Arif is free

Drishtipat and E-Bangladesh are reporting that cartoonist Arif has been released from his six month incarceration. This blog promised to highlight his plight until justice was done. We now thank all those who helped Arif in his struggle: other bloggers, letter writers, petitioners, and most of all, Barrister Sara Hossain and her team. When the issue moved off the headlines, Sara and her team kept on fighting the lonely legal battles. This blog also notes the cowardice of our major editors, who disowned Arif in his hour of need, and who refused to publish any op-ed on the issue. And finally, we wish Arif well for his life ahead.

Tacit Takes A (em)Bedded Reporter to Task, Tasneem Khalil Takes the Government to Task

At times like these when you don't have enough time to blog, it's really good to have other people do the job for you.

Tacit has written a(nother) fierce little piece on the state of the Daily Star today. Best quote for my money:

We don’t know what Mr. Manik is getting out of prostituting his journalistic ethos to our army generals, but we hope, for his sake, that he set his price high... he should also remember the ultimate fate of all those who have sided against democracy and freedom in Bangladesh. Remember, and maybe reconsider.

Also worthy of notice: Tasneem Khalil's cutting piece on the hypocrisy of this government.
Best quote:

In post-1/11 Bangladesh: a human rights advocate is a criminal, an university student is a criminal, a professor is a criminal, a politician is a criminal, a democrat is a criminal, a jute-mill worker is a criminal, a journalist is a criminal, a tea-stall-wallah is a criminal, a cartoonist is a criminal, a garments worker is a criminal, a hungry survivor of cyclone demanding relief is a criminal…

And one might add, war-criminals are sacred deities whose aura of serenity is protected by the government from the rude shocks of a sedition case.

Between "Islam"ists and "Secular Human"ists - Caught in Between (and Needing Badly to Get Out): the World's Muslims! - Part 2

Please read Part 1 before this.

Ms. Nasrin and the "Secular Human"ists

So continuing on with my evening: after pondering the sheer hypocrisy of Islamists when it comes to turning a blind eye to the un-Islamic behaviour of their ideological allies, and re-affirming once again their inability to better the conditions of the world's Muslims, I decided to cool off by distracting myself.

A visit to The 3rd World View produced this real gem of a resource on the latest controversy surrounding Taslima Nasrin.

For those who do not know, Taslima Nasrin is a self-confessed secular humanist. This means that she is in support of the separation of church/temple/mosque/synagogue/whathaveyou and state.

Now while I do not subscribe to secular humanism (or Islamism), what I expect from the adherents of these ideologies is consistency. Plain and simple. Yesterday I highlighted how the controversies created by Islamists were hollow and self-serving, simply the opposite of Islam which values consistency and deliberation in judgement. Today, I will highlight how secular humanists of the Nasrin variety create controversies that are equally self-serving and without any consistency, but which have the unfortunate effects of demonising the world's Muslims to an increasingly suspicious non-Muslim audience.

Taslima Nasrin's writings against Islam what she experienced in the name of Islam at the hands of some Muslims are well-known. She has been living in exile since then, ironically in a country with more Muslims than in her home-country of Bangladesh - and yet her plight is constantly used as an instance of "Muslim intolerance" by vested quarters. The Indian government - normally so harsh on Bangladeshis immigrating to its territory - has continuously given her visa extensions. (I leave readers to draw their own conclusions. Frankly, Bangladesh's response should have been to offer asylum to M.F. Husain, but then our "national security" warriors worriers don't like paintings of Hindu goddesses either, do they? Damn, we BADLY need a good debate about national security that is free of communal dynamics!)

What really screamed out at me from the 3rd World View post linked above however was this particular newspiece:

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, in hiding in India after death threats from Islamic groups, has found an ally in a hardline Hindu leader accused of collusion in the killing of Muslims during religious riots in 2002.

Gujarat chief minister Narender Modi has invited the author to stay in his western state after she fled Marxist-ruled West Bengal last week, the Economic Times newspaper reported Tuesday.

"She is welcome to come and stay in Gujarat. She can carry on her work in the field of literature and serve mankind," Modi was quoted as saying in an interview to the paper.

"Even if she criticises me in her book, I will welcome it."

"Never underestimate the impudence of an impudent man", to paraphrase an unmarried Christian woman on a small island off the coast of Europe (and I can't wait to find out how the Jamaatis spin that one tomorrow!). It went through my head as I imagined Modi being so magnanimous to a critic of Islam.

For those who don't know, Narendra Modi was the godfather behind the genocide (the ONLY word) of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. What started off as commmunal rioting was transformed into ethnic cleansing thanks to the government of Gujarat's then chief minister, Narendra Modi. RSS "volunteers" roamed free with voters' list furnished by the government showing where Muslims lived. The state and the police were complicit in this massacre of a people based on their religion. And the victims were Muslim. The latest from the investigation into Gujarat comes from Tehelka (h/t Tacit).

I think it is pretty clear that Narendra Modi's dislike for "Muslims" stems from a very different source than Taslima Nasrin's. Yet, their dislike brings them together - (just as, in our country, a hatred for the centre-left makes far-left eccentrics like Farhad Mazhar write for far-right newspapers like Naya Diganta).

But this is not my real disappointment with Ms. Nasrin. I am not as thin-skinned as some people who call themselves Muslim. I do not really give a **** what cartoons are being published or who wrote what in which third-rate novel. If someone's written against Islam: fine, whatever. I have many more productive ways to follow Islam in everyday life (prayer, good deeds, fundraising for some cyclone victims, alms, a few polemics against Islamists) than to take up some placard and waste half my day.

No my real disappointment with Ms. Nasrin lies in the fact that in all her years in India, very rarely have I heard her speak against the religious fundamentalism of the Sangh Parivar and its affiliates. I have not found any utterance by her against the Gujarat Genocide, the censoring and "voluntary" exile of M.F. Husain, the censoring of and RSS-backed protetsts against the film Final Solution on the Gujarat Massacres by Rakesh Sharma. I emphasise, I have not found and if you know of any, I will put in the correction. Indeed, the only criticism she has ventured against any of the RSS's pet projects have been her support for Deepa Mehta's film "Water" (one of my favourite movies), whose filming was stopped by threats from religious fundamentalists. The movie is about the lives of Hindu widows in the backdrop of Indian's independence, and has nothing to do with Muslims.

So basically, secular-humanists of the Nasrin, Rushdie or the Hitchens variety really say a lot by their selective silence on and selective speeches against some religions more than others. Wrongs are done in the name of all religions, yet Islam what they think is "Islam" always comes in for more than it's share of flak for a lot of reasons.

And this flak by secular humanists can then be used by bigots like Modi to de-humanise Muslims, disenfranchise them and in extreme cases like Gujarat, wipe them off completely. One can then invite a secular-humanist with a beef against Muslims to "criticise away" with no problem whatsoever!

If Taslima Nasrin actually takes up that offer, I'll be more than happy to retract this blog post and put up "I was wrong" in big, bold letters. But she won't. Firstly, because as an author she is terribly narrow: she can only write about her personal experience and her personal tragedy and those were inflicted on her by Muslims. Secondly because her world-view is such that "religious fundamentalism" is always worse than fundamentalism in the name of the nation. The RSS never simply presents themselves as a religious outfit, but as a nationalist one as well, all about restoring Bharat to an imagined pristine state before the Muslims and Christians "sullied" it. She'll buy it as an instance of "secular" nationalism, just as V.S. Naipaul did. Thirdly, who exactly is going to bite the hand that's sheltering them? (Hint: people with integrity)

And that, dear readers, is how I came to the conclusion that Muslims worldwide are being screwed over - by "Islam"ists who really care about certain policies rather than Islam or Muslims; and by "secular human"ists whose humanism is not magnanimous enough to care about Muslims, 1/6 of the world's human population. Attendant caveats as always: not all Islamists are like this and neither are all secular humanists. And thankfully most of the world's populaton, let alone most of the world's Muslims do not fall into these two blindingly rigid categories. That is what gave me some hope as I tended to my throat. But I admit, not a lot.

Concluding remarks: such "secular human"ists and "Islam"ists have certain traits in common. As I've said before: neo-cons/"secular human"ists and Islamists have a monolithic view of Islam. Their view of Islam is that of an intolerant, illiberal, stupefying dogma (a view that serves both their interests) rather than the tolerant, merciful, moderate and sympathetic religion that was once the driving engine of several cosmopolitan empires.

Lastly, they both need each other. Both need each other to get rid of the ideological adversaries within their own communities, namely "domestic" liberals. "Secular human"ists need to point to Islamists in order to convince REAL liberals that "Muslims" are simply different, they neither understand nor deserve any response but the brute force and torture that liberals frown upon. (And if they get those from non-secular communalists like Modi, well "All's well that ends well".) When REAL liberals refuse to agree, well then it's easy to paint them as "terrorist sympathisers", "appeasers" and "liberal wimps who empathise too much with other cultures" etc etc. Although the word "over-smartness" is yet to be used, the connotations are there among neo-cons and their apologists.

On the other hand, Islamists take liberals within Muslim communities to task using these "secular human"ists as examples of "liberals". Thus the Daily Star becomes an "Islamophobic" paper to them and Zafar Sobhan's adherence to Islam is questioned by them, even though a few weeks back, Zafar Sobhan had this to say about a particularly sordid neo-con venture. In other words, all domestic liberals are "neo-cons/Islamophobes" to Islamists. Even when they are Muslims!

In between, a large swath of the world's population is left to rot in ignorance and poverty and insecurity. Maybe for generations to come.

This post would not have been possible without two posts by The 3rd World View and Bonbibi, both of whose writing prove them to be much better humanists and humans than the ones I've criticised here.

Between "Islam"ists and "Secular Human"ists - Caught in Between (and Needing Badly to Get Out): the World's Muslims! - Part 1

Part 1 - Mr. X and the Islamists

Let me guide you through my evening today.

I come home, coughing once every three seconds, pissed at my lungs, pissed at the world. I go online and see that Zafar Sobhan's newest piece posted on UV is causing quite a storm (admittedly in a tea-cup). At the very top is a commenter - lets call him/her/it Mr. X - who has a habit of giving us rare gems and does not disappoint in this case either.

Unfortunately Zafar Sobhan has started off this piece with a quote that he attributed to the Talmud, which Wikipedia informs us is "a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history".

Mr. X says:

Zafar Sobhan citation from the Talmud in the very first line of the thread, “He who saves one life, saves the world entire. –Talmud” is the manifestation of his inferiority complex [Hinaumonnatar shamil]. Because the very same quotation is present in Al-Quran saying more eloquently as,” Je Keho Ekjon Niraporad Manushke Hautta Korlo She Je Shamogra Manab Jaalti ke Hautta Korlo. Aar Je Keho Ekjon Mansusher Jibon Bachalo, She jen Shamogra Manab Jaatike Bachalo.”

I wonder why Mr. Zafar cited from the Holy Book of the Jews overlooking his own Holy Book. Doesn’t it point to bankruptcy of wisdom of the author?

Many people respond to Mr. X including yours truly. I will, with full admission of my own vanity and pride, reproduce my response because it has a bearing on what we are discussing. I responded to him thus:

"______ is right as far as the quotation from the Quran is concerned. And Farhad bhai, thank you for saying what I was about to say.

Now with full apologies to the moderators, I would like to take this occasion to rant a little bit about those who quote the Quran to suit their own ideological ends. ESPECIALLY when the full quote is absent. If you feel this comment too detracts from the point of the post, feel free to moderate it out.

The quote comes from the 32nd ayat of the 5th Surah in the Quran “Al Mai’da” or “The Table/The Table Spread” (Yusuf Ali). The full ayat is this courtesy of Yusuf Ali:

On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

Now the questions posed by me for _______ and the theologians are three-fold:

(1) when the man is trying to do a good thing through his writing, does it matter what book he quotes and does the Holy Quran itself prescribe bringing up UNNECESSARY arguments instead of pursuing the right course of action during catastrophes like this?

(2) When the Holy Quran itself says that such a message came to the “Children of Israel”, is Zafar Sobhan’s quoting of it from that source a sin/crime? (Think very carefully before you answer)

(3)Why wasn’t the ayat from the Holy Quran quoted in full in #1? Feel free not to answer this."

Now here's where it gets really interesting. Mr. X comes back with this gem of a response, which I cannot reproduce in its entirety thanks to its length. But I will quote the parts I found most relevant:

Thank you folks for your comments on my comment about the quote from Talmud. I believe in religion, ain’t an atheist. I have respect for Thalmud and other heavenly books. I believe, the three religions, their books and their followers are just like sibling to each other. I have profound respect to all of them. But I want to emphysize here the teaching ” Know thyselves.” Many a times we try to show up our over-smartness and expanse of knowledge by following, citing and using non-indeginous exotic stuff.

...... But contention is that we have some elites who being muslim doesn’t have good study on Islam and quite uncomfortable with own religion but feel comfortable to affiliate with others and start reading, Geeta, bible, talmud etc and start criticizing his own one.

Once again I emphasize that this has little to do with this particular commenter. I do not like to pick on denizens of the Bangladeshi blogs, even ones for whom I have very little sympathy.

No rather, I'd like to present this commenter as the model poster child of a particular Deshi mindset and dissect his comments to see what insights we can glean into this mindset.

Firstly, let me zero-in on the most problematic part of this little blog-drama I witnessed this evening. Zafar Sobhan quoting the Talmud is an example of "show up our over-smartness and expanse of knowledge by following, citing and using non-indeginous (sic) exotic stuff". The commenter in the immediately preceding sentence also says: "But I want to emphysize (sic) here the teaching ” Know thyselves (sic).”"

Does anyone know where the aphorism "Know thyself" comes from? Yes, the "classical" Greeks themselves. Now unless the Greeks were indigenous to Bangladesh and/or secretly Muslim since 610 -12 a.h., I am afraid that this is more "citing and using non indeginous (sic) exotic stuff". It really doesn't get more exotic than Greek philosophers....

Now here is the really interesting part: while the "secular celebrity intellectual" quoting the Talmud allegedly betrays a discomfort with his own religion, it is absolutely fine for this commenter to "emphysize here the teaching "Know Thyselves"". Even though, may I point out, that if you were to approach this from a strictly Islamic perspective: either both are guilty or both are innocent. From a deshi SECULAR legal perspective: either both are guilty or both are innocent. The same law applies to both.

Why is this important? Let me spell it out for those who don't know my little obsession nowadays: while a "secular" cartoonist like Arifur drawing that cartoon is an insult against religion and the Prophet (SAW), and betrays some sort of "conspiracy against Islam"; the Shibir-backed newspapers' publishing of the same cartoon is an example of .... nothing! It goes unremarked. It goes scot-free. No HuT members protesting there. No idiot commenters busy questioning their "motives" there (the worst I heard was that this was Arif's ticket out of Bangladesh - which revealed more of the commenter than the cartoonist).

Yet, it is the same whether we like it or not. But not condemned in the same way by those who always seem to speak for "Islamic" interests.

And here's the really interesting part. The "average" deshi middle-class dude(ette?) who's not really into religion or politics will - given the evidence of both - probably agree that Zafar Sobhan/Arifur's "digressions" are somehow greater than that of a Mr. X/Shibir-backed publication. Note, not Islamists who are exploiting the situation, but the average Mintoo who smokes his cigarette at the corner tea-shop while ogling the women and then goes to pray Jummah. He doesn't really like these mullahs (they'll get rid of the women from the streets), but he's not really a fan of these high-flying "intellectual" types either.

And here's why: because he has been convinced that there is this secret "cabal" composed solely of liberals who are out to "get Islam". AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, he has been convinced that "Islam" is only those set of practices and only those opinions that belong to a specific set of people, namely those who have beards and are quoting the Quran in parts to justify illiberal policies or whatever those in power want them to justify or - as was the case here - to villify someone they don't like. Helping the poor, the weak and the defenseless - those are not Islamic until and unless blessed by an appropriate man (always a man) with a beard wearing an alkhalla.

And if the bearded man tomorrow pronounces Zafar Sobhan to be a "heretic" while simultaneously preaching friendship with the "people of the Book"... well that isn't something for Mintoo to think about is it? If the bearded man says that Prothom Alo is a secular paper and so its printing of the cartoon is "haraam" and Kishore Kontho is a religious paper and its printing of the same cartoon is "halal", then that becomes "Islam" for Mintoo. After all, bearded men know "Islam". "Intellectuals" know only what the West has taught them.

Mr. X also very revealingly calls Mr. Sobhan "some elites who being muslim doesn’t have good study on Islam and quite uncomfortable with own religion but feel comfortable to affiliate with others and start reading, Geeta, bible, talmud etc and start criticizing his own one". The key-word here is "elite". I have also seen similar comments on tacit's blog (let's call this one Mr. Y). So perhaps it is an elite-resentment thing? Zafar Sobhan is seen to be part of some sort of elite and so his crimes mean so much more than others? Is that the logic at work? (Alas, if we only treated our power elites this way, we would have some accountability! But that is another matter.)

But then I had to ask, how does this apply to Arifur? Is he part of some secret elite that I am not aware of? As far as I knew, he was a simple Muslim boy from a simple pious family that named him after the Prophet (SAW). His only "sin" is to work for a newspaper that the Islamists deem to be "secular" and draw cartoons for them. Thus he is locked up. A Muslim man locked up. Without trial, without justice, without a fair hearing. For nothing but politics, but it is your vocal Muslims who are busy defending this in the name of Islam and it is your silent Muslims (the Mintoos) who are busy acquiescing to it.

At that point in the evening, I recalled a lot of people.

I recalled the Muslim Kurds - Sunni like 90%+ of this blog's Muslim readers - who were being oppressed by the Turks and the Iraqi and Syrian Arabs without many Islamists making noise about it (Amreeka and Nastik Communists were their preffered targets then). Indeed, one remembers how during the First Gulf War, Saddam was a hero to many, prayed for in the mosques.

I recalled Muslim Balochis killed by the Pakistani government without question while the Islamists made noise about other things (Yahya's drinking? Bhutto's womanising? The APWA? Who knows, who can tell? Why talk about human suffering when appealing to men threatened by women's emancipation from their homes is so much easier?).

I recalled black Muslim Sudanese being killed (and years before that, traded as slaves) by other Muslims and Islamists never holding a protest rally in Dhaka about that (cartoons, American invasion of Iraq and Aghanistan were more important then)

And of course I recalled how when this green land's Muslims were being killed along with their countrymen of other religions, what Islamists had done or not done.

And I came to one conclusion that was just beyond the tip of my nose: Islamists cannot take care of the world's Muslims, the majority of whom are coming to define the "third world" today (Asian Tigers and BRIC countries are ahead; oil-rich countries hold a tiny fraction of the world's Muslims). They cannot take care of those Muslims because THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE WORLD'S MUSLIMS. They simply care for what they call their "religious duty" but what the rest of us can easily see as nakedly self-serving politics that benefits only one group: them. And if you don't see this, that's probably because you are an Islamist yourself. The rest of us can pretty clearly see that the emperor has no clothes.

Lastly, to end on a less than serious note, let me pin down one word that occurs in both Mr. X and Mr. Y's comments: "smartness". Typically a word used in Bangla to denote those who know too much about other cultures or to chastise children/teenagers, typically those who do not set store by society's limits on their behaviour. In English, it is actually quite complimentary. It smacks of having once been what James C. Scott would have labelled "a weapon of the weak".

Apparently, quoting the Talmud is an indication of "smartness". So are Yiddish proverbs and Vedic scripture according to Mr. Y (good for Mr. Sobhan that the Talmud is originally in Hebrew). So be it. I suppose the average Deshi hates it the same way the average American hates those Hollywood liberals getting into kaballah or the average Victorian hated the Buddhism fad of the 1890s. Or the way I hate those big thick glasses on hipsters.

The difference is: I don't advocate jail for everything I dislike. If that were true, I'd be calling for banning Jamaat right now.

Part 2: Ms. Nasrin and the "Secular Human"ists

What Really Hurts Bangladesh's Image

Really haven't had time to blog recently. But I always have time to read blogs like In the Middle of Nowhere and Rumi bhai does not disappoint. I've brought up the idiocy of political appointments from outside the BCS foreign cadres before.

But for sheer passion and energy, it is always hard to match Rumi bhai. Here are his two posts on recent ambassadorships awarded by the CTG:

Yasmeen Morshed's appointment as High Commissioner to Islamabad. Link.

Debapriya B, Fahim Munaem and Z. Alam's postings to Geneva, Ottawa and Canberra respectively. Link.

A salute to Rumi bhai for posting on this issue. A salute to our long-suffering men and women in the Foreign Service who are again and again superseded to make way for someone's chacha or chamcha.

And no salutes to a "non-political" government (coming up next from Bangladesh: no-noise radios that fix the problem of static by giving you no music !) that is filling up ambassadorships with political appointees and censoring the media/hesitating to call out for international aid for SIDR because of its image.

AdComm sued

....or at least bdnews24.com is reporting that as breaking news.

Are you a non-regular blog reader? Are you surprised at this piece of news? No need to be. We knew this was coming for some time thanks to shadakalo and docstrangelove.

Deshi media - 0. Deshi blogs - 2.

November 10th - Nur Hossain Day

Celebrate a real Bangladeshi hero for a change. Nur Hossain as an ordinary man who gave his life to restore democracy 20 years ago.

One blog post for Nur Hossain. One blog post for Democracy.

Gonotontro Mukti Paak!



An appeal to the Bangladeshi bloggers (received via Email):

In March 1982, the army overthrew a democratically elected government in Bangladesh. The military junta cited rampant corruption and a breakdown in governance as the reasons for the intervention. The army chief, Lt Gen HM Ershad, went on to assume the presidency through farcical elections.

The general's rule, however, did not go unchallenged. There were frequent strikes and agitations. One such took place on 10 November 1987. On that day, a political activist named Nur Hossain had the words 'gonotontro mukti paak' (roughly translated as 'give back democracy') on his back.

Nur Hossain was killed by the security forces shortly after this photo was taken. See here for details.

Democracy is once again suspended in Bangladesh 16 years after it was re-established. Martyred Nur Hossain epitomizes the sacrifice and struggle of our fight for democracy.

November 10 2007 will be the 20th death anniversary of Nur hossain.

Please write a post and display his pictures on the 10th of November, 2007 as a sign of solidarity.

~Nur Hossain Bloggers

Updated: The Curious Silence of the Watchdog

Update: In the spirit under which this blog operates, I link Mr. Nazim Farhan's Chowdhury's response to Mash's post yesterday here. While I don't agree completely with him as to why the media has remained silent on this case, I'll let it pass for now and simply say this: if reputations are what keeps journalists away, then we have come to a sad state for the media. Please refer to Rumi bhai's excellent post linked below titled Fallen Heroes.

I hope Mr. Aggrieved comes back to read this update and sees that we're not out "gunning for" anyone, nor are we giving in to populist baying for the blood of "the aristocracy". This blog has simply asked WHY the media has not covered a story deemed worthy of public interest. We respect the Chowdhury's right to privacy as much as we respect any citizen's. However, the trappings of power (and NOT their reputation!) means that they should expect (encourage?) reporting on their affairs to be greater than a Paban's or a Joynal's, not less. Yet, how many reports have we had on the respective stories?

Lastly, if I ever see any commenter use that "forgot (?!!!)" again for a piece on media censorship, I will crown them the king of irony. One cannot forget what one did not know in the first place. Thanks to Mr. N.F. Chowdhury, the cloud is somewhat cleared.

---------------

Today's post will be short and sweet. It asks one question; which court cases and/or accusations should the media focus on, the ones made against private citizens or the ones against highly placed government officials? Even if those cases have nothing to do with their performance as public officials?

I ask because even as the newspapers are full of a litany of accusations against an "infamous" Paban (a private citizen) and a Purbani director/owner (a private citizen), there is near complete silence on the Geetiara Safia Chowdhury story.

Now please don't mistake me: innocent until proven guilty for all. I'm sure that there can be an innocent explanation for the entire matter, and that it is the accusers of the Chowdhury family who are the real culprits. My interest lies less in their innocence or guilt than in the near-complete silence of the media on a story of public interest, precisely because it involves a public figure, albeit in her other hat as a private entrepreneur. Precisely the sort of conflicts of interest that we have been quick to label "corruption".

What's stopping people who clamoured about the watchdog role of the media for the last five years from fulfilling their duties in the changed circumstances of 1/11? Anyone?

Related: Mrs. Chowdhury's son, Nazim Farhan Chowdhury's blog.

The Fallen Heroes.

And for whoever's counting: deshi blogs - 2, deshi media - 0.

Deshi Blogs and the Future of Citizen Journalism in Bangladesh

Say it with me: Deshi blogs have arrived. And with a tremendous bang.

Whether they will stay or not is another question altogether, and I'll touch on this question a bit more below. But I assure you that if you are a regular reader of Deshi blogs, you are not likely to forget these last five days. These last five days have seen the blogs break the news, discuss the news and perhaps even create the news. It started with Mash's post on E-Bangladesh and ends with Dr. David King, the KSG professor whose class the General was invited to speak to, responding to (unsubstantiated as far as I know and irresponsible I feel) accusations made against him on Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers. (h/t Addabaj @ Shocholoyton)

Deshi Blogger wrote:

Bangladesh government sought Dr. David C. King's advice for election reform and wanted to appoint him as special consultant during his visit to Bangladesh. For this reason he invited Gen. Moeen to come to his school and to speak to his class and probably finalize the deal of him working as consultant. Money talks .... There is a definitely a conflict of interest. But who cares?

To which Dr. King replied:

What are you talking about? I had no contact with General Moeen until he came to my class yesterday, and nobody ever approched me about consulting. Why didn't you just email me before posting?

He then left a second comment which I feel is worth thinking about. Not for a minute or so, but long and hard:

It has been interesting reading comments about the visit on various blogs over the last day. There are many conspiracy theorists among your community.

My students and I encouraged General Moeen to operate in a fully transparent way. I encourage everyone in the caretaker government to be transparent.

That applies, too, to the Bangladeshi diaspora. To my taste, too many blog posts include phrases like "rumor has it," or "it is said," -- or simply invent their own realities.

I'm not in Bangladesh, so I don't understand all of your ways. And I appreciate Moina asking the question -- but all anyone has to do is just ask. Goodness knows our students didn't hold back when asking General Moeen questions yesterday and today.

(Emphasis mine)

I can assure the professor that Bangladeshis are not naturally more conspiracy-theory-prone than any other people. But once the government starts witholding information and acting secretive, that is what you get: misinformation and disinformation. It's been said before and in fact, I've been talking against censorship so much over this summer that I feel bad for my regular readers. But that really is the core of the issue. If American media outlets felt half the pressures that the Bangladeshi media have come under since January 11th and started censorship under coercion or self-restraint, American blogs would have been filled with as much conpiracy-theory and rumour. Which might have led to further censorship of the more adventurous media outlets and de-legitimization of blogs on the grounds of "bad journalism", "endangering the national interest" and of course my favourite "conspiracy". Cliche it along with me: vicious cycle.

But the rest of what he says is very relevant too, if only to think about. Yes, with increasing attention being paid to blogs, Deshi blogs themselves need to do some soul-searching and make sure that they don't start peddling in half-truths that are easily confirmed or dismissed. It's the obligation that we have to our readers, and frankly to our country which deserves the best and not the truth bent to fit out ideological perspectives, be they AL, BNP, Jamaati or CTG/shongskarponthi (sorry to sound all deshpremi and December 16thy and a bit like the General himself!).

And then there is that picture of the Chief of our Army taking questions from students. Alas, had it been in his own country, from students of the premier institution of his own land - and without arguments, this is still Dhaka University -I would have been happier. Instead, we know what happened there, and I have no wish to revisit that dark moment in Bangladesh's civil-military relations and indeed its history.

"One flag, One Nation, One Country - Our Bangladesh" - then why not take questions - open, unfettered questions - from those students studying under our flag, belonging to our nation, living in our country, ie. BANGLADESHI students? I throw my question at an abyss expecting no answer.

Which brings me to my last issue, the different ways in which authorities deal with blogs. I leave you with this post on how governments deal with citizen media, aptly titled as "Engage, Ignore, Supress". The author gives examples of the good (engagement, the city of Buenos Aires' official blog, Democrats and Republicans answering questions to YouTube video-bloggers), the bad (ignoring, what's been happening to us -I'll speak for myself - me) and the ugly (supressing, Egyptian bloggers being arrested, Malaysian bloggers being called in for questioning or getting sued).

But most pertinently to our current situation the author says this:

And this, I argue, is exactly the view that government’s should be taking when it comes to citizen media: it’s not a threat, it’s an opportunity. A government, like any large organization, is a brand. Use blogs to engage your constituents, to answer their criticisms, to educate them about your strategy.

Thanks to The 3rd World View for sharing the story above. One of the oldest Deshi blogs - if not the oldest - for those who don't know!

Already, the gathering storm can be felt. There was the threatening of bloggers during Tasneem Khalil's detention. Every now and then, I can hear the "noise": "surely all these bloggers are paid by the political parties" (usual suspect is Mr. Sajeeb Wazed Joy, perhaps because he too maintains a blog, but I've heard variations) or "all you bloggers are related to corrupt politicians". Never refuting the evidence or arguments presented, always going for character assassination. That is the worst way to "ignore" someone.

From my previous experience with Bangladeshi political culture, I'm preparing for a campaign to delegitimise bloggers. A campaign whose magnitude will be proportional to how relevant they become. One just hopes that it dithers between the good and the bad, and never reaches the ugly. But as always with Bangladesh, one hopes for the best. And the best would be if our government engages us, frees the media and allows a much freer flow of information. It's the lifeblood of life.

The Bangladeshi Blogosphere - A Few High Points - Boston Brahmins Edition

Updated below
First and foremost, a pointer to Shadakalo's excellent, excellent post from yesterday on General Moeen's visit to Harvard. For the umpteenth time this year, let me say that blogs are doing the media's job. And in Shadakalo's case, doing it well! My humble thanks to the people behind that blog.

On that note: after my less-than-elegant-or-polite jab at the Daily Star editors and the media in general (no pun intended), I am happy to note that Mukti has a much more succint and pertinent list of grievances and questions for the media:

"Journalism without fear or favour? I hope the late SM Ali is not too disturbed in his grave....

"Second, will the media rethink its responsibility? I asked the editor of a major Bangla daily earlier this month about press freedom in today’s Bangladesh. He said a lot of things without answering the question. My brother mentioned something LK Advani said about the Indian media during their Emergency — the media was asked to bend, they chose to crawl. Ours seem to have taken supplication to a new low. How long before this changes?"

I urge everyone to read the entire post. Daily Star people, I know I'm getting hits from your offices, so come on, answer a few of our questions!

Update: Mash has finally cleared the air about whether General Moeen was Harvard University's Ash Institute's Kennedy School of Government's Dr. King's guest in this excellent post in which he reproduces an email exchange with Dr. David King himself:

"Dr. King confirmed that General Moeen was not invited by the Kennedy School of Government. General Moeen had instead been invited by Harvard University. That invitation was later cancelled, for reasons unknown to Dr. King. Dr. King had asked to "borrow" General Moeen to appear in his class before his invitation to Harvard was cancelled."

So to answer J@Shadakalo's question, "But why inflate something that is so easily proven to be untrue?": because the people on General's Moeen side are thin-skinned/afraid and thought that:

a) a Harvard speech meant some tremendous boost in prestige in the eyes of us poor, uneducated Bangladeshis

b) and therefore the cancellation meant a severe blow to his prestige, a "loss of face".

So it seems that while initial reports were right, the correction will be seen nowhere in the Bangladeshi media. I note that Amader Shomoy is still reporting that General Moeen is participating at a "seminar" on "Democracy in Bangladesh" at the Ash Institute at KSG. How this reflects on the Bangladeshi media, I leave readers to judge. Personally I hope that Amader Shomoy is right and would love to be proven wrong in placing my faith in the Deshi blogs over the Deshi media. [Update: Shadakalo reports that he was at a lunch/lecture with Bangladeshi students and community leaders. See link below.]

I hope this because press freedom could not have deteriorated so much in the last 9 months that blogs are blowing open stories that are within the media's grasp. As we can see from Mash, all it takes is one email.

And since I've written this, J@Shadakalo has also put up an email interview with Dr. David King that I'd urge everyone to read. Well done both!

Update 2: On another front, another speculative piece on Bangladesh Watchdog as to goings on in Boston. Of particular interest, complementing J's speculations [very first link on this post] for the real reasons behind the General's visit:

"It is rumored that General’s mission to the U. S. is to meet Sheikh Hasina’s family members. He visited Florida where his only son, his younger brother and also Hasina’s daughter live. At Harvard, it is rumored that he wanted to meet Sajeeb Wajed Joy. It is rumored that instead of a private meeting Joy suggested an open meeting. The General, therefore, have reportedly invited all the 4 Bangladeshi students of the KSG to have luncheon with him on October 23, the day of his departure to China. It is believed that after this meeting, he would decide as to how to deal with Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the AL party now under detention. It may be mentioned that as per media reports, Joy met Indian Foreign Minister during his trip to New York few weeks ago and that might prompted General Moeen to have a face-to-face dialogue with Joy."

I stress this is all hearsay till now as far as I'm concerned. If true - and I have reason to place high credibility on the author of this piece, which I should add is not the blog owner - I have to ask, is populist rhetoric and elite politicking the only way we can do politics? One hopes we grow out of it.

Meanwhile, on less murkier (?) grounds, Addafication has a post dealing with the nitty-gritty legal issues behind Bankgate. I give you no quotes because the entire piece is worth a good read for supporters and critics of General Moeen alike.

A small pat on the back for Deshi bloggers.

A Letter For Arif

I am happy to report that unlike a few weeks back, the blogs are now reporting that Arifur Rahman is not in some "undisclosed location", but rather at Dhaka Central Jail. Unheard Voices has begun a letter writing campaign for the jailed cartoonist. Please write to him to show your support and solidarity at this trying time in his young life. The letters can be addressed to:

Mohammad Arifur Rahman,
Son of Mohammad Matiur Rahman,
re CR Case No. 2298/07,
Dhaka Central Jail,
Nazimuddin Road,
Dhaka.

I would like to request my fellow bloggers to highlight this letter-writing campaign as well, especially in Bangla blogs. I'm almost ashamed to ask more from them given the superb job they've done since our local media lost all its spine in dealing with this issue!

One particular line from the UV post is worth quoting: "We also urge those offended by the cartoon to write to him, for compassion towards one’s adversaries is a fast-vanishing Islamic value in today’s world."

Very few will disagree with that.

Dhaka Shohor Predictions following "Bankgate"

Things I expect to happen in the next week in Dhaka with regards to "Bankgate" (thank you SA bhai!). All "might"s and "may"s, no guarantess and no money back:

1) This particular chartered accounting firm might lose a few employees. Some of the senior partners might even have corruption charges made against them.

2) A new aura of mystery will come to surround the banker's profession even as it has come to surround the soldier's profession over the last 32 years. In support of this, let me quote a managing director of a recently famous bank from a Pravda Amader Shomoy interview (h/t Shadakalo): "Those who are making noise about this do not know anything about banking". Yes, I agree. So as a banker, tell us why all this has been misinterpreted and give us the correct explanation. We're NOT bankers, true. But neither are we so stupid that we won't get it if you took the trouble to explain.

3) A certain prospectus dealing with an army-owned bank that recently went public might just go offline from the Stock Exchange Commission website.

4) E-bangladesh and the Stock Exchange Commission sites might be blocked from within Bangladesh.

5) The affairs of public companies might come under the Officials Secrets Act of 1923, and made public to foreign nationals only and not to Bangladeshi citizens. Yes, that is how twisted our sense of national security can be.

6) The use of the internet might be made illegal in Bangladesh, especially for business uses or to get information about potential investments.

7) "Tareque Zia made me do it!"

8) The teaching of accounting, banking and mathematics might be banned from Bangladeshi schools to make way for MANLY disciplines more applicable to "REAL life", such as theoretical physics, cellular biology and abstract mathematics. Political science, such as it is in Bangladesh, will be completely banned given that there will be no "politics" - a synonym for the AL-BNP katakati - to study anymore. And then we can all live happily ever after....

Pretty outlandish eh? But in the brave new post-1/11 world, I would not be surprised unless I were to see the following. Methinks that I will live to see Hell freeze over, but not the following:

1) Any explanation that is civil and acknowledges the right of citizens to ask questions of politicians AND public servants.

2) Any act even resembling "accountability" of public officials.

And thus we will stumble onto 2008 and beyond till the next 1/11, the next Messiah and the next bunch of sycophants crying "Hosanna".

The Bangladeshi Blogosphere - A Few High Points

This last week saw the publication of two very important pieces without much precedent on the internet:

Mash's well-researched article rebutting Sarmila Bose's "scholarship"

Sid's tremendous piece on the artist SM Sultan.

Truly a privilege to belong to the Bangladeshi blogosphere!

Free Arifur Rahman NOW!

The Front Page will highlight cartoonist Arifur Rahman's incarceration until justice is done

Click here for the latest posts.

WRITE A LETTER TO ARIF. FOR DETAILS, SEE BELOW.

(This is the front page of the blog and will remain so as long as the cartoonist is denied justice and media coverage. For the latest content, please click on the link at the very top. Watch this post for updates.)

Early February: I am sad to report that the earlier reports of Arif being freed quietly by the regime is false. I am informed that he seems to be in good spirits, and is in a cell with one other
person. I understand that a petition has been moved to discharge him from the case for hurting religious sentiment (now pending before Dhaka Magistrate's Court) on the gruond that:

- there was no basis to the case,

- he had no such intention,

- he was not responsible for publication of the cartoon,

- the cartoon was not offensive,

- Islam preaches tolerance and fprgiveness, and

- he has in any event apologised for any inadvertent offence caused to anyone.

I also understand that his legal team pleaded procedural points of error.

I am informed that a decision is expected on 25th Feb.

Early January 2008: I am informed that Arif has been freed quietly by the regime, and his well wishers want the issue to be not highlighted. Shada Kalo is also reporting similarly.

October 22nd: I am happy to report that unlike a few weeks back, the blogs are now reporting that Arifur Rahman is not in some "undisclosed location", but rather at Dhaka Central Jail. Unheard Voices has begun a letter writing campaign for the jailed cartoonist. Please write to him to show your support and solidarity at this trying time in his young life. The letters can be addressed to:

Mohammad Arifur Rahman,
Son of Mohammad Matiur Rahman,
re CR Case No. 2298/07,
Dhaka Central Jail,
Nazimuddin Road,
Dhaka.

I would like to request my fellow bloggers to highlight this letter-writing campaign as well, especially in Bangla blogs. I'm almost ashamed to ask more from them given superb job they've done since our local media lost all its spine in dealing with this issue!

One particular line from the UV post is worth quoting: "We also urge those offended by the cartoon to write to him, for compassion towards one’s adversaries is a fast-vanishing Islamic value in today’s world."

Very few will disagree with that.

October 17th: It is exactly one month since Arifur Rahman's arrest. 30 days. Arif has spent the better part of Ramadan in prison and has spent Eid away from his family. Even his exact whereabouts are open to question.

Let me take a moment here to note the absolute silence about him in the mainstream media. A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E.

Ask yourself: is this what the Prophet (SW) would have prescribed? Given the stories of his sense of generosity, forgiveness and JUSTICE we all grow up with, the answer would have to be a resounding "no"! But of course, this will fall on the deaf ears of the people who use the Prophet's (SW) name explicitly (and that means YOU Hizb-ut-Tahrir!).

I have complained previously about how "secularists" drive an unnatural wedge between the religious sphere and every other sphere of life. Let me say here that I've always regarded this is a two-way process: ek haathey shottiyi taali baajey na! Religious people - and Islamists in particular - drive just such a wedge by barring a cartoonist from speaking about religion (or in this case, what passes for religious practice in Bangladesh).

When you bar your creative people from talking about religion, you cannot then come back and complain that they have become "so secular and worldly"!

Free Arifur Rahman and let him live with security and dignity.

October 1st update: Keep Me Honest has a must-read piece on the cartoonist. Turns out that he recently won a contest for the best cartoon against corruption, this current government's raison d'etre.

The list of bloggers in the September 28th update will be regularly updated. So please keep posting about this issue until justice is assured.

28th September update To my knowledge, the following bloggers have issued calls for the release of the cartoonist Arifur Rahman:

Shourav of Somewherein - The creator of the sticker you see above and on the sidebar, and his personal blog.

Addafication which highlighted the injustice of it all.

Mash

Third World View

Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers

In the Middle of Nowhere, who rightfully asks us not to forget the BRAC worker kidnapped in Afghanistan either!

Serious Golmal

Unheard Voices

Tacit

Keep Me Honest.

Mukti

Shada Kalo

Royeshoye

I'd like to thank Sid and Rezwan bhai for most of the bloggers on this list.

If you are a blogger who has written about Arifur Rahman's predicament, called for his release or even simply put that sticker up, I would highly appreciate you leaving a comment here with the link to your blog/post. Same goes if you know someone who has. I'd like to highlight the bloggers who are doing all this. Thanks.

26th September

I'm too middle-class to go out into the streets and protest for anyone's release, I confess. There are many notables languishing in jail right now for whom the clarion cry of "Nishortey Mukti Chai" will be raised no doubt, once the CTG relaxes the ban on politics. I have not joined them on this blog till now and I will not join them in the future.

But when I see a 23-year old BANGLADESHI civilian being picked up and thrown into jail for no reason but that he offended some old men with decrepit ideas, I see injustice of the vilest sort. And protesting injustice, ESPECIALLY when it affects the weak, is a fundamental part of my religion.

It's been late in coming, but the realisation has finally hit those of us who still think independently. Last week Addafication wrote clearly as to why this was less about censorship and more about injustice. Today I found this post on Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying, highlighting the growing web campaign to free this artist.

Very few times in your life will you come across an act whose darkness can completely drown out the bright light of justice. This is one of those times. Raise your voices.

A Spot of Idealism

Blogger Shadakalo brings to our attention idealist teachers who have made a difference in their students' lives. Please read here. Truer words have rarely been said.

I was taught a story in primary scool in the Bangla text book Amar Boi. It goes like this: the Prophet once showed a beggar how to become a woodcutter and thus ensured that the man could sustain his life. Sustainibility is everything. When you help in someone's education, you help them become sustainable.

So listen to Shadakalo. Idealism might be dead, but its long shadow provides relief to a lot of people.

Romjan Mobarok.

The Strange Case of the "Islamist" Suddenly Believing in Collective Responsibility

By some piece of cosmis irony, today I came across a blog post that tries to blame an entire group for the sins of a few. It's about a USAID consultant molesting a child in Bangladesh. I urge everyone to read the entire piece, but here's a small excerpt:

"USAID consultant in case of kiddyfiddling in Bangladesh
Sunday, September 09, 2007

Apparently he was meant to be developing the shrimp industry. This story is disgraceful, but i suspect it wont really chasten the development industry.

One wonders what sorry excuses for literate and ngo employed human beings like Touhid Feroze would make of that. I'm thinking something along the lines of, 'we shouldnt judge as standards always change' perhaps. Or maybe something like 'nothing to get emotional about, none of the protagonists were Bangali'."

Now I'm going to overlook the terribly trivialising word "kiddyfiddling" to denote something as serious as child sexual abuse. What else can I expect from inhabitants of an island which calls cigarettes "fags", the Underground "the Tube" and all South Asians "Pakis"? They only invented English. The rest of us are burdened into speaking it properly...

I love the logic of those sentences up there. One NGO consultant molests a 10-year old. This somehow reflects on the ENTIRE NGO sector. Therefore the "development industry" needs chastening, and NGO employees are expected to "make excuses" for it. I note that the author does not reproduce any reactions from anyone in this mythical industry, just irrelevant links about what he thinks they MIGHT say....

However, I "admire" the logic involved: that an entire group must apologise for the sins of a few. What does that remind me of I wonder? *taps fingers thoughtfully on cheek* I re-direct you here to an interesting debate on a completely different issue at Serious Golmal while I think on that question.

More to the topic on hand, my "admiration" of this sort of logic also leads me to reproduce a few news stories of my own. Here's one that talks about the difficulties a Bangla daily in New York faced when they ran a story about an Imam accused of the crime in question. Here's one of a Male imam accused of the same. Does the entire ulema and their "apologists" and perhaps all Muslims including myself now have to "make excuses" and clear their/our good name?

Not to me, they don't. Perhaps the author of the blog will hold them accountable COLLECTIVELY. I highly doubt it given his previous statements. A friend of mine calls it in-group heterogeneity vs. out-group homogeneity: the in-group is composed of individuals, while the out-group has collective responsibilities for everything. All partisans work on that dynamic.

In the meantime, spare a thought for a traumatised child. I know organizations calling themselves "NGOs" who actually work to help victims of child sexual abuse. I don't know of any Bangladeshi self-proclaimed Islamist organization (who technically might be NGOs too, but since when did logic and consistency matter) that does so. What does that say about collective responsibility?

Jackasses!

(PS. Fugstar, please don't come back with stories of how bad the "secular" media is and how much it lies about "religious" people. There really is no way you can justify that post in light of what I've just said. Trust me.

But feel free to try. I know you will....)

Snippets

Lest we forget.

3rd World View on Bangladesh's garments industry's slowdown.

Heritage Foundation releases a memo on "Protecting Democracy in Bangladesh". (Because the American conservative track record of protecting democracy abroad has been sooooooooooo awesome! But mostly because Iraq is something no American conservative wants to talk about right now.)

Ban Ki-Moon commends Bangladeshi peacekeepers and CTG.

British irony: how MI5 spied on the guy who coined the term "Big Brother".

Secular India's "Untouchable" Harijan newspaper.

July 28th, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture says that UN needs "better peacekeepers".

Yet another reason to laugh at Pakistan.

Takfiri Politics - Must Read by Shaher Zaidi

Shaher Zaidi on "Dalal Politics" - what I've referred to as "takfiri politics" - and what it does to the space for and terms of debate. I disagree with a lot of people on the blogosphere on a lot of issues (I'm hard to get along with), but try my best not to cast slurs on their characters or their love for 'Desh.

I hope others extend me the same courtesy.

Thank You Brigadier Hafiz!

Thank you! Divisive - "if you're not with us, you're against us" - people, take heed.

Cry the Beloved Country

(Small update below)

Omi Rahmand Piyal on how journalists were treated. The conclusion is superb in its laying bare the absolute IDIOCY of media censorship, simply superb and I translate liberally:

"Nothing can be said. I don't know if this particular piece is "provocaive or not". When the journalists were taken to the station, they were asked, "Tell us, have we treated you badly (in custody)?"

"No! No! You've behaved impeccably with us!" we had answered.

I say the same in this piece. We are extremely well in Bangladesh. Everything is alright. There's nothing wrong. There are no riots. The people are spending their days in utter peace."

There is nothing more I need to say against media censorship. Nothing at all! Were journalists busy rioting? Did their reporting on the riots (as opposed to editorialising the rioters to be heroes, which I'm yet to see!) spread these riots? The answer to both questions is a big, fat "NO"! Yet journalists are being arrested, the media is being gagged.

Ei shob ki amader aantorjaatic bhaabmurti noshto korey na? Ei shob ki India, China, America'r haathey amader tuley dey na? Koi BBC to thiki report maartesey ektar por ekta, oder ke to keu censor kortesey na. Ora amader itihash bikrito kortey paartesey, amader shorkar ke ninda kortey paartesey.

Shudhu ki nijer desher maanushi shorkarer ninda korley sheita deshodrohi kaajkaarbar hoye jay?

Ajkey abar shuntey hoilo DPte je Eengreji te jara lekhey tara naki goto ponero bochorer durniti'r upobhogkari. Tara naki shadharon manusher koshto bujey na. Tai ei post ta shesh korlaam Banglay. Eengreji te lekhi maaney ei na je ami Bangladeshi na, Bangladeshi manushke chini na, taader koshto bujhi na! Amiyo raastar side e boisha cha khaisi, bonnar shomoy haathoo-panir modhdhey haathsi, police'r haathey naajehaal hoisi ebong onek, onek manushke deskhsi durniti'r taka poysha diye furti kortey. Ekta shima thaka uchit manush koto bhaabey amader bhaag bibhaag korar cheshta korey! Shala...

Oh yeah, just to retain some "balance" (because if you're not with "us", you're against "us"... thank YOU, Mr. President!), here are two videos of some of the mindless destruction by rioters, in the name of God knows what. Find me some journalists going and whispering in their ears.





Update: From the 3rd World View, Update 5:

"A Blogger requests frantically:
The students of Dhaka University, wherever you are, please go to a safe place...you are being looked for. Please don't ask me anything."

Cry, the beloved country, cry.