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May 3rd, 2008

Bangladesh: Bangla Blogs remember May Day

Aparna Ray · 15:37 · South Asia

lingua → bn · mk · sq · mg

This week, the Bangla blog world buzzed with essays and analysis regarding May 1st, remembered the world over as International Workers' Day or Labor Day.

There was disappointment amongst many of the bloggers who felt that the day, over time, had perhaps lost its true meaning and was seen as just another holiday. According to Zukrufa, many employers were paying lip service to the memory of May Day by organizing seminars, sports and magazine articles on the issue and showing the workers a lush dream of what their life could be like. However, those same employers were not actually making any changes in the way workers were exploited by the system and thereby denied their well-deserved rights.

Syed Amiruzzaman sees this as a ploy to keep the working class deluded so that they can be exploited, not only by the employers, but also by political parties and trade union leaders. In Amader Kotha (Our stories), a Bangla blog which is part of Narijibon project in Bangladesh (a Rising Voices grantee), Aysha Khatun writes how even today the workers in Bangladesh's garment industry are very much exploited and have to put in minimum 12 hours labor to get paid 8 hours' worth. Also, these workers, she tells us, are made to work through holidays and probably were working even on May Day.

Kowshik Ahmed points out the plight of workers in various fields and raises a question about their rights and ‘job security'. Blogger Suman Chowdhury however sees hope and says that just as there is exploitation on the one hand, on the other hand there is the indomitable spirit of the labor class and the will to protest and get their rights. He calls for unity among the workers across the globe.

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March 26th, 2008

26th March - Bangladesh celebrates the Declaration of Independence

Aparna Ray · 07:25 · South Asia

lingua → sq · es · zht · zhs · bn

As Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on 26th March, the Bangla blogosphere is inundated with posts reliving the horrific Operation Searchlight that was launched by the Pakistan Army on 25th March 1971, in a desperate attempt to stamp out the Bengali Nationalist movement.

Abul Bahar brings to life that fateful the fateful night of 25 March, 1971 with the following words:

Suddenly Dhaka came to a standstill. There was complete silence all around. The country was shivering under the heavy tread of the evil forces. The earth was soaked red and the fragrant smell of the hasnahana flower was overpowered with the stench of blood.

Bloggers today are vociferous about the estimated 3million people that had been exterminated during 1971. The Bangladesh Genocide Archive has been painstakingly put together by some of the leading Bangla bloggers, to make netizens aware of the extent of atrocities committed on the Bengali population by the Pakistan Army with help from the Razakars. Another new website to be launched by bloggers is Bangladesh 1971, which aims at connecting today’s generation of Bangladeshis with the life and times of the people who fought for the country’s Independence, while simultaneously keeping up the pressure on the Nation’s conscience to bring the perpetrators to book.

Why is it necessary today to relive the freedom struggle? Perhaps to avoid the ‘Hollywoodization of the liberation war’ as Rasel puts it. Also, Shamim clarifies why after so many years, it still remains imperative to bring the war criminals to trial. He says it is not out of a feeling of retribution but rather as a future deterrent that this ‘bringing to book’ is necessary. It is also a necessary step towards ensuring justice and a closure for the victims and their surviving families.

Rabab writes that on this day of Independence, he feels no inspiration but only a sense of hurt and dejection when he sees all around him the corruption and victory of the separatist forces, the dreams of a united and economically strong Bangladesh fading into despair. Blogger Shobjanta seems to share in this hurt. However, the feeling evaporates once he listens closely to the National Anthem “Amar Shonar Bangla, ami tomay bhalobashi” (my precious Bengal, I love you).

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November 20th, 2007

Bangla blogs seek aid for cyclone Sidr victims

Aparna Ray · 20:18 ·

lingua → pt · es

Five days after cyclone Sidr ravaged Bangladesh, news regarding devastation continues to pour in. Despite steps taken by the administration to evacuate a large number of people and put them out of harm's way, the official death toll has now crossed 3000.

According to the updated statistics provided by the Disaster Management and Control Room (DMCR) in Dhaka, the total number of families affected by Sidr is around 1.054million. As of yesterday's update approximately 3,00,511 houses have been completely destroyed and 6,26,000 have been partially damaged.

About 792 educational institutions have been completely destroyed and 4,393 were partly damaged. Embankments of about 57 kilometres (km) of length have been damaged, and 58km of road has been destroyed completely while 87,948km of road has been partly damaged.
Given that harvest was around the corner, crops too have weathered the brunt of the cyclone. According to government sources, crops on 29,374 acres of land have been completely destroyed and on 8,55,525 acres have been damaged partially.

Officials say that the it will take a few more days until a complete assessment of the damage to life and property falls into place.

Meanwhile, relief operations are in full swing, trying to reach food, medicines, safe drinking water etc. to the cyclone victims. However, more needs to be done and soon. The Bangla blog world is typing fast and furious, trying to garner aid for this cause.

(Photo courtesy Sujan)

Blogger Aurangzeb called upon all Bangladeshi citizens to forget their political differences and work together to rehabilitate those affected by the cyclone. His words and emotions were echoed by korbojoy blog.

Nighat tithi pointed out that time and again Bangladesh has had to fight natural calamities - be it frequent floods, the deadly cyclone of 1991 or the current Sidr. While the fight will continue in the days to come, the blogger called upon one and all to do their bit for the present victims of Sidr. Ishtiaq Rouf informed us how Bangladeshi students from Virginia Tech were collecting funds through Paypal and how others too could send in their contribution to the same fund. Other bloggers like Irteza, Addabaj and Biborno Akash too provided additional links to organizations/ websites where one could donate money for disaster relief. Farukh Wasif talked about the need for publicizing and thereby enhancing awareness regarding the various disaster relief/aid related proposals

In addition, Biborno Akash linked to a video blogpost (En) by Sheril Kirshenbaum where the young marine biologist from Duke University, USA requests viewers to join the rehabilitation drive.

On the other hand, blogger Tirondaz rued that fact that Bangladesh was still dependent largely on International aid every time disaster struck while her neighbor India was gradually gaining the strength to fight her own disasters - like she did when the tsunami struck in 2004. He hoped that the day would soon come when Bangladesh too would be self-sufficient like India in these matters.

Bangla blogging platform Somewherein, in association with Save the Children, has launched an innovative SMS based campaign “Jagoron” (which literally means ‘the awakening') to enable those living in Bangladesh to do their bit in aid of Sidr victims. The campaign works as follows:

A mobile phone user types SAVE and sends SMS to a given number. Each SMS costs Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)2. Then Somewherein and other sponsors add a certain monetary figure, currently standing at 15BDT (this is a dynamic figure which will go up as more corporate sponsors join the campaign) for every BDT2 generated through the SMS and the total amount is deposited in the Save the Children Cyclone Relief fund.

For those living outside Bangladesh, Somewherein requests them to send their donations directly to the Save the Children Cyclone Relief fund as this SMS facility is available for local residents only.

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September 14th, 2007

Cricket: Bangladesh's Twenty20 win against West Indies

Aparna Ray · 16:58 · South Asia

lingua → bn · hi

Those who condescendingly refer to the Bangladesh Cricket team as ‘minnows' may already be eating their hats. As Bangladesh storms into the second round of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament with an impressive six-wicket win against the West Indies, the Bangla blogosphere is exhilarated and furiously blogging their jubilation.

Blogger Ershad Baadshah and many many others are thrilled that the home team has created history by beating the Carribeans. Pagla Babu congratulates the Bangladesh team for moving into the ‘Super Eight'.

Mostafa Monir is all praises for the Aftab-Ashraful pairing. He feels that finally these two cricketers are displaying their true potential. Lutfur Rahman reminds us of an earlier comment made by Brian Lara. In 2004, Lara had said that if the West Indies team lost to Bangladesh, then he would quit cricket. Rahman wonders if Lara had read the writing on the wall and imagined that one day his team would indeed bow to the little tigers.

Blogger Ninduk points out another reason for Bangladesh to celebrate. The record for the quickest 50 (in 20 balls) in an International Twenty20 match is now held by Ashraful of the Bangladesh team.

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August 17th, 2007

Bangla blogs: It's all about Taslima

Aparna Ray · 09:08 · South Asia

lingua → bn · hi

On August 9th, the firebrand Bangladeshi author-in-exile Taslima Nasrin was attacked by a group of MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) activists during a function held at the Press Club in Hyderabad, India. The MIM claimed that the author had made offensive statements against Islam during the book release function, thus inciting the attack. The group have also lodged a police complaint based on which a case has been lodged against Taslima under Section 153-A (inciting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code.

Bangla author Taslima Nasrin being protected from hecklers at the Press Club in Hyderabad. Photograph:Noah Seelam/ AFP

Bangla author Taslima Nasrin being protected from hecklers at the Press Club in Hyderabad. Photograph:Noah Seelam/ AFP

On the other hand, the attack has been strongly denounced by the media and public and the government has been criticised for its soft approach towards the attackers. The incident is quickly taking on a political dimension. With local elections round the corner, experts say that the MIM is likely to use it as a tool to mobilise Muslim votes.

The attack has created ripples in the Bangla blog world as well. The Hidden God strongly denounces the attack on the author. He says:

“তসলিমা লেখালেখির মাধ্যমে নিজের মত প্রকাশ করেছেন তাই কেউ যদি তার প্রতিবাদ করতে চায় তবে তাও লেখালেখির মাধ্যমেই করা উচিত । এভাবে অসামাজিক কাজকর্ম করে নয় “

Taslima has expressed her views in writing so anyone wanting to protest against her views should also do so through writing and not through anti-social acts such as this attack on her.

Kazi Alim Zamal too has strong words for the attackers. Also, he feels that the Indian government should grant Taslima her request for citizenship.

Other bloggers like Arif feel that the ban on Taslima should be lifted in Bangladesh and she should be allowed to return to her country of birth. In the comments section of the same post, various bloggers like Bhaskar, Balai etc., have agreed with Arif's point of view and also added that adequate security should be provided to Taslima, who has a fatwa on her life issued by Islamic fundamentalists.

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July 26th, 2007

Bangla blogs discuss evolution - Of life, blogs and women power

Aparna Ray · 21:12 · South Asia

lingua → bn · es · pt · zht · zhs

What is blogging all about? Is it about sharing one's daily life and/or thoughts with the rest of the world? Is it then an autobiography of sorts? Can a blog be deemed as literature? Suman Rehman, who labels himself as an ‘uploader' rather than a true blue blogger, set the tone for a discussion in the Bangla blogosphere.

When the discussion is about blogging, can blogging tools be far behind? Kherokhata reviews the popular Bangla input software, Avro keyboard. It is being said that the latest version (4.5.1) of Avro is heavily loaded with features but some of these could be made optional (for easier download) as not too many people use them anyway. Also, the software, in its process of evolution, could focus more on skins, converter etc.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the conversation was about the age-old conflict between religion and the theory of evolution which propounded that human life evolved through natural processes, without any supernatural intervention. Diganta feels that people should be more open to science and scientific theories and not bury one's head in the sands of religious dogma. On the other hand, while commenting on the post, blogger Eskimo mentions that since the evolution theory is not substantiated by proof, it would be wrong to call it a 'scientific' theory in the first place. Balai, with good humor, states that religion is a ‘made easy' set of life principles provided by God to humans so that whenever they were faced with conflicts, they could fall back upon the ‘made easy' guidelines.

Two women get elected to the post of President and fuel the popular topic of gender issues in Bangla blogs. This time however, the discussion spans women from across the globe. First, Ahmed Fahrukh writes in about Michelle Bachelet becoming the first woman president of Chile and then Pagla Babu talks about the Congress loyalist Pratibha Patil becoming India's first woman President telling us through an image what he thinks of the newly elected Ms. Patil. Rekchowni writes about the Chinese actress Xu Jinglei whose blog had the highest incoming links in mid 2006, according to Technorati. Fahrukh also tells us that while the world continues to hold the impression that Saudi women were an oppressed lot, statistics show that Saudi women have significant financial power and are successfully joining the workforce as doctors, educationists etc., and also running powerful business ventures. Atleast 56% of Saudi women are reported to have completed college education with graduate degrees. Stories of women power however did not stop some others from aborting female foetuses or killing newly born girl babies as this post by Ashraf Rehman goes to show.

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July 9th, 2007

Bangla blog musings: Mosque, mausoleum, music and Marxism

Aparna Ray · 10:42 · South Asia

lingua → pt · es · zht

The Taj Mahal has won a place of glory in the recently announced list of the seven wonders of the world, much to the delight of Bangla bloggers. Shaukat Husein details out the complete list of winners but rues the absence of the Pyramids amongst them. A debate has ensued over the selection process. While some bloggers feel that this was a transparent method by which people had been given the right to choose the wonders by popular vote, others argue that many people who voted had no awareness of the various sites eligible and could not have voted right. According to them, labeling should have been left to the experts and not the common people.

Taj Mahal photographed by Flickmor.

And talking of seven, the date 07.07.07 was touted as a lucky date. Shafik Rehman writes about how down the ages, humans have always been fascinated by the number 7. Apparently Saturday 07.07.07 was a ‘lucky day' and people across the globe tried to drum up various things to do on that day, including getting married by the droves. Blogger Bhranto Pothik is upset that he could not find the suitable bride and hence had to give up his plans of getting married on such an unique date. He is now going to wait for 08.08.08 to do the needful :)

The lucky date notwithstanding, troubles at Islamabad's Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) continue and bloggers have picked up the conflict for discussion. Royesoye tells us how the Red Mosque rose into prominence with the patronage of erstwhile Presidents and Prime Ministers of Pakistan and how since 9/11 there has been a conscious effort to distance the mosque from links with Islamic fundamentalists. He then goes on to detail the events that led to the current day stand-off.

From mosque to Marxism. Conflict and dichotomy are the buzz words in Marxism writes Bhaskar, and that there is more to a conflict than simple opposites and taking sides like black-white, yes-no or for-against. However, he wonders if it is practically feasible to go beyond these opposites.

Well someone else is suffering from conflict and it has nothing to do with either politics or religion. Blogger Tasman has bought a new piano, hoping to churn out lilting musical pieces. He even attended some classes to learn piano playing but has come across a fundamental barrier. He was taught the notes in English (ABCD…) in his music class and is now struggling to connect this piece of learning to Bangla notes Sa-re-ga-ma (similar to do-re-mi- fa ). Frustrated with his efforts, he is now left staring balefully at the piano keys, while his friends keep their ears stuffed with cotton, to tide over his musical experiments.

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July 2nd, 2007

Newsmakers: Bangla blog world engages in celeb talk

Aparna Ray · 12:35 · South Asia

lingua → bn

A few weeks back, the celebrity heiress Paris Hilton went in and out of jail and the media lapped up her every move. We learnt about her diet, beauty regimen, ‘mysterious' illness and even her remorse. Paris herself made the best of this opportunity and promised to pen a jail diary, to be sold to the highest bidder. Bangla blogger Konfusius followed the entire event with keen interest and wondered why Bangladeshi celebrity politicians fail to inspire such media frenzy, even as many of them head for incarceration. Does the Bangladeshi media then lack a sense of humor? He asks.

While Paris was busy penning her diaries, two famous literary personalities were creating a buzz in the Bangla blogosphere, creating a debate around the right of freedom of expression.

Novelist Salman Rushdie was honored with a knighthood, sparking protests in parts of the Muslim world. The sparks touched the Bangla world as well. Blogger Apbak found these protests by religious fanatics shameful. He felt that by undertaking such protests and launching fatwas at the slightest pretext, the Muslim community was getting more and more alienated and the inherent goodness of Islam was being forced to take a backseat.

Bangladeshi Author in exile, the fiery Taslima Nasrin's article “Tumi bhalo theko priyo desh” (Keep well, my dear country) started a conversation among bloggers, debating whether or not the ban on her should be lifted. Tariq, for one, felt that she should be allowed to return to Bangladesh, her homeland.

And talking of freedom of expression, it seems that the Bangla blogosphere needs more space to express itself. Breaking away from Somewherein, a group of Bangladeshi bloggers have launched a new blogging platform Sachalayatan . According to Arup, the space would be more like an online magazine, with contributors being given their own blog spaces. Currently however, the platform does not allow comments by all readers and is being strictly moderated. Will wait and watch to see how conversations develop in this newly created space.

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April 18th, 2007

Virginia Tech, rumors and change: the Bangla blogosphere spans it all

Aparna Ray · 19:34 · South Asia

lingua → bn

Bangla blogs join the rest of the world in mourning the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Probashi raises the issue of gun control and points out that had a gun not been accessible to the mentally unstable Cho, he would not have been able to wreak such havoc. He urges “gun control is a must now”. While commenting on his post, blogger Hasib reminds us of Michael Moore's docufilm ‘Bowling for Columbine‘.

Change is in the air for the Bangla blogosphere. First, Somewherein blog moved server and then relaunched itself in an Unicode avatar much to our delight. The extremely popular Bangla blogging platform is suffering some initial technical glitches and bugs (one bug reportedly added the word ‘kangal', which means penniless in Bengali, to every contributor's profile!) but the administrators are working full steam to get these irritants ironed out. Second, the Bangla language got another boost when Ekushey.org launched a Bangla version of the Mozilla Firefox using the localization feature. Omiazad tells us how to get started.
Change seems to be the buzzword in Bangladesh's political arena as well. Opbak questions the manner in which the military backed interim government (formed to facilitate a free and fair election in the country after Khaleda Zia's term ended in October 2006) is trying to get rid of the two leading political begums. Instead of trying them for the corruption charges leveled against them, both are being turned out of the country. Khaleda Zia is allegedly being exiled to Saudi Arabia and latest reports say that the interim government has banned Sheikh Hasina from returning to the country from the US where she had gone on a personal visit. In an interesting observation, voice of Bangladeshi bloggers lays some blame for this political upheaval at the door of the country's mainstream media, saying that they lacked ideology and changed tune way too often for comfort.

And finally, a strong breeze of rumor has been blowing across the entire land generating a loud buzz and taking up blogging space in the Bangla world. It seems that cell phones are spouting certain sms, calls, ringtones, (and God knows what else) which are causing phone owners to drop down dead! Darkangleblog says that this hoax has spread across the sub-continent and has resulted in atleast some people switching off their phones in fear. Kinkortobyobimur asks people to think rationally and Hasin warns people not to be taken in by such hoax

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March 12th, 2007

Are women headed the wrong way? Gender issues heat up the Bangla blogosphere on the occasion of International Women's Day

Aparna Ray · 15:36 · South Asia

lingua → fr

As the world celebrated the International Women's Day on the 8th of March, the Bangla blogosphere returned to a heated debate on one of its favourite topics - gender issues.

However, what was interesting was that while the rest of the world talked about empowerment, opposing violence and gendercide, the Bangla world was still grappling with women stepping out of home and their mode of dressing.

Are women doing the right thing by stepping out of the sheltered confines of their homes? Blogger Rongheen gets nostalgic about stay-at-home women. He feels that the world is deluding women with false promises of rights and freedom and as women step out to find their place under the sun, familial love is the sufferer.

Do women enjoy seeing themselves as objects of desire? If not, why do they appear (skimpily clad, more often than not) in various advertisements for consumer goods? Trivuj feels that women are easily deluded in this aspect and are perhaps missing the woods for the trees as far as fighting for their rights is concerned. According to him, Bengali women should seek freedom of thought more than freedom of attire. Blogger Shayon feels that women are offering themselves as bait for molestation by not dressing and/or behaving modestly enough when in the company of men. According to him it is not possible for a woman dressed in a burqa to get molested! Furthermore he shares the blame for the sad plight of women on both the liberals (who encourage women to flaunt their sexuality) and the conservatives (who bar women even the basic rights, ex: the Taliban regime in Afganistan).

This is not to say that bloggers did not comment on the day's celebrations. They did, and many of them were skeptical (more…)

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