it [film] in Brick Lane" - a community leader"

Another Tragic day

2006-07-27T13:31:00.000+01:00

The British Board of Jewish Deputies give full backing to Israel. These are the same people who always bang on about the Holocaust. Never again will I watch a Holocaust documentary, play, movie or TV special produced by Zionists Jews who clearly have no regard for the life of anyone that isn’t Jewish! You people demand sympathy, yet commit genocide? Shame on you and shame on those politicians who are too gutless to stand up to you.
Samantha, Ealing

If Israelis want their own state, let them have one of those big, empty, rectangular ones in America's midwest.Most of them seem to speak with an American accent and they can enjoy each other's company and save the rest of the world from their arrogant, superior attitude.Let's see how the American Government and people take to Israeli land theft when its American land that is being stolen.
Paul Burns, Liverpool

The UN post had been shelled before, and then shelled again until the targets were eliminated, then shelled again when the rescue teams arrived. Obviously, all accidental, and if it wasnt accidental, it was in self-defence. After all, the UN has been "attacking" Israel with all this nonsense about illegal occupation, illegal settlements, illegal wall, use of illegal weapons on civilians, illegal use of civilians as hunman shields. The UN should know that Israel is divine and above man-made laws.
God gave it to me, UK

I have been watching and observing this middle east crisis since it has begun. Lot of meetings,interviews have taken place but of no avail. What I want to say that hezbullah is a political party based on relegious fundamentalism in lebonan as of what a RSS or Shiv sena party in India. You can't disarm such parties by force but by politically in banning such orgzn. The Vow to disarm Hezbollah is rediculius by militiary action rather it will make it roots more deeper in hearts of lebonaese
Jimmy, kuwait

Of course we should condem Hizbollah's attacks on israeli civilians, but Israel's response has been murderous and history tells us that it will achieve nothing positive, just another turn in the cycle of violence. Any US or UK politician who condemns Iran or Syria for sponsoring Hizbollah is a hypocrite while we supply WMDs to Israel. The only solution is the setting up of a Palestinian state. Clinton tried & failed, but Bush & Blair should hang their heads in shame for their years of not trying
Mark Billingham, High Wycombe, UK

So, the US spokesman on the BBC Today programme announced this morning that the US was going to be supplying humanitarian aid to Lebanon but did not mention that, at the same time, US aircraft carrying 5,000lb ‘bunker buster’ bombs for Israel have landed to refuel at Prestwick in the UK; the US and UK ‘leaderships’ brazenly treat everyone with total arrogance and hypocrisy – and people are unnecessarily dead and dying as a result.

[Brendan59], London, United Kingdom

Isn't it ironic that the Isareli Governement want the Hezbollah to adhere to a UN resolution, but the two UN resolutions against Israel demading their withdrawal from occupied territories and a return to original borders has been ignored by Isareal (and of course their benefactor the USA) for more than 30 years. Perhaps the region would not be in this mess had Israel been forced to adhere to those resolutions. It can not always be one way! Stop Israeli State Terrorism!
Enrico, Amsterdam

So, all the suffering of innocent men, women and children of Lebanon is justified because "TWO" soldiers of Isreal were captured by Hezollah? Well, USA and Israel are currently forcing the world to believe that it is justified. A simple question arises here. What about the daily kidnapping of Palestinians and holding them as prisoners without a trial, in the Israeli jails? What about using Palestinian kids as human shields during the so-called combing operations?
Ravi, Bangalore, India

All those that claim Israel's destruction and invasion of Lebanon was justified by the capture of 2 and the killing of 8 of its soldiers should logically now also call for an internationnal invasion and destruction of Israel, since these barbarians have deliberately killed 4 internationnal UN soldiers. As a side note I find it really funny when Annan asks Israel to conduct an "investigation" on the "incident". I would have loved to hear him ask Hezbollah the same after their military operation.
Simon Nigg

Israel is Demolishing Lebanon to get rid of Hezbollah.Well it was Israel in the first place that created and strengthened this movement by occupying Lebanon for twenty years.Hezbollah was going to be systematically disarmed by the Lebanese, if not for the constant Israeli threats of annihilating Lebanon.
faysal haroun, beirut, Lebanon

What a pity Dr.Rice did not have time to visit at least one Lebanese hospital.
Alan Palmer-Rodway, Chipping Norton

I find America hypocritical beyond belief to proudly state how they are working towards solving this problem and providing aid to the Lebanese people whilst at the same time providing more weapons and military hardware to Israel. How can they pretend they are not backing this Israeli attack on mainly innocent civilians? The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and the unjustified rocket attacks on Israel are wrong but this response blurs the boundary between aggressor and defender past distinction.
Bob Bishop, Aberdeen

I think that the world has had enough Israeli terrorism. So far, nearly 400 civilians have been brutally murdered by the Israeli "Defence" (!) Force. I find the people who still refuse to condemn Israel to be dishonest and morally corrupt. How can you watch this barbarism and not condemn it?
Deniz, Istanbul

Double standards? The US and British diplomats delay talks so Israel can finish what they started and more innocent people die as a result. Remember this started because 2 israeli soldiers were kidnapped, and that justifies bombing a whole country and killing 100's. To put it into context, that would be like the Brits raiding the whole of Ireland when the IRA shot one of our soldiers. I get the feeling the US are only friends with Israel and Saudi Arabia because they have a large enough military
Stuart, Florence

"Eliminate the terrorosts" - oh yes, very Rambo. The slight drawback to your swaggering demands is the fundamental problem. They aren't a top-down organisation. Kill any of them, and more will rise. Keep killing, and more will keep arising. This policy has failed continually thorughout my lifetime. The US in Vietnam, French in Algeria, USSR in Afghanistan, US in Afghanistan, US/UK in Iraq. Just get off your horses, holster your guns, and think. For a change.
Steve, UK

Source: BBC

Please Donate for Lebanon !

2006-07-21T23:54:00.000+01:00

Muslims as well as non-Muslims all over the world are donating generously for the Lebanese people. If you can, please donate for the sake of humanity. The Muslim aid is running a massive charity for Lebanon at this moment along with many other organisations.

Here is their web-address : Muslim Aid

Follow the above link to donate online. Alternatively you can donate by post, phone or online. I will update the list of other charity organisations who are asking for donations. If you have any other sources, please let me know.

Please Donate....

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Hello ! Human Rights, anyone ?

2006-07-21T17:01:00.000+01:00

"Up until now, Israel has done the following: blown up our international airport, runways, gas reserves for planes (no one can leave or enter the country); blown up small military and domestic airports (both in the north and south); blown up all bridges and roads linking Beirut to the south; blown up villages in the south, everything from the deep south to Sidon; blown up - as I type this now, another jet is flying by, it is so loud - blown up the suburbs (Dahiya); blown up the Beirut to Damascus road at several points. We are surrounded by sea as well.

Everything that is happening now is because Israel is trying to wipe out any trace of Hizbullah in Lebanon. In the process of doing all this, they are wiping out our infrastructure. Our roads, bridges, civilian homes, innocent lives."

In an intimate diary, 30-year-old Lebanese artist Zena el-Khalil describes helping foreigners escape, the nightly rocket attacks - and how she couldn't leave her sick friend behind in My city, on fire again.

"We are under attack by Israel. It is so unjust and unfair. Everything we've worked towards for the past 10 years is gone. We had so many events planned for the summer: exhibitions ... concerts ... plays. All gone.

Lebanon cannot be occupied again by Israel....

Last night was probably the most frightening night I have ever experienced. We counted at least 15 bombs falling into Dahiyeh in the Beirut suburbs. I have not slept in days. I know I have to be strong, and I will be, but I cannot deny what I am going through. So many of us are working hard to fix things - we are running around Beirut trying to get food and water and medicine to people, we are doing things online, but it doesn't mean we are not scared, sick or tired...

Biggest cynical statement of the day: Israel has told people to evacuate from the south because they are going to annihilate the south of Lebanon. However, the people cannot leave because all the roads have been destroyed or blocked. And yesterday, when people did try and leave, the Israelis opened fire on them.

Israel is trying to bring Lebanon to its knees. Israel is trying to destroy the Lebanese spirit. Israel is trying to turn the Lebanese against each other, to turn us into animals scrounging for food, water and shelter. Israel and the United States of America are trying to drag Syria and Iran into this too. They are using Lebanon as bait. We are stuck in the middle.

We are a peaceful country. People of all religions coexist peacefully here.

I am not leaving. And there are many of us who are not leaving. We love Lebanon. We love what we have spent our lives building.

I don't want to write about all the miserable moments I had today. I don't want to write about the tears that fell when I heard about how the Israeli army bombed wheat silos and vegetable stores. Now they want to starve us to death? I don't want to write about how they are now targeting Lebanese army outposts and barracks, when the Lebanese army are not even fighting them. About the planes that are flying so low. About how my house starts to shake every time a bomb drops. About my worries now about food and water shortages. About the refugees who have lost so much, who are now living on the streets.

I don't want to write about the cramp in my heart every time I hear the death toll rising. So many children! I don't want to write about how everything I have spent my whole life working for has disappeared in a matter of days. A matter of days ... my whole life has changed.

My whole life has changed and I did not ask for it. My whole life has changed because someone, not me, decided they were going to change it. Who said they could? Why didn't they ask me?....

Israel has changed my life because Israel is targeting me as a civilian. And who said Hizbullah could take a decision on my behalf and provoke the monster?

Two bombs just went off. My windows are shaking.....

I want to tell Israeli citizens what their government is doing to us. Remind them that Lebanon is their neighbour and that coexistence is possible. How are we ever going to reach an understanding through violence? We were so close ... We were so close."

Bush 'shits' on TV

2006-07-17T14:53:00.000+01:00

Now this has to be the best tv moment ever ! This clip is outrageously hillarious and funny. George Bush has been overheard making undiplomatic remarks about his view of the current Middle East crisis. During the G8 summit break, while Bush was eating and talking to Tony Blair, he thought the microphone was off and told the following to his best pal (about the mid-east crisis):

"What they need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop this shit"

The clip is in BBC and can be seen in this link - George Bush's gaffe

So here you go, the cowboy speaks his usual language again! I wish he said - "What we need to do is to get UN to get Israel to stop this shit". That would have been more appropriate and helpful for the world.

Enjoy the clip !

Muslim rapper take on post 9/11 world

2006-07-15T22:51:00.000+01:00

The song has been a massive hit on the internet already, with its video being one of the most downloaded on website MySpace.com.

Actor-turned-rapper Riz MC - real name Riz Ahmed - has established himself firmly as a class rapper , emphasising comedy with his debut single Post-9/11 Blues, a satirical take on the fear people have felt since the attacks.

In his own words....

"I'm throwing up questions rather than answering them.

What I'm trying to do with the song as a whole is talk about the way that there is a post-9/11 industry.

I think quite a lot of the way in which our cultural landscape has been shaped post-9/11 is laughable.

We're so bombarded with words like "fundamentalist", "British Muslim", "beards", "rucksacks", "planes" - this language, and our public symbols, have been invested with new meanings.

What I'm trying to do is investigate that, but in a different way.

I think quite a lot of the way in which our cultural landscape has been shaped post-9/11 is laughable.

I think a branding exercise has taken place. The war on terror; Osama bin Laden as a James Bond super villain - it seems as though the political debate has been packaged in the way you package a product.

Wars are being sold in the way in which lifestyles are sold in glossy magazines.

I wanted to throw up this absurdity, and take this climate of fear to its illogical conclusion."

Blast, Zizou and Alexander

2006-07-13T21:43:00.000+01:00

I was talking to my close Indian friend who happens to be a RSS activist about the Mumbai Blasts that killed more than 200 people just a day before. He used to travel by that train line and most of his families live in Mumbai as well. He was saying ( to us) even the street kids in India know who (Pakistan) did it ! So everyone is asking for a war with Pakistan and he is ready to go for it. I told me that killing is not the way forward but he insisted that India should follow the foot steps of USA and invade Pakistan. According to him, like USA invaded Afganistan , India should invade Pakistan and that will teach them a lesson ! It's surprising that nobody has blamed Bangladesh yet but I assume the blame is gonna eventually come down to Bangladesh at some point. We just have to wait and see.

The world cup final turned out to be quite a show when Zizou, a non-practicing Muslim, head-butted the Italian player who was bullying him. Right after the incident the English newspapers employed few lip readers to find out what was the conversation all about that provoked Zizou to do such a thing. Here are some of the findings by the lip readers:

"Son of a terrorist whore,"

"I did it (the nipple-twisting) because I know that's how your mother likes it,"

"I wish an ugly death to you and your family,"

"your sister's a prostitute"

"you make love to your sister," etc.

Surprisingly the lip reading service wasn't that bad at all ! Yesterday Zidane, on french TV, did claim that the Italian insulted his mother and sister and he doesn't have any regret for what he did. So here we go - bravo to lip readers !

I was reading an article by Humayun Ahmed ( the famous Paedophile :-)) . In his China travelling diary, he preached to Bangladeshi audience that Alexander the great is a prophet of Islam. It irritates me to a great deal when somebody states a fact to a wider audience without any research at all ( much like Dan Brown; authors do have this preaching problem I guess !) . What I found out is the following from Wiki :

Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in the Qur'an. The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically the 16 verses 18:83-98 (Al Kahf). There is extensive ongoing debate on who exactly was the historical character of Dhul-Qarnayn. Traditionally, many believe that Dhul Qarnayn is modelled on the Alexander The Great, through the intermediary of the Alexander Romance. However, in recent years, alternative theories have been proposed supporting other explanations. One of the most prominent of these is the theory that Dhul-Qarnayn was no other than Cyrus the Great of Persia. This theory has been endorsed by such scholars as Maududi, the Indian minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Allameh Tabatabaei (in Vol 26 of his al-Mizan), and Grand Ayatollah Makarim al-Shirazi (Bargozideh Tafseer-i Nemuneh, Vol 3, p69), among others.

Maududi writes in his Tafsir [1]

The identification of Dhul-Qarnain has been a controversial matter from the earliest times. Generally, commentators have been of the opinion that Dhul-Qarnayn is actually Alexander, but some characteristics of Dhul-Qarnain described in the Qur'an, it has been argued, are not applicable to the historical Alexander. The fact that the Alexander-as-Dhul-Qarnay theory actually refers to the semi-mythical Alexander described in the Alexander Romance makes the connection even more problematic for some Islamic scholars. Today some commentators are inclined to believe that Dhul-Qarnain was actually Cyrus The Great, an ancient king of Achaemenid Persia.

Muslim Comedy

2006-07-08T19:51:00.000+01:00

This guy is simply hillarious ! When my friend asked me to listen the comedy act , I was a bit reluctant cause I am really not a fan of stand up comedy. But once I watched the piece, I couldn't stop laughing for a while. I would recommend anybody who likes comedy to have go at it. The guy has a blog of his own and posts his all comedy acts in it. You can also get his videos in youtube. Just search for Ummah Films.

So here you go...the first one -

Muslim While Flying - If you thought "black while driving" was bad...imagine being Muslim while flying. If you want to learn about what Islam really is, don't study the Muslims...study Islam.

And the second one...

Muslim Characters at Work - It amazes me how some Muslims act one way at the Masjid and then act totally different when you see them at school or at work

And the Massacre still continues in Palestine...

2006-07-04T22:01:00.000+01:00

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the military to continue its offensive in Gaza.

Today the Islamic University in Palestine have been bomberded and destroyed. Earlier Israeli terrorists destroyed three bridges and the only power station in Gaza. Much of Gaza has now been left without electricity and running water.

Israel, as an 'act of self-defence', also detained eight members of the Hamas-led government and 20 MPs. Palestinians called it an act of war. The Israelis say they suspect them of involvement in terrorism, and are holding them for questioning. The detained ministers include Finance Minister Omar Abdal Razeq, Social Affairs Minister Fakhri Torokma and Prisoners' Affairs Minister Wasfi Kabha and Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Nasser Shair.

Every few hours, sonic booms rattle the city, waking people from their sleep and setting off car alarms.

The international community has already cut aid to the Palestinians in March when Hamas took office. That's a "small" price palestinians had to pay for exercising their democratic rights !

'The International aid agencies reported yesterday that the Israeli terrorist air strikes have knocked out water systems and a major power transformer, cutting vital electricity supplies to hospitals as well as families. But guess what? No one has moved an inch, not the West, not the Arab world, no one. Ask yourself why? Because they are not Israelis. And because this is one of the aims of Israeli terrorist forces. Terrorism, Terrorism, Terrorism!!!' - Sabbah

Here's an email sent by a young girl in Gaza to a friend in Europe.....

LENA

THEY WILL NEVER STOPP DPOIN THIS WITH US AND BRITIAN SUPPORT, THEY CUT THE ELECTRICITY AND SOON THERE WILL BE NO WATER TO DRINK AT LEAST, SONIC BOBS IS SOME THIN MAKES U FEEL LIKE GOIN CRAZY, PLZ DO SOME THING

HELD DEMONESTRATIONS OR WHAT EVER,I DONO WHAT TO SAY LINA, THEY WILL DESTROY HOUSES AND DO MANY MANY NASTY THINGS AS USUAL

CAN COME HERE AND WORK WITH US ITS SOME PPLS JOB LINA, U MUST COME HERE TO EVALUATE THE TRUTH AND THE FACTS, BELIEVE ME, THEY R NOT DOIN THIS 4 THE SAKE OF THE KIDNAPPED SOLDIER, CUZ B4 THAT THEY KILLED FAMILIES TRYIN TO HAVE FN ON THE BEACH, I KNOW THAT UR HAPPY WATCHING THE MONDIAL, BUT THERE R SOME PPL HOPE THAT U WOULD SUPPORT US, CHILDREN R EVEN MORE AFRAID TO LOSE THEIR PARENTS,MOST CHILDREN THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GRL ON THE BEACH WILL HAPPEN TO THEM ANY TIME AND IN ANY PLACE, I EVEN CANT REACH GAZA THEY DESTROYED THE BRIDGES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE GAZA STRIP

PLZ AT LEAST PRAY FOR US, I REALLY KNOW THAT U WANT TO DO SOMETHIN BUT U CANT, BUT I ALSO WANT TO TELL ABOUT WHAT IS GOIN ON HERE, THEY MAN ENVEY MA VILLAGE TODAY NIGHT AND IM TRYIN NOT TO IMAGINE WHAT CAN HAPPEN

IM WRITIN THIS E MAIL VERY FAST CUZ I DON WANT THE ELECTRICITY TO BE CUT B4 I FINISH IT

BYE

Lets all pray for them. That's all we can do for the moment !

Massacre Continues in Palestine

2006-06-22T22:45:00.000+01:00

Another day and another terrorist attack by the Israelis killed two Palestinians, a woman and a man in the Gaza Strip. Seven others, including a number of children, were wounded in the blast which hit a house in Khan Younis.

Israel has killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians in air strikes in recent days, many of them children.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli missile strike on a car killed three children.

On 13 June, eight civilians were killed in a similar attack.

Israeli terrorism continues and the world, surprisingly, remains silent.

India, till today, remains the closest ally to Israel from Asia.

Israel has emerged as India's second largest supplier of military equipment (after Russia), with sales of nearly Rs 120 billion over the last three years. (This amounts to about $900 million per year, as compared to $1.5 billion per year from Russia.) The range of India's purchases is considerable. The most important agreement is India's $1.1 billion purchase of Phalcon early warning radar and communications systems, Israel's largest arms sale. Other important deals include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force; sea-to-sea missiles; border monitoring equipment; night vision devices; artillery; artillery radars; fast attack naval craft; an electronic warfare system for the INS Virat; and ammunition. India's shopping list is much longer, and includes missile defence systems.

The two countries are also planning to collaborate on the design and manufacture of certain weapons; and Israel will participate in India's planned mission to the moon ('Chandrayaan I'), with funds and perhaps a second, Israeli, satellite.

Growing Indo-Israeli military cooperation is evidenced by the repeated exchange visits of senior military officials. since the UPA government assumed office in May 2004, the vice-chief of the Army, the chief of the Navy, and the chief of the Air Force have visited Israel, and the chief of the Israeli Army has visited India. One aspect of this cooperation is training. Israel is training upto 3,000 Indian commandos in urban warfare and counter-insurgency operations, and India's Cabinet Committee on Security has decided to solicit Israeli training for four new Special Forces counter-insurgency battalions for Kashmir.2 India's Border Security Force has proposed specialised training for its officers in Israel, since the latter has "a long history of guarding its borders along the Palestinian territories effectively."3 Israel, on the other hand, wants to use the facilities of India's Jungle Warfare and Counter-Insurgency School in Mizoram to train its forces.

Beyond this, however, is a strategic element. Israel wants a sea-borne force armed with nuclear weapons. Martin Sherman, a senior Israeli analyst, writes that the Mediterranean is not the ideal location for such a force, as a number of littoral states are unfriendly to Israel. In this regard, the Indian Ocean, as location... facilitating the deployment and maintenance of this capability could well assume vital importance.... Of course, for the establishment and operation of such a maritime venture, cooperation with the Indian navy would be vital. In this regard, it is especially significant that in 2000, Israeli submarines reportedly conducted test launches of cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in the waters of the Indian Ocean off the Sri Lanka coast.

The two countries' intelligence services have established close relations. The Israeli intelligence services have been allowed, like the FBI, to open an office in Delhi. A joint commission has been set up at the ministerial level for cooperation in 'combating terrorism'. There are reports that Israel's secret service, Mossad, will train Indian intelligence personnel.

The political relationship between the two countries was most explicitly stated by India's National Security Advisor, Brajesh Mishra, in his May 8, 2003 address to the American Jewish Committee:

India, the United States, and Israel have some fundamental similarities. We are all democracies, sharing a common vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity.... The US, India and Israel have all been prime targets of terrorism. They have to jointly face the same ugly face of modern day terrorism.... As the main targets of international terrorism, democratic countries should form a viable alliance against terrorism...

Thus in the 2001 Durban conference on racism, India blocked attempts by Arab countries to include a sharp censure of Israel's anti-Arab policies in the conference's final resolution. Shimon Peres, then Israeli foreign minister, warmly praised India's action, which helped "tipping the scales on the side of justice". When, in September 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited India, the Indian side made no mention of the Palestinian question. And when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visited India in May 2005, the Indian government hosted him in a deliberately low-key fashion, calling for an end to 'violence' but neglecting to condemn Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza.

Further, the Indian government wants to use the services of the pro-Israel lobby in the US both as support to, and a model for, its own lobbying activities in Washington.

For India, Israel and its affiliated lobbies in Washington can be a useful instrument, for promoting New Delhi's case on the Pakistani issue. This was a topic raised in a recent trilateral meeting held this month in New Delhi, attended by Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA), the influential Washington-based think tank, former Israeli intelligence chiefs and Indian security and defence experts. - Martin Sherman

Jesus denied he was 'son of God'

2006-06-17T20:15:00.000+01:00

"In Islam, Jesus (Arabic Isa) is considered one of God's most beloved and important prophets, a bringer of divine scripture, and also the Messiah. Muslims, however, do not share the Christian belief in the crucifixion or divinity of Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus is alive in heaven and will return to the earth as Messiah in the company of the Mahdi once the earth has become full of sin and injustice." - Jesus in Wikipedia

Michael Baigent’s ( acclaimed author of Holy Blood Holy Grail) new book The Jesus Papers question the very tenets of the Christian faith. Michael Baigent’s The Jesus Papers tries to strip Jesus of his divinity by claiming that he wrote letters to a Jewish court denying that he was the son of God.

The Jesus papers in the book’s title are two scrolls supposedly written in Aramaic and found under a house in the old city of Jerusalem in the 1960s. It is claimed they are letters written to the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, by Jesus, saying he is not the son of God but is filled with the spirit of God.

Baigent also claims he has discovered information about a mysterious document that purports to provide evidence that Jesus was alive in AD45, more than a decade after the accepted date for the crucifixion. The document was supposedly seen by Alfred Lilley, canon at Hereford Cathedral, at a church in Paris in the 1890s but later vanished. Baigent believes it now rests in the Vatican.

Jesus was a real man with siblings. On his father's side Jesus was descended from the line of David, King of Israel. On his mother's side he was descended from Aaron, the high priest. He was, therefore, a doubly legitimate messiah from the temporal and spiritual lines. His "death" on the cross was manufactured by his followers. He "died" when he was given a solution of drugs in the sponge. Taken down from the cross, he was quickly removed to a tomb owned by one of his supporters and conveniently located nearby, where he was revived. Even the Koran (IV, 155ff) speaks of a rigged crucifixion, according to Baigent. He married Mary Magdalene and lived happily thereafter in the South of France.

A group called the Zealots is the key. They wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, and were Judean freedom fighters in Baigent's view. Jesus grew up among them, and at least two of his disciples were Zealots, Simon Zelotes and Judas Iscariot. It is this political aspect that is excluded from the New Testament, "a sanitized, censored, and often inverted view of the time." It was a view which steadily removed Jesus from his Jewish context and ultimately led theologians and artists to depict him as a blond, blue-eyed European.

Baigent notes that documents continue to be discovered and sold. The recent "Judas Gospel" is a prime example and would seem to lend a slight air of credence to Baigent's proposition. Ultimately, Baigent writes, "All history is a myth, a story created to make some sense out of the few events we can know. The past is a hypothesis erected to explain and justify the present." History is what gets documented by the victors and does not always represent what really happened so we must read and interpret many different accounts of a particular event in order to arrive near the "Truth."

Fathers for Justice

2006-05-23T22:56:00.000+01:00

I was away for a week in San Diego , California and it seems the world turned upside down when I came back. Things have turned out OK now and I have got some time to update my blog. It seems I have been to Mexico and not USA. There were so many Mexicans all around the place that you have to wonder where you are. The Mexican border is just 30 minutes from San Diego and therefore, as one would expect, the whole place is flooded by Mexicans. I have hardly spotted any Asian both in San Diego and in Los Angeles. Ah ! let me tell you , if there is one shittiest place on earth you can possibly find, it has to be Los Angeles. People pissing, begging, shops on streets, pinching people for money - can't really describe. It's dead scary. But hold your breath for 10 minutes and if you can reach the Beverly Hills , you have perhaps landed in the earthly heaven. What a contrast !

This guy in San Diego told me that he is going to drive to DC to protest the court's ruling. The court has taken his daughter from him. He thinks he will be famous and so will I be( cause I am taking his pictures ). LOL. He reminded me of the infamous 'fathers for justice' in UK. What about a 'fathers for justice' chapter in BD ?

Bhutan: A happiness freak kingdom !

2006-05-01T19:02:00.000+01:00

It's quite shocking (weird ?!) to see Bhutan has got some kick-arse formulas to maintain hapiness in the little kingdom. But it still couldn't top the happiness chart. My humble advice to Bhutanese: take some useful tips from Bangladesh - the happiest country in the world ! The tips might work magic for Bhutan's desperate efforts for happiness.

1. The remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is the only country in the world which puts happiness at the heart of government policy.

2. The government must consider every policy for its impact not only on Gross Domestic Product, but also on GNH: "Gross National Happiness".

3. The politics of happiness has led Bhutan to make very different decisions from countries simply searching for wealth.

4. The capital, Thimpu, is remarkable for its lack of advertising. In an attempt to hold back consumerism the city council recently banned hoardings promoting Coke and Pepsi.

5. Bhutan was the last nation in the world to introduce television in 1999. Recently they banned a number of channels including international wrestling and MTV, which they felt did little to promote happiness.

6. Bhutan has even banned plastic bags and tobacco on the grounds that they make the country less happy.

7. The one set of traffic lights Bhutan ever had was on a junction. But people found them frustrating, so they went back to a human being.

8. In Bhutan the government puts inner spiritual development on a par with material improvement.

9. One of the pillars of Bhutan's happiness philosophy is care for the environment. Strict conservation laws are aimed at achieving sustainable development.

10. Development has been moderated and people are less well off financially than they could have been.

Source : BBC

To tolerate evils is to abet them

2006-04-25T18:09:00.000+01:00

Are 500 Hindus leaving Bangladesh every day?

By Shamsuddin Ahmed - New Nation Editorial

Hindu-Boudha-Christian Oikya Parishad of Bangladesh has launched a tirade against the country that tantamount to treason. Its branch in USA is saying that 500 minority Hindus are leaving the country to India every day due to persecution and oppression. The alliance government has started the process so that the people of the minority community could not cast votes in the ensuing election.

A report published in a Dhaka tabloid said a delegation of HBCOP headed by its US branch president Roop Kumar Bhowmik on April 17 met with representatives of Pentagon, State Department, World Bank and Senate Foreign Relations Committee separately. The delegation painted a picture how members of the Hindu community are suffering from oppression and persecution and leaving homes for India for fear of life and honour. Bhowmik and his teammates did not stop there. They tried to convince the US officials that Bangladesh has posed a security threat to South Asia because of rise and expansion of militant fundamentalism in the country.

It is nonsense and blatant lies. HBCOP should be called to show who and from which part of the country 500 Hindus are leaving for India every day. It is naive think nor a man of simple knowledge would believe that this impoverished Bangladesh is a threat to the peace and stability to the region. The real objective of the propaganda is nothing but to obliterate Bangladesh from the map as dreamt by the Indian Congress while unwillingly accepting the partition of the subcontinent nearly six decades ago.

This writer checked up with HBCOP general secretary in Dhaka Nim Chandra Bhowmik. It is no surprise that he fully endorsed the views of Roop Kumar Bhowmik. According to Nim Chandra Bhowmik, Hindus are leaving this country in large numbers, 500 every day on an average. He claimed the reasons as "they are constitutionally deprived of equal rights, subjected to discrimination in government services, persecution and oppression by fundamentalists." He fumbled when asked if Jamaat-e-Islami, which is described by its political foes as fundamentalists, is behind persecution and oppression and if he can offer any instance thereof. Nim Chandra argued that the minorities are poorly represented in parliament, barely 7 in 300-member house and none in the cabinet, and in government services including the Armed Forces. He blamed the major political parties for sidetracking the minority communities. The fact remains that the rate of unemployment in Bangladesh is high. A large number of Bangladeshi youths irrespective of religion are unemployed in the absence of job opportunity. They are hankering after going abroad in search of job. Many sell landed property for going abroad through manpower agents. Many return after a miserable journey as we seen in newspaper reports. There may be instances that members of the minority community left for better off India for employment.

I am born in a Hindu dominant area of Munshiganj district and have seen the exodus of Hindus after the partition to India. They had gone under no persecution but with the belief that Pakistan was created for the Muslims and Indian for the Hindus. In early 60s, I had the opportunity of living in the Hindu dominated old Dhaka city. There I found most residents could not reconcile with the creation of Pakistan. They used to subscribe Ananda Bazar Patrika and tune to Indian Radio. Tuning of Indian radio was banned and the then Pakistan Observer reported the government step the following morning in front page under the heading 'Regimentation of Culture!' The ban could not be implemented. Entry of Indian newspapers was however prohibited successfully.

Members of Hindu community are well respected and honoured in the society and administration provided lot of facilities also had their heart half in India. Brozen Das, hero of crossing the English Channel, was doing brisk business here but used to keep his family in Kolkata. He went to Kolkata few years ago and died there. There are many Hindu businessmen whose families are living in India. Many businessmen and even bank officials have fled the country with huge money. A well-placed teacher who used to taught son of my colleague has recently joined his family in Kolkata. None of them were ever persecuted or oppressed in the society. In fact, they do it because of their traditional anti-Muslims mindset.

The nasty propaganda of HBCOP is part of a long and deep-rooted conspiracy against this country. After the October 2001 general elections, several stage-managed documentary films were made falsely depicting atrocities on the minority. The films, video- and audio-cassettes said to have recorded in some villages in Bangladesh. The films and cassettes were seized from Shahriar Kabir on his return by plane from Kolkata at ZIA airport. Shahriar was arrested from the airport on November 22, 2001. Secret agencies after investigation ascertained that the films were made and cassettes recorded stage-managed in some West Bengal villages. Shahriar, convenor of Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee, was prosecuted on charge of treason but the case never proceeded for reasons not known to the people. If he were tried and punished HBCOP would not possibly dared to proceed with the heinous propaganda against the country.

HBCOP propaganda is encouraging the Indian leaders. Indian state minister Jairam Ramesh talking to correspondents representing the Indian media during his recent visit to Dhaka expressed concern that secular foundation of Bangladesh is eroded.

He said India believe that some Bangladeshi citizens are working to create problems in India. Apostle of secularism Jairam should be reminded of the Gujarat mayhem and frequent riots in secular India in which hapless minority Muslims were butchered in connivance with the administration.

It is no good always following the policy of appeasement. HBCOP should be asked to prove the allegation or face dire consequences. Acting against the country sitting in this soil and enjoying all benefits must not be allowed. Let us all remember the Chinese proverb: To tolerate evils is to abet them.

Khela Ghor : Doll House

2006-04-21T08:58:00.000+01:00

Khela Ghor

Direction: Morshedul Islam ; Cast: Riaz, Shohana Saba etc.

My Rating: 7/10

This is the best Bangla movie I have seen so far in recent days. The movie was released this new year's day on the 14th of April. Thanks to our Bangladeshi brothers all over the world, who gave me the chance to watch this movie straightway !

I have read the story a long time back..probably a good ten years or more. The movie is based on the story by Mahmudul Haque and directed by Morshedul Islam. The story sets in the backdrop of the liberation war in 1971. But it's not about the war but it's more to do with the grown intimacy between two young souls brought together by the calamity. As one pointed out , 'it's a sweet romantic movie..'. But it's also not just romantic ; it's the narration of the whole story using camera that amazed me. The direction could have been much better...but a BIG BIG thanks for making this movie in good quality print. No matter how good a movie is, if it's not released in a good quality print, nobody is gonna watch it - in this age ! So that itself is a good starting point for the movie. The beginning was a bit too detail and it carries on - a technique the 'art' film makers use in Bangladesh and West Bengal. Personally I don't like too detailed slow camera work - brilliant movies can be made with faster camera work , these people should get that in their head. Anyway, the main casts do a brilliant job but the role of the girl played by new comer Sohana Saba was brilliant ! She outperforms everybody in the movie. Her character , the screen play and the direction at last half are all smooth as running water. Coolest bit is when Riaz kissed Saba - both shocking and sweet for Bangladeshi movie lovers. The potrayal of their intimacy, the rain and the amazing landscape all can take anybody's breath away. I can proudly refer this movie to an international audience. The only downside is the use of song in this movie. The plot was begging for songs but the director just refused it. The only song used is a tagore song sung the lead female cast without any instrument - very blunt ! This looked very artificial in all sense.

Overall, a very good work by the director and the whole team. This is the best movie that came out since TV companies started sponsoring movies. Brilliant stuff ! I wish I could watch this movie in big screen. Hope you watch it too !

Happy Bangla New Year !

2006-04-14T20:51:00.000+01:00

Go on Tigers !

2006-04-11T00:23:00.000+01:00

Bangladeshis can feel their own pulse now and must be shaking in disbelief to what has happened over the last two days in the test match against Aussies ! Whatever happens, thanks to Bangladesh cricket team for the magical two days and most importantly for bringing the whole nation together. Go on Tigers !

Bangladesh: Rebirth of a Nation

2006-04-03T17:22:00.000+01:00

Times reports on the rising of a new Bangaldesh. Just what Bangaldesh needed - a rebirth and that's exactly what's happening. A dedicated new generation driven for success and global recognition has made the dream come true. Bangladesh moves on leaving behind numerous daily propagandas by the new traitors and fighting against a hostile neighbour on a daily basis.

Rebuilding Bangladesh

A nation long plagued by natural disasters, poverty, corruption and violence may finally be on the verge of a happier future - by Alex Perry

As Lutfozzaman Babar, Bangladesh's Home Minister, tells it, the call he'd been awaiting for months came at 3 a.m. on March 6 while he was grabbing some sleep in a Singapore hotel during a whistle-stop tour of Asia. "It's him, it's Bangla Bhai," came the voice of a commander in the Rapid Action Battalion (R.A.B.), Bangladesh's élite antiterror squad. "He's surrounded." Babar, the leader of a government drive to rein in Islamic militancy, was instantly awake. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" he urged. "We need him alive. We need to know what he knows."

Bhai, whose real name is Siddiqul Islam, was the prime target in the government's crackdown on terrorism...Babar put in a triumphant call to the secure red phone in Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's office. "She was very excited," he recalls. She still is. In an interview with TIME, Zia purrs over how the war against radical Islamists is going. "We've broken their back," she says. "We will catch all of them. They'll get life sentences, or death."

Zia's most popular initiative has been forming the R.A.B., a police force that draws support in part for its willingness to kill....Zia made combating the insurgency the defining mission for Home Minister Babar and the R.A.B., formed in 2004 from 9,000 top officers in the military and police. The Bangladeshi authorities solicited forensic help from the FBI and Scotland Yard, which was particularly interested in a May 2004 bomb attack that injured British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury; the R.A.B. also exchanged information with Interpol and Western intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, Zia demanded, and received, public support for an antiterror drive from Bangladesh's religious leaders and from her Islamist coalition members. The government also targeted bank accounts operated by suspect Islamic foundations in order to cut off funding to terrorists.

In addition to Bhai's capture, this antiterrorism campaign has led to nearly 1,000 arrests over the past eight months. Five of the seven top leaders of one terror group, the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, have been caught, including Bhai's alleged co-conspirator Sheikh Abdur Rahman. Only two months ago, says a Western diplomat, "I was telling people back home it was just a matter of time before we had the first car bomb or first attack on a foreigner." The "nightmare scenario that could have unhinged the entire country," he adds, was for terrorist attacks to escalate during what is already expected to be a tense general election in early 2007—but that now seems "pretty remote. What we're seeing looks like the implosion of the entire [militant] organization."

Bangladesh, dubbed in the 1970s by Henry Kissinger as a "bottomless basket," is making surprising progress on other fronts, too. According to the U.N.D.P., the country now scores higher than neighbor India on several key barometers of social development, such as infant mortality, child vaccination, and employment of women—a striking turnaround over the past decade or so. The country's much-praised microcredit scheme, operated by the Grameen Bank, has lent an average of $120 each to 5.8 million people. And the government says 100% of young children are now enrolled in primary school, and that girls at last have equal access to education—goals that Zia, as a woman leading a conservative Muslim nation, had made a priority. "If we want to progress as a country, to remove poverty and spread awareness of family planning, we have to give [girls] equal rights," she explains.

The economy is looking up, too. GDP has grown by at least 5% for three years running, and the Asian Development Bank predicts that growth will hit 6.5% in 2006. Foreign direct investment rose from $138 million to $454 million in the first six months of last year compared to the same period the previous year. The number of cell-phone users rose by 144% in a year. And Goldman Sachs has rated Bangladesh as one of 11 developing nations that, in the long term, could emulate the success of China, India, Brazil and Russia. Mahmudur Rahman, Zia's executive chairman of the Government Board of Investment, can scarcely hide his delight, describing Bangladesh's recent economic success as "nothing short of a miracle."

That might be overstating it. But Christine Wallich, World Bank country head, says that in the past 12-18 months international opinion has indeed gone through a sea change. Bangladesh, she says, is now seen as "the little engine that could." Dramatic proof of that comes in plans by India's biggest business group, Tata, for a $2.5 billion investment in Bangladesh in steel, gas, coal and power. If it proceeds as planned, that would exceed the total foreign direct investment the country has attracted since independence. Wallich says the effect on Bangladesh of such a vote of confidence would be "transformative."

Salim Chaklader, 45, is part of the rising tide of Bangladeshis who have escaped from subsistence living and joined the happier ranks of the urban middle class. Born in a village outside Dhaka, he and his family moved to the capital in 1973 and set up a shop importing cloth from Thailand and China. The family now has six shops and 40 employees, and Chaklader hopes to send his two sons, 18 and 16, to university. "We're pretty confident of the future," he says. His conviction is echoed by Alan Rosling, executive director of Tata Sons and a prime mover behind Tata's investment in Bangladesh. "There is poverty," he says, "but there's also a fast-developing middle class, which makes it an attractive market. People tell us we're taking a big risk. But we've had a long, hard look at Bangladesh and while, yes, there are issues, there's nothing we see there that we don't see in most countries."

.....what was once one of the sorriest places on earth, there is new hope. From the slow but marked gains in foreign investment to Zia's decision to fight Islamic militancy head-on, Bangladesh has achieved progress that few outsiders, or even Bangladeshis, believed possible a few years ago. "All we need," says University of Dhaka Professor of Economics Abul Barkat, "is five years of good governance, and we'd be away." Surely no nation ever deserved it more.

Broke-Back (?!) Mountain

2006-04-01T10:44:00.000+01:00

The name says it all. It's broke back....you know what I mean ! The movie is about two gay cowboys and their romance. Since the subject matter breaks the taboo , it has won numerous awards all over the West. Unexpectedly though, it failed to grab the top award - Oscar , lost the competition to a movie called 'Crash' which deals with the racial problems. Anyway, the new trend in Hollywood is to make gay movies ( more coming ! ) and winning awards - as my English colleague correctly pointed out that it's all about 'Emperor's new clothes' - even if the king is naked you still have to praise the cloth on him beacuse that's what gives you status and that's what the trend is !

Religious India Defeats Secular India

2006-03-26T13:39:00.000+01:00

Melvin Durai

Melvin Durai is an Indiana-based writer and humorist. Born in Tamil Nadu, India, he grew up in Zambia and moved to the U.S. in the early 1980s. In 1995, while working as a reporter for a daily newspaper in Chambersburg, Pa., he began writing a regular humor column. His weekly column now appears in several newspapers and on a number of Web sites. He also writes a twice-monthly column on Indian and Indian-American issues.

A friend recently reminded me that India is a secular state, prompting me to burst out laughing. It was the funniest thing I had heard since someone used the words "honest" and "politician" in the same sentence.

If India can accurately be described as "secular," then Mike Tyson is well within his rights to call himself "stable."

To be sure, a young India groomed itself as a secular state, one that would not favor a particular religion over another. But the India of 1950 is not the same as the India of 2002, Dev Anand's hairstyle notwithstanding.

It's a good thing Mahatma Gandhi isn't alive today to see the religious hatred that the political leaders of "secular India" have wrought. If he were to meet Narendra Modi, the Gujarat chief minister who did little to prevent the recent massacre of Muslims, Gandhi would be tempted to set aside nonviolence for a few minutes to give Modi a good beating.

Western reporter: "Mr. Gandhi, you believe in nonviolence, don't you? Then why did you strike Mr. Modi?"

Gandhi: "Mr. Modi turned a blind eye on the slaughter of Muslims. I merely spent a few minutes turning his blind eye into a black eye. Perhaps he can see better now."

Reporter: "But Mr. Gandhi, didn't you once say that an eye for an eye would make the whole world blind?"

Gandhi: "Yes, but I was speaking in general terms. Man cannot live without exceptions."

My dictionary defines secular as "not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body." But even this definition is open to interpretation. It can be argued, for example, that the BCCI, India's cricket board, is "secular," despite the fact that millions of people follow cricket religiously. Not to mention that so many of them worship Sachin Tendulkar.

But it's harder to argue that the nation is secular, not when politics and religion are so intertwined, when the ruling BJP is described as a "Hindu nationalist" party, when the government supports militant religious groups that turn one Indian against another. Under these circumstances, expecting India to be secular is like expecting Bill Clinton to be celibate. It's virtually impossible.

We Indians are fond of describing our motherland as the "world's largest democracy," a title that has been earned partly through the efforts of ordinary people, who routinely face two major challenges: (1) deciding which political candidate to vote for: the corrupt one or the crazy one; and (2) figuring out how to avoid the social worker from the family planning office.

We are also fond of describing India as "secular," going so far as to compare it to America, a country where the killer of a Hindu is prosecuted as aggressively as the killer of a Christian, where the police are required to give equal protection to ordinary citizens, whether they worship Jesus, Allah, Shiva or Tendulkar. If that reminds you of India, perhaps you need a few more visits to your psychiatrist.

When western reporters use the term "Hindu India" or "Hindu-dominated India," some Indians are quick to criticize them: "India is a secular country, you morons. It is not like Saudi Arabia, Iran, or, god-forbid, Pakistan."

Call me crazy, but I'd rather have a "Hindu India" that values EVERY life than a "secular India" that turns its back on religious minorities.

Bangladeshi men are too sexy !

2006-03-13T17:47:00.000Z

Good looks for women could bring blessings and loads of good luck but good looks for men can lead to potential troubles. Bangladehi young men have paid a heavy price for having a good look. They have been offcialy charged for being 'too sexy' to be handled by the Malaysian government. Malaysian girls can hardly resist the charms of Bangladeshi guys (same here in UK) and fall in love head over heels. Now the trouble is though, as a punishment of getting romantically involved with Malay chicks, Bangladeshi dashing heroes have been banned from working in Malaysia. Malay government has cleverly blamed the macho Bangladeshis for creating 'social problems' - Oh Yeah !

"Thousands of Bangladeshi workers, banned from Malaysia because local women were finding them too attractive, are now entering the country on student visas under the pretense of learning English, a news report and an official said Monday.

Bangladeshi workers were banned from Malaysia two years ago, mainly because they were creating "social problems" by entering into romantic liaisons with local women, said Saiful Islam, a spokesman for Radzi - the Home affairs minister.

He told The Associated Press that they were found to have harassed young women and eloped with married women, who apparently succumbed to their good looks and charms.

On Sunday, Radzi said Bangladeshi men look like Indian movie stars"

Farakka----India’s diabolical water conspiracy against Bangladesh

2006-03-09T19:37:00.000Z

The abnormal drying up of major rivers and their tributaries coupled with sharp fall in underground water levels has caused a serious threat to the environment, navigation and irrigation in northern and north-western regions of Bangladesh.

Sources in the Water Development Board (WDB) and experts said water flow in the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Padma, Mohananda and their tributaries has slowed down abnormally causing emergence of hundreds of shoals adversely affecting navigation and irrigation.

They said the serious situation has been created by the unilateral withdrawal of waters from the international rivers by India through its Farakka, Gozaldoba and Mohananda Barrages in the upstream, which also causes unusual fall in the underground water levels.

It also brings about changes in the overall climatic pattern. As a result, the northern region is experiencing extreme cold and hot weather, the sources said.They said if this situation continues, the process of desertification will be accelerated affecting environment, climate, ecology, bio-diversity, agriculture, habitation, navigation and irrigation in northern and north-western Bangladesh.

The navigation has almost come to a halt at all points of the major rivers since the advent of the current dry season. Only five out of 15 spans at the Hardinge Bridge and only one out of 44 sluice gates of the giant Teesta Barrage Project (TBP) at Dalia point in Nilphamari district is releasing a little quantity of water.

The water level in the Brahmaputra has marked an all-time fall at all points in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur and Mymensingh districts.

The navigation has stopped at the Teesta Railway Bridge and other points of the river Teesta. It has come to a halt for the first time in the river Brahmaputra at all its entry points.

Farmers are unable to irrigate their Boro fields sowed earlier on char lands for want of water. Hundreds of boat passengers remain stranded on chars and shoals almost everyday when their boats and ferries hit the emerging shoals, the sources said.

History of the Ganges Conflict between Bangladesh and India

Negotiations on sharing of Ganges water at Farakka was started from 1960 at the time of signing of Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan. India decided to construct a barrage across the Ganges at Farakka in 1951 in order to divert water to Bhagirathi to maintain its navigability which was being hampered due to siltation. Construction of the Farakka Barrage was started by India in 1960 unilaterally violating the international norms of any construction for diversion of water on any international river. Construction of the barrage having a length of 7363 ft, designed for a maximum design discharge of 27,00,000 cusec and a head regulator for diversion capacity of 40,000 cusec of flow.

Over the next years, Pakistan occasionally responded to reports of Indian plans for diversion projects of the Ganges, with little Indian response. In 1957, and again in 1958, Pakistan proposed that:

1. the advisory and technical services of a United Nations body be secured to assist in planning for the co-operative development of the eastern river systems;
2. the projects in the two countries be examined jointly by experts of the two countries before their implementation; and,
3. the Secretary-General of the UN be requested for the appointment of an engineer or engineers to participate in the meetings at experts level.

India turned down these proposals although it was agreed that water resources experts of the two countries should, "exchange data on projects of mutual interests." These expert-level meetings commenced 28 June 1960.

At the third secretaries' level meeting, Pakistan proposed that an agreement should provide for:

1. guarantee to Pakistan of fixed minimum deliveries of the Ganges waters on a monthly basis at an agreed point;
2. construction and maintenance of such works, if any, in India as may be necessary in connection with the construction of the Ganges Barrage in Pakistan;
3. setting up of a permanent Ganges Commission to implement the agreement;
4. machinery and procedure for settlement of differences and disputes consistent with international usages.

India again argued that such an agreement could only take place after the two sides had agreed to "basic technical facts."

The fifth and final secretaries-level meeting was held in New Delhi from 16-21 July 1970, resulting in three recommendations:

1. the point of delivery of supplies to Pakistan of such quantum of water as may be agreed upon will be at Farakka;
2. constitution of a body consisting of one representative from each of the two countries for ensuring delivery of agreed supplies at Farakka is acceptable in principle;
3. a meeting would be held in three to six months time at a level to be agreed to by the two Governments to consider the quantum of water to be supplied to Pakistan at Farakka and other unresolved issues relating thereto and to eastern rivers which have been subject matter of discussions in these series of talks.

Little of practicality came out of these talks, and India completed construction of the Farakka Barrage in 1974. Water was not diverted at the time, though, because the feeder canal to the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system was not yet completed.

India approached Bangladesh for test operation of the Farakka Barrage and feeder canal. The then prime Minister Sk. Mujib agreed to India's proposal for test operation of the barrage and feeder canal. Initially in 1975 India was allowed to divert flows varying from 11000 cusec to 16000 cusec for a period of 41 days from 21 April to 31 May '75 with the understanding that India will not operate feeder canal until a final agreement was reached between India and Bangladesh on the sharing of Ganges water. Violating this understanding India started diverting the Ganges water in the upstream unilaterally in 1976 & 1977. Unilateral withdrawal of Ganges water during the dry months resulted serious adverse effects on environment, agriculture, industries, fisheries, navigation, river regime, salinity contamination in the surface and ground water, etc. in the southwestern and western areas of Bangladesh. Covering almost 20% of countries area is 30,000 sq. km inhabited by about 30 million people.

Historical natural flow at Farakka dwindled due to human intervention in the upstream of the Ganges within the Indian territory. Moreover, the Ganges water has also polluted with the toxic chemicals and heavy metals from industrial effluent discharged into the river within the India. Withdrawal of the Ganges water upstream of Farakka varies from 40,000 cusec to 45,000 cusec during the month of March & April apart from diversion at Farakka to the feeder canal which means India has been withdrawing about 60,000 to 80,000 cusec of water from the Ganges leaving a very negligible amount of flow for Bangladesh in recent years.After failing in attempts to resolve this issue peacefully and amicably Bangladesh raised the issue of Ganges water sharing in the UN General Assembly session in 1976. Confronting adverse international opinion India had to sign an ad hoc agreement for 5 yrs on Ganges water sharing in 1977 where she had agree to the just share of Bangladesh on the available flow and to increase the flow at Farakka through augmentation to meet the increasing demand of water of both Bangladesh and India. India also agrees to include Nepal for finding long term solution to the problem.

During the period from 1978 to 82 Bangladesh received more than its share for all the years excepting one when the flow at Farakka fall unexpectedly but the India released the guaranteed minimum flow.

1977 agreement was expired in 1982 and India denied extending it. The then military ruler Gen.Ershad succumbed to the Indian pressure and signed a MOU scrapping the 1977 agreement where the interest of Bangladesh was compromised and the guarantee clause was excluded. MOU signed in 1982 was expired in 1985 and extended to 1988 through two other similar extensions. From 1989 onward India refused to come to any deal with the Bangladesh on Ganges water sharing. No treaty or agreement existed till 1996 during which the average low flow has come down to 10,000 to 12,000 cusec with one extreme event of 9000 cusec. During the period of the last democratically elected Govt. of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia in spite of all assurance of the Indian Prime Minister Narashima Rao to reach a just solution to the Ganges water sharing, India fully avoided reaching any agreement with the Govt. Bangladesh again raised the issue in the UN General Assembly but to no effect.

Ecological impact of Farakka barrage

Bangladesh faces at least 30 upstream water diversion constructions of which Farakka Barrage is the major one. The effects of Farakka Barrage on water resources, socioeconomic, and culture have been disastrous. An attempt has been made here to unfold such ecological disaster before the readership.

Discharges in the Ganges

The gradual decrease of water in the Ganges at the Hardinge Bridge point due to unilateral withdrawal by India has caused the fissured ground to let air into the ground, and reflects, absorbs, and radiates solar radiation, instead of the almost complete absorption when it had been covered with water.

Ganges Distributaries

The Mahananda is the only tributary of the Ganges in Bangladesh. The main distributaries of the Ganges in Bangladesh are the Baral, the Gorai, the Arial Khan, the Bhairab, the Mathabhanga, the Kumar, and the Ichamati. Distributaries have daughter distributaries. The daughter distributaries are the Musa Khan, the Madhumati, the Pashur, and the Kabodack. Water discharging capacity of these daughter distributaries has resulted in due to the weak flushing power in the Ganges. All the aquatics and the amphibians that lived in watercourse during November through June and in during July through November, along with sportive Gangetic dolphins, are gone. The river can no longer feed thousands of ponds, ditches, and more than 900 km2 of floodplains.

Floodplains

Floodplains that used to have water for 12 mo within depths of 1.1 to 2.2 m, 10 to 11 mo within depths of 0.70 to 1.10 m, and 8 mo within depths of 0.25 to 0.60 m, can now have water for 6 mo, 4 mo, and 1 to 3 mo, respectively, making an overall spatial and temporal drop of about 50% and a drop in ground water recharging.

Ponds

The monsoon season water depth in the post-diversion era is about the same level as the dry season water depth in the pre-diversion era. The water contents of the second-largest surface water resource have been reduced by about 50% making also a decrease in ground water recharge.

Ditches

Ditches would provide seasonal jute retting, fish raising, and cleaning water facilities. They would hold water from July through February, depending on their depths and locations. Additionally, bushy sides of ditches had been abodes of migratory birds, which are no longer observed. These dry reservoirs have been absorbed into agricultural land or homesteads.

Depletion of Natural Fish Breeding Grounds

The surface water resources had been the breeding and raising grounds of 109 species of Gangetic fishes. With the decline of surface water resources, breeding and raising grounds of fishes have been shrunk alarmingly. Fish is the cheapest source of animal protein (6.25%), one of the indispensables of life, and calcium (25%). Currently, the cheapest sources for protein and calcium have been depleted. Furthermore, the Ganges water would bring oxygen, nitrogen, lime, and phosphorus for brisk growth of rice plants in the pre-dam era, but the process has slowed now.

Changes in Agricultural Practices

Due to paucity of Ganges water a change in agricultural practices for jute, sugarcane, and rice has been found. The balance between the cultivation of jute and sugarcane is lost. As a result a lot of farmers have become unemployed and moved toward big cities for livelihood.

Aeration and Re-aeration of Water

The lack of running water over the basins has caused a deficiency of dissolved oxygen in recharging water. Fast-moving shallow streams that would keep the basins inundated at least during July through October had more aeration than sluggish deep streams or stagnant ponds or floodplains.

The basins of the Musa Khan and the Baral have lost the stream currents in distributaries, canals, floodplains, ponds, and ditches by almost 100% both in temporal and spatial scales.

Loss of Inland Navigable Routes

With the drying and the dwindling conditions of distributaries, goods are transported via roads and highways causing at least 5% fatalities/wk/km trip on crowded roads and highways. Distributaries provided cheap inland transportation routes, reducing costly and accident-prone land transportation. Generations-old trees were cut down to widen roads and highways to complement transportation. This destroyed habitats and caused a forced deforestation in an under forested country.

Hygienic Effects

Due to low water availability, people living in river bank have no water to bathe in during the summer. The country's news media reported of finding skin diseases like scabies, leprosy, yaws, trachoma, and conjunctivitis due to bathing in unclean surface water. Also, Schwarz et al. (1993) reported that principal infectious diseases related to water supply are typhoid, paratyphoid, fever, bacillary dysentery, amoebic dysentery, diarrhea, cholera, hepatitis, poliomyelitis, stomach disorder, schistosomiasis, drocontiasis, guinea worm, roundworm, and hookworm.

Loss of Professions

Apart from farming, the people in the basins were employed as fish men, potter men, boat makers, fishing equipment makers, fishing technologists, and providers of transportation by hackney carriages. It was found by survey that the number of these professionals dropped from 6, 4, 0.4, 5.4, 4.3, and 0.9% to 0.5, 0.5, 0.08, 1.3, 1.2, and 0.1% of the rural population, respectively. Only the number of rickshaw pullers increased, from 1.3% to 5.9%. As to the lost typical fishing assets, a population of 150 fishermen would make 350 fishing nets of 20 kinds for catching 15 to 20 varieties of fishes. These cottage industries and the technical hands in the basins have become extinct.

Ground Water

The U.S. Geological Survey reports surface water and ground water as a single resource (Winter et al., 1998). Filling of surface water resources and the recharging of ground water would occur during June through October. During November through May, evaportranspiration would drop the ground water table about 4 m (with 50% soil porosity; the actual water depth is 2 m) below the wet-season level, as would be found, during the dry season, from water levels in ponds and open wells, and by digging of new ponds and open wells. Every year the ground water is sinking by at least 0.5 m (Department of Public Health Engineering, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, personal communication, 1995). Although the drop in water table varies from place to place, a comparison of the depths of recently and pre-dam installed tube wells suggests about a 10-m drop in water table.

Arsenic Contamination of Ground Water

It is thought that depleting ground water has let air get in the ground below the pre-dam water table. Arsenopyrites buried in this layer of sediment formed water-soluble compounds of arsenic, which infiltrated to water. Although iron can purify water of arsenic in the presence of oxygen, this self-purification of ground water has not occurred completely since the water diversion started because of inadequate recharging water carrying scanty oxygen into the ground water.

Climatic Changes and Health Effects

An analysis of the climate data reveals that the summertime pre-dam maximum temperature has risen from 37 to 43°C and the wintertime minimum temperature has dropped from 8 to 4°C in the post-dam era (Adel, 2000). Further, the frequency of the highest relative humidity in post-dam period is 1.6 times higher than that in pre-dam period. The frequency of >100 mm rain events has been halved, causing a proportionately reduced infiltration from the monsoon rainfall, because the likely recharge occurs when (i) the soil has a high conductivity, (ii) the watertable lies at shallow depth, (iii) the soil is relatively wet, and (iv) the water input rate is low and lasts for a relatively long time interval (Freeze, 1969).
Reports are available on the appearances of health effects such as hypertension, asthmatic conditions, and increased patient suffering due to temperature fluctuations. It was found that one in every four families has an asthma patient, and more than 10% of the families have three asthma patients. Also, most of the asthma patients above 50 yr of age suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and stroke, the latter being the number one crippler and killer disease. Further, a general kind of aridity prevails in the city of Rajshahi, favoring uplift of aerosol dusts in the air. From the daily intake of 20 m3 of air, an adult individual inhales about 10 mg of dust. Annually, an adult individual inhales 2 g of dust. The inhalation of dusty air triggers allergic reactions in asthma patients and patients having asthma-like symptoms.

Increased Occurrences of the Worst Floods

Bangladesh has become more flood-prone than it was in the pre-dam era. Floods have hit with extraordinary ferocity in the southwest, northwest, northern, eastern, and central parts of the country in the post-dam era from time to time. Dams are used as flood outlets during the flood season when the upstream country cannot withhold the rising flood water. Floods cause irreparable damage to crops, livestock, and above all, humans. Bangladesh is never given a warning of potential floods by the neighboring country, forcing it to face the flood without preparation. The flood of 2000 inundated areas in Rajshahi, Nawabganj, Kustia, Satkhira, and Jessore. In Rajshahi, dead bodies were seen floating in the Ganges. Many people from the neighboring Indian downstream districts took shelter in the northwestern and southwestern parts of Bangladesh. It is reported that Bangladesh border forces had to guard against the upstream country's border forces' action of water release through Bangladesh.

Based on an article by Shah Mohammed Saifuddin

Bangladesh clinches a thriller !

2006-02-22T14:12:00.000Z

46.6 Maharoof to Khaled Mashud, one run, Bangladesh win, wonderful win, big celebrations, pushed to short thirdman with an open face of the bat, single taken.

My hand , feet everything turned cold while I was following the game between Bangladesh and Srilanka in Bogra - the 2nd ODI. Slowly but steadily Bangladesh moved towards a remarkable victory. I didn't have the nerve to follow ball by ball so I was keeping my eyes wide shut off and on. Finally I was set free by Khaled Mashud Pilot pushing for a single and clinching a historic victory.

Me here in UK and my cousing in Saudia Arabia were both following the game. Ah ! What a day ! Wait a minute ! It must be me. I got it ! Bangladesh needs 'me' factor. I live in Cardiff so they won in Cardiff and now they have also won in my hometown Bogra. It must be me ! It must be me !!

Just for your info the official Bangladesh cricket control board website - tiger cricket has a superb animated live coverage. This is amazing. I was surprised to see the technology implemented by a government organisation ! It shows the top view of the stadium with all the fielders, bowlers and batsmen. It's a ball by ball animation. From now on I am giving up cricinfo and going for tiger cricket - Bangladesh rulez !

Who cares about Bangla, anyway ?

2006-02-20T09:46:00.000Z

I remember during my sophomore year, I was working in an exam board during the summer time and then when it first struck me. I met a Bangladeshi guy who is educated to the masters’ level and working in the same place. He was always hanging out with his Pakistani friends and never really caring about his fellow brothers. But that was not the problem; I was stunned to see that this very Bangladeshi guy was speaking in Urdu all day, everyday just to impress his superior Pakistani friends. I remember asking him few times why he speaks in Urdu and every time he failed to come up with a reasonable answer. Well, you might be saying this might be a single case happening somewhere and you are drawing a conclusion based on that. But wait a second, I have more to say.

As I got surprised everyday of my life for the last few years I am sure you will be the same as you read through the rest of this article. Back in the University, the very next year, I met a guy studying law and his father was the then president of the Bar association in Bangladesh. I was expecting a rather polished personality in a young guy like him but guess what , this guy was surrounded by his nearest and dearest Pakistani friends like the other guy I talked about before and this guy was speaking Urdu even better than the first one. His Urdu was so fluent that many of the Pakistanis I knew used to tell me they don’t even know Urdu like this Bangladeshi guy. He even mastered Punjabi version of Urdu and was very proud of it. I know what you are thinking; this guy must be a Rajakar or a Pakistani lover. Oh no! You are absolutely and totally wrong. Just walk into his room and you will discover a large poster of Sheikh Mujib hanging in his wall. He is fluent in Urdu and a fierce supporter of Awami league at the same time. Life is strange. Isn’t it?

Bangladeshis have started migrating long time ago and they have done very good in terms of establishing themselves in foreign lands. The country I am residing now accommodates a large Sylheti population and they have done great in restaurant business. In fact, I was watching a program on Channel 4 few days ago called ‘The Great British Asian Invasion’ and the documentary showed how the people from Sylhet in Bangladesh have changed the taste of British people. But hearing that if you go out to look for a Bangladeshi or a Sylheti restaurant, you will be disheartened surely. What you will find instead is in almost every single area a restaurant having Sylheti owner but outside the restaurant it says ‘Indian cuisine’ and if you dare to go inside you will be hearing Hindi music all day , every day in every single Bangladeshi restaurants as if we don’t have our food or the music even. Strange and pathetic and God knows how many times I have been humiliated by my Indian friends pointing out to these fake Indian restaurants! Now I tried to get an answer for this Namkoron and I found various reasons ( apparently !) . The famous reasoning is most people would recognise India but not Bangladesh. Yeah but that could be a reason for excuse when Bangladeshis first came to UK in the 60's but now ? No way, simply beacuse people who are used to eating 'Indian Curry' already know that these meals are prepared by Bangladeshi people. Actually quite a few of the top Bangladeshi restaurants have managed to name themselves as Bangladshi cuisine and trust me - their business hasn't gone down since they have put the name Bangladesh on the front. So it's completety rubbish if somebody says it's for the business reason, it's probabaly beacuse they are ashamed of their identity at first place. Thanks God that number of Bangladshis having backbones are growing and they have started a campaign to put dine Bangladeshi logo in all the restaurants ( http://www.gbr.org.uk/page4.html).

I was watching channel i on internet and the show was 'Let's move' by Farzana Brownia. The show was all very good, as expected from media attention, but I suddenly stumbled when she was about to present a fake Sachin Tendulkar to a Bangladeshi fan. She presented the whole part of that show in fluent Hindi and the Bangladeshi fan was trying hard to speak in Hindi with the fake Sachin over the phone. I thought to myself this must be a generally accepted norm then otherwise how could somebody present a show in Hindi on national media and still get away with it. Is there any point complaining at all ? !

Here in UK and I guess in the rest of the world it's a default assumption among Indo/Pak people that anybody who looks brownish should be able to speak in Hindi/Urdu. So like you and me , many Bangladeshis face the same surprised remark-'Can't you speak in Hindi !!' . The difference is that there will be some Bangladeshis who will start speaking in their stylish Urdu to mingle with big brothers and there are others who will say 'NO' and stand aside.

Here is brilliant piece on 'Bangla' by a fellow Bangladeshi living in Canada:

"what is the seond language that the people of Bangladesh have fluency in? Well, probably there is no survey or statistics on this issue. But what do you think? Most probably hindi. From a rickshawala on the raods of dhaka to the highest educated bangladeshi guy or girl - Hindi is know to this range of the social class. Frowning? Take a look at this very site, the movies those are reviewed are 99% hindi! That means, the Bangladeshi communitiy those are living abroad are also hindi experts - as if the second language of our country! I have seen plenty of guys and girls who stammers a thousands times to express something simple in english, but very fluent in hindi! As far as I know, in most scools and colleges, mostly 2 languages are taught, Bangla and English. Arabic sometimes. But where did these hindi experts come from? Anyway, Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah expertised in 16 (or more) languages and he was given the title 'cholishnu bidda kolpodroom'. Which means the living moving dictionary. What have we become?

I am not discouraging anyone from learning hindi or any other language. But I am starting this thread from an agony. I live abroad and like most of the places in the world, in my city we've got a Bangladesh association. They regularly arrange programs for Bangladeshi people living in here. The responses are not bad. So, this time, I decided to give it a shot. And what I have experienced was really excruciating. Most of the songs those were sung were hindi, one couple perticipated in a dance show and probably taken from a hindi movie aswell. That was not all, there were some indian artists invited to entertain the audience with hindi music. I don't know what portion of the audience enjoyed the show, I didn't, couldn't. We swear at bangladeshi pop stars, band musicians. Accuse them of spoiling our cultural heritage by invoking western culture in. Renowned singers, writes are amongst these defamers. But they don't find guilt in practicing their talent in hindi! If you take a look at the favorite singers or songs or actors or actresses of bangladeshi artists, the chance of finding hindi superstars is fairly high. Well, I am not talking about those artists those are common faces in FDC. Take a look at the educated ones - those perticipate in baily road stages, intellectual movies, tv drama shows etc.

One guy couldnt find a better job because his english is so poor. But his indian friends were astonished when I told them, I can't speak hindi. They said, c'mon, we know Bangladeshis are not that good in english, but atleast they know hindi! Poor you!"

Here is a response to my article in BangladesherDak by Shaila Alam:

"There are actually more and more people in Dhaka who speak in Urdu. A year ago I went to visit an ex-colleague of mine. In the middle of our adda a Pakistani colleague of his for some input on some issue called him. I was appalled to see my ex-colleague reply to his queries in Urdu!! Of course thePakistani chap was also directing his questions in Urdu. As soon as he left I asked my ex-colleague why he had replied in Urdu and why couldn’t theother guy converse in English at least if he couldn’t speak Bengali. I got quite upset and told him that it was because of people like him that EkusheyFebruary was losing its purpose and significance. I couldn’t believe what he said next. He said Ekushey February is International Mother Language day and that Urdu was a mother language to Pakistanis and be given due respect. Iwas too disgusted and stunned to reply to that. A couple of years ago I went on a training workshop in Kuala Lumpur. There was a large contingent of Pakistanis there, around 30 of them and there were just 4 of us from Bangladesh. Every single one of them asked me if I could speak in Urdu. When I said I couldn’t there surprise and amazement knew no bounds. One guy evenwent to say, “I’m sure your parents know Urdu. Why don’t you?” I calmly informed him that my parents didn’t know Urdu either. If looks could kill Iwouldn’t be writing this e-mail to you. But it wouldn’t be fair to say all Pakistanis are like that. My favorite teacher from school days is a Pakistani and so is one of my ex-colleagues who is a good friend. They have never presumed to say I know Urdu or even spoken to me in it.

There is a massive identity crisis. Here in Bangladesh as well as in Dhaka.I almost hate watching Hindi channels on cable TV but I see my extended family conversing about which serial they watched and what happened to the characters and what not. Don’t know if you came across the latest craze i.e.Indian Idol (off shoot of American Idol). People went ballistic over here.The super rich here went as far as to go to India to cast their votes. It is pathetic how we have lost our morals and principles. And it is even sadder that history has not been documented because the Indians made sure all our buddhijibees were killed before they ‘created us’. I think our parent generation has lost the drive and motivation to teach their children about what is true and what really happened. Nobody talks about it. If you do youare ‘politically’ motivated. This is way too alarming. I don’t know what to tell my kids."

The Glorious Achievements of Bangladesh

2006-02-19T16:32:00.000Z

By Matsushiro Horiguchi, Japanese Ambassador

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you some world-class achievements and important actors that Bangladesh has realised and produced through 35 years since its independence.

First is Bangladeshi Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), which lead other NGOs in the world. The contributions made by BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, and micro-credit concept developed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank are among the biggest achievements.

Second is the Bangladeshi personnel who have won honor for Bangladesh in the international society through their peace-keeping operations (PKO) under the umbrella of the United Nations. The number of Bangladeshi PKO personnel currently amounts to 9758, bigger than any other country, and their high standard of discipline and capabilities have gained full credibility of local peoples in African countries and elsewhere where they have been dispatched.

Third is the ICDDR,B (Centre for Health and Population Research) which invented the world renowned oral rehydration saline (ORS), silver bullet to eliminate diarrhea including cholera.

Fourth is women working in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, which accounts for three quarters of the total Bangladesh exports.Fifth is the Bangladeshi expatriates sending remittances worth US$4 billion, which amounts to the half of the total exports.

Then come the architects. Mr. Fazlur Rahman Khan, who designed tallest skyscrapers in Chicago expressing Bengali richness and American vigor, and Mr. Muzharul Islam, who started from zero to achieve the development of the current Bangladeshi architecture are a couple of illustrious examples.

Seventh is the entrepreneurs of the private sector, who support remarkable growth of the Bangladeshi economy.

Eighth is the folklore musicians, painters, and dancers who transmit and develop Bengali spirit and cultural richness.

The victories and achievements that Bangladesh has realised since its independence and should be proud of as a nation. Bangladeshi people are losing their self-confidence, because they have been suffering from predicaments such as famine, floods and corruption. This endeavour is very significant for following reasons:

First, national pride and self-confidence will motivate further development. More achievements in the fields that are mentioned in the special edition and new feats in other fields can be also facilitated.

Second, further development will enhance national confidence and can trigger a movement towards national unity for a better country.

Third, such a movement can bring about a national determination to take action in order to overcome confrontational politics and eradicate corruption. Though they have been blamed for hindering Bangladeshi development, few concrete actions has been taken so far.

Fourth, the portrayal of their national pride and self-confidence to the outer world will make people in other countries reevaluate Bangladesh and improve their perception which has generally been unfairly negative.

Thus, the campaign to cultivate national pride and self-confidence of Bangladeshi people will bring further development of Bangladesh. I hope that the Bangladeshi government and its people in unity make utmost efforts to continue the campaign to reach the ultimate goal of success.

Campaign for the next year's general election has started already. I believe that a party is highly likely to win if that party could send a positive message to the people like: "Let's restore national pride and self-confidence as Bangladeshis. Let's make Bangladesh a country deserving such pride and self-confidence. We thus propose such-and-such policies and procedures to realise this." I believe that such a constructive competition should greatly contribute to a free and fair election.

I hope that Bangladeshi people become affluent within ten to twenty years and remember this campaign as an important turning point towards the development of the country.

বাংলা ব্লগ

2006-02-17T10:32:00.000Z

আমি এই প্রথম বাংলাই ব্লগ লিখছি । কিচুক্ষন আগে আমি অভ্র কীবোর্ড ইন্সটল করেছি। খুব ভাল লাগছে । অসাধারণ ! ই-কবি কে অনেক ধন্যবাদ ।

James hits the show big time

2006-02-16T18:54:00.000Z

James has certainly got it going in the new Bollywood movie 'Gangster'. The Bangladeshi rockstar (famously known as 'Guru' in Bangladesh) was given the deal of singing in a Mahesh Bhatt movie few months ago and he apparently have managed to pull a hit from his first Hindi song. Quite frankly, he sang it pretty well, more than I expected. His voice was geared and charged up like a true rock star. Only trouble is it feels like he tuned the the song himself cause it sounds like many of his hit Bangla songs or may be the music director has suited the song for his voice. Whatever the case, you will soon be hearing 'Guru' screaming in trailers and songs all over the Indian channels.

"The soulful track that runs in the background “Naa Jaane Koi… Hamari Adhuri Kahani” is simply mesmerizing. When it comes to music, the Bhatts never go wrong."

The film trailer uses Guru's song and if any of you want to have look at it or just want to hear the song by James go to this LINK and download the trailer file.

Battle of 'Freedom of Speech'

2006-02-08T19:44:00.000Z

Now this is getting really interesting ! A battle has begun between militant secularists and Muslims using cartoons only - yes only cartoons and no weapons !! Both parties have spoken in favour of freedom of speech and decided to launch a cartoon crusade against each other. I hope in future all the wars are fought using cartoons ; instead of dropping bombs , cartoons will be dropped - how sweet !!

Militant secularists think Muslims are a threat to freedom of speech all over the world and hence they have decided to bash the Muslims big time. On the other hand, Muslims are quite new to such 'do whatever you like' freedom and hence they want to try the same medicine, which is consistently used against them, on the secular world. Now lets see who wins this cartoon war.

Personally I didn't know that Holocaust is such a taboo subject in the West and the denial of holocaust is illegal in many european countries. This is so sad that the West again sets a double standards for freedom by stopping people to talk about 'killing of Jews' and then asking people to be sarcastic about religion - that's what wise people say 'moving the goal-post'. I was shocked when the BBC newsreader, while interviewing Jordanian president, told that any denial of Holocaust, mocking of Jews etc. should be banned and then her next question was when Islam will learn to take sarcasm ? Excuse me, but I thought the word 'ban' doesn't exist in a free environment. This is the problem with militant secularists. They will ban anything that don't suit them and then preach about freedom and secularism. I want to quote few lines from one of my favourite reporters John Simpson(BBC) :

"Yet despite how it looks on television news, the response to the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad has mostly been non-violent so far.....

There are various similarities with the case of Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses.

Much the same arguments were used then as now, about where freedom of speech ends and gratuitous insults begin.

Militant secularists clashed on air and in print with militant Islamists, each talking past each other.

....a number of European countries would not allow a deeply anti-Semitic book to be published, and have made it a criminal offence to deny the Holocaust.

Why should it not also be illegal to insult the Prophet? "

Now the Arab European League and a leading Iranian newspaper have decided to publish cartoons that attack Western values(!?) under the banner of freedom of speech. AEL declared in their website that from now on they will publish cartoons almost every day for the sake of freedom. Good news for freedom lovers !! 'Walking the thin line', an article by Dyab Abou Jahjahin in the AEL website, speaks the truth:

"Europeans think that freedom of speech is guaranteed in Europe, and that they are defending it against Islamic pressure. This is a view that is widely propagated and defended by groups from across the political spectrum. Reality, however, presents us Muslims living in Europe with another experience. Muslims and others in Europe can not say everything they often want to say and they risk being arrested and prosecuted if they do. Muslims and other religious people can not express their disgust from homosexuality and clearly state that they believe it’s a sickness and a deviation without being persecuted for being homophobic.

People in Europe are not allowed to do a free historical examination of the Second World War and the holocaust and freely express an opinion on it that is different than the dominating dogmatic line. Any attempt to have deviant historical examination of the holocaust will earn you the title of revisionist, anti-Semite and a jail sentence.

I am for the absolute freedom of speech everywhere, and that’s why I call upon every free sole among Arabs to use the Danish flag as a substitute for toilet paper. To illustrate every wall with graffiti making fun of everything Europe holds as holy: dancing rabbis on the carcasses of Palestinian children, hoax gas-chambers built in Hollywood in 1946 with Steven Spielberg’s approval stamp, and Aids spreading fagots. Let us defend the absolute freedom of speech altogether, wouldn’t that be a noble cause?"

After gay marriage:

Hitler Goes Dutroux:

Science Fiction:

Freedom of Speech Campaign: 6000000? : Iranian Nuclear threat :

Cartoons getting serious

2006-02-02T17:19:00.000Z

"Islam represents hope for many in the Islamic world. In a world where western acculturation has not taken place and many are without money, education and future prospects. Why is it that the West feels it necessary to take away ones' religion and make a spectacle of it? Within the Islamic world religion is ones' life. Islam is so entrenched within ones' being that you cannot seperate the individual from God. If someone was to insult the core of you how would you respond?" - Sukh, Vancouver

"The question here has nothing to do with freedom of speech. The caricaturing was uncalled for. It is malicious as are many other western reporting on Islam. What is not acceptable is that muslims don't depict the Prophet Mohammed and I believe the Western journalists know that. The epic film "The message" clearly shows this principle. The reprint was adding insult to injuries because depicting Jesus is not even done by muslims". - Uthman Younis

Here's an update on my earlier post on Danish Cartoons. The row has intensified and reached a new height now.

So here's an update on the whole thing :

From the West End:

The row intensified on Wednesday when France Soir, alongside the 12 original cartoons, printed a new drawing on its front page showing Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy figures sitting on a cloud, with the caption "Don't worry Muhammad, we've all been caricatured here."

Publications in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain also re-ran the Danish cartoons to show support for free speech.

France Soir's editor, Jacques Lefranc, was dismissed by the paper's French-Egyptian owner in response to criticism from Muslim groups. But journalists at France Soir stood by their editor's decision on Thursday, printing a front page picture and editorial in which they strongly defended the right to free speech.

"The offended Muslims need to collectively mature. Denmark isn't a theocracy. France isn't a theocracy. The citizens of those nations can speak and write whatever they want. Maybe Muslims need to respect the free speech of nonMuslims?"- Alex, Middletown, NJ, USA

"It is unfortunate that freedom of speech is interpreted by some western media as the right to ridicule and insult some of the most venerable individuals who ever graced this earth. Certainly the Prophet Muhammad is not responsible for terrorism. The editors of Jyllands-Posten should be sacked, not for breaking the law - publishing cartoons that are in bad taste is not illegal - but for monumentally bad judgement that created outrage among our Muslim brethren." - Peter Kaufmann, Annandale, USA

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has criticised papers which have re-published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Mr Mandelson called the cartoons "crude and juvenile", saying reprinting them was like "throwing petrol onto the flames of the original issue.....They have to understand the offence caused by cartoons of this nature ".

"We know that we have these freedoms. We don't have to unnecessarily insult, ridicule, abuse or humiliate people to prove that freedom of expression does exist in this country." - said Labour MP Shahid malik, a Muslim himself.

Lord Baker, who chairs the Cartoon Arts Trust, told BBC Radio 4 that criticism of religion was part of Western society.

"Religions are a set of ideas reinforced by faith and as a set of ideas they can be criticised and attacked and sometimes one says very offensive things about them," he said.

He said the Christian faith had been attacked more than others, citing the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code and Jerry Springer The Opera as examples.

"The tradition in Western Europe is to, as it were, take the criticism on the chin and not worry too much about it," he said.

The Danish paper had apologised a day earlier for causing offence to Muslims, although it maintained it was legal under Danish law to print the cartoons. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the paper's apology, but has rejected calls to punish the paper, saying the government cannot censor the press.

From the East end :

Thousands of Palestinians protested against Denmark this week, and Arab ministers called on it to punish Jyllands-Posten.

Syria and Saudi Arabia have recalled their ambassadors to Denmark, while Libya said it was closing its embassy in Copenhagen and Iraq summoned the Danish envoy to condemn the cartoons.

The Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla Foods says its sales in the Middle East have plummeted to zero as a result of a row over cartoons published in Denmark. The firms said it had to lay off 100 people because of the fall in demand.

Arla Foods, one of Europe's biggest dairy companies, is being hardest hit by a boycott of Danish products across the region. The company has annual sales of $480m there.

"Our sales in the Middle East have come to a complete stop - in all countries in the region," -company spokeswoman Astrid Gade Niels - "We have taken 40 years to build up a very big business in the Middle East, and we've seen it come to a complete stop in five days."

"Islam teaches you tolerance, not violence and most people forget the life of the Prophet: he was abused and treated very badly by his own community during the early periods of Islam. I am NOT saying that people of the west are being abusive. However, the cartoons are although disrespectful to Mohammed and Islam, the Muslims community I feel are certainly over reacting." - Mohammed Musa, Oxford

"Muslims that are outraged, don't be surprised. This cartoon is nothing new, non-muslims have disrespected the prophet Muhammad for centuries. The templar knight Reynald of Châtillon, was beheaded during the crusades for disrespecting the prophet Muhammad. Then it was done in the name of Jesus, today it is done in the name of "freedom of speech"..."- Hamza, London

Norway has closed its mission in the West Bank to the public in response to threats from two militant groups against Norwegians, Danes and French people.

Jordanian independent tabloid al-Shihan reprinted three of the cartoons on Thursday, saying people should know what they were protesting about, AFP news agency reports.

"Muslims of the world be reasonable," wrote editor Jihad Momani.

"What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?"

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned that the decision by some European papers to publish the cartoons could encourage terrorists.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai also strongly condemned their publication, saying it was "an affront... for hundreds of millions of people".

Hundreds of students demonstrated in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Multan, burning flags and effigies of the Danish prime minister.

Let me slap you and test your patience

2006-01-31T19:51:00.000Z

Denmark has established itself as the new frontier of Islamic hatred. Jyllands-Posten , a Danish paper, published a set of controversial caricatures of the prophet Mohammed last September, Magazinet published the controversial drawings in the name of ‘freedom of expression’.

“Jyllands-Posten called for and printed the cartoons by various Danish illustrators, after reports that artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam, out of fear of fundamendalist retribution. The newspaper said it printed the cartoons as a test of whether Muslim fundamentalists had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark.”

Freedom of expression ? Well it seems Freedom of expression has turned out to be a weapon of racial/religious hatred by 'modern' people in many countries (Bangladesh is no exception !) . It's interesting to see how they have played their cards. Rewind and let's read again :

"The newspaper said it printed the cartoons as a test of whether Muslim fundamentalists had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark.”

Recently a Norwegian newspaper has done the same - published the cartoons on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I guess they are doing the same test - let me slap you and test your patience ! You are not suppose to show any anger - if you do , you are fundamentalist or atleast terrorist !!

The Muslim world has responded strongly to the publication of the cartoons in the Danish newspaper. Many Muslim countries have banned Danish products, sent protest letters to the Danish embassies but till now no apology or action from Danish authorities. I mean , why should they ? It's freedom of expression for goodness sake ! There is no right or wrong in the world now, it's only power. The powerful and rich have decided to bash Islam ; there's no way out mate - you Muslims are doomed !

Denmark faces international boycott over Muslim cartoons

“So now what are we going to do? ... Replace the anti-Semitic prejudice with anti-Islamic prejudice?” - Bill Clinton said at a conference in Doha.

“In Europe, most of the struggles we’ve had in the past 50 years have been to fight prejudices against Jews, to fight against anti-Semitism,” he said.

He described the 12 cartoons in the Danish newspapers as "appalling".

“None of us are totally free of stereotypes about people of different races, different ethnic groups, and different religions ... there was this appalling example in northern Europe, in Denmark ... these totally outrageous cartoons against Islam,”

If you are just wondering what the cartoons are like lets have a look :

As a mark of respect to the billions of Muslims world wide I have decided to remove the images.

"Their intention is to extinguish Allah's light (by blowing) with their mouths. But Allah will complete His Light, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it). Al Qur'an 61:8

World congregation of Muslims in Bangladesh

2006-01-28T12:04:00.000Z

The eastern bank of the river Turag, some 25 kilometres north of the capital city, turned into a human sea with the presence of about 15 lakh devotees from around the globe.

The first day of the three-day Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after the Holy Hajj. Organised by the Bangladesh Tablighi Jamaat, the Ijtema started with sermons after Fajr prayer delivered by Islamic scholars from different countries.

More than 2500 Muslims from 52 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Middle East, have already arrived at the Ijtema venue, a 160-acre area, to attend the three-day 41th Ijtema. It is expected that more than 3 million devotees from over 70 countries of the world, including host Bangladesh, will attend the final prayer, Akheri Munajat, on Sunday to pray for the unity and prosperity of the Muslim Ummah.

Ijtema is now a symbol of the unity of all Muslims, an opportunity to demonstrate their mutual solidarity, love and respect and to reiterate their commitment to the Islamic values of discipline, brotherhood and magnanimity. Ijtema is the largest congregation of Muslims next to the Hajj.

>> Millions gather for Islamic prayer - CNN

Maulana Shamim from Delhi delivered the main ‘bayan’ (sermon) after Fajr prayer while Maulana Hafez Jobayer, Khatib of Kakrail Jame Mosque led the Jumma prayer. Maulana MD Ali from Delhi delivered sermon after Jumma prayer, Maulana Jobayerul Hasan from Delhi delivered sermon after Asr prayer while Maulana Hazi Abdul Ohab from Pakistan delivered sermon Magrib prayer.

Maulana Sha’d and Maulana Abdul Salim from Delhi, Maulana Faruque of Bangladesh also delivered sermons.

The sermons are given in Arabic, Bangla, English, Hindi, Urdu and some other languages. Like in previous years, the congregation this year will also feature marriages without dowry.

Background

Viswa Ijtema mammoth Muslim religious congregation organised annually by the tabligh Jama'at Bangladesh. 'Ijtma' is an Arabic word and means public gathering. Ijtema has been held every year since 1966 on the bank of the river turag near Tongi. The Ijtema at Tongi is now known as the Viswa Ijtema (world congregation). It is an annual meeting place of Muslim pilgrims from various countries of the world for special prayers. Its main objectives are to inspire Muslims of the world to follow the norms of islam and encourage them to lead a life that conforms to the tenets of Islam as depicted in the quran and hadith.

Hajrat Maulana Elius founded Tabligh in 1927 at Sahranpur of Uttar Pradesh, India and at the same time organised regional congregation or Ijtema. In course of time, Ijtema movement spread throughout the subcontinent and also influenced other regions. After partition of Bengal in 1947, three Ijtema centres developed in three parts of the subcontinent - India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Viswa Ijtema at Tongi is the annual Tabligh congregation of East Pakistan. In addition to Tongi, Ijtemas are now held in Rivend, Pakistan and Bhopal, India. However, in terms of popular attendance, the Tongi Ijtema is the largest of all these congregations.

The Tabligh Jama'at movement started in Bangladesh area in 1948 at the Kakrail Mosque of Dhaka with a few followers in presence of Hazrat Maulana Eusuf. Later in 1954, a large congregation of Tabligh Jama'at was organised at the Camp of the hajj pilgrims of Chittagong. Ijtema started attracting people in large numbers. The next Ijtema was held at Narayanganj in 1958. It was held in 1960, 1962 and 1965 at the ramna racecourse, Dhaka. Ramna proved to be too small to accommodate devotees. Consequently, a large open space at the village Pagar on the bank of the Turag near Tongi was chosen for the next Ijtema in 1966. That year many devotees from overseas joined the Ijtema.

For conducting the Ijtema functions in an organised way, the whole Ijtema ground is divided into 21 sections (khittas), each assigned for a region of the country and a foreign geographic zone. A khitta is supervised by a jimmadar (trustee), who is assisted by district and thana jimmadars. The central Ijtema management authority co-ordinates all affairs of the Ijtema. No paid labour is employed in the Ijtema functions and all work is done by teams of volunteers.

Bibi Russell: Pride of Bangladesh

2006-01-26T17:28:00.000Z

She is so vibrant that I could feel Bangladesh in her. For a long time I haven't heard anyone to be so proud of Bangladesh. she truly is the pride of Bangladesh. Bibi Russel's claim to fame did not only come from her tremendous success in the modeling world, but also from a penchant for pithy - and brazen - quotes. More than a model, Bibi is a global icon.

Bibi was the first woman from Bangladesh to study at the London College of Fashion. When she graduated in 1975 she modeled her own graduation show, she was immediately offered modeling assignments with Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani.

Bibi is 5'10'' tall and debuts her modeling career in 1976. From 1986 to 1992, she was dominating as a top model in Vogue, Haper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan magazines. Bibi was model for almost all popular products, such as Kodak, Channel, BMW, Toyota, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani etc. and did catwalk on the stage with almost all top models of the world such as Naomi, Claudia etc.

A supermodel for the biggest designers in the 1980's, she then returned to her homeland to make "fashion for development". She now employs 30.000 weavers all over Bangladesh.

‘Everyone thinks Bangladesh is a poor country. For me - it's rich in culture and everything. It gives me a lot of energy _ I live in Bangladesh. Most of the time I'm in villages and I'm competing with top designers.’

She sold her house and possessions to fund her dream. She lived in the villages and the jet-setting supermodel travelled by road, because it was a self-funded project. "People sell poverty. I sold the beauty in poverty," is how she explains her work.

Bibi won critical acclaim at the London Fashion Week the first time she showed her khadi (or khaddor as they say) and handloom collection, got Harrods to stock up her designs, and had an eventful debut in the U.S. too.

Bibi has received both national and international awards for her work with the artisans and weavers in Bangladesh. She has been honoured with an Honorary Fellowship from the London Institute (1999), Women of the Year by Elle Magazine (1997), and Entrepreneur Woman of the Year (1999) by the Foundation of Entrepreneur Women. She has also been highlighted by Asia Week Magazine as one of the ‘20 people to watch in the millennium.’ UNESCO named her ‘Designer for Development in 1999 for her unfailing commitment to human dignity, development and the eradication of poverty. This title was replaced by the title Artist of Peace in 2001.

Her speaking style is energetic, truthful and humorous; her message—profound and thought provoking. Each of the upward steps she takes on that ladder is a success formula designed to be enlightening and entertaining, showing people how to take charge of your life without being self-conscious about it. Bibi’s mission is to encourage people to move beyond limitations and reach for their dreams. She emphasises the importance of recognizing and valuing everyone's contribution as a team member in life's pursuits. A dynamic stage presence, Bibi captures the attention of her audience instantaneously and never lets go. She combines hard facts, specific strategies and personal insights to create a powerful message. Her ability to connect with the heart makes her one of the most influential women in Bangladesh.

That's empowerment. That's development. That's Bibi.

Jackson in Burqa

2006-01-26T13:48:00.000Z

The picture was shocking ! Michael Jackson wearing burqa in Bahrain !! He was out with his three children when he was seen wearing the veil, abaya and gloves typically worn by conservative Bahraini women.

Jackson has settled in the Persian Gulf since quitting his Neverland ranch in Los Angeles after his acquittal on child molestation charges. His father said has said it is unlikely he will return to the US to live.

The veil, abaya and gloves were of a style typically worn by Bahraini women. Jackson appeared to be wearing them to disguise his identity.

It has been reported he was negotiating a position as a consultant with a Bahrain-based company that plans to set up theme parks and music academies in the Middle East.

Read More....

461 and Counting...

2006-01-19T14:25:00.000Z

Just a few days ago Odhikar, a Human Rights organisation, published a report detailing the killings of 461 Bangladehis by the Indian Border Security Force(BSF) over the last 6 years. The report, prepared by Odhikar, said one Bangladeshi was killed in every five days on average. During the period (Jan 2000-Dec 2005), some 51 people, including 8 children, went missing, 519 people were injured, 493 arrested, 540 abducted and five women were raped, while 52 incidents of snatching and looting took place along the borders – all allegedly by the BSF and Indian hoodlums.

Odhikar report on human rights violations in the Indo-Bangladesh border

Bangladesh is bordered on three sides by India and frequent disruptions erupt in the border areas. Incidents of small conflicts and tension are common phenomena in the border areas. Trespass into Bangladesh territory by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has caused terrible human rights violations in many of the border areas. Bangladeshi people are killed and kidnapping and incidents of mugging and extortion have been alleged to occur. Continuous attack on the Bangladeshi people living near to the boarder of India-Bangladesh is hampering normal life.

As many as 461 Bangladeshis were killed inside the Bangladesh territory by armed Indian hoodlums and members of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the last six years from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2005, according to a report by Odhikar, a human rights organization in Bangladesh. One Bangladeshi was killed every five days in an average. The report, which was prepared on the basis of compilation of reports from national dailies, said Indian criminals and members of the BSF violated human rights in a total of 1838 incidents from 1 January, 2000 to 12 March, 2005.

The incidents - include murder, abduction and mugging - reportedly took place in the north and southwestern border areas, following intrusion of the BSF and Indian criminals into Bangladesh. According to Odhikar report, most of the victims were local peasants, farmers and agricultural workers.

During the same span of time, 51 people including 8 children went missing, 519 people were injured, 493 arrested, 540 abducted and five women were raped, while 52 incidents of snatching and looting occurred – all allegedly by members of the BSF and Indian hoodlums they allowed to enter into Bangladesh territory.

In the year 2005 from 1 January to 31 December 104 people were killed, 66 were injured, 26 were abducted and 14 were missing, 3 women were rapped, and 4 incidents of snatching were happened.

Seventy-six people were killed by BSF and Indian miscreants from 1 January, 2004 to 31 December 2004. During same period, 35 people were injured, 9 were arrested and 73 were abducted while 5 incidents of snatching took place by BSF.
BSF and Indian citizens were responsible for 43 deaths, 82 injuries, 120 abductions, 7 missing, two rapes of Bangladeshis and 8 incidents of snatching in the year 2003.

One hundred and five people were killed by BSF and Indian miscreants from 1 January, to 31 December 2002. During the same period, 54 people were injured, 30 people including 8 children went missing, 366 were arrested and 118 were abducted while 12 incidents of snatching took place by BSF.

BSF killed 94 Bangladeshis in the year 2001. In their hands, 244 people got injured, 60 people were arrested, 45 people were abducted and one person was raped. Ten incidents of snatching took place during the same period.

During the year 2000, 39 Bangladeshis were killed, 38 were injured, 11 were arrested, 106 were abducted and two women were raped by BSF and Indian miscreants. Thirteen incidents of snatching also took place in border areas during the same period.

The gravest situation developed in the border areas during push-in attempts of BSF. Bangla speaking minority Indian citizens were brought in from various provinces of India by BSF in the Indo-Bangladesh border. Branding them as illegal Bangladeshis, BSF tried to push these people inside Bangladesh territory through various parts of the border areas. This has created tense and inhuman situation. Among these groups, majority were female and children whom BSF positioned in front of push-in groups as shield against resistance from Bangladesh border force BDR. Push-in attempts were made at the dead of night, early morning and in cold weather. The fate less Indian people caught stranded in the no-man's land in between weapons of border security forces of two neighboring countries without food and water for long time. In most of the instances, BDR pushed these people back into Indian territory but they were not allowed to move from border areas by Indian BSF. Most of these people belong to low-income group and were forced to live in inhuman condition in border areas. Odhikar thinks that attempt of push-in of Bangla speaking Indian citizens might cause large-scale border conflict anytime between the two neighboring countries.

Odhikar demands proper international investigation and trial of alleged killing, abduction and rape of Bangladeshi citizens by the Indian BSF. Odhikar also demands investigation of push-in attempts by Indian BSF and trial of persons responsible. Odhikar appeals to international human rights community to campaign against misdeeds and push-in of Indian citizens by BSF.

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Latest January 18 :

BSF hands over two bodies to BDR

The dead bodies of two Bangladeshi youths, who were allegedly killed by the Indian Border Security Force on Sunday, were handed over to the Bangladesh Rifles Monday afternoon.

According to BDR and local union parishad chairman, the BSF formally handed over the dead bodies of Kaysar and Haris Ali at about 3.50pm.The handing over took place near Muraichhera BDR camp adjacent to the border demarcation pillar no 1843 under Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar.

Commander of Arjun Company of BSF and other BSF officials took part in the handing over of the bodies to the commander of Murachhera BDR camp and other BDR officials.The chairman of Pritimpasha Union Council, Nobab Ali Noki Khan, Officer-in-Charge of Kulaura police station, family members of the victims and local people were present during the hand-over.

After flag meeting between the BDR and the BSF it was decided that the dead bodies of Kaysar and Haris would be handed over to Bangladesh on Tuesday morning but the BSF changed the schedule and they brought the dead bodies at 3:50pm.

Kaysar and Haris Ali of Ganakiya village under Pritimpasha union of Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar were allegedly shot dead on Sunday evening while they were collecting bamboo and cane from the forest near Indian border.

Burqa Ban - Where is the freedom of choice ?

2006-01-16T17:16:00.000Z

After France banning hijab , Belgium banning niqab and UK schools and universities banning hijab it's time for Netherland to ban burqa ! Talk about freedom of choice and all those shit !! When freedom of sexuality is getting so much importance , freedom of religion seems to have vanished from the West somehow - the West that preaches secularism and freedom all over the world.

The nurses wear it, Nuns in the church wear it, Mother Theresa wore it, so, why put all energy to ban a Muslim woman who is wearing the Hijab? It's her personal choice and let her practice her religion the way she likes. The Dutch government is deciding in parliament right now to issue a ban on wearing burqa ! Great stuff. The West decides what is good and what is bad, the West decides what is freedom and what is slavery, the West decides how an independent man/woman should look like and the West decides how a 'secualar world' should look like ! We just have to stick to their rules. If you are not with us, you are against us !!

"The Dutch government will announce over the next few weeks whether it will make it a crime to wear traditional Islamic dress which covers the face apart from the eyes.

The Dutch parliament has already voted in favour of a proposal to ban the burqa outside the home, and some in the government have thrown their weight behind it.

Dutch MP Geert Wilders is the man who first suggested the idea of a ban.

"It's a medieval symbol, a symbol against women," he says.

"We don't want women to be ashamed to show who they are. Even if you have decided yourself to do that, you should not do it in Holland, because we want you to be integrated, assimilated into Dutch society. If people cannot see who you are, or see one inch of your body or your face, I believe this is not the way to integrate into our society."

In the city of Maaseik, in Belgium - which lies a few hundred yards from the Dutch border - a ban on wearing the niqab is already in place. Mayor Jan Creemers said he brought it forward because old people were afraid and children cried when women started appearing in long black robes with their faces covered.

The Dutch government will soon decide whether to ban the burqa. Perhaps it will not become illegal in this marketplace or in the street. But they are likely to ban it in public places like stations, airports and cinemas - something many Muslims will regard as provocation in a Europe increasingly uncertain of its own identity. "

[Full Story]

Morals of the young saved again !

2006-01-15T22:38:00.000Z

It seems once again the authorities in Bangladesh got worried over the 'morals of the young' ! Few days ago it was djuice, an offshoot from Grameen phone, was held under fire for demoralising the young by advertising their mobile deals in a rather casual language - their offence seems to be that they used the popular words or phrases young guys and girls use in Dhaka and in the rest of Bangladesh. Their advertisements were banned for the sake of saving the young of the country. When the young generation (even the small kids) are all dipped in vulgar Indian culture all day and night , it hardly makes sense how few innocent funny ads can destroy the morals of young. Personally I thought those ads were great and censorship can only hinder the creativity that reflects the culture. The ads were not suggesting any new trend but rather showing the 'attitude' that the present generation are very much used to.

The new news is that the government has asked the mobile operators to stop offering free night calls in order to save the 'morals of the young' ( again !!) .

Bangladeshi authorities have ordered mobile phone operators to stop offering free calls after midnight, to protect the morals of young people.

A telecommunications regulator said it had received scores of complaints from parents that children were using the service to form romantic attachments.

They said children were losing sleep and some indulged in "vulgar talk".

In a letter sent to all five of Bangladesh's networks, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission said the "free calls after midnight" offers were being abused by the young.

The phone companies say they are surprised by the order, which the regulator says must be obeyed immediately.

One spokesman has been quoted as saying that if the authorities wish to stop young people meeting each other, by the same logic, fast food restaurants and universities should be shut down, too. [BBC]

If moral policing seeks a morally strong society, then I ask the government to close all the disgustingly vulgar Indian channels first then close fast food restaurants and other public places, check on Internet chatting and web surfing.

Do we need a police society like Saudia Arabia and the West ? I hope the government can feel the pulse of the Bangladeshi young society; if not then the law makers must be too old for the young generation. I hope we all grow young and not old. Bless the morals of the young !

Eid Mubarak !

2006-01-09T18:30:00.000Z

Eid Mubarak to everyone ! Once again it's time for sacrifice and joy. This is the first I am having a lamb Qurbani. Feels great. The feeling is not so great as back in bangladesh but it's as good as it gets. We will get the meat the day after Qurbani's first day. All chopped off and ready to be distributed.

Eid-ul Azha ('Id-ul Adha) also known as Eid al-Kurban or Eid al-Nahr is one of the two main Muslim religious festivals. In Bangladesh it is popularly known as Kurbanir Eid or Bakra Eid. Eid and Azha are arabic words meaning festival and sacrifice respectively.

Eid-ul Azha commemorates the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (A), who had been asked by Almighty Allah to sacrifice his dearest son Hazrat Ismail (A) and with the consent of his son Hazrat Ibrahim (A) arranged everything to implement Allah's order at a place called Mina near Mokka in solar year 3800. Allah was satisfied by Hazrat Ibraim's sincere intent and ordered him to sacrifice an animal in place of his son.

Following this event that symbolises highest loyalty and submission to Allah Muslims at Mina and all parts of the world sacrifice animals on the day of Eid-ul Azha as a symbol of sacrifice for Him. Animal sacrifice in the name of Allah is a major feature of Eid-ul Azha. From the sacrifice and through the distribution of sacrificial meat to the poor and distressed, one gets a spiritual satisfaction and pleasure, which obtains a socially festive character.

Eid-ul Azha is observed on the 10th of Jhu-l-Hijjah and on this day, Muslims who perform the Hajj sacrifice animals on the field of Mina. Sacrifice can also be offered on the following day and according to some, on the third day, too (Ainial Tashriq). Animals offered for sacrifice must be of specific age and are required to be free from certain defects. They should not be blind, have broken legs or horns or ears separated either partially or in full. The time of sacrifice begins following the namaz of Eid-ul Azha and continues up to the sunset of the next two/three days. A camel, cow or buffalo can be sacrificed in the names of seven persons, while a lamb or a goat in the name of one person only. Usually cows, goats and buffaloes are sacrificed in Bangladesh. Some people are also seen to import camels for the purpose of sacrifice.

One-third of the meat of the sacrificed animal is kept for the owner, one third is given to his relatives and the rest is distributed among the poor. This gives an opportunity to the rich to discharge a responsibility to the poor and also helps in development of cordiality between the rich and the poor.

Like all other Muslims of the world, Muslims of Bangladesh celebrate Eid-ul Azha in an appropriate manner of religious fervour and enthusiasm. New clothes and accessories are bought on the occasion. People, dressed in new clothes, visit houses of neighbours and relatives to exchange greetings and partake of the special foods prepared on the occasion. Sometimes, people of other religions also take part in the celebrations as invited guests. A few days are declared government holidays on the occasion. Many go to their country homes and celebrate the Eid together with relatives. The Eid congregational prayer is held in large mosques and open fields.

The unique sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim Khalilullah (A) and Hazrat Ismail Jabiullah (A) and their firm loyalty to Allah's instructions had a tremendous impact on the world literature. This influence is observed on the literature of the Muslim countries such as those of the Middle-East or Spain and Turkey and also on the non-Muslim literature of Europe. This event of sacrifice had also an impact on the Great Poet Homer of the far away Greece, too. The epic Illiad describes that Agamemnon, who was confined in Aulis took the decision to sacrifice her daughter Iphigenia to please goddess Diana and later, Diana replaced Iphigenia by lamb and Diana was pleased to see the lamb sacrificed etc. only prove that Homer was greatly influenced by the event of qurbani on the field of Mina. The Bengali literature is also significantly influenced by Eid-ul Azha and the most prominent evidence is Qurbani, the classic poem of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

BSF, Indian miscreants kill 461 Bangladeshis in 6 yrs: Odhikar

2006-01-08T19:33:00.000Z

At least 461 Bangladeshis were killed inside Bangladesh territory by Indian hoodlums and its Border Security Force (BSF) in the last six years, according to a human rights watchdog.

The report, prepared by Odhikar, said one Bangladeshi was killed in every five days on average.

During the period (Jan 2000-Dec 2005), some 51 people, including 8 children, went missing, 519 people were injured, 493 arrested, 540 abducted and five women were raped, while 52 incidents of snatching and looting took place along the borders – all allegedly by the BSF and Indian hoodlums.

The incidents like murder, abduction and mugging reportedly took place mostly in the north and southwestern border areas following intrusion of the BSF and Indian criminals into Bangladesh. Most of the victims were local peasants, farmers and agricultural workers, the report said. [News]

Where in the sand do we draw the line ?

2006-01-04T16:17:00.000Z

I think we as a society as moving too fucking fast. I'll all for freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of one's own sexuality, but I think that in some ways we are moving too fast for even my comfort level.

Case in point: There is a movie coming out called; Brokeback Mountain, which is already receiving all types of hype for perhaps being one of the films to win the Oscar's best picture award next year, and it's about two gay cowboys. Now I have nothing against gay cowboys, but I also can't see myself actually watching a movie about two gay cowboys who make love under the stars out in prairie, next to an open fire and a horse.

Now I'm sure this movie will make a ton of money because every gay guy/girl in America will be waiting in line for hours in any weather conditions to catch a glimpse of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal kissing. More power to them. If gay cowboys want to kiss and make sweet love while herding sheep, that's their business, I just think that "pushing" this film into the mainstream spotlight isn't the right move.

Next the movie posters will feature men kissing each other, and gay sex romp movies will be a typical "R" rated film.

UK has recently legalised gay marriage and there have been an overwhelming numbers of bookings for gay marraiges all over the UK since it became legal. Now the question is why do gay people have to get married at first place ? Marriage is suppose to be a religious custom ; even when heterosexual couples in the West don't get married usually these days I don't understand why gay people are willing to get married in thousands. What if people who are 'in love' with a animal desire to get married in numbers one day, should they be allowed to do the same for the sake of human and animal rights ?

Just when I was thinking this way, a news broke out that a rich woman from London got married to the love of her life - a dolphin !!?! Yes, it's true ! I saw it on the TV and read the news on various websites. This is what I call - pushing the boundary. Lets see what else is in the line !

British Millionaire Marries Dolphin

Sharon Tendler, a millionaire from England, married the love of her life this week: Cindy the dolphin.

Cindy squeaked his vows at an Israeli resort Wednesday and Tendler, a rock concert promoter from London, fed him some mackerel in return.

After giving her groom a big, wet kiss, Tendler was thrown into the water to swim with her slippery spouse.

Tendler said the wedding was one of the happiest moments of her life and she was looking forward to having a moment alone with her beau.

"It was everything and more,” said Tendler after the ceremony. “I am just waiting for everyone to leave so we can have a private moment."

Tendler said that is was love at first sight when she met Cindy 15 years ago.

"I'm the happiest girl on earth," the bride said as she chocked back tears of emotion. "I made a dream come true, and I am not a pervert," she stressed.

Tendler said she and her newly wed husband will probably spend their wedding night bowling.

[TEXT] [VIDEO]

What about the other relationships ? Such as Mother and Son; Father and Daughter; Father and Son or the Mother and Daughter; Brothers and Sisters ( They all exist in our world ) . Shouldn't these relationships be legalised as well. It's time the West takes a sexually secular stand and make all the possible combinations of sexual relatioships legal. In that way, everybody will be equal.

Next news is very interesting. Lets have a look.

Canadian court allows clubs for group sex

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Group sex among consenting adults is neither prostitution nor a threat to society, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Wednesday as it lifted a ban on so-called "swingers" clubs.

In a ruling that changes the way Canadian courts determine what poses a threat to the population, the top court threw out the conviction of a Montreal man who ran a club where members could have group sex in a private room behind locked doors.

"Consensual conduct behind code-locked doors can hardly be supposed to jeopardize a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society," said the opinion of the seven-to-two majority, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

"Criminal indecency or obscenity must rest on actual harm or a significant risk of harm to individuals or society. The Crown failed to establish this essential element of the offence. The Crown's case must therefore fail,"

The judges said that just because most Canadians might disapprove of swingers' clubs, this did not necessarily mean the establishments were socially dangerous. [Reuters]

Group Sex not socially dangerous ? Then what is socially dangerous ? Is therse anything left to be dangerous ?

Where in the sand do we draw the line?

Happy New Year !!

2006-01-01T14:31:00.000Z

My Christmas Dinner

2005-12-28T11:49:00.000Z

I spent the christmas day with my sister in the Bay house. It was the first time we decided to celebrate the day as everyone(monority ignored !) else does in this country. It was my wife's idea to decorate the tree and buy gifts so that Aurika- my niece who is autistic can get the feeling of something special. So we did our last minute shopping - buying trees , decorations and gifts and Turkeys and stuffings and whatever was needed to do it just right. It was great at the end. We had a nice meal ; I was so full I could hardly walk. Aurika explored her presents one by one and was very happy. Nice to see smile in her face.

Poor Turkey

Christmas tree and the gifts

Ready to Eat

Happy Birthday to Jesus !

2005-12-24T23:01:00.000Z

Today is the Christmas day - 25th December. Christams is all over the place here in the West- a time to reflect and rejoice for all of us. Today is Christ's Birthday. 2005 years ago on this day Jesus, who is known as prophet Isa(PBUH) according to Islamic belief, was born in Bethlehem. Approximately 2 km to the east of Bethlehem lies the village of Beit Sahour, where one of the most sacred places to Christians; the Shepherds' Field; is found, identified as the scene where the Angel of the Lord visited the shepherds and informed them of Jesus' birth (pbuh); "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the Angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:8-10).

Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus through Mary. When the angels announced to Mary about Allah’s promise that she will have a son, she was surprised, since she was a virgin. "How can this be?" she thought, but she was reminded that it is easy for Allah to create whatever he wills.

Behold! the angels said, 'Oh Mary! God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter, and in (the company of) those nearest to God. He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity.
She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me?
He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. (Qur’an 3:47).

Located 10 km south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem nestles on two hilly plateaus, and lies 2550 feet (765 m) above sea level, surrounded by rolling hills which stretch out eastward to the Judean desert providing stunning views of an ancient landscape of vine yards, olive trees, and tiny villages.

Old Jerusalem is a walled city with seven gates. It is 3000 years old and contains shrines sacred to Islam, Judaism and Christianity

Old Jerusalem is a walled city about one square kilometer or six city blocks in size. The current wall surrounding the city was built by the Ottoman Turks in 1537 and has seven gates. The holiest shrines within the old city are:

The Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine that contains the rock which the prophet Muhammad stood on before ascending into heaven. This same rock is said to be the one Abraham almost used to sacrifice his son Isaac before God told him he could offer a goat instead. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of this complex. This is considered to be the third most sacred site in Islam.
The Church of the Holy Sepulture, the most sacred site in Christianity, which contains both the tomb of Jesus and Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified.

The Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, built by Herod in 20 B.C. as part of the second temple. The first temple, built at the same location, was Solomon's temple, which housed the Ark of the Covenant and was destroyed by the Babylonians. The second temple was destroyed by the Romans, leaving only the Western Wall. This is the most sacred site in Judaism, and it is said that the gate to heaven is located above it. Jews come to pray at the wall and often place written prayers into the cracks between the stones; the Wailing Wall is open to anyone who wants to come and pray.

Jerusalem, a spiritual center for at least 3,000 years, was founded by Kind David in 1004 B.C. Because it is a holy city for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it is directly or indirectly a focal point for the prayers and spiritual energies of over a billion people. It has also been the cause of great conflict between these religious groups, who have fought each other over control of this sacred city. Because of this, Jerusalem has likely been the location of more suffering and bloodshed than any other city on earth. This is a paradox. How can a city that is filled with so much spiritual power also be the cause of so much suffering? This is a puzzle I continued to ponder during my visit to Israel.

Bethlehem is about five miles from Jerusalem and is the location of the Church of the Nativity. This church is built over a grotto said to be the place where Jesus was born. The grotto contains a shrine(see figure in the right) with a star on the floor representing the exact location of his birth. Off to the side and down a few steps is another shrine indicating the location of the manger in which Jesus had been placed after his birth.

Jesus in Islam

Isa (عيسى `Īsā), often seen as Isa, son of Mary (`Īsā ibn Miryam) is the Arabic name for Jesus, who is one of the Prophets of Islam. According to the Qur'an, he was one of God's most beloved prophets sent specifically to guide the Children of Israel (Beni Israel). Christian Arabs refer to Jesus as Yasu' al-Masih or Isa al-Masih (يسوع المسيح Yasū`a al-Masīħ).

In the Qur'an, stories about the life and teachings of Jesus are common. The Qur'an recalls his miraculous birth, his teachings, the miracles he performed by God's permission, and his life as a respected prophet of God. The Qur'an also reminds repeatedly that Jesus was only a human prophet sent by God and not part of God Himself.

Muslims believe that Isa was sent down as a prophet and to be the Messiah. The Qur'anic verse below explicitly calls him by this title. The verse says that Allah (God) sent word to Mary about it, and it also calls him the Word of God. However, Muslims strongly disagree with the mainstream Christian belief that Jesus was divine himself as part of the trinity (Son of God), regarding it as a blasphemous denial of tawhid (monotheism). Therefore, he is not considered the Son of God. (See below for relevant Qur'anic verses.)

Behold! the angels said: "O Mary, Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him; his name will be the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah.(al-Qur'an 3:45)

Muslims see Jesus' ministry as a continuation of a single divine message and faith system revealed over time by God to mankind. They regard not only Jesus, but earlier prophets such as Abraham, Noah, Joseph, Moses and David to have been Muslims, and see Isa as the great precursor to the final prophet, Muhammad. Jesus received a Gospel from God, called (in Arabic) the "Injeel," corresponding to the New Testament. However, Muslims hold that the New Testament present today has been changed and corrupted and does not accurately represent the original. Some Muslims accept the Gospel of Barnabas as the most accurate testament of Jesus.

Bin Laden's Sexy Niece

2005-12-23T21:51:00.000Z

The face is alluring (big dark eyes, long lashes, plump lips, caramel skin), but she looks wounded. And there’s something else. At ﬁrst I can’t quite ﬁgure it out, but then it hits me: She looks a little like her uncle, albeit a waify ninety-eight-pound tiny-footed version. Sexy Osama! I hold that thought while I listen to her explain that she’s his half niece and one of hundreds of bin Ladens, most of whom are in Saudi Arabia, where she hasn’t been since she was 10. She has no contact with most of her relatives, including her father, doesn’t speak Arabic, has an American passport… The list goes on. “At the end of the day, I believe that the American people understand things and they have compassion and they see what’s fair,” she says. “They’re very fair, and that’s why I love America, and that’s why my mom loves America.”

Wafah Dufour, an aspiring musician and model, is the daughter of the al-Qaeda leader's half-brother Yeslam.

She appears stripped to ostrich feather lingerie, and in a bubble bath, in photos for American GQ magazine.

US-born, she says she is an American, and distances herself from her uncle. "Everyone relates me to that man, and I have nothing to do with him," she says.

Ms Dufour, 26, took her mother's maiden name after the events of 11 September 2001.

She lived in Saudi Arabia, where Bin Laden is from, until she was 10, before moving on to Geneva and back to the US.

"But because of this last name that I have nothing to do with, the Western world hates me. And because I've chosen American values, the Saudi Arabian world hates me.

"What have I to do with Bin Laden? My mother lived in Saudi Arabia only five years, and for 15 has fought for a divorce. However, a Saudi wife can't be divorced if the husband fights it, and to be sure, she can't marry again — my father won't allow it. I haven't even seen him since I'm 18.

"We are estranged from his entire family since I'm 10. I'm carrying a burden that has nothing to do with me.

"My father, Yeslam, is half brother to Osama. I never met Osama. Never even saw him. My father's father had 22 wives. I have 53 uncles and aunts, 300 cousins. It's way over 400 people. Tons I've never even met. The Bin Ladin family is a village."

"I am trying to live the American dream. I was educated here. My mother, who has no money because my father won't give her any, paid for my master's in Columbia. Thank God my blessed mother, who's half Swiss, half Persian and is my everything, took her daughters away to Switzerland, or else I, too, would be forced into life under the veil. She left for freedom, which is what America believes in. That's all I want. The freedom to not be scared all the time."

"My father doesn't speak to us. I don't know him. He is very wealthy. Saudi men command all the power and law. I have no protection. I don't speak Arabic. I don't have a Saudi passport. I play guitar. I write and sing music. To the Arab community, I am an 'infidel.' My mother worries that some fundamentalist will do away with me.

"Even here, I am frightened. I'm victimized by association. I stay under the radar, since, because of my name, people here feel I have harmed them. But I can't keep hiding. I can't live this way. I ask nothing but to be accepted in the United States. "I don't even use this terrible last name anymore. Professionally, I'm Wafah DuFour. It's my mother's maiden name. But I won't change Wafah. That means 'the faithful one.' "

Last year, her mother, Carmen Bin Ladin, wrote a best-selling book. "Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" is now headed for a film. Besides that income, how is Wafah being supported?

"I'm a paralegal and I give French lessons. Some Greek-American school friends are good enough to share with me. I am living in one friend's apartment. I have never set foot in any nightclub. I have no boyfriend. Thanksgiving, I fed the homeless in a soup kitchen. I am not a bimbo.

"I don't want sympathy. I ask only that people try to understand."

Her father and Osama Bin Laden are among more than 50 children fathered by Mohammed Bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, and construction magnate.

The singer-songwriter survived by writing music. And what sort of voice has she? "Sort of Chrissie Hynde meets Toni Braxton." And how's she doing career-wise? She's working on an album, making a demo, and she's hired savvy Richard Valvo, who for six years handled p.r. for Star and the Enquirer.

Ms Dufour was in Geneva when the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, masterminded by her uncle, were launched.

She said: "I was freaking out, crying hysterically, watching this in horror. I was like 'Somebody's bombing my city, and I wanna go home!'"

"I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she said.

Bangladesh on Goldman Sachs 'Next Eleven' list

2005-12-22T15:35:00.000Z

Goldman Sachs, a US-based investment banking and securities firm, in a report on world's potential economies has placed Bangladesh on its "Next Eleven" list as a key member.

The report said, "Bangladesh, the world's tiny economy with most corrupt brand, will power the global economy something of the magnitude of the BRICs economies."

The "Next Eleven" is the second term the Goldman Sachs has coined to describe economies with high growth potential, such as the "BRICs" economies encompassing Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Comparing the 22 economies of the G7, BRICs and Next Eleven, the report said Bangladesh will grow faster than predicted earlier. The main reason for the change in projection is the faster growth seen in 2000-05.

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