Is justice the privilege of only a selected few?

Jamaat leaders Nizami, Mujahid, Kamruzzaman and Abdul Kader Molla are now in police custody and being tried for so called war crimes. It is alleged that they were involved in many crimes against humanity during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, which ultimately resulted in Bangladesh emerging as an independent country. However, all this fiasco almost four decades after the war has lead to many questions.

1. According to media reports, Nizami is around 70 while the other three leaders are in their early 60's. That means during the war, they were youths in their early 20's with the exception of Nizami, who was 30 or so.
If we take a look at the political leadership today, we will hardly find any national leaders who are even in their forties, let alone be of their age then. There is not even a single national leader or political personality who is in his mid or even late 20's. Even the leaders of student organizations like BCL, BCD or Shibir are in their mid 30's.
So, isn't it funny when we hear that these handful of youths were the leaders of the entire anti-liberation movement and perpetrators of large scale crime against humanity?

2. It is reported that these jamaat leaders were members of a student organization in 1971 when carrying out the crimes. Were they the only members of this organization? Was it that only this four persons were the perpetrators of those horrendous crimes? Where did they get their training? Where did they get the arms? Who showed them directions? Who assisted them in various capacities?
Probably these four are supermen with extra-human capabilities!

3. All these four people are from different parts of Bangladesh. Nizami is from Pabna, Mujahid from Faridpur, Kamruzzaman from Sherpur and Abdul Kader from Mirpur. Most of them were students at their local colleges, and hence there is no chance of them knowing each other then.
Years later, they all joined Jamaat. Call it a miracle or whatever you may, exactly these four turned out to become its top leaders four decades later.

3. I pity the other members of their student organization then. Had they been involved in crimes against humanity, they too could have become top leaders and national politicians, including ministers.
Or is it that allegations of crimes against humanity is brought against these people only because of their political position???

4. During the war in 1971, many political parties and personalities opposed the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, including Muslim League and the communist parties (which are now part of the government). There is no mention of their names or even of the fact that these parties opposed the separation.
It seems all others, apart from the few scattered and independent alleged war criminals (who were not even jamaat members then), were and are 'doa tulshi pata' (as innocent as an angel).

5. Some months ago, the government handed out a list of 40 suspected war criminals. Does that mean that the BAL government wants us to believe that out of the entire 75 Million people, only these forty (remember they are only suspected criminals) were involved in crimes against humanity.
Some quarters have spends all their time, energy and money in highlighting the reign of terror lashed out by the anti-separation forces. Was all that terror and devastation and sufferings and killings committed by only this (at most) forty people.
It is said that three millions were killed and 200,000 women raped in the nine months of war.
All that carried out by this forty disconnected young men???

6. In late December 1971, American channel CBS broadcasted images of Mukti bahini killing tens of innocent biharis and rajakars in broad day light in front of thousands of people in the then racecourse maidan. The incident took place on the 18th of December, and was lead Kader Siddiki, a prominent freedom fighter.
This is not an isolated incident. During the nine month war, millions of Biharis and anti-separation Bangladeshis were tortured, raped, made homeless, maimed, robbed and thousand of them killed. Most of these were carried out by the mujib bahini, which was a guerilla unit trained by the forces of and in a neighboring country. It is alleged that this force was formed during the concluding part of Liberation War according to the policy of Awami League and the ally, India, aimed against the actual freedom fighters to bar them from taking the lead in the War; and they did not actually take part in the fighting against Pakistani forces.
Was these not crimes against humanity? Will these crimes never be tried just because it was perpetrated by elements of BAL?? Is justice the privilege of only a selected few???

Fair media in a free land

The hottest media sensation in Bangladesh last week was the joint interrogation of Maulana Saidur Rahman, Amir of the terrorist organization, JMB and the top three leaders of Bangladesh Jamaate Islami. Every day the newspapers carried sensational and detailed reports of what went in the interrogation cell.

One report mentioned that the three top Jamaat leaders (Maulana Nizami, Maulana Sayedee and Mr. Mujahid) were lying down on a green blanket when Saidur was produced before them in the DB office. Surprised and startled at meeting an old acquaintance and ex Jamaat leader, all three of them jumped out of the blanket. In another report, it was said when Saidur was brought face to face with Nizami and Mujahid, Saidur greeted them with Assalamu alaikum. Only Nizami responded to Saidur’s salam whereas Mujahid put on a stone face and kept silent. Yet another report portrayed the scene of Mr. Mujahid meeting Maulana Saidur. According to the report, at first Mr. Mujahid claimed that he didn’t know Maulana Saidur. But upon reminding him of their meeting in 1990 at jamaat office where Mr. Mujahid was boasting about his participation in the Intellectual killing in 1971 while peeling an orange, Mr. Mujahid kept numb and faced the floor in shame.

All these reports are so vivid and detailed that it seems all these interrogations take place in the presence of reporters.

However, a little scrutiny and reading of other related reports make it clear how false and fabricated these reports are. Here are just a few examples.
It was reported both in print and electronic media that due to lack of facilities and space at the DB office in Mintu road, Maulana Nizami, Maulana Sayedee and Mr Mujahid could not be accommodated in DB office at the same time. First only Maulana Sayedee and Mr Mujahid were held there. Later when Maulana Nizami was transferred from central jail to DB office, Maulana Sayedee had to be shifted to Ramna thana. This was confirmed by the OC of Ramna thana in the electronic media. How could it then happen that all three of them were lying down on a green blanket when Maulana Saidur was brought in their presence??
Most importantly, the Deputy Commissioner of DB police said in a TV interview, that Maulana Saidur and the three top leaders of Jamaat are arrested under different cases, with their investigating officers being different and also in most cases even the thana being different. Thus there is no question of bringing them face to face.

Yet these are the media outlets which claim they are “angshik noi, puro shott” (the complete truth), ”niteer proshne aposh-heen” (firm on principle) or "committed to the people's right to know".

past vs. present; success vs. failure

this is life. not everything is as it should be.
unfortunately in our case, Bangladeshis, most things are not.
however, as is always the case, just criticizing others and grumbling over the past will not change anything. as the wise man said, history is for us to learn from. thats all!! there is nothing we can do to change the past, so there is no point wasting our valuable time discussing what was right and what went wrong.

it is the present that we live in, and what we do here matters most. when i see all the injustices and screwed up things all around me, i get frustrated and pissed off. but then, when i ask myself what am i doing to make things better - i put myself to shame. i see that i am just talking the talk, but never walking the walk. eta nai, sheta nai; erokom kora uchit chilo, sherokom korle valo hoto: kintu korar khetre ami shunno.

so, my dear friends, let us stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. our capabilities and abilities may be little, our hands may be weak, and the destination may be too far away; but i am sure, together we can at least do something. we may never reach the goal, but we will at least be able to take one single step towards it.

remember, success is not reaching the goal, success is in working towards the right end. Similarly, failure is not failure to reach the target, it is failure to try.

একটি বাংলাদেশ তুমি জাগ্রত জনতার, সারা বিশ্বের বিস্ময় তুমি আমার অহংকার

The preamble of our Constitution states: "We, the people of Bangladesh, having proclaimed our independence on the 26th day of March and through a historic war for national independence, established the independent, sovereign People's Republic of Bangladesh."

On the 39th anniversary of this day, one of the greatest in our history, let us all unite in praying for a truly independent, peaceful, prosperous, powerful, just and proud Bangladesh in days to come.

Let us all work towards betterment of our beloved motherland. Let us do whatever we can, large or small, in serving this glorious land of ours. Let us love Bangladesh, our fellow Bangladeshis, and all that bring betterment for our country. And last but no least, let us pray for God Almighty's special mercy and blessings for her and all her children in this turbulent time of ours.

The SONAR BANGLADESH of our dreams is not far away...

[photo credit: the daily star]

what on earth is on with these people?

i wonder how much benefit is there in reading news from bangladesh. but stil i do, at least every now and then. after all, home is home...

just came across this (see image). clash over who will lead the prayer. its simply beyond me how people can argue, let alone fight with fists, in a masjid, and still call themselves devout muslims. masjids are supposed to be houses of GOD Almighty, a place of worship and spiritual strengthening. a place for one to escape the hues of cries and endless selfishness of this mortal world.

everybody has their way of seeing things. so why does it matter what viewpoint prof salahuddin (the newly appointed national khatib) holds, as long as it doesn't unequivocally contradict the fundamental message of islam? if you cant bear him, pray elsewhere. i remember learning dhaka is the city of mosques.

the very same people who outburst with rage over the carnage against humanity in gaza, are the ones violating the sanctity of the house of God - a crime against God Himself. its a funny world, isnt it?

how i dearly wish we all had a little respect for others, a little more toleration for different views, and a lot more introspection for the stances we take.

[photo credit]

Bangladesh: a call for optimism and team Playing

came across a great article on bangladesh by a great man. its somewhat long, so i will just post the gist.

he calls us to unite and work towards building a better future by working together on things we agree; and respect each others opinion on issues on which we disagree. another important pre-requisite for better tomorrow is according to him: "generation of dedicated, creative and forward looking action team whose love for the country is beyond their personal and group interests."

finally dr abdul bari ends with a list of to dos for us to work upon. these are:

1) Each of us has to create our own personal vision of life, what we want to be and what we want to achieve, for ourselves and for our country. We need to increase our horizon. Sky is the limit!

2) We need to be steely in determination. Imam Kurtubi said long ago, ‘first class brain with second class determination loses out with first class determination and second class brain’.

3) Surely, we need basic amenities in life to live in dignity. But how does one measure it? Greed is in human nature. But it destroys individuals and nations. It appears that the current consternation in capitalistic economy is due to uncontrolled greed. The question all of us should ask ourselves is how much we need in our life before entering into our grave.

4) We must learn how to ‘think outside the box’ and be creative and imaginative. The world is for those who are entrepreneurial and have the courage to take measured risk. Someone recently wrote in an article that as long as America would be able to produce Microsoft and Google it will have its edge over others, even though its economy is faltering now.

5) While politics is a noble profession and good politics is the only route to sustainable success of any country, we must keep away from Bangladesh’s polarised politics which has become toxic with its party politics. National interests must come first. For that to happen we need to broaden our mind and lengthen our sight.

6) We have to come out of the habit of being passive or starting a good initiative only to falter within a short span of time. Stamina and consistency in anything we do are fundamental for our existence, let alone success.

7) We must practise how to work in a team so that we collectively flourish. Nation building is like team playing, there is no room for solo playing with envy dominating each other’s life.

8) We need to learn the art of introspection, self-questioning and self-responsibility. For too long we have pointed our fingers at others. We have to remember that for one finger pointing to others three fingers are pointed inward to ourselves.

let us step on that journey of rising above our self and living for others.

full article

www.couchsurfing.com

its one of those late nights again. seems like blogging is keeping me up late.

couch surfing is about traveling, meeting ppl and sharing cultures. been a member for a while, but its only recently that i got active. two weeks back i hosted captain Tomasz (the captain part added by one of his friend) from Poland. with a guitar in his hand, a tent in the packback and some euros in his pocket, he is out on a year long trip around part of the world. at 21, he has already traveled quite a few places and knows a lot of things about ppl and life. this time around, starting from Norway, he plans to travel to finland, russia and then all over asia (including bangladesh) till august next year, when he has to return home to attend his sisters wedding. couch surfing, hitchhiking and camping all the way. hats off to his spirit and desire for adventure.
after he left i found myself questioning me whether i would be able to that. even when it comes to things that mattered much to me, things that i believed in, things i say i would do anything for; let alone travels.

a week after that i had an austrian girl surfing with me. she is a doctor who will soon start her specialization. medicine studies here is not at all similar to that in bangladesh. after school, they study six years to become a doctor, which is nothing but the title. then just to be a GP they need another 4 years of further studies (internship is in parts throughout the study years). otocho amader deshe mutamuti medicaler corridor diye bar koyek hata chola korle, ar khade apron o golai stethoscope julalei daktar hoya jai. manushe jibon niye chinimini khelte o amader pathure hridoye bajena!!
but what surprised me most is their trust. how much a girl traveling all alone have trust to spend a night at a completely stranger's place? some may say these europeans dont really care about physical relations, but i dont buy that. i think no matter what, most women are concerned about it to certain extent.

how much would i trust a bangladeshi stranger in bangladehsh? or a muslim stranger??

slap the weakling as you wish

some emergency repair work is going on at meghna gomti bridge on dhaka chittagong highway, and so this bridge is now a one way street. the work which started on may 15 is planned to last 44 days. and that means we, the frequent travelers between dhaka and chittagong, have to face untold sufferings and long hours in queue to get across. newspaper reports say the queue itself was as long as 18 hours couple of days back.

bus owners took this opportunity slap us, the helpless passengers, with yet another blow - an unauthorized 10% fare hike. a timely slap when we are most vulnerable.

so now a bus trip between dhaka and chittagong is not only going to take longer, but also cost more. what a way to treat one's customers!!!

p.s. i heard even flight operators took benefit of this long jam, and hiked up their fares.

now you know how all those mercedes and bmw's plying the posh streets of bangladesh are financed.

destination Sundarban (part 2 of 2)

continuing from part 1
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we begin day two early in morning exploring the nearby coastal area. after an hour of walking around in mud covered mangrove forest (avoiding the the pneumatophores - root-like structures which stick up out of the soil like straws for breathing - was a tough call), the letka kichuri (a not-so-wet porridge type traditional meal) breakfast awaiting us on board is indeed a welcoming retreat. after the hefty meal, we are all set for the only remaining agenda of day two - jungle trekking and island exploration.


once again it is 50 people jam-packed in that same 20ft life boat. and this time, none of us are wearing life jackets. the 30 minute ride to destination island covers the junction point where the river meets the sea. even a mild sea wave caressing the boat makes her swing left and right, and our hearts jump in fear; though for faruk vai and his crew this is mere child's play. some try to beat the fear with laughters and click-clock off their digital cameras, while others i am sure are silently engaged in prayer. to make things worse, a huge fishing net is caught on the propeller of our boat making the propeller stuck and leaving all of stranded in the 'mild waves' just meters away from shore. after what seems like ages, we are finally towed on shore by a group of fishing fishermen.



first thing first. right after setting foot on shore, everyone gathers for a group photo before setting out on the eight km trekking trail through mangrove forest, a 'mini desert', katka beach (where we make a two hour swimming stop) and tiger point, a huge open field where tigers hunt for deers. one of us, a doctor, finds a pair of deer horns, a tigers skull (claims faruk vai) and a man's left hip bone (she is damn confident about that). i guess bones are naturally attracted to doctors !!! (probably we would have 'discovered' it if an antique antenna was to be found).


by the time we are back on board and relaxed after filling our burning stomachs, it is almost evening. the eight km trek is too much to take for us dhakaians, and we spent the rest of day 2 sleeping and or lazing away. refreshed by an untimely evening nap, i am on deck dating stars and the sky at midnight. experiencing the moon slowly climb over my head, i realize Sundarbans is not the place for a three day getaway. even after weeks exploring, i dont think one can fully devour her majestic beauty and vast wilderness.


the next morning while on the upstream journey back from serenity and peace of nature to chaos of civilization, i make a firm resolution of returning to the Sundarbans. i can clearly foresee myself laying helpless in her arms, like a child to his mother! and probably catch glimpse of a royal bengal tiger !!!

more photos, courtesy of chandan

destination Sundarban

national holidays this year has so far been very conveniently placed - either adjacent to the weekend or a day away from it. including the holiday of 26th march (our national and independence day), which converts into a 4 day break by taking a day off in between. the perfect time to escape the hustle and bustle of dhaka, thought I. 'lets head for the sundarbans', suggests a friend; the idea gets immediate acceptance and 'so let it be', we echo in joining voice with him.

what was initially planned as a trip for a few turns out to be 'le tour de sundarbans' with a whole contingent of colleagues and families and friends - our five year old warrior Maisha and a forty one strong team of up to third degree friends.


as usual i am just in time (arrived at 10.29) to catch our 10.30 bus to khulna, from where we will board the launch that we have booked. we reach khulna three hours behind schedule at 8.30 in the morning. hopping off the bus and hopping on to our the launch, is all what we manage to see of khulna in this leg.

faruk vai, MD of royal hotel, and the organizer of this tour, warmly welcome us on board his vessel. we quickly settle in and then move out to invade the deck and enjoy mother nature's magnificent extravaganza on the banks left and right. ten hours of upstream ride bring us to our docking place close to the bay of bengal, the katka point. thanks to our delay earlier, its nightfall by the time we reach. i am somewhat half hearted to find we have wait so many more hours before we can set foot on the sundarbans and immerse ourselves in her arms.


after filling ourselves with dinner the contingent is scattered around on deck in groups - some chitchatting, others playing cards or counting stars, while the couples among us romanticizing. its 11 when to our great surprise, faruk vai announces he has arranged a surprise boat excursion for us. its agenda: 1) experience the moon rise and 2) ride into a channel and sit in complete silence to listen to jungle's voice in the middle night. with almost fifty people cramped in a 20ft life boat, keeping silence is no easy task. nonetheless we did witness the moon rise (at quarter to twelve) and heard some roars and cries (or at least imagined so) from deep within the thick mangrove forest.


early next morning while waiting for the sun to rise, i get my first clear view of the majestic forest on both banks of the channel. it is only then that i fully grasp the impact of cyclone SIDR on these poor trees. four months has since passed, but the trees were still barren and twisted and broken. instead of standing tall proudly with her arms stretched to the full and green branched housing wild colored birds, every single tree i could see was lying defeated with head her bowed to the ground in shame. just imagine what would have happened to the coastal areas had this 2400 sq mile forest not exist?


suddenly the sense of our incapability and powerless-ness overcomes me. how little we indeed are? how powerless? what if it was i facing this SIDR in place of these trees? would even a single cell in me exist? yet we dare to deny Him, Almighty. dare to disobey Him. dare to boast of our prowess. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? (Quran: Ar Rahman, 55:13)
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-> part 2 of 2

visit Bangladesh year 2008 (part 3 of 3)

continuing from part 2

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some distant church bell lazily announces that it is an hour to midnight. for dinajpur, that deep dead into the night. at around half past eight, i was out for pre-dinner walk around town cum window shopping. but surprisingly, not only were the shops closed, even the roads were almost deserted apart from a astray dogs playing around and health conscious elderly people walking a mile after dinner.

its been a long day for us. earlier in the morning, after two bus changes (including an hour-long ride standing) and two hours of bore-some waiting, we finally reach dinajpur at an hour before dawn. the morning azan (call for prayer) is still due, yet shops and restaurants are lighting on their bulbs and opening up for another day of business. later in the evening, i discover dinajpurians are not only early to rise, but early to bed too.



having failed to find ourselves a hotel room, we decide to set out exploring the place right away. driving out in our rented 1962 model series 60 nissan patrol, I can sense adventure pulsating up in myself. we are in a old four wheeler passing through an old little town, and our destination is the three hundred years old kantanagar temple. it felt like we had traveled back a few decades in time.

completed in 1752, this hindu temple - a magnificent exhibit of the exuberant terracota art - took thirty years to built. the temple was greatly damaged in a devastating earthquake in 1897, but substantially restored in early 20th century by the then maharaja. sadly, much of the beautiful artwork adorning its walls is slowly getting damaged due to lack of the proper attention and delicate care that this kind of antiquities require. (more about the temple)

next point of interest is the huge man-created tank ramsagar dated back to around the same time as kantanagar temple. i say created because this 1000 m-by-300 m lake was actually dug by people, 1.5 Mil of them. legends say the then ruler ordered digging of this huge water tank to supply drinking water for the drought-hit locality. initially no water rose in the tank. a priest prescribed sacrificing the young prince ram and throwing him into the tank to remedy the situation. hence the tank was called ram-sagar (sagar means sea in bengali). the water now is no longer drink-able, but ofcourse bath-able, so without a second thought we opt to enjoy the tank from within.

kanta nagar and ram-sagar sips away the little energy we had left after our long and tiring journey last night, and by the time we step into our hotel rooms, the welcoming bed is all what we can see.

we will return to dhaka tomorrow after visiting shwapnapuri, a theme park cum shooting spot (shwapnapuri literally means dreamland, which is rightly reflected in the theme park's eye-catching design). the direct train to dhaka was sold out, so we will instead be taking the night bus from rangpur, the neighboring town which is two hours journey from here.

visit Bangladesh year 2008 (part 2)

continuing from part 1

my scenic Bangladesh

yes, the bus ride to kushtia is grueling and tiring, but no way near boring. in a country of poets and music-lovers, you can well expect to find a good number of them in a group of sixty. throughout the ride, we are showered with live in-house entertainment of songs, poem recitations (including self composed), and jokes among many others. we have a historian on board, so we are even lucky enough to have lectures briefing us on the historical heritage of every area we are passing through. this includes the famous 'chalan bil', the largest wetland of the country, which cover 368 sqkm continuous sheet of water in the rainy season. other notable points of interest on the way are the jamuna bridge and the picturesque natore countryside, home to the famous banalata sen of poet Jibonanda Das.

laloner majar and robindronather kutibari

lalon's majar (tomb) is on the way to our lunch-place, so we decide to drop in. baul is a type of traditional folk music with a spiritual touch, and lalon to baul is as elvis presley to pop. the place is not just a simple tomb as the name suggest, rather i find there a huge complex housing a music (baul) school, an impressive auditorium, and home to well decorated graves of many of his companions and followers, including his wife. there are also many souvenir shops outside selling all sorts of stuffs (including pipes for smoking pot - which often goes hand in hand with baul music). a local proverb says 'even sweet words sound bitter when the stomach is empty'. so i am not too sad spending merely 15 minutes at a place like this, where otherwise i would probably laze a whole evening away.

our last point of interest in kushtia is tagore's kutibari (resthouse) in the banks of river padma. the resthouse itself is now a mini bungalow-turned-into a very poorly maintained museum. yet it surely is the biggest attraction of kushtia, as i see hundreds of tourist and picnic-goers hanging around. people are gathered here and there in groups and i find last breath of smoke from make-shift stoves and maids lazily cleaning dishes. there are even a few small cottages up for rent around the place. with a tight schedule to meet, we are brisked away back into the bus before we get to absorb the air and dissolve ourselves into the atmosphere. but then something is always better than nothing.

this is the end of the study tour, but two other friends, myself and a stranger decide to spend the next two days exploring dinajpur in northern part of bangladesh. we bid farewell to the rest and separate ways at nine pm, which is dead night for this remote part of highway from where we are to catch the next bus.

[to be continued]

the equation of general Moeen's extraordinary visit

left hand side: what we get

a state premier's welcome for our one and only general,

two stallions and four mares which will "form a strong breeding germ-plasm for production of quality horses for Bangladesh Army" (handed over the general himself in a spectacular presentation ceremony), and

four dead bodies (killed bt bsf on 24th feb at Thakurgaon Satkhira borders)

===
right hand side: what they get

direct train service from dhaka to delhi (and state-of-the-art security cage at the border),

air cargo transit that badly compromises our national interest and security, and

rice export facility at exorbitant price


[photo credit: daily star, www.leatherwoodstud.com, weneedafence.com]

visit bangladesh year 2008

though i hardly ever manage to stick to the resolutions i make beginning of each year, i am very ritualistic about making them. this time around, the new year just passed by silently and it was only recently that resolution-making popped up in my mind. while pondering what can be an achievable resolution, i thought why not let 2008 be my 'visit Bangladesh year'. why not spend my precious few remaining months of freedom (ahem!!) traveling across BD as much as i can?

jei kotha shei kaj (let it be so). i took the next available opportunity, the long weekend of ekushey february (21st feb, which is international mother language day), to seek out exploring my motherland.

destination Kushtia

some people i know planned a study tour on the 21st feb, and i decide to join in along with a few friends. kushtia, once a centre of art and culture in undivided Bangal, is a natural choice for this group of mostly intellectuals (or atleast wannabees). 'we are starting at seven sharp', i was told; but by the time we manage to get ourselves moving, it's just about eight. not bad i reckon, considering the cold lazy morning it is, and the almost sixty of us taking part.

the best mishti doi (sweetened youghurt) i ever had

we arrive in the town of kushtia more than just hungry and tired, after a gruelling five hour trip in a forty four sitter bus. a sumptuous eight dish lunch arranged by some local friends is eagerly waiting for us (i wonder who is more eager, the lunch or us) , but that is a further 8 kms away. our voluntary guide, a professor from kushtia, is wise enough make a famous local restaurant the first stop in our trip, where we are treated to the local delicacy of chira doi (sweetend youghurt with puffed rice). i could hav at least had five more servings of that, if only time was on my side. i guess that explains the quality.

[to be cont'd...]

bash out, ash in

so finally its over!!

the agony of watching bashar's uncreative and way too defensive captaincy has rightfully come to an end. ashraful is the new man on the job. not that i really look up to his once in a blue moon performance, but lets at least hope this young blood ushers in some positive dynamism.

his idol captains are flemming and ponting, for their aggressiveness! time will tell how well he can translate this admiration into action.

till then, i will wait with fingers crossed.

lets talk democracy

most likely hasina apa and khaleda vabi will be out of the country for some time, if not exiled permanently. with the iron ladies out of stage, the to be formed political party will be virtually opposition-less in the upcoming elections supposedly to be held end of next year.

wasnt BAKSAL something like dat?
its funny how history repeats itself.
only if we learnt its lessons!!!

tigers or cats?

statistically bangladesh has a higher chance of winning against WI today, but BD cricket team's performance is as unpredictable as a woman's mind; so, we the fans, can only keep our fingers crossed.
whatever the turn out is, BD will walk away from this tournament with sweet and sour memories, the sourest of all being the dismal and shabby performance of both the captain and the vice captain. looking at the BD line up, it seems everyone but themselves realized this simple fact.
well, anyway, good luck guys.
tigers or cats? thats to be proved today.

esho he boishak

shuvo nobo borsho 1414
happy Bangla new year 1414

dr. Fakhruddin speaks

The following were the opening words of Fakhruddin Ahmed's, head of current (unconstitutional) caretaker government in Bangladesh, april 12 2007 address to the Nation.

"My dear countrymen,
Assalamu Alaikum
We all dream of building a beautiful Bangladesh; a Bangladesh which would arouse pride among our present and future generations. We want such a Bangladesh which would allow them to hold their head high at home and abroad and live in peace and happiness. We do not want a Bangladesh where they would bow down to injustices and unfairness...."

I wonder what justifies him to think and dream on our behalf?

nice words though! only that i am sure it would be far from harsh reality.

36 years of gloomy glory

yesterday, the whole nation of Bangladesh with the 150 million Bangladeshis, celebrated her 36th independence day.
36 years of sovereignty!
36 years of standing headstrong against oppression!!
36 years of sacrificing one's life for the motherland!!!

but what really is independence?
is it just having your own boundary and your own people ruling over you? or is it the nation being ruled for the interest of the people, by people whose interest is to serve the people.
it is only the latter that can bring about true independence.
political, economical, social, cultural independence.
and most importantly independence in thought and sovereignty action.

sadly enough, it is on this 36th years of independence that we are most shackled. shackled by the power-blinded lords of the world, and their despicably shameless local stooges

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2007

[photo credit: http://inabangladesh.blogspot.com/]