With all due respects to AK (whom I have admired for a long time now for
his tireless strivings against religious bigots and his erudite articles) I
think your remarks in reaction to Ms. Tasneem's posting smacks of callousy
and insensitiveness and unneccessary sarcasm.

Eshon


At 09:46 AM 9/25/01 +0000, you wrote:
>Now is the best time to visit Bngladesh. You will see the great tolerance of
>Bngladesh society in the midst of a general election. Just two days ago a
>Islamic bomb blast killed 10 people in Bagerhat where AL was having a
>meeting. What a great tolerant society we have.
>
>Imagine the 11th. Septmeber massacre in Bngladesh committed by the Hindu
>fundamentalists. Can you guess how many Hidus will remain alive in our
>beloved land?
>
>I really appreciate your nostalgia for the true tolerant society of ours,
>that is Bangladesh. Not every one has your nerve.
>
>
>
>
>>From: "Chowdhury, Sabina" <Sabina_Chowdhury@...>
>>Reply-To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
>>To: "'mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com'" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
>>CC: avijitroy1@...
>>Subject: RE: [mukto-mona] I miss Bangladesh
>>Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 09:26:56 -0500
>>
>>[Moderator appriciates our New Mukto-mona member Sabina Chowdhury for
>>expressing her precious thoughts. Welcome to Mukto-mona ! Enjoy the
>>environment]
>>
>>===========================================================================
>>Your feelings shared today are shared by almost all people from
>>Muslim/south
>>Asian origin, everyone from someone who just bears an Islamic name to ones
>>who suddenly have to hide/defend their personal choices/practices (like
>>those who choose to wear hijab, on top of salwar kameez). But even faced
>>with overt hostility, we have to remember, just as the fanatics by their
>>horrendous deeds have cast a shadow of suspicion on the vast majority of
>>population that happen to share their ethnicity/religious background but in
>>no way share their distorted views, the acts of racial prejudice/hate
>>crimes
>>are committed by a small fraction of the mainstream American community,
>>that
>>shouldn't be taken by us to be representation of the mainstream. Here in
>>San
>>Antonio a local Persian restaurant was vandalized (most likely not by
>>"patriotic americans" teenage hooligans who would be up to some other
>>criminal activity if there were not doing this). That is the negative. But
>>the positive is since then, the restaurant is so busy by the community to
>>going there to eat to show support, there is an hour wait now to get in.
>>The
>>Pakistani man who was pulled from the plane is now showered with
>>flowers/phone calls/ BTW, the man says he has no ill feelings and has
>>donated $5,000 to victim aid fund. Even though we have not experienced any
>>backlash personally, we are showered with questions/concerns if anything
>>has
>>happened to us, are kids mean to my daughter at school etc. The neighbor
>>who
>>is a policeman paid a special visit to our house so that we immediately
>>report any verbal abuse etc. A client called and asked if we experienced
>>anything and said "I am so ashamed by the behavior of some of my
>>countrymen." I assure all that I have great faith in the average American
>>citizen and we understand these sporadic backlashes do not represent the
>>average American, any more than the terrorist represented the
>>country/religion they hail from. I do understand those of us who live in a

>>white collar neighborhood and have a white collar job, and surrounded by
>>educated and informed people, are not facing anything near what a taxi
>>driver in NY, convenience store clerk in Miami, and countless other
>>Asians/Muslims working minimum wage jobs in high risk neighborhoods (even
>>without the recent incidents) are facing. I know at times like this one
>>will long to be back home and be one of the majority population and hot
>>have
>>this fear. But do I wish to be back in Bangladesh to be part of the
>>majority population again? Maybe for the time being. But from what I have
>>seen personally in Bangladesh and know about the subcontitent in general,
>>our mob reaction/lynch mentally and intolerance of towards ethnic
>>minorities
>>pales to what is happening here pale in comparison.
>>Throughout the history of mankind, it seems racial biases are inherent in
>>the genes of human kind, in some people they emerge when situations are
>>favorable for them to surface, just like cancer. But I would rather be an
>>ethnic minority in US than the majority in a lot other places in the world.
>>
>>
>>[Chowdhury, Sabina]
>>
>>
>>
>> [Mukto-mona Moderator appriciates Ms. Lopa Tasneem for expressing her
>>agony
>>and affliction in her nice write-up. Readers are encouraged to give their
>>feed back]
>>===========================================================================
>>
>>
>>I Miss Bangladesh
>>
>>
>>The incident of September 11 has affected a lot of people in many ways.
>>However, I believe it has a long-term impact on the way the minorities will
>>be treated in this country. For the first time in my life in the US, I am
>>realizing the loneliness of being part of the minority group. As I hear
>>more
>>and more news of incidents of racial harassment, I feel embarrassed and
>>ashamed. A friend was saying that he heard on the radio, someone
>>suggesting
>>that all Muslims in the US should be put in the concentration camps.
>>Another
>>friend had trash piled up in front of her apartment. My cousin who had
>>moved
>>to the USA 25 years ago when he was 10 years old and had married an
>>American
>>woman got death threat on the phone. My brother's brother-in-laws got
>>interrogated by FBI agents. One Pakistani gentle man was asked to leave the
>>airplane right before it was ready to take off. It goes on and on. It is
>>surprising to see that this one single incident of the World Trade Center
>>has made some people of the 'land of immigrants' to stereotype all Muslims/
>>South East Asians to be terrorists! <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
>>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
>>
>>All these reports of racial bias are also changing the way I perceive
>>myself
>>in this country. Two days after the WTC incident, I went to the grocery
>>store in salwar kamiz. Although this is nothing unusual, but I felt
>>different this time. Being the only one in the store in a different outfit
>>from the rest, I felt that some angry eyes were following me. I am used to
>>people here asking me if I was from the Middle East or Pakistan. Could it
>>be

>>that because of my looks and outfit people were thinking I come from the
>>terrorist groups - I ask myself? Maybe they were cursing me in their minds
>>-- who knows. My looks and outfit perhaps were making them suspicious about
>>me.
>>
>>However, this stands in stark contrast the way I have been treated in my
>>past years of life in the US. Not so long ago people would come to me and
>>complement my sari or salwar kamiz. I always felt proud of such an elegant
>>outfit called sari. But for the first time, I regretted not wearing jeans
>>in
>>a public place, and being the target of suspicions of many angry minds as a
>>result. I feel that my skin color and name will never make me an American
>>in
>>the eyes of others no matter how hard I try to speak in American accent and
>>no matter how long I live in this country. Maybe the racial ill feelings
>>had
>>always existed in the hearts of many people we see around. All it took was
>>a catalyst for it to come out.
>>
>>My heart gets heavy as I think of all these possibilities. I got rid of all
>>religious practices in my personal life long time ago and I am against all
>>religious fanaticism especially Islamic terrorism but it is also true that
>>I
>>feel humiliated nonetheless. I feel sorry for myself for being a
>>second-class citizen in the land of the affluent. I feel sad. I miss
>>Bangladesh.
>>
>>Lopa Tasneem
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _____
>>
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