Showing newest posts with label Media. Show older posts

Lynette Lee Corporal at Asia Media Forum has published an article on Blog Action Day and quoted me from an interview which I submitted via email earlier.

Here is the article:

Battle for Climate Change Waged in Cyberpace Too

Bangladesh’s information ministry has distributed no-objection letters allowing these TV stations to go on air:

1) Ekattur Television (backed by journalist Mozammel Huq Babu)
2) Channel-9 (backed by Syeda Mahbuba Akhter, the wife of retired Brig-Gen Syed Shafayetul Islam, who is younger brother of LGRD Minister and ruling Awami League General-Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam)
3) Independent Television (Salman F. Rahman, Vice-Chairman of Beximco Group and adviser of Awami League chief)
4) ATN News (Mahfuzur Rahman, owner of ATN Bangla TV)
5) Somoy Television (Ahmed Zubair)
6) My TV (Nasir Uddin)
7) Machhranga Television (owned by Anjan Chowdhury, Director of Square Grp)
8) Mohona TV (Kamal Ahmed Majumder, a ruling party MP)
9) GTV (owned by Gazi Golam Ashriar)and
10)Bijoy TV (Chittagong mayor A.B.M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury)

Bangladesh has 11 privately-backed channels already on air, plus two state-backed stations (BTV and BTV World). (Via Rapid TV News)

In recent days Bangladesh media (especially the tabloid ones) have been taken over by an Indian writer called Sunita Paul. She has been writing sensational articles on Bangladesh affairs and never bothers a bit before raging personal attacks on various persons without any valid source of information. Her famous sources are like 'according to information', 'a senior official' etc. It can be argued whether what she writes can be called journalism. She usually writes for unknown and less read online magazines like American Chronicle. But a section of of the Bangla and English newspapers are republishing her articles to amplify her baseless propaganda.

Blogger Mashuqur Rahman wrote an article in the Daily Star asking "who is Sunita Paul" and furnished evidence that she plagiarized from his blog:

On February 6, "Sunita Paul" published an article in the online publication American Chronicle with the breathless headline "Ruling party getting set to try Bangladesh Generals." Now, if the claim in the article's headline were true, this would be big news.

However, the article was thin on backing up the main charge in the headline. As one reads further through the long article though, one comes across a number of paragraphs that seemed very familiar to this author. For a very good reason. The paragraphs were originally written by me in two October 2007 articles. [The articles, titled"Banking: Junta Edition" and "In Denial" are available at:http://www.e-bangladesh.org/2007/10/page/4/]

"Sunita Paul" copied, word for word, five paragraphs that I had written in 2007 and passed them off as her own writing in 2009. No citation was given, nor did she put the passages in quotations. In other words, she has stolen someone else's words and claimed them as her own. Not only did she plagiarise, she also used copyrighted material without the author's consent.

Sunita Paul responded in the American Chronicle with a personal attack on Mashuqur Rahman calling him part of the alliance of evils:

Mashuqur Rahman calls me a plagarist and cheat. He did not cite one example behind such nasty allegation. I have never violated any copyright of any publication, ever. Wherefrom he invented this plagarism theory? Why he terms me as a 'cheat'? Just because I am not also one of the lap-dogs of Bangladesh Awami League like him?

Before publishing that she deleted the article in question from the American chronicle. But she forgot there is a thing called google cache which stores the articles. Here is the article she deleted. Need more proof Sunita Paul?

After Mash published these things in his blogs, the blogosphere started to dig dip. Shada Kalo writes:

Sunita Paul:

* Deaf
* Dumb
* Born in an affluent family in Kochin
* Twice masters (what the hell is that?)
* A Fraud
* A Plagiarist, and
* A Liar

Her bio in the American Chronicle raises more questions than answers. She claims to be a deaf and dumb and yet completed masters degree twice, that's an extra ordinary achievement for a handicapped women. However nobody heard of her before 2006. Shada Kalo gives logic to prove that she is a liar, a fraud and a plagiarist. The deaf and dumb trick is to get some sympathy and keeping away from face to face interviews.

Turns out our dear "Ms." Paul, this "twice masters" in Political Science and Journalism, would have one hand up in the air. Because there is no city/town/hamlet/village in India called Kochin. There is, however, a famous city called "Cochin", since 1967 called "Kochi." However, in its many incarnations, it has never been spelled "Kochin."

Could this be true that "Ms." Paul does not know how to spell the name of her city of birth?

Now Mash has uncovered more plagiarism from her writings:

“Sunita Paul” lifted 11 of the 13 paragraphs from Helene Cooper’s article and included them in her American Chronicle article. Nowhere in “Sunita Paul”’s article is Ms. Cooper or the New York Times given credit. Now, it is possible that the New York Times and Helene Cooper decided to waive copyright and give the entire contents of their original work to “Sunita Paul” to publish as if the words were written by her, but I very much doubt that. It is much more likely that “Sunita Paul” has plagiarized the New York Times article and tried to pass it off as her own writing.

I am sure in many articles she wrote there are some lines stolen from a newspaper article or someone's blogpost and she does it without ever crediting the source. Now either she should confess that she is a plagiarist and cheat or plagiarism should have a new meaning.

Update:

Shada Kalo exposes the contradictions in her scores of lies:

According to this article, it was known (to "Ms." Paul and "her" loyal readers) that Mr. Wajed was at the Dubai airport giving thick envelopes (presumably containing cash) to fleeing mutineers. Then why, oh why, "Joy was very dissatisfied to see long list of Awami League leaders and activists as collaborators and conspirators of the massacre" as described in the April 14 article?

I mean, if he is the paymaster of the fleeting murderers, why would Joy have to "see" the long (or short) list? Shouldn't he already know about who was involved? Why would he have to defy his mother's orders to return to Dhaka so he could instruct Sohel Taj what to tell the CID officer about the investigation? He should have known all this by February 27, and not wait until the information came out during the interrogation.

The person hiding behind the Sunita Paul pen-name fell in the typical liar's dilemma, and forgot the previous lie.

The story that a Bangladeshi film producer has claimed that he has spent 58 million dollars building an exact replica of the "Taj Mahal" was first reported by AFP and then quickly picked up by the MSM in Bangladesh, India and International media.

Some Bangladeshi bloggers went to see what the fuss is all about and were disappointed with the findings and claimed this as a money making scam to milk the visitors with exorbitant prices. Aparna's post at Global Voices reveals all that which ends with:

"With Bangladeshi bloggers uploading their first-hand experience of visiting the site through posts, pictures and videos, it is only now we are getting the real picture of the “fake Taj” story."

Ethan Zuckerman noted in his blog:

"It’s pretty common for professional journalists to complain about poor fact checking in blogs, and the possibility that bloggers will hype stories that professional journalists would have quickly and easily debunked. Here’s a classic counter-example: an international press agency hyped a story which helped rip off Bangladeshis, who used blogs to debunk the story. Here’s hoping the international outlets hyping the story will pick up on the corrections as quickly as they seized on the story."

Yesterday AFP published a followup article which defended their first story!! Its notable that this time they have placed the claims of the cost and the materials within quotes to indicate that it is a claim by the builder. Earlier they had reported it as if it was a fact.

However they quoted visitors reactions including the Global Voices report this time:

Bloggers too have reacted angrily to Moni's replica, which he claims is life-size. Aparna Ray concluded that the hype surrounding the attraction was a gimmick. "[It's] a money-making scam in the name of the Taj," Ray wrote. "The tiles look like the type you'd use in a bathroom. We've been cheated by this guy," another blogger wrote.

Apparently they finally went there and interviewed the producer. "There's nothing I can do if a visitor is disappointed," he said and AFP reported as it is. And AFP also reported that he will next month raise the entry fee from 50 taka to 100 taka.

I like many disappointed Bangladeshis want to see those "imported marble and granite from Italy, diamonds from Belgium and used 160 kilogrammes (353 pounds) of bronze for the dome" as reported by AFP (did they check those?). And I would also like to see how much tax this guy has paid for the income(?) of "$58million (an unbelievable some for Bangladesh -per capita income $1400)" he spent on this Taj Mahal as he claims.

May be the bloggers will have do it for us again.

Reporters Without Borders compiles an index of the world press freedom index every year. It measures the state of press freedom in the world. It reflects the degree of freedom that journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.

Here is the index for 2008 where Bangladesh slips 2 positions to 136th out of 173 countries. Here are the stats of Bangladesh in the past three years:

• 2008 - 136th position
• 2007 - 134th position
• 2006 - 137th position

It shows that there was no material change in Bangladesh's position in the past three years.

Evgeny Morozov, is a technology journalist from Belarus (I met in Istanbul last month) who writes for The Economist and other international publications. He has launched a new site called Kill the Cliché, which analyzes the international news stories published by half a dozen prominent newspapers in America and identifies terms and phrases that get overused by journalists. He says:

The premise is simple: given the destitute state of affairs in American media, it may be a good idea to purge it of cliches…

According to the data compiled, the all time hit cliché is 'insurgent' and the most cliché-heavy reporter is 'Jill Drew' of the Washington Post.

Via Ethan Zuckerman

The Doha Debates is a public forum for dialogue and freedom of speech based in Qatar held each month. The debates are Modeled on the Oxford Union debates and presented by the internationally renowned broadcaster Tim Sebastian. A motion is presented to the 350-strong audience and two speakers argue on behalf of the motion and two speak against it.

Earlier this month I watched in BBC a debate titled "This House believes that Muslims are failing to combat extremism". It was a lively debate with speakers like Ed Husain, the ex Islamic fundamentalist. His book 'The Islamist' was published in 2007. In it he says Muslims have a responsibility to stand up and reclaim their faith from extremists.

While most Muslims react to the fact that they are getting the blame of religious extremism around the world, sometime they forget to raise to the occasion when they are required to stop such incidents from happening in their communities. E.g. in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere) propaganda books calling Jihad against non Muslims are sold outside Mosques and nobody seem to care about it.

If you are a Muslim, then watch this debate to know how to reclaim your faith from extremism and if you are a non Muslim then understand the complexities in the Muslim communities around the world (Muslims are not always Arabs, and with strong religious views) deterring them to take an unified action against extremism.

Himal South Asian is a great regional magazine in South Asia based and its published from Nepal. I don't know about its readership in the region but its available online. Its February issue has two articles about Bangladesh.

Bangladesh: The plus two formula

"One year on, as Bangladesh teeters on the precipice of economic and political breakdown, there are rumours of a martial law in the offing. These suggestions seem to gain strength even as the government and the army chief, Moeen U Ahmed, publicly deny them. Meanwhile, the only visible electoral and bureaucratic reforms thus far have been regime changes at key government and quasi-government institutions. Actual political reform has been stalled by internecine battles for leadership within the country’s two major political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). This gridlock, suggest many political analysts, has been largely engineered by the government.

This sluggishness in the political arena looks set to continue in 2008. While the Election Commission has embarked on an ambitious identification-card project, at this point it appears likely to miss every key deadline that could actually lead to the promised elections by the end of the year. The fact that the Commission is still answerable to the office of the chief executive (previously the prime minister’s office), which controls its funding, means that the most significant reform for which many have been clamouring until now remains incomplete.

The interim government’s repeated attempts to exile the ‘two begums’ – Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia, who respectively head the Awami League and the BNP – have failed in the face of popular resistance and the refusal on the part of the two ladies to be intimidated. Likewise, the once-celebrated anti-corruption crusade has quickly lost credibility, as rumoured backdoor deals see a trickle of corrupt businessmen emerging from the prison gates. To its chagrin, the government, too, has realised that its overzealousness in arbitrarily arresting key business leaders during the early months of 2007 succeeded in little more than destroying business confidence. To make up for all of this instability (which it helped to create), the Dhaka regime has been compelled to form a ‘truth commission’, where corrupt businessmen can confess past sins and atone with a fine to avoid jail sentences."

Scattered memories of 1971

"In Bangladesh, as elsewhere, the writing of history can often be a political project, with a choice made between competing narratives jostling for space. In the post-1971 period, there were several attempts made under the Awami League government to document the war. These resulted in an impressive collection of primary documents published by the Ministry of Information, a 16-volume series that includes not only official documents, but also oral histories, FIRs and police reports, as well as a collection of press clippings from around the world.

With the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975 and the coming to power of General Ziaur Rahman, the writing of history in Bangladesh took a decidedly political turn. Since then, each successive government has sought to impose its own stamp on the country’s history. In so doing, every minute detail of the 1971 war has been hotly debated, including who purportedly issued the first cry of independence, the true part played by India, and the highly contentious role of the Razakars, the militia recruited by the Pakistan Army consisting of non-Bengali Muslims and some pro-Pakistani Bengalis. Textbooks prepared under the military regimes and the governments of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) tried to drop all references to India, and refer to Pakistan not by name but as hanadar bahini, the ‘enemy army’. This skewed presentation in the textbooks has led legions of Bangladeshi schoolchildren to believe that the mukti bahini, the Liberation Army, actually fought against India in 1971.

Similar tinkering with nationalist narratives has gone on in the former West Pakistan, as well. Students in modern-day ‘Pakistani Studies’ classes use textbooks that argue: “Since independence, the leadership of East Pakistan has been in the hands of [separatists who,] in collaboration with Hindu teachers, polluted the political air and spread poisonous propaganda among the young students of East Pakistan.” Bangladesh is subsequently seen as the result of that ‘poisonous propaganda’, in which separatist elements and pro-Hindu teachers are conflated."

Click on the titles to read the complete articles.

I am shocked to see that all the newspaper or TV/Radio in Bangladesh was silent about the latest report by the Human Rights Watch on incidents of torture in Bangladesh and the ordeals against Tasneem Khalil. This was widely reported in many major international media.

A journalist working in the Daily Star commented:

"The press is still gagged tightly. We still cannot write about anything negative regarding the military in our articles. This has been going on for more than a year. Tasneem Khalil and Arifur Rahman incident have happened for a reason. Irene Khan’s trip to Bangladesh gave us some hope. But little seems to have changed since then. This country is bursting at the seams."

However the Daily Star put up an editorial today titled "17 years of 'journalism without fear or favour". What a hypocrisy considering Tasneem Khalil was working with them and they conveniently was also silent about the report.

Listen to the BBC Bangla interview of Tasneem Khalil on this HRW report and the Bangladesh Government's reactions.

Update: The Daily Naya Diganta, a leading Bangla daily published the news.

Update II: The New Age publishes a brilliant editorial titled "Tortured truths" by Rehnuma Ahmed:

"According to Human Rights Watch, Tasneem’s account is ‘the most detailed public account of a case of torture in Bangladesh.’ There are other testimonies too. The truth has been told.

We can no longer keep our eyes shut."

Via Shahidul News.

Taslima Nasrin is again in media spotlight because fundamentalists in India are demanding India to expel her. The Bangladeshi writer is in exile since 1994, when fundamentalists issued a fatwa against her for the allegedly blasphemous first novel Lajja. Read some interesting commentaries on the latest controversy:

* The sword and the monk’ s cowl

* Taslima Nasreen: The Daughter of Eternal Bangladesh on the run in India- But Why?

* How Taslima Nasreen knocked Mossamat Akhera Bibi off the headlines?

* Taslima Nasrin, the outcast.

* Bangladesh writer wins ally in hardline Hindu leader.

*Renowned Theatre activist Aly Zaker said:

I don't know Hyederabad in the Andhra Pradesh and its muslims who drove her out of that city, but I have some experience of knowing the mindset of the majority of muslim inhabitants of the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) during our war of liberation in 1971. Most of them not only refrained from supporting us they were most annoyed with us for breaking Pakistan. To give vent to their anger and frustration they even did not hesitate to physically torture fellow muslims from Bangladesh who took refuge in Kolkata.

According to BBC:

BBC World Service is traveling along the rivers of Bangladesh as part of a major project to track and debate climate change.

Officially entitled Nodi Pothe Bangladesh - Bangladesh By The River - this is one of the most ambitious projects the BBC World Service has undertaken.

Over the course of the month, staff from 17 different World Service language services will visit the MV Aboshor, and each Friday and Saturday a total of 48 people will cram onto the small boat.

The launch began with a press conference on board the boat. "Why are you coming and scaremongering?" a journalist asked. "Why do you want to present Bangladesh in a negative light?"

Does he have a point? Perhaps in the next four weeks you can judge for yourself.

Here is the website for this project. The interesting thing is that you can follow the project via Twitter, a growing social networking site that allows updating your status via sms (mobile) and web (IM) and you can also informed about your peers status via web (IM) or sms to your mobile. Check the 'Bangladesh Boat' updates via twitter.

Its interesting to see how the media uses these social networking sites. Earlier Greenpeace's 'Project Thin Ice" used Google Earth Technology to report the progress of the expedition to north pole. But twitter is appropriate in Bangladesh's context where there is a great deal of progress in telecommunication which has a sound network even in the remote areas of the country and they offer even fast internet connection (Edge & GPRS) via mobile. Check Mezba's post for details on this pehonomenon.

(Graphics credit BBC)

Update: Nokia and Reuters announced a collaboration to bring a new mobile journalism application that will enable reporters to file and publish articles, audio, photo and video content directly from handheld devices.

“Now it is being said that no war criminal exists in the country. Maybe after some time it would be said that the Liberation War never took place. All this will mean we will be deprived of the real history.” - Former chief justice and chairman of the Law Commission Mostafa Kamal

Bangladeshis were outraged by the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami's leader Ali Ahsan Muzahid's statement that "Jamaat did not work against the Liberation War in 1971 and there are no war criminals in the country."

Before we go dissecting the above statement this contradicts with the Jamaat leaders statement during the liberation war in 1971, in which they sided with Pakistan and aided Pakistani army to kill and rape Bangladeshis which resulted in one of the worst genocides of the world. A few excerpts:

Addressing a gathering of Razakars in Jessore, Nizami said, "Every single one of us must identify ourselves as soldiers of Islam and we have to use all our forces to destroy the people who are involved in an armed conspiracy against Pakistan and Islam," (The Daily) Sangram reported on September 15.

The next day Nizami urged his followers to "confront and reveal the true identity of the so-called Bengali-lovers".

While visiting an Al-Badr camp on September 22, Nizami said, "Only the patriotic youths of East Pakistan can effectively annihilate the Indian infiltrators and their local agents."

Golam Azam (the then Jamaat Ameer)at the party council of Kushtia district unit in the second week of August 1971 described the freedom fighters as criminals and directed the party workers to resist them. He also directed formation of Shanti Bahini (peace committee) in every village of the country. He told the meeting that very soon the Razakars, Mojaheed and police would be able to resist the "criminals", said document No. 549 (159)-PL.S(I) signed by the then home secretary MM Kazim on September 14.

Here is the background of Ali Ahsan Muzahid.

So it is a call of the time to try the proven war criminals and bring proceedings against them. This is what war heroes are demanding.

This is required because Jamaat leaders are vowing that no case have been brought against the alleged war criminals so why should people call them criminals. In 1974 a general amnesty was declared for the war criminals as people were taking law in their own hand in those times of political turmoil. Later on Jamaat as a party was rehabilitated, which still contains some of the war criminals and they are even made partners of the government.

Dr. Zia Uddin Ahmed wrote a brilliant piece in 1997 where he said about Amnesty:

Post-genocide traumatized society often has to make a dichotomous choice between two perilous options, should the perpetrators be prosecuted or should they be amnestied in the interests of national reconciliation. (Amnesty) is discriminatory application of criminal law, privileging certain defendants, which bread cynicism toward the rule of law.

States have the duty to prosecute violations of international law like genocide. Such crimes cannot be unilaterally forgiven; even a victim society cannot forgive crimes against humanity.

Zia Uddin describes in his article about ways to deal with the past and how to systematically bring the war criminals to trial.

There is another theory that Jamaat is wanting that charges are being brought against the war criminal. Because of the complicated and corrupted Judiciary and lack of evidence (after 36 years) they can get easily acquitted. So the court order will give them more power to deny the truth.

So it is imperative that the cases should be brought in international tribunals. We need our Simon Wiesenthal who hunted for the Nazis all his life.



The above video shows the student wing of Jamaat, the Islami chatro Shibir is participating in a rally posing as Muktijoddhas (freedom fighters).This is how they are changing colors.

Even some persons in Government are apologists towards them. Jamaat's Islamic militancy connection is widely known but neglected by the Government.

Some documents in public domains allege that the military intelligence in Bangladesh is subverting political process to breed a new political landscape. (Read the Washington Post's article A New Hub for Terrorism: to see the documented linkage between Jamaat and the current DGFI). "What makes future prospects in Bangladesh especially alarming is that the Jamaat and its allies appear to be penetrating the higher ranks of the armed forces. Among many examples, informed journalists in Dhaka attribute Jamaat sympathies to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Aminul Karim, recently appointed as military secretary to President Iajuddin Ahmed, and to Brig. Gen. A.T.M. Amin, director of the Armed Forces Intelligence anti-terrorism bureau".)

These are worrying signs but let me remind you the people cannot be fooled always. Well aware Bangladeshis will not let it happen that easily. The reactions I am seeing on the web is enormous. Statements like this from Jamaat will create a commotion among the public. And if people rise then the consequences will not be limited to war of words only.

Reminding you about the liberation war with this song of Joan Baez sang by a Bangladeshi:

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in USA, devoted to connecting battered women’s advocates across the nation to work together to end violence against women and children.

The issue is not country specific. Domestic violence is a menace that is found all over the world. This is a disease prevailing in every social structure, whether its the educated or uneducated, rich or poor. Bangladeshi women experience some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world.

In this report we will see how Bangladeshi bloggers have started making some waves in fighting domestic violence and bring justice for the victims proving the power of cyber activism once again.

Via Samiha Esha we take a look at the story of Nadine Murhsed, a lecturer of Brac University who was brutally assaulted by her husband Sajid Huq in New York, where he is a student at Columbia University.



Pictures tell a thousand words. but Nadine's note says more:

I am lucky to be alive, and there must be a reason why the month-long abuse I sustained did not culminate in my death. I had said my ‘innah lillah..’s and was prepared to die, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he raped me with my head draped with a scarf so that he wouldn’t have to look at my disfigured face.

She was rescued by police and Sajid is now in the custody of NY Police. Dr. Kathryn ward at Nari Jibon's Bangladesh from our view has more updates:

Her abusive husband's elite family is threatening her family with false cases. More recently many prominent Bangladeshi women's organizations and leaders have protested the continued harassment of Nadine and her family and called for justice in Bangladesh and USA.

Some have organized on Facebook a group to provide Justice for Nadine! while others are speaking up and writing to challenge the victim-blaming anti-Nadine activities of the abuser's, family, and friends who have posted misinformation on these websites!

Adhunika Blog has some shocking statistics:

Studies show that up to 3 million women are physically abused annually by intimate partners in the United States. However, the numbers seem worse for the South Asian community in the U.S, where approximately 41% of women are physically and/or sexually abused in some way by their current male partners in their lifetime. Unfortunately, the real percentage may be higher as many South Asian women are less likely to categorize various interactions as domestic violence, or are afraid or prevented from reporting such incidents.

The Blog lists some helpful links to different domestic violence groups in USA that provide information about domestic violence and different services to victims.

Now lets go to Bangladesh to learn about more violence against women.


On October 22, 2007 Manobi posted about Rahela, a teenager working class girl who was gang raped lead by her former colleague, her throat was slit and body brutally mutilated by acid three years ago. Before her painful death she could name the devils who did this to her mother. A case is on trial in court and the first hearing will be on October 29, 2007. A leading human rights organization "Ain O Salish Kendra" is fighting for Rahela's justice and is leading the court battle. The accused are hiding from the law and may get acquited due to lack of sufficient evidence. Her husband has remarried after six months and is happy that she could save him and his family from becoming a suspect by naming the culprits. This negligence is another form of violence!

In her post [bn] Manobi urged the bloggers to amplify the news everywhere especially in local media so that Rahela can get justice. This post got enormous response generating 222 comments till-to-date. Jiner Badshah posted another appeal titled "justice must prevail" [bn] to the Bangladeshi blogger community to create petition , send out to all the local media and create awareness in social networking sites.

And it worked like wonder as articles started to appear in local media. This has prompted local journalists like Foisal Noi [bn] to go to Rahela's village and dig out more information on the case. A significant TV coverage of Rahela case on 29th October is planned by the local electronic media. Whether Rahela will get justice only time will tell. But Manobi's one post lead to so much commotion in the society - this is unprecedented.

Manobi says in an email:

Now it feels like, Rahela is not abandoned, she is not forgotten. This ovewhelming response once again proves Humanity is the religion what we all follow.

I urge all the cyber activists of the world to raise your voices against the domestic violences of your communities and create more awareness on this subject. It only takes a power of one to bring a change.

(Cross-posted in the Global Voices Online)

The political arena of Bangladesh heated up after the Eid holidays. Bloggers cum citizen journalists had a role to play in this.

J Rahman at Mukti has some backgrounds:

Earlier this year, Bangladesh experienced an extra-constitutional change in government. The Economist called it a coup that dares not speak its name. Initially, this de facto coup brought respite from a months-old stalemate between the country’s rival political parties. But soon, the technocratic regime (Caretaker government) that was installed by the army started arresting top politicians on corruption charges.

In many ways it becomes evident who is running the show here. The army chief has been the center of media attention providing all kinds of political statement on behalf of the Caretaker Government. In recent days he has declared that he don't want to become president of the country which attracted much publicity and got cheered from the public. His prominent exposure in the local print media raises eyebrows. Rumi of In The Middle of Nowhere says:

Please see below the screenshots of the main page ( Cover page) of most of the major Bangladeshi newspapers published today… all of them had a common theme… Almost all newspapers gave banner heading treatment with a central front page picture of General Moeen U Ahmed. No, he did not save this planet from immediate annihilation by a meteor. He is visiting USA and spoke in a reception hosted by a hitherto unknown Bangali diaspora organization.

And you still want me to believe that Bangladesh is not under a de facto martial law?

An anonymous commenter first raised the question on the 16th of October. Mash followed up with an investigative report in E-Bangladesh regarding irregularities in General Moeen U Ahmed's personal housing loan from Trust Bank, a commercial bank owned and operated by the Bangladesh Army. He had quoted evidence from an auditor certified prospectus hosted in public domain of the Security Exchange Commission of Bangladesh that Mr. Ahmed crossed his capacity as a director on the board in obtaining a large amount of loan. He also cited the regulation that more than one member of a family cannot be director of a bank but His brother was appointed as the MD of the Bank during his tenure.

Mukti adds:

These violations of the banking regulations were completely avoided by the mainstream media in Bangladesh. While the bloggers were discussing this, what did the daily newspapers in Dhaka report? They reported on the General’s visit to Britain and America.
……
After it broke in the internet, the General was asked about the issue by reporters from ATN Bangla, a TV channel. Then major newspapers reported the General’s explanations. Here is how the Daily Star chose to report it. Out-of-context? You be the judge.

Adding more to the controversy General Moeen U Ahmed denied the charges and said he had only taken Taka 3.5 million (The audit report says 9.9 million). He also claimed that he is a victim of “internet propaganda.” His brother, the MD was also quick to respond [bn] to the issues without mentioning the audited prospectus.

Shada Kalo Blog reacts:

I would have accepted the explanation that the prospectus contained a typo. But if the MD is not claiming that the prospectus was incorrect, then surely the information was correct.

Tacit points to the significance of this:

This story will not die down any time soon, given that this is the same man who has sent countless people to jail, held them without bail, and tortured them, all in the name of ridding our country of nepotism and corruption. Hopefully, this information will give pause to everyone who would like to take him at his word and believe that he has Bangladesh’s best interests at heart.

And Mukti aptly puts it:

“(These are) questions that should be raised by people far more qualified than the bloggers who have been raising them this week.

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. 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.

Even if the General is telling the truth, this incidence should make it obvious that unless things change, he is likely to end up not different from the other military rulers that came before him.”

The Eid Festival is just around the corner. Missing the special publications on Eid and the Eid supplements of Bangladeshi Newspapers. Hoping at least some of the supplements will be available online.

The Bangla blogging platforms "Somewhere in BBA" and "Sachalayatan" are growing popular day by day with thousands of bloggers/readers filling the void the Bangladeshi local media are creating. We are seeing in traditional media a sense of self censorship and lack of professionalism. These have sometimes become propaganda machine for the authorities or some political quarters. People are generally weary of media reports.

I bring to your notice to a worrying report from the Blogger Bahurupi at Somewhere in. Here is the translation (shortened version: read the original in Bengali for full version):

Bangladeshi media are in a grave crisis. There seems to be no way out of this. After the Jute industry most people have lost their jobs in media industry and many will soon join them.

'Ajker Kagoj' has been closed because of financial crisis. It had financial crisis since long. But it was sort of a business card of the editor Kazi Shahed. The paper catered many of his business propaganda. In present circumstances there is no opportunity to exploit these. So it was closed. If such an opportunity comes again it will reopen, you can be sure of it.

There are many bloggers in Somewhere in who work in 'Jai Jai Din'. They will better tell whether they are getting their salaries in time. Will Shafiq Rehman be there? Will Golam Sarwar join as the editor? if such questions are not answered soon it will close down.

'Dinkal's' bank transactions have been freezed by authorities. The paper cannot pay salaries to its employees. If there is no alternative source of funding will Dinkal be published again?

How many months 'Amar Desh' do not pay salary to its employees? Is it four months?

How many months Daily Janakantha will be able to continue? Its crippling with fund crisis, salaries remain unpaid. They sold some land to pay salaries. What next?

The daily Ittefaq sacked 72 people. (Its reeling with management disputes) The advertisement income has plunged.

There is strong rumor that the Daily Jugantar will curtail employees.

The name of the owner of the Daily Star and the Daily Prothom Alo are on the list (of corrupts published recently by the Corruption Prevention Commission).

Somokal's owner is also on the list. The monthly loss of Samokal is 2 million Taka.

CSB TV has been closed. NTV's bank account is freezed. The employees salaries are withheld.

RTV had not paid its employees last month. Channel one's state is similar. The Government is angry with Channel one.

So what is happening in local media industry? The current Government also do not want that a powerful media exists. These pressures will close the media one by one. The media are in deep crisis.

(Cross posted in E-Bangladesh)

The issue gets complicated as:

* The Government asks Prothom Alo publishers to suspend the publication of the newspaper’s weekly satire supplement Alpin.

* The Dhaka district magistrate asked the publishers to explain within two weeks why the publication of Alpin would not be banned and legal action would not be taken against the publisher.

* Three cases were filed Thursday with different courts against the editor, publisher and cartoonist of Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

* Religious groups postponed their planned demonstration in front of the Baitul Mukarram mosque on Friday after a meeting with the daily’s editor.

* In one of the three cases filed Thursday, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon police, Jan-e Alam brought blasphemy charge against the cartoonist, Arifur Rahman in Dhaka. A madrassah official in Chittagong brought sedition charge against editor of the daily Matiur Rahman, publisher Mahfuz Anam and the cartoonist while a lawyer in Comilla accused the three of violating emergency power rules. (The new age)

This is clearly a hypocrisy as 9 years ago, a similar cartoon was published in Bangladesh by Chattra Shibir, the Student wing of the Islamist party Jamaat-E-Islami. Where was religious feelings then? And why no case is filed against the Islami Chattro Shibir?

We saw more drama today. Rumi of In the middle of Nowhere describes this picture:

The all powerful editor of the most circulated daily in Bangladesh, Mr Motiur Rahman, is begging apology, knees bent, to the boss of the bigots and the head Islamist of Bangladesh, Khatib Obaidul Haque. Supervising the apology ceremony is none other than the information advisor (Minister) of Bangladesh, Mr Moinul Hossain.

Very worrying sign indeed.

The adviser, Barrister Mainul Hosein, has publicly and on the record stated that there is a deep conspiracy to destabilize the country with this single cartoon. Sada Kalo has this to say to him:

Mr. Hosein, if I may offer some advice: if there is a conspiracy, you don't have to look too far. See the pictures of the people burning newspapers and protesting outside the mosques? They are the people who took a cartoon, which may be offensive to some people, and blew it out of all proportion.

Mr. Hosein, you are playing into the hand of these fundamentalists. I understand mobilizing the army or police against these kath-mollas would be counter-productive, but at least shut your mouth and don't give them any more ammunition.

Another strong blow to freedom of speech:

Saptahik2000, a popular magazine's Eid supplement was taken off shelves because of a memoir of exiled writer Daud Haider. The news paper report was that he compared Kaaba Shareef of Mecca with a brothel.

The Bangla blogosphere were quick to find out the truth. It was these lines of Daud Haider:

"I have come to Lukhnow, shouldn't I visit the Baiji's house (traditional dance hall; hat tip Mash)? What will people say if I don't. If anybody travels to Mecca, is it befitting not to visit Kaaba Shareef?"

It seems some people can't read the fine prints and sniff religious provocations everywhere. Rumi explains in comments section about Baiji Bari:

He looked for baiji bari (house). And he was told those old traditional baiji bari, where classic music and dance by very well trained professional musicians used to entertain the elites of the society, is no longer existent. Some brothel run here and there with the name of baiji Bari.

Daud Haider, who is renowned for his phrase "birth is my life-long sin" is a renowned poet of Bangladesh. In March 1975 poet Daud Haider published a poem in Daily Sangbad tiltled "Kalo Shurjer, Kalo Jotsnai Kalo Bonnai" which contained remarks against religious values. In independent Bangladesh the fundamentalists first showed their strength by protesting in front of Baitul Mukarrom Mosque and some fatwa was declared against him declaring him Murtad. He is on self exile till then and now living in Berlin, Germany.

It may be reminded here that the Shaptahik 2000 is a publication of the Prothom Alo group. The Daily Amar Desh reports:

Shaptahik 2000 authorities apologized for the inadvertent mistake in the publication and said that it has withdrawn the issue. There was also a press note of Islamic Shashontontro andolon who said by comparing Kaaba Shareef with brothel the magazine has attacked the Iman of the whole Muslim nation. They demanded cancellation of the declaration of Prothom Alo

Now we are getting somewhere. It seems that certain quarters are targeting the Daily Prothom Alo and the Daily Star who were vocal against the fundamentalists in the past decade.

In another move today the Government has set some guidelines for TV talk shows:

* Television stations will not air more than three to four talk shows a week and edit them before put them on the air. That means there will be no live talk shows, sms or phone-ins.

* Producers will consider only businessmen, educationists and intellectuals as potential guests and the debates will focus on nothing else but cultural, economic, social and educational issues.

What is there to speak except from praising the lord in the month of Ramadan? Welcome to the Hirok Rajar Desh.

Update I: Daud Haider clears his position in an interview broadcast in Bangla TV, UK:

The Bangladesh government temporarily shut down its first 24 hour private satellite news channel on charges of forgery. If the TV authority can not answer satisfactorily the charges of forgery within 7 days, the station will be shut down permanently. News reports in BBC, The Daily Star and BDNews24.

Tiktiki has the background and time line of events concerning CSB news in Dristipat blog. Shada Kalo sheds a light into the forgery charges.

Drishtipat Blog appeals to the Government:

We earnestly hope that the news channel will not go off air permanently. They should be fined in financial terms by all means, if found guilty. But people’s employment, the economic activity it generates and the perception of free media in our country — all should be taken into account before making a final decision.

If these are ignored this will have a considerable impact on the Government's image.

"If you shell the University you have lost the argument"

BBC features "Crossing the Border": Hardeep Singh Kohli journeys across the borders of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, hearing the stories of those affected by partition 60 years ago. This episode from August 1 is a part of the India and Pakistan 07 series BBC is airing.

Bangladesh Barta says:

Its a good summary of the liberation war and an introduction to the nature of Bangladesh and its fierce nationalism.

I also agree on most parts. So don't forget to listen to this.

Bangladeshi Journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Chowdhury has been controversial since long because he was a journalist of the right wing Islamist Daily Inquilab and later on entered into a partnership with Islamists to establish a private TV channel. Then he had a dispute with them and he was thrown out of the partnership. Probably because of that he faced many difficulties including jail terms and a farcical sedition case against him. The former Bangladeshi ambassador to US claimed Choudhury's incarceration was related to a "purely internal financial dispute" that had "nothing to do with his attempted travel to Israel" or his journalistic activities. His proclamation that he is a Muslim Zionist probably incited the Islamists (who were also a part of the past Government) to take stand against him. He has succeeded to create much buzz in the West to amplify the repressions against him. However in local media fraternity he has almost zero support.

But he is doing no justice to the cause either. His fight against Islamists have now deviated to stereotyping and generalization. He has forgotten that this is a new Government and during the tenure of this Government he did not face any repression. Even he was allowed to fly to USA (He was arrested last time when he wanted to go out of the country).

After he was given a warm welcome in USA he thanked his hosts, the American Jewish Committee with some generalized rhetorics. From the Sun:

Mr. Choudhury said Bangladesh is swiftly moving in favor of Islamic extremists.

"If someone wanted to build a school in Bangladesh, they would be faced with all kinds of bureaucracy," Mr. Choudhury said. "But if they wanted to build a madrassa, they could do so with ease."

According to Mr. Choudhury, the people of Bangladesh are not critical of America. The government, however, which he described as "extremely radical," harbors deep resentment towards America.

WTF? Which Government is he talking about? As a journalist can he prove his statements? Does he know that without showing evidence this can put him in trouble again (since an emergency is in place). Or is he really wanting to come in the limelight again by creating new controversies?

I think the Government should leave him alone because we need to see what contribution Mr. Chowdhury brings to this country when he has all his freedom and no charges are against him. Let people judge his activities whether he is worthy of any medal or is only an empty vessel.

"We need more people in the world with the courage Mr. Choudhury has displayed," the executive director of the (American Jewish) committee, David Harris, said.

"Instead of being criminalized, he should have been given a medal for all he has done for Bangladesh," Mr. Cotler said.