Analyze this in the context of " Bangladesh bans protests against starvation"
No wonder, Bangladesh is now ruled by the Bhadroloks!The bhadrolok foreign affairs adviser of Bangladesh
Abdul Quader writes from Canberra
Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, the adviser for foreign affairs, recently visited Australia. He met with his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, and had engagements with politicians and government officials.On June 13, Dr. Chowdhury delivered a key-note speech on "Evolving challenges for Bangladesh in South Asia," at a public seminar at the Australian National University (ANU). His presentation highlighted the current political and administrative reforms being pursued by the caretaker government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. This writer also attended the seminar at the ANU.The adviser spoke of the role of the so-called bhadrolok (gentleman) in Bengali renaissance and nationalism during the British rule in India, and tried to establish that the intellectual and cultural pursuits of this bhadrolok class were instrumental in having a modern society based on Western values of democracy, rule of law and egalitarianism.Talking about sociological history in British India, he suggested that the reawakening of the urban bhadrolok class, who are highly educated, intellectually superior and culturally sophisticated, is influencing the evolving state of affairs in Bangladesh.However, the adviser did not talk about other aspects of the social life of this bhadrolok class -- their love for anything foreign, including wine, comforts and other luxuries, and the consequent moral degradation of some segments of this class.He also failed to provide a real perspective of Bangladesh against the political, economic and security developments in South Asia, especially in countries such as India and Pakistan. I consider that his speech did not adequately reflect the challenges that Bangladesh is now facing, and he did not touch on key strategies that need to be adopted and pursued in meeting these challenges. In this regard, the title of his speech, "Evolving challenges for Bangladesh in South Asia," was a misnomer.Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury stated that the former governments were highly corrupt, and mismanaged the political administration to the detriment of the country's politics. He further stated that Bangladesh needed to follow the United Nations and Commonwealth values for moving forward.His assertion implied that the establishment of Western style democracy in Bangladesh in the context of a globalised world would be good for the common people.I find it difficult to agree with the bhadrolok theory that the foreign affairs adviser invoked in explaining the changing political scenario in Bangladesh. The current caretaker government was established in response to a series of unending and violent conflicts that posed a serious threat to public safety and to the economy.It was not the culmination of concerted and conscious efforts by the intellectually and culturally advanced classes of the civilian society. The caretaker government came to the surface in January this year, as a stop-gap solution for averting further disaster. It was considered as a logical response to the political developments at that point in time.Does Dr. Ahmed mean that those behind the current caretaker government are the bhadrolok class who are trying to establish a true democracy in the society and root out all sorts of corruption in the country? He bragged at the seminar that he had spent most of his civil service career overseas, implying that he understood all the values and virtues associated with Western society.It seemed that he meant that the UN and the Commonwealth systems represent those values, and are good for any developing country. Does this imply that there is no need for the home-grown values, beliefs and aspirations of the common mass in the country?At the end of his speech, the adviser confronted a barrage of intriguing questions from the audience. He handled the questions relatively well, and repeated the essence of his speech that the reform initiatives were good for the country against the backdrop of past corruption, inefficiency and maladministration perpetrated by the previous governments.The adviser looked quite embarrassed, and fumbled a bit when a member of the audience commented that he was now lecturing about all the good values and virtues associated with the current efforts of the military backed caretaker government, while he used to defend the former government of Khaleda Zia at the United Nations as the Bangladesh ambassador to that organisation.In my opinion, Dr. Chowdhury presented an "elitist" view of the world as far as the current state of affairs obtaining in Bangladesh are concerned. In a sense, this could be taken to represent an urban, opportunistic, view of the new and emerging rent-seekers in the country. The bhadrolok? Who knows, only time will tell.Abdul Quader is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.
On 12/24/07, Shamim Chowdhury <veirsmill@yahoo.com > wrote:
Commentary: Bangladesh bans protests against starvation
SYLHET, Bangladesh, Dec. 3
RATER ZONAKI
SYLHET, Bangladesh, Dec. 3
RATER ZONAKI
Column: Humanity or Humor?
Bangladesh will no longer allow protests or processions from victims of the recent cyclone, a government official said Friday, after starving villagers in the disaster-hit area held demonstrations demanding food and relief.
Bangladesh will no longer allow protests or processions from victims of the recent cyclone, a government official said Friday, after starving villagers in the disaster-hit area held demonstrations demanding food and relief.
Maj. Gen. M. A. Matin, chief coordinator of disaster management, rehabilitation and relief work as well as advisor for the Ministry of Communications, reminded the nation that a state of emergency is in effect in the country and that violators of its anti-protest rules will be arrested.
Thousands of people are still homeless and without adequate food or clean water since Cyclone Sidr struck southwestern Bangladesh on Nov. 15.
True to the government's threat, on Sunday law enforcement officers arrested 14 people for demanding relief from the authorities in a demonstration at a school ground in Barguna District. The arrested men were detained in police custody for the day.
About 500 villagers in the area went on hunger strike to demand the release of the arrested people. They also refused the relief offered by the government. Following these public protests, the authorities were compelled to release the detained people in the evening.
Through this crackdown, the government magnified the severity of the ongoing prolonged state of emergency in Bangladesh. The government has gone beyond the suspension of freedom of expression to the suspension of the right to food, or people's right to survive.
The victims of Cyclone Sidr might not have understood that the government has also granted them a new right: the right to starve to death! This is one of the innumerable attempts of the government to hide its utter failure to address the people's dire needs; it has revealed the shamelessness, inhumanity and inefficiency of the nation's leadership.
The government and its policymakers apparently did not consider that their repressive actions might backfire. The arrests of the 14 starving victims resulted in even larger protests by the inhabitants of a number of villages, which compelled the arrogant government to release the detained people.
Governmental power can make a country's leaders blind and deaf, especially in countries like Bangladesh. The leaders speak ad nauseam, shutting off the views of everyone else, although their refusal to acknowledge and permit other opinions contributes nothing to the suffering nation.
Bangladeshis have received an important message, however: they must learn from the people of Barguna, who were arrested for demanding food and were able to free the detained people through larger protests on the same day. Fear profits nothing; these sufferers were brave enough to break their silence and challenge the powerful until they backed down.
Meanwhile, the military-backed government must learn from the same incident how worthless the state of emergency is! The people of Barguna forced the authorities to release those who had been detained, as the people of Bangladesh will soon force the government to withdraw the state of emergency. The time is rapidly coming when the military-backed government will find no way to flee.
--
(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender living in Sylhet in Bangladesh who has been working on human rights issues in the country for more than a decade and who was a journalist in Bangladesh in the 1990s.)
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