Syed Aslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com> wrote:
The 'Prothom Alo' editor's action is indefensible - Dr Jaffor UllahThe 'Prothom Alo' editor's action is indefensible, Mr. Rahman. His reputation is like proverbial Humpty Dumpty of Lewis Carroll's character in his famous book "Through the Looking Glass." Once his reputation is finished for selling his soul to the government and Ulemahs, then no one could repair the damage. An honorable man hardly compromises with his principled stance. Matiur Rahman of Prothom Alo has proved already that he has no principle. I was shell-shocked hearing the arrest of Mr. Arif, a budding twenty-year old cartoonist from Bangladesh . The government caved in to the threats of Islamists. Even the western-educated advisor, Mainul, garbed himself in an Islamic dress (Sherwani-clad) to appease the Ulemahs! What a shame.I will respond to Mr. M. Rahman's inanities through which he backed the beleaguered editor's insane pleas to Islamists in Dhaka .Mr. Rahman's remarks will be kept intact to reflect his pro-government and pro-editor viewpoint.Mr. M. Rahman (MR) wrote:<<Matiur Rahman, the editor of the Prothom Alo, has come under heavy criticism from the liberal quarters for sitting with the Ulamahs, leaders of the Islamic community, seeking truce. Alternatively he could protest the agitation caused by the cartoon, take an unswerving stance and risk vandalization of the Prothom Alo office and life of the working journalists. On Saturday, we saw on TV how a section of labourers threw the entire Tejgaon industrial area into deadly panic through violence, vandalism and rampage. The owners of the factories helplessly watched their valuable property being target of vicious attack for reasons notknown to anyone. Matiur Rahman pre-empted such a rowdy encounter. Matiur Rahman did not bow down to religion, he neutralized the power of the people, although in this case religious people. What could the government do? Could government really protect the Prothom Alo and its journalists from the wrath of Islamic people if they went berserk and do whatever they could do ? History says, `NO'. Before the military could be installed and the fire brigade could reach, the casualty would have been easily wrought. For the first time, government went beyond its normal line of re-action and mediated in order to avoid a destructive situation. Till date, the attempt seems to have been successful. Prevention is better than cure.>>Jaffor Ullah (JU) replies as follows:What is more important in life Mr. Rahman? A principled stance or selling one's soul to critics to preserve material things? If most human beings start to compromise their ideological stance to eke out material gains (money, tangible things, etc.), then human progress will cease – not a good prospect for humanity. You took the stance of the government when you describe the protest strike by the readymade garments workers in Tejgaon. The poor and toiled workers have legitimate demands but you wiped their demands in one sentence. Go figure out what is their demands rather than parroting the government's line. In your eyes the editor did not bow down to the demands of Islamists. What an erudite opinion of yours! Do you think that all these folks who are rebuking the editor for his reprehensible act to sit in a "Towba" session with the Islamists are all wrong? The "Towba" session is the end of the intellectual life of Matiur Rahman. Lest you've forgotten, the "Towba" session is performed as the last act when a person is about to die. While the editor, Matiur Rahman, may physically exist in Dhaka but his intellectual life is all finished. The head Maulana of Bangladesh had already performed the last "Towba" rite for the intellectual rite of the editor, which was printed in all leading newspapers in Bangladesh . Mr. M. Rahman talks about prevention of "Mal" – goods, material things. How about the prevention of the loss of intellectualism? The editor has simply sold his soul to devil in a Faustian way!MR wrote:<<Yes, evidently, the present administration as well as the Prothom Alo management were scared to death that anything could happen in this country. What are we? We lynch people, gouge out eyes, beat people to
death right on the street. We, not the police, nor the military. We, the general people. Those who know the people of Bangladesh dare not mess with people.>>JU replies as follows:I refuse to believe that the editor was scared stiff and feared for his life. It is the compromise that he made with the bearded and corpulent Mullahs scared us all. These days it is the RAB, military, joint forces, etc., which our folks in Bangladesh are scared of. Mullahs could fuss and fret but their limit is the Mosque, in this case the National Mosque, Baitul Mukarram, which has a dirty old secret known only to people who lived in the 1950s in Dhaka . I was a young boy but I saw how that mosque was built with the connivance of a few people in Segun Bagicha. I will spill the beans soon.MR wrote:<<Reputation. It matters. In order to understand the social realities of Bangladesh , one better start with what `power' means. It is not only the capability to wreck [sic] havoc. Ordinary people are reputed for wrecking [sic] havoc and that has nothing to do with Islam's concepts of tolerance and compassion. It is seriously misleading to forget what people can do when they turn into a mob.>>JU replies as follows:Mr. M. Rahman, brush up your English before writing anymore of your comments in this forum. The word is "wreak" and not wreck when the context is "havoc." The mob is dangerous but not our ordinary people. You are a confused soul, to say the least. You seem to have problem differentiating between the mob guided by politicians or Mullahs and ordinary people. But at the end you admitted the fact that it is the mob. Who goads plebian to become a mob? If the mob would have torched the Prothom Alo building, then who would have goaded the mob? Would the police twiddle their thumbs as mob gathered near Kawran Bazaar?MR wrote:<<There are many around us who endure the mob in the name of democratic right. When political programme kills people, burns property and takes breath out our life, they attribute it to `people', and not to politicians who design and launch aggressive political programme, fully knowing what could be entailed thereby.>>JU replies:You cannot say that there should not be any protest session since you fear that the protesters may become a mob. The root cause of protestation should be known. If one group oppresses the other group only then people assemble to protest. Do not please throw the baby with the bath water.MR wrote:<<It is dualism to call upon Islamic leaders to protest Laden's activity while protesting a peace meeting of Matiur Rahman with `mullahs', apparently peddled by the government that is naturally anxious for maintain law and order. Order first. What is use of trying a killer? Better prevent a murder.>>JU replies:You've an audacity to label the meeting of the editor of Prothom Alo with the Khatib and his gangs of Maulanas – a Peace Meeting. Did I hear it right? In my eyes it was a Faustian meeting in which like Faust Mr. Matiur Rahman, the editor, sold his very soul to the Ulemas. A person's lifetime belief, stance, etc. are like his or her soul. The editor is a soulless and unprincipled person and please make no mistake about it.MR wrote:<<I am not very sure who is damaging whom. If there is anything recognized as religious sentiment, then that must be respected. If society counts freedom of expression above all, then it is no longer necessary to call for respect for religious sentiment. Bangladesh , after all, is a society that DOES NOT as yet seek unconditional freedom of expression. Prothom Alo's Matiur Rahman and people in today's government both appear to be well aware of the nature of the people in general and took the right steps to avert any untoward incident. They handled the situation pretty well. So far so good.>>
<<Matiur Rahman>>JU replies as follows:In the entire world only Muslims have "religious sentiments." How about other religionists, Mr. M. Rahman? When Bollywood movies poke fun at Hindu scriptures or western media make fun out of Christian fundamentalists by quoting the inanities of Bible or Jesus' encounter with Mary Magdalene (a repentant prostitute), then the "religious sentiments" of the entire Christendom is not disturbed. I guess the Muslim folks are a special kind. Bangladesh should be turned into a theocratic regime (if it has not already become so) and only the people could be round up for critiquing Islamic scriptures and the act of the prophet. This nation has already become a parochial nation. The recent example of government's representative visiting the Khatib's office to ask for forgiveness of a "respected" editor is a glaring one. The Islamists of Bangladesh are far more powerful one in Bangladesh than Pakistan . Iran has their "Guardian Council" and Bangladesh has their Khatib and his well-fed and corpulent Mullahs. Please view the photograph and you will see that the Ulemas are well-fed and the editor looks like an emaciated goat. Mainul Hosein in an Islamic garb looks more like a Mullah than a western educated person. In my book the government mishandled the entire episode. Not a single Mullah were arrested on Jumma Day when they violated the Emergency Rule by bringing a procession but when the University Students and their sympathizers took to the streets, an inordinate number of people were arrested right away. Talk about the double standard of the military-backed government! This government is very strict with the students and political parties but is in cahoots with the Jamaatis and Mullahs. Again, make no mistake about itSource:Also read:Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com __._,_.___
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