Humour: President's Pardon Inspires Some Others

Video Update: Imran Khan Arrested Thanks to Jamaat (yes, Jamaat)!

Video update showing Imran's arrest:



Imran Khan arrested. Way to go Jamaat-e-Islami! I'm deciding if they're officially with Musharraf or if they decided that punishing Imran for marrying (and divorcing) a white woman took precedence over the fight against dictatorship?

Best online reaction to this news (in bangla).

Though as a Bangladeshi I cannot approve of Khan's appropriation of our national symbol, I'll make an exception in these dire circumstances: fight like a cornered tiger boy!

দিনগুলি মোর সোনার খাঁচায় রইলো না...

... সেই যে আমার নানা রঙের দিনগুলি...

...এতো বেদন হয় কি ফাঁকি?
ওরা কি সব ছায়ার পাখি?

আকাশ পারে কিছুই কি গো রইলো না?

না... মানে... ইয়ে... মাঝে মাঝে সেই রাজনৈতিক সরকারগুলোর হাস্যকর কথাবার্তা মিস করি, এই যা!

Comic Relief - Progressive Democratic Party

Courtesy of Omi Rahman Piyal @somewherein, two images that speak for themselves but boggle the mind. Readers are advised to draw their own conclusions and share reactions. Jokes welcome sorely needed.

Update: Bdnews24 photo caption reads that it was at "a ceremony of the Islamic clerics joining the party". Is this the same Belali who was JP General Secretary? The plot thickens and gets baffling like that of a c-grade movie an insomniac watches without caring at 4 in the morning.

Related: Poribar-tontro Domon Party.

Ferdous Qureishi (L) and Habibullah Belali (R)

Pakistani Slapstick - A Study in the Absurd

I might just make this a regular segment.

Musharraf declares a state of emergency supposedly to fight "terrorists".

Among the first places surrounded by troops was the Pakistani Supreme Court.

I present to you Pakistan's new den of terrorists:



I hear from good imaginary sources that the judges who reside herein have been responsible for links with the Taliban in the 80s, not the ISI or the Pakistani army.

Pervez Musharraf explained the decision thus:

"Kindly understand the criticality of the situation in Pakistan and around Pakistan. Pakistan is on the verge of destabilisation...

"Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide."

A random , hyper-ventilating Pakistani fictionally interviewed by DhakaShohor at a train station out here in the Decadent West said: "Yes, yes of course we've heard this before. *short quick breaths* From Ayub, from Yahya, from Zia-ul Huq, even from my mom and dad sometime. *short quick breaths* But THIS TIME *short quick breaths*, it's different. *short quick breaths* THIS TIME *short quick breaths* , Pakistan really is in danger from *shouting* those Muslim Fundies. Musharraf is the promised Messiah, the Philosopher-King, the Most Virile Man, the Only One who can save us! Musharraf Zindabad!"

The random Pakistani finished his sentences with the panting of a man who has just finished a 100m sprint or something more enjoyable than talking about a short, moustachioed brown man like himself. He then decided to throw himself in front of an oncoming train screaming out, "Inaction at this moment is suicide!!!"

Tigers Roar!

And how I find out.

Reactions from the street that I completely made up sitting on my couch (and do feel free to make up your own as long as you stick to public figures or yourself!):

"For 36 years, we have not won anything on the world stage because of corruption. Now the CTG has come and we've beaten the powerhouse of world cricket, the West Indies!" - random CTG supporter bearing a suspicious resemblance to a famous newspaper magnate cum barrister cum advisor cum MAGICIAN.

"If our Mahatir had not shut down the entire city for cricket, we would not have learnt how important this game was! This is why we need a strong leader. Long live Mahatir!" - random BNP supporter taking the time out from arguing with the police in front of closed offices.

"Yet another victory for democracy, human rights and secula - Ki? West Indies?? Dhur miya, raakhen eishob. I thought you were talking about us beating these Jamaatis!" - random AL supporter taking time off from beating up "reform" leaders.

"Cricket is the epitome of the bourgeoisie's exploitation of the proletariat. Banglar Krishokera ei khela kokhonoi kheltey raaji hobey na. Viva La Revolucion!" - CPB spokesman.

"Cricket is haraam." - IOJ spokesman *insert appropriate Arabic/Persian/Urdu title*

Excuse my poor attempts at humour. Rare to wake up in the morning and get some good news nowadays.

Three small snippets

1) Grameen Bank allowed to work in urban areas.

Why this is important: By some measures, the %age of urban people in poverty is increasing in Bangladesh, even as the %age of rural people in poverty is decreasing (VERY SLOWLY!).

2) NYT reports on rising suicides in South Korea, some apparently assisted by the Internet.

Why this is important: South Korea is/was one of the Asian Tigers. Growth does not necessarily mean development. A lesson we should take to heart now.

3) Maninder Singh, former Indian cricketer and piss-poor commentator, arrested on drug charges.

Why this is important: In 1999, commenting on the aftermath of Bangladesh's famous win against Pakistan, this "expert" offered the ICC this solid piece of advice: "Don't give them test status before they win at least 70 one-dayers". I saw it myself. Charu Sharma, to his credit, replied, "But Maninder, even Zimbabwe has not won 70 one-dayers!". Too late, the damage had been done. Of course, one can now excuse Mr. Singh's comments as the ravings of a doped-up wash-out. Especially after India's loss to a certain striped team.

Goodbye sleep. Go Tigers!

Salam Dravid! Bold move, sir!

Is misogyny South Asian?

Yesterday a friend of mine wrote a note on facebook that had a direct bearing on my last post about Mandira Bedi and Ann Coulter.

Turns out that some of my countrymen (and women apparently) have put up an anti-Mandira group on facebook. No surprises there. The appalling part is the language used against Bedi, which I’m not going to give wider circulation by reproducing it here. It’s even spelled out in the name of the group. Any surprises there?

More specifically, let me ask this: is there something inherently misogynistic about South Asians?

When someone says something we strongly disagree with, most people’s first reaction is to attack the individual instead of countering what is being said. And internet forums, even on the once-elitist facebook, bring out the worst in people. Therefore, when Al Gore speaks of global warming, people on the internet call him fat . They don’t go on live television and do so, because let’s face it: that’s tacky! But the anonymity of the internet suits them just fine. And to be completely “non-partisan” about this: people highly critical of Bush’s policies almost always mention the man’s inability to string two coherent sentences together. As much fun as Bushisms are, they should not be mistaken for criticisms of his policies. In any case, South Asians/ “Third worlders”/ Bangladeshis aren’t the only ones to mount personal attacks.

The problem is with the nature of the personal attack. Bush is called stupid. Gore is called fat. Kerry is called a coward. Mandira Bedi is called a “whore”. Even ignoring the fact that being labelled with an epithet for a sex-worker should not be insulting in an ideal world, why focus on her sexuality? Even if criticism was warranted (and in my last post, I tell people that even mild criticism would be an over-reaction), why not call her stupid or anorexic or a coward? Because, underpinning all this is the assumption that informs all misogyny: men can be whatever they want and women are only sex-objects. Ergo, men possess other qualities to criticise, while women have only that one thing you can put her down with. Even worse, in this construction men can be other things not related to their biology, in the process transcending their gender. But women! They remain slaves of their biology regardless of what they become. As a result, you can criticise Kerry for being a traitor and a liar, but your first criticism of/fear for Hillary is that she might come across as a “frigid woman”, “robotic”, “passionless”. Don’t believe that Westerners are capable of that sort of sentiment? Try googling “Hillary” and “frigid” and take a look for yourself!

So back to my original question: is misogyny peculiarly South Asian? Well, clearly not. But it is prevalent more in South Asia (and other parts of the South) than in the North. Ahh, when I put it this way, inevitably you think: so it is income-poverty that leads to misogyny? Possibly not, but it might lead to misogynistic values being shared and thus to misogynistic cultures. That’s simply my intuition and if someone has any research leads for me, I’d be more than happy. What I DO know is that in South Asia (and elsewhere in the global South) there is a gender imbalance in the total population that is unfavourable to women. Amartya Sen (South Asian, Bangali, born in Shantiniketon to a family hailing from - you guessed it - Dhaka!) has been trying to raise awareness of this for years, but not even his Nobel Prize seems to helped in making any impact in South Asia on this issue.

And now we are attacking Mandira Bedi. In my last post, I divided the blame equally between her producers - who cynically use her charms as a woman - and the Indian and Bangladeshi supporters, who lap it up and give her disproportionate attention simply because she is a beautiful woman. This time I have no one to blame except my fellow Bangladeshi supporters. Attacking her in the first place was utterly useless. Attacking her womanhood is simply part of the sick disease we want to cure. Here’s hoping that Bangladesh is the first South Asian country to elect a woman whose father, husband, brother or son did not also hold office!