Barrister Sara Hussain defended Arif in the court.
I don't know whether her team of lawyers are still
working for him.

The whole debacle with the cartoon strip that Arif
drew and the sudden ugly demonstration by Quomi
Madrassah students against the cartoon, and then
that devil of a Khatib of Baitul Mukarram showing
mock generosity by pleading against all agitation
is an unbelievable fabrication.

The Editor of Prothom Alo is the first culprit for
not defending the cartoon as an innocent one. I was
furious at his appeasement. Legally also, if anybody
at all, it would be him who should have been indicted.
The Caretaker Govt. is the other culprit for pursuing
the concocted protest and arresting the poor artist.

It is a triumph of the Jamaatiwalas and their ability
to wield power during any Govt. as long as they can use
the enactment of the law created in 1860 by the British.
This law was cleverly designed to stir up trouble between
religious communities in the name of hurting
"religious sentiment."

I was telling Sara Hussain about the baselessness of the
allegation of "insult to the Prophet" from the point
of grammatical construction of an Arabic phrase that began
with 'Muhammad' not bearing a reference to the Prophet.

Here again is a case where the Islamists of Bangladesh
depend heavily on the ignorance of the secular lot and
their trump remains unchallenged.

Farida Majid


To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:49:28 -0800
Subject: Re: [uttorshuri] Arif gets bail

I am glad he got the bail but its unfortunate that he
is still being haunted�for his creativity. I wish he
could get a good lawyer and settle his case for good.

JOI MANUSH

WHEN THE NEWSMEN CRACK UP

"The rest of us who watch it find it more and more
impossible to know what to do as individuals". NICHOLAS
TOMALIN of The Sunday Times writes an exclusive report
on the worsening plight of the refugees in India.©

The Pakistan crisis is the worst disaster that has faced
the world for the past 30 years. It is also morally the
most simple. The villains, those Pakistani generals who
ordered a military attack on their own countrymen last
March 25th, are more obviously in the wrong than any
military aggressors since the Hitler war.

The victims, nine million refugees in India, sixty-five
million Bengalis left behind in East Pakistan, are more
innocent, more suffering and more numerous than any we
can remember. The circumstances combining war, famine,
cyclone, gross injustice and apparent apathy on the part
of people and governments elsewhere throughout the world,
are terrible in a way that clearly exceeds the horror of
Vietnam, Biafra, or any of the bloody African conflicts
of the past 15 years. All that this huge melodramatic
tragedy lacks is a hero and a solution.

As the weeks go by and more people die–some say it is two
or three thousand a week–the rest of us who watch it going
on find it more and more impossible to know what to do as individuals. We are
helpless.

Some of us salve our consciences by sending in cheques to
charitable funds, some organize concerts or protest meeting
in faraway cities, some campaign for an independent Bangladesh.
A few come to India and try to feed or nurse a hundred or
so of those nine million.

Relief agencies like Oxfam can lessen the suffering and
delay the final catastrophe, but none of them have enough
money, people or power to solve the real problem. Only
governments, the most powerful ones acting together, can
do that. They must take ruthless and skilful political
action to force Yahya Khan and his Pakistan Government to
admit that their present policy is criminal and stupid and
must stop. Then they must force him or his successors to
remove virtually all his troops from East Pakistan and
guarantee the safety of those refugees who want to return
there. Then they must persuade Indira Gandhi and her Indian government to accept
and support those refugees who do not
want to return. Then they must pay out money, hundreds of
millions of pounds of it, to save people from death by
starvation, disease and exposure.

If all these things are done quickly there might not be
a catastrophe. East Pakistan, in fact Bengal in general,
would still be a disaster area. But that is by contrast a
happy prospect.

I am writing down these apocalyptic thoughts about a week
after going to see some of the refugee camps that have been
set up around Calcutta. I am lying on a soft mattress beside
the large swimming-pool of the Grand Hotel in the centre of
the city, drinking many bottles of cold bear, munching
peanuts and occasionally breaking off to read a grubbily
printed paper called "I love you" comic, about a boy and girl
ski-ing down a hill, while the girl says, "I love Steve, but
what will he do when he learns my secret ? Can he forget my
past?"

I swim a lot, eat strange bitter curries and try not to be
irritated with Bengali liftboys who fuss over me like some
parading Maharajah, in the hope of a large tip. I do all this
because it is taking a long time to get unjittery again after
seeing what is happening to the refugees. My newspaper
colleagues seem the same.

I mention this because in all other situations they have always
been able to watch the most appalling events and experience unbearable human
misery and remain unaffected in themselves.
I have seen them in Vietnam, back from Biafra, or in the
Bengal cyclone. They were concerned, not without compassion,
but able to cope with their emotions. This time they cannot
cope. One colleague who has had an operation for throat cancer
is already back on seventy cigarettes a day. The gathered newspapermen arm
themselves with a specially virulent form
of cynical self-protection.

Looking at a picture of an emaciated little Bengali girl
admiring herself in a fragment of mirror, someone says :
"Preparing to be an Oxfam poster", and everyone giggles.
"I got a wonderful picture today," says one photographer.
"Two babies dying together in the mud."
"I did better than that," says another, "I got them to hold
hands."

Everyone else in Calcutta is equally emotional. A local
diplomat, who looks as if he would remain perfectly urbane
throughout the second coming, is talking passionately about
war. He thinks there will be one between India and Pakistan
this November, or if not this November next November.
India, he argues, will simply not be able to bear the economic
burden of the nine million starving, non-productive new
inhabitants.

Already there are riots in Assam where the hill people dislike
the Bengalis from the plains, who have fled to their mountains. Already there
are continual fights and quarrels, even in the
camps around Calcutta. The Indian peasants welcomed their
suffering brothers at first. Now, as they see the strangers
take their jobs at starvation wages, despoil their fields,
and steal their goods and women, the hostilities grow.

Therefore, argues this diplomat, India will very soon be forced
into a desperate military offensive against East Pakistan,
gambling on clearing out Yahya Khan's troops (with the support
of the local Bengalis) within a week. Then she will ship
all the refugees back to East Pakistan. Then she will decide
whether or not to make East Pakistan a province of India. It
has to happen in November because snow blocks the mountain
passes and prevents China attacking from the north.

This man has been in India for many years: he loves Bengal
and even loves Calcutta. Until this summer he believed that
India's terrible problems of recurrent crisis, famine and
war were coming to an end with a new strong central government.
He thought the country, at last, would begin to be peaceful,
united and prosperous. Now this.

"I am more depressed than I can tell you," he says, "I cannot
see any way out, I cannot see any solution. Death and
ruination everywhere, that's all I can see".

My friend the Indian Army general has bags two inches deep
beneath each eye. He seldom sleeps at night. "I don't know
if they're going to attack or where or how. I can no longer understand these
Pakistani soldiers' minds," he says. "Really,
I think they've gone mad. They see the total collapse of
their policy in East Pakistan, but it only seems to encourage
them in their folly. They suffer from that tragic warrior's
blindness : the more terrible, hopeless and unjust their cause,
the more noble it seems to them. The more their actions
threaten to annihilate everyone, the more they brandish
their swords.

"Honestly, I think the Islamabad government is going to make
a supreme gesture and go down fighting. If they do that
they'll bring down the whole sub-continent with them, not to
mention the refugees and our own Bengali people. Then may
be China will join in, then Russia, then the Americans and yourselves, then we
have a Third World War."

Meanwhile the luxurious swimming-pool has ceased to be the
haven it seemed. A soft plopping noise announces the arrival
of a dead rat dropped carelessly from the beak of a carrion
crow. It stains he tiling round the diving board.
Perhaps what makes all of us around the swimming-pool so
neurotic and jittery is the unremittingness of the disasters
in this part of the world. They never stop. I do not mean by
this the repetitive history of conquest and reconquest,
when wave after wave of warriors reduced the once dazzling
prosperous area of Bengal to the poorest part of the world,
aided by centuries of natural disasters. It was, of course,
the East Bengalis' special bad luck that the Moghul emperors
decided to forcibly convert them to Mohammedanism when they
swept in from Persia and the West. Mohammedanism does not
suit excitable and intellectual Bengalis, and had they remained Hindus there
would have been no partition riots there, no
religious problem in Bengal, and most important of all, no
splitting off of the nonsense province of East Pakistan.
They would all have been part of India, which is the only geographical
arrangement which makes economic sense.

What really hurts is the recent history. Misfortune created
poverty which created greater misfortune which could not
withstand further natural disasters, exploitation, internal corruption,
religious bigotry and political inflammability.
In such a hopeless, messy place, how could the disciplined
Punjabi rulers of Pakistan create any order and prosperity?
How could they stop their brisk merchants from exploiting
the place? How could they defy Muslim principles and start
a proper birth control programme to reduce the bursting
population?

How understandable that East Pakistan became in essence a
colony of West Pakistan with racial hostility between the
tall brown unemotional westerners and the small dark
excitable talented Easterners. The Punjabis and Biharis
thought of Bengalis as little better than poor grubbly
monkeys and uncontrollable. And in their own terms the
situation seemed to justify that belief.

The Bengalis saw the Western army rulers, merchants, and
money lenders as worse than the British imperialists, less benevolent, less
understanding of their special sensitiveness
and talents for self expression. No wonder that hostilities
built up so fiercely that just before the blow-up last
March the Bengalis had been demonstrating ferociously and
killing Western `Foreigner' in their country. Because they
had lived such doomed lives for so long, such atrocities
(which have long been a part of violent tradition in the sub-continent) were
entirely understandable. And no wonder,
finally, that East Pakistan, after a million of its inhabitants
were reportedly drowned and killed in the cyclone disaster
last year, finally voted almost unanimously for their own
Awami League and against Islamabad domination.

What was criminal and stupid in this situation was General
Yahya Khan's decision that the simple military solution was
the only one possible. He should have known that no military
solution could cope with such hostility, that it was not only obviously unjust
and illegal to take the action he did, but
bound to fail.

In the months that followed the March attack, everything
happened that Yahya should have been able to predict. The
country grew not less but more hostile. The Bengali guerillas destroyed all
communications. And where they failed the
Army's counter-attacks succeeded. The food harvesting in
this naturally fertile area was largely disrupted. The
hostility and killing began to be increasingly religious
as well as racial. There were about ten million Hindus living
amongst the Moslems in East Pakistan. As soon as it became
clear that the Pakistani army was killing Hindus
indiscriminately, nearly all of them fled into India. With
them came Moslem Bengali Nationalists, Awami League supporters
and people who merely wished to escape the fighting. As the
fighting and chaos grew, it became self-perpetuating. The
army would be attacked by guerillas from over the Indian
border and would retaliate against the local population.
Then irregular Moslem volunteers were recruited to help the
Army hold down the Bengalis, and it is these recruits, or
rhazacars, a bunch of Moslem fanatics, hoodlums, time
servers, who are now doing most of the killing. It is
because of them that the present numbers of refugees are
coming across the border, despite the monsoon rains.

When the rains cease the situation will change. The country
may settle down as the Army is better able to control the
roads and the border. Things may get worse as more people
can travel and decide to kill each other. Some Indian
authorities predict a new flood of refugees, perhaps another
four million. Others predicts that a quarter to a half
of the refugees now in India will drift back into Pakistan.

However, here they now are, these refugees huddled into
camps in India with insufficient food, nothing to do, no
proper place to live. The spectacle of the typical starving
Pakistan refugee is by now familiar to anyone able to read
or even just to use his eyes. It forces itself on all of
us from the newspapers, television and advertising hoardings.

After such a bombardment, to see them in actuality is in
some ways an anticlimax. A sense of occasion interferes
with one's compassion. As a long anticipated cathedral or
ancient castle is often not up to the evocation photographs,
so some of the refugees in the camps near Calcutta seem
surprisingly normal. Some of them are cheerful. A few are
almost fat. Some have work to do. Some live better than
they did not in their own villages back in East Pakistan.
Some. But most do not, millions do not, and as one travels
along the roads by the border and sees camp after camp,
hundreds of thousands of tents put up beside the road,
in trees, on piles of bricks, anywhere possible in the
crowded land, it is the numbers of them that are so
terrible.

After a while, grown expert in the suffering of such people,
it is clear their situation is incomprehensible because it
is so terrible. I spent only two days driving round the
refugee camps and one night sleeping in a relatively
well-organized one. At first, as I have explained, they
did not seem to be too badly off along the road which
leads to the border at Hasnabad. In a suburb of Calcutta,
Salt Lake City, 250,000 lived in a reasonable state. There
was food–just sufficient. There were three or four special
hospitals set up by foreign relief agencies. There was even
some form of policing, thanks to the nearness of Calcutta.
But even here it was the children who looked the worst.

It takes some nutritional knowledge to realize how badly
they are suffering. A child needs lots of protein if he
has trekked several hundreds of miles and now is living,
permanently diseased, on food which is different from that
he is used to. He needs specially large amounts. But the
Indian authorities at present hand out only 400 grams of
rice per person, plus some rations of vegetables, cooking
oil, cereals. Distribution problems have cut these down to
200 grams per person, in many cases, and children get only
half this, 100 grams of rice a day. That's about as much
as you could hold in your hand.

According to medical experts–both foreign and Indian–those
children will certainly die unless they are given additional
protein feeding. Three quarters of them will be dead within
nine months. A million children.

Therefore, slowly, laboriously, special feeding centres for
children are being set up where they get milk and high
protein food called Balahar. As yet most of these feeding
centres merely hand the food to the children who return to
their families, where by old tradition much of it is taken
from them and shared round the elders. The child therefore
is still likely to die by the time this article is published.

Maybe a million children won't die. They will continue to
live, nearly live, without hope or education or function,
surrounded by the other seven million, the adults, also
with nothing to do and no hope, with only the ferocious
rhetoric of Bangla Desh revolutionaries not occupy them
and the forlorn hope of reinvading their own country,
vanquishing Pakistani tanks, to sustain them.

It is a frightful and dangerous prospect. No wonder everyone
is neurotic, jittery, depressed, without solutions.
Add to this, impressionistic moments around the camps.
The old woman walking through the flood carrying two buckets
of rice, the water up to her shoulders, buckets held just
above it. Most of the time tiny clusters of tents, all
that is left of some camps, reached by narrow bridges made
of bamboo. Whole families permanently covered in mud and
their own shit which never finally washes off, having to
struggle through the water to feeding centres, cut off
from medicine.

There was one camp called Deara, where 30,000 people in
their neat tents, all well housed and settled, were overnight submerged in flood
water. They lost most of their belongings
and all their shelter and gathered on the high ground
nearby there. For the third or fourth time they began to
try and collect their lives again.

There was the reception centre at Hasnabad Railway station,
a nightmare throng of desperate people waiting to be
registered for their food ration. The old men and women so
exhausted they couldn't move, the young with bulging eyes,
white flakey stuff like dandruff on their skin from
malnutrition, and every imaginable disease, perhaps from
simple tiredness. Dead children, their teeth unnaturally
prominent in shrunken faces. The stronger adults unable
to do anything but crouch in their tents, occasionally
haggling with local peasants for special food, spending
their last few rupees.

These sights are everywhere: one could list them endlessly.
What is more important however is to try and imagine what
is going to happen now the floods are receding. The worst
prospect is political trouble between the refugees and
the displaced Indian peasants who are also starving,
and winter in Bengal. This doesn't matter too much, it
is always warm, but in the North in Sylhet, in Assam, it
is already very chilly. In two months it will be snowing,
freezing, continual cold.

The Bengali refugees have no clothes, no blankets, few
proper tents, Three million blankets are needed immediately
for these people, and clothes and tenting to match.
So these nine million refugees have suffered political
injustice, then a cyclone, then a war, then displacement,
hunger, disease, and all the ills of refugees in a land
which cannot afford them, then flood and now they face the
prospect of winter.

It is, as I have said, the worst disaster that has struck
the world for 30 years. It is also, as I have tried to
describe, a catastrophe so terrible one cannot respond to
it in proper reasonable terms. The journalists in Calcutta
all know, as do Oxfam and other relief workers, that this
is too big a problem for us. This is no longer a case for
simple compassion or simple charity. After all, the world
has already responded charitably. We all poured out money
in a surge of pity last May when the reports of a cholera
epidemic began, so the world has virtually exhausted its
effective pity. Therefore the real charity must be shown
in ruthless political action, in sanctions that make it
absolutely clear to the Pakistani Government, which exists
only because of international financial and military aid,
that it will be worse off if it continues its present
policies than if it abandons them. The political moves should
be directed at the Army officers who still bolster Yahya Khan.

If they can be persuaded to discard him, use him as a
scapegoat for past mistakes, there is a chance of a new
policy of reconciliation. That is the first essential
action. What happens afterwards is not so clear. There
might be an independent Bangla Desh but that would create
many problems. There might be a new constitution of
Pakistan which allowed the East to be linked federally
with the West. Or, ultimately, a new racial state of
Bengal might come into existence, made up of half Moslems,
half Hindus, and sliced out of both India and Pakistan.
All of these possibilities are dangerous. None of them
is as dangerous as allowing things to go on as they are.

The great powers must inspire themselves with the
political will to change things and do it soon. Then must
also give money, food and equipment on a scale far bigger
than anyone has imagined as yet : enough to re-establish
the refugees properly in East Pakistan or subsidise
them in India.

If they choose to stay, this means hundreds of millions
of pounds, channeled probably through United Nations
agencies. Unless this happens the luxurious figures round
the Grand Hotel swimming-pool will continue to be jittery,
neurotic and depressed. The local diplomats and generals
will continue to talk apocalyptically and not sleep at
night. The million children will die. So will thousands
of adults. And the consequences for the hundreds of millions
who live in the Indian subcontinent will dwarf even these
disasters.

Following is the link to the Cartoon Against Corruption
Exhibition organized by Transparency International
Bangladesh (TIB).

http://www.ti-bangladesh.org/cartoon_image/2009/gallery20092.html

The exhibition, which is now being held at the Zainul Gallery,
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka was opened yesterday
(9 December) to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day 2009.
The exhibition will remain open till 16 December 2009, from
12.00 am to 8.00 pm.

I agree!

Shame on us! How can all of the talking heads appearing
at all of these talk shows at the six channels we watch
here in the US, ignore this miscarriage of justice? And
how is it that no one from any of the academic institutions
(we now have lost count of so many that have sprung up like mushrooms) stepped
forward. Is it the fear of hurting the
"religious sensitivities" of a few insensitive and obtuse
souls?

For God's sake- it has been proven that similar jokes appeared
on a newspaper having ties to the "jamatis". And it is a
cartoon with self deprecating humor that paints us all in a
fitting light! How is it that these talking heads are not
raising hell!

And what really depresses me is that proven miscreants can
get bail and this creative person's spirit is being squashed
with the whole nation stand and watch! Shame on us!


--- In uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com, "Mizan" wrote:
>
>
> No more Kobita,
> No more golpo,
> No more culture,
> No more Bangali.....
> Its all Islamic.....
> Shame on us !!!!
>
>
> Cartoonist Arif jailed for two months
>
>
>     Jessore, Nov  12 (bdnews24.com)�"A Jessore court has handed down two
> months of rigorous  imprisonment to cartoonist Arifur Rahman of satire
magazine
> Alpin, a  weekly publication of the daily Prothom Alo.
>
> Judge Kaisarul Islam  of the Judicial Magistrate's Court of Jessore in the
> ruling on Thursday  said Arif will also have to pay Tk 500 in fine or
> another seven days in  prison.
>
> The verdict was given in the case regarding publication of  sacrilegious
> cartoon in the magazine in Sep 2007.
>
> "Arif is at  large. The verdict was given in his absence," his lawyer
> Alamgir Siddiqi  told bdnews24.com.
>
> However, Arif told bdnews24.com that he knew  nothing about this case.
>
> The case was filed by ATM Shoaib, the  imam of the Jessore Collectorate
> Mosque, at the Executive Magistrate's  Court on Oct 23, 2007. The case alleged
> that the irreverent cartoon on  prophet Hazrat Muhammad had hurt religious
> feelings.
>
> Prothom Alo publisher Mahfuz Anam, editor Motiur Rahman and  Arif were
> accused in the case. Later, the court issued arrest warrant only  against
Arif.
>
> Security officials arrested Arif on  Sep 18, 2007 after hard-line Islamic
> groups protested against one of his  cartoons.
>
> Authorities charged the young cartoonist with "hurting  the religious
> sentiments of the people" and ordered 30 days' detention.  Arif's detention
was
> later extended by three months.
>
> The  government confiscated all copies of the now-defunct satire magazine
> in  which the cartoon was printed.
>
> Amid a protest by Islamic groups,  Prothom Alo's editor and publisher
> apologised for printing the cartoon,  and fired the cartoonist.
>
> On Feb 4, the High Court ruled Arif's  detention illegal and ordered his
> immediate release. He was freed on Mar  20 this year.
>
> The cartoonist's arrest and detention also earned  criticism from local and
> international rights groups.
>
> In January,  human-rights watchdog Amnesty International demanded Arif's
> release,  terming him "a prisoner of conscience".
>

I am glad he got the bail but its unfortunate that he
is still being haunted�for his creativity. I wish he
could get a good lawyer and settle his case for good.

JOI MANUSH




________________________________
From: "Shuvo Hussein@..." <Shuvo Hussein@...>
To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, December 10, 2009 12:11:29 AM
Subject: [uttorshuri] Arif gets bail

 
Arif has been granted bail today after his surrender to
the court. The court has also asked him to file his petition
by 15 January 2010. He is now on his way back to Dhaka. Earlier
in the morning he surrendered to the Metropolitan Magistrate's
Court from where he got the bail. I woke up this morning with
his sms 'Akhon ami joshor, 10 am a court a jete hobe. kintu
ami jani na amar kopale ki lekha ache! Maybe, again jail!'

Hope his ordeal will come to an end with this bail.

The saga of cartoonist Arif Rahman is a glaring example
of how reason capitulates to ignorance. This is a national
shame how an innocent person was victimized and vilified
by mullahs and an elected government failed to protect the
freedom of an artist. In fact Mullah Omar�s medieval Taliban
system is very much alive and working in Bangladesh when a
so called secular administration is in place.

Akbar Hussain




To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:46:56 +0000
Subject: [uttorshuri] Justice for a lone cartoonist





http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uttorshuri/message/9742
(bdnews24 report)

While I am writing at this hour of midnight, cartoonist Arifur Rahman is
traveling to Jessore to face justice. He has to appear before Jessore's Judicial
Magistrate's Court tomorrow morning following which, I assume, he will be sent
to prison.

Earlier in November, Arif was sentenced to two-month rigorous imprisonment by
the same court following a case filed by ATM Shoaib, the Imam of a Jessore
mosque. Arif didn't even know about the case until the verdict was given. The
whole trial took place in his absence.

I met him today at the Dhaka University campus. He looked confused and somewhat
afraid of his future. He was suspecting that the followers of the Imam might
physically assault him if he appears before the court. I tried to call a few
friends but everyone suggested that Arif should appear before the court. 'The
law requires him to appear before the court first and then he can get bail,'
they said. The other day I was reading in newspaper how Salauddin Quader
Chowdhury got bail without even appearing before the court. Justice is blind for
sure! I don't know what's going to happen to Arif tomorrow morning. I don't know
how long he has to suffer. Even if the court grants him bail tomorrow (chances
of which are very low), his ordeal will not end.

From Uttorshuri, we strongly condemn the way Arif is being harassed and demand
that he gets justice.

Shuvo
Dhaka





_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online.
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9691815

MOTHER TERESA is the founder of `The Missionaries of Charity'. Last year she
received the Pope's Prize. She has been working amongst the dying and destitute
in Calcutta since 1948. Her Order is one of the few Catholic Orders with no
shortage of novitiates. She has 700 nuns and postulants. They live in the slums,
sworn to total poverty, eating the same food as the poor.

'We are trying to make the problem of India the problem of the world.
India has been wonderful in accepting and taking care of the millions of
Pakistan refugees and India will continue to take care of them. In opening the
door to them, the Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Gandhi, has done a wonderful, a
Christ-like thing.
Let us remember this : the people of Pakistan, the people of India, the people
of Vietnam, all people wherever they may be, are the children of God, all
created by the same hand. Today, the Pakistan people belong especially to us.
They are part of the family of God in all the world.
This problem is not only India's problem, it is the world's problem. The burden
must be carried by the world, the answer must be given by the world. For us in
India, good has come from the problem because our people have made considerable
sacrifices and will continue to make them.
But the entire world must, I repeat must become concerned. Let us all, wherever
we are, realize that we have millions of children suffering from malnutrition
and starvation, and there are other difficulties, the enormity of which people
find it hard to appreciate. Here again, unless the world comes in with food and
proteins and those other things the children need just to lead ordinary, healthy
lives, these children will die�and the world will have to answer for their
death.
I have been working among the refugees for five or six months. I have seen these
children, and the adults, dying. That is why I can assure the world how grave
the situation is and how urgently it must help.
The appeal is to the world�and the world must answer.'

Arif has been granted bail today after his surrender to
the court. The court has also asked him to file his petition
by 15 January 2010. He is now on his way back to Dhaka. Earlier
in the morning he surrendered to the Metropolitan Magistrate's
Court from where he got the bail. I woke up this morning with
his sms 'Akhon ami joshor, 10 am a court a jete hobe. kintu
ami jani na amar kopale ki lekha ache! Maybe, again jail!'

Hope his ordeal will come to an end with this bail.

As we are discussing Bangladesh's corruption in
Uttorshuri, "International Anti-Corruption Day was
observed in a befitting manner in the country yesterday
as elsewhere across the world."

Read more:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=117108

On 21 October 1971, a document was released (published) by Oxfam London titled
'The Testimony of Sixty' with an appeal to the world leaders as well as
documenting the facts of what was happening in the then East Pakistan. Edward
Kennedy, Mother Teressa and international journalists such as Michael Brunson
(ITN), Claire Hollingworth (Daily Telegraph) John Pilger (Daily Mirror), relief
workers from USA, Canada, Europe, Britain and India all contributed to it. It
was their attempt to describe the war crimes of the Pakistan military. It is
their record, their voice and their testimony of a tragedy with an appeal to the
world community to act immediately and stop the senseless act of brutality being
committed by the Pakistan Military Junta.

The Liberation War Museum (LWM) reprinted this in a Facsimile edition and
following our request, one of our Members Mr. Akku Chowdhury, who also is a
founder trustee member of the Museum, has kindly allowed us to publish it for
our readers. Considering the size of the document we have decided to publish it
in parts. The first part of the Testimony is published today. - Moderators


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE TESTIMONY OF SIXTY
on the crisis in Bengal

SIXTY men and women have been to, seen and lived in a situation which has been
referred to as `defying description'. This is their attempt to describe it. It
is their record, their voice, their testimony of a tragedy.
Senator Edward Kennedy and Mother Teresa are known to the world. Others are
international journalists testifying specially for this document: Michael
Brunson (ITN), Clare Hollingworth (Daily Telegraph), Claude Mosse (Radio
Suisse), Frederick Nossall (Toronto Telegram), John Pilger (Daily Mirror),
Nicolas Tomalin (Sunday Times). Yet others are experienced relief workers from
British, European, North American and Indian organizations. All have freely and
generously given their time and their energy.
They are eye-witnesses, and the story they tell is horrifying. It is a story of
millions hounded, homeless and dying. It is, too, a story of the world community
engaged in a communal ostrich act.
Perhaps it is that the world does not know. Then let the facts speak. Perhaps it
is that we just cannot comprehend the extend of the disaster. A population the
size of Sweden and New Zealand together have already fled from their homeland.
Millions more who remain now face famine. It does not bear thinking about. But
we must. If a small girl can write to Oxfam and say "We decided to help. We
raised altogether �56.15. We are all about 9�," then surely to God world
governments can think in the terms necessary. In the name of the hundreds of
thousands who have given and will go on giving through Oxfam and similar
agencies throughout the world, I put forward the following appeal with all my
heart:
OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT I ask for an immediate new sum of �25 million for
refugee relief. Britain had covered about one month's refugee costs. It is the
least we can do as a nation.
OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY I ask that the United Nations General Assembly, now
meeting, should immediately appoint a special executive group of five, under the
personal chairmanship of
the Secretary-General, with authority to ensure the urgent funding and
implementation of the relief programmes for India and East Pakistan. I further
plead that every Government freely contributes all appropriate resources at its
disposal to this vital humanitarian operation.
OF THE PAKISTAN AUTHORITIES AND THE MUKTI BAHINI I ask for their full acceptance
and encouragement of a comprehensive UN famine-relief programme and the creation
of conditions genuinely compatible with the return of refugees to their homes.
OF PEOPLE�ORDINARY PEOPLE I ask that they continue to care and give. I ask that
they refuse to accept that even one life is dispensable. It is, to me,
inconceivable that we should do less.

H. LESLIE KIRKLEY, C.B.E
DIRECTOR, OXFAM
Oxford, 21 October 1971


BRIEF BACKGROUND TO THE CRISIS
At Independence, in 1947, `British India' was divided into four parts : India,
Burma, and East and West Pakistan ; the latter united as one country by
Mohammedanism but separated by a thounsand miles, a different languate and even
a different script. It is as though Greece and Britain were one country, united
by Christianity.
For many years, the conflicting regionalism within Pakistan�the Bengalis in the
East, the Pathans, the Punjabis, the Baluchis in the West�were held together by
a tough military dictatoriship. Power was held in few hands. 22 families owned
over half the industrial wealth of the country.
For some years, the East has been getting a rough economic deal. In 1968 55% of
exports cam from the East : yet 70% of imports went of the West. Jute, providing
40% of the country's exports, comes almost entirely from in East. In the third
five-year plan (1966-70), 52% of the finance was allocated to the East : only
36% was spent there.
In march 1969 Ayub Khan regigned and was succeeded by General Yahya Khan, who
was determined to hand over to civilian rule. Poignantly, it was the first steps
to democracy�the general election of December 1970�which started the crisis. In
this election, Seikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the East Pakistan based Awami
League, gained 167 out of the 169 seats in the Eastern Assembly and thereby
control of the 313 seats in the National Assembly. His programme stopped only
just short of secession for the East.
In the West, Z.A. Bhutto of the Peoples's Party won, and he boycotted the first
meeting of the National Assembly, Arranged for 3rd March 1971. Yahya Khan
postponed the Assembly indefinitely. Murder and looting broke out in Dacca
together with calls for independence for the East.
On march 25th, West Pakistani troops brought into the East struck to control
Dacca and Chittagong, in anticipation of a Bengali munity. A bloodbath followed,
of hideous proportions. Women and children were machine-gunned and raped. The
Bengalis killed non-Bengalis. By early May hordes of refugees, 65% of them
Hindu, were pouring across the borders of India, mute testimony to the massacres
behind them.
By mid June, 5 million had gathered : the largest exodus of people since the SS
stalked Europe. The Indian Government set up camps to feed them, but there was a
desperate lack of sanitation, shelter and fresh Water. Cholera broke out. Then
the monsoon came. And all the time more refugees, until the numbers reached
their present level of nine million : and still they come, 15�40,000 a day.

A CALL FOR ASSISTANCE TO PAKISTAN BY POPE PAUL
"Millions of human beings are in conditions of extreme want. One disaster after
another has struck those people who are extremely poor. There is no lack of news
and sthe facts are frightening, revealing a disturbing disparity between the
help required and the means actually available. To save innumerable slives
people must awake to the need. Public and private aid, including our Own
contribution, is being offered but it is not nearly enough. It is not too much
to hope that the world will be touched by the plight of these people and send
the things that are essential : food, clothing, medicine and money."

THE MONEY NEEDED
The refugee programme is the biggest that has ever been mounted this century.
The programme is currently running at $350 million for six months�over $1
million a day.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called for funds to meet
India's burden : so far only $114 million has been pledged, $70 million of which
has been contributed by one country : America.
The British Government's contribution has been $8 million to India and $1
million to Pakistan. In addition to this, British charities have spent another
$1 million on their own programmes. To get some kind of scale sto the sum Leslie
Kirkley asks of the British Government, two facts should be borne in mind.
International aid to Pakistan from 1950 to 1969 amounted to an astronomical
$6,033 million : or over $300 million a year. Since the present crisis, new aid
to Pakistan has been postponed by the major donor countries�with considerable
savings to the British Government (last year, Britain's aid to Pakistan was $9�
million)
President Nixon is currently asking Congress for an additional $250 million.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Oxfam thanks those who made The Testimony of Sixty possible.
The contributors make their testimony in their own words, photographs or
sketches. Their views do not necessarily coincide with those of Oxfam; nor are
they bound by their statements to Oxfam's policy. We thank Clare Hollingworth,
Nicholas Tomalin and Martin Woollacott who gave their time for the main
articles; the Daily Tlegraph, the Sunday Times and the Guardian who released
them; Romagno Cagnoni, Alan Leather and Donald Mccullin for their photographs,
Dennis O'Dair of the Observer for his design: all the eyewitnesses for the
trouble and expense they took to get their statements in on time for the
publication; Finally to Gerald Scarfe, whom we rang for an eyewitness statement,
but said "I'm not a man of words" and gave these drawings.


KENNEDY: MOSAIC OF  MISERY
SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY
pleads that the entire
world community accept the burden


This stark tragedy is not yet understood by the world. I can tell you that not
until you see it first-hand can you begin to understand its immensity. For only
by being there can you sense the feelings and understand the plight of the
people, and the forces of violence which continue to create refugee and increase
the toll of civilian casualties.
In India I visited refugee areas along the entire border of East Bengal�from
Calcutta and West Bengal in the west�to the Jalpaigury and Darjeeling districts
in the north�to Agartala in the State of Tripura in the east. I listened to
scores of refugees as they crowded into camps, struggling to survive in
makeshift shelters in open fields or behind public buildings�or trudging down
the roads of West Bengal from days and even weeks of desperate flight. Their
faces and their stories etch a saga of shame which should overwhelm the moral
sensitivities of people throughout the world. I found that conditions varied
widely from one refugee camp to another. But many defy description. Those
refugees who suffer most from the congestion, the lack of adequate supplies and
the frightful conditions of sanitation are the very young�the children under
five�and the very old. The estimates of their numbers run as high as fifty
percent of all the refugees. Many of these infants and aged already have died.
And it is possible�as you pick your steps among others�to identify those who
will be dead within hours, or whose sufferings surely will end in a matter of
days.
You see infants with their skin hanging loosely in folds from their tiny
bones�lacking the strength even to lift their heads. You see children with legs
and feet swollen with oedema and malnutrition, limp in the arms of their
mothers. You see babies going blind for lack of vitamins, or covered with sores
that will not heal. You see in the eyes of their parents the despair of ever
having their children well again. And, most difficult of all, you see the corpse
of the child who died just the night before.
The story is the same in camp after camp. And it is complicated by the
continually growing number of civilian casualties overburdening an already
limited hospital system. Most of these casualties have been brought across the
border by their fellow refugees. Yet there are also large numbers of Indians
whose border villages have been subjected to shelling from Pakistani troops. In
addition, there are the untold numbers of victims who remain uncounted and
unattended in the rural areas of East Bengal.
The government of India, as it first saw this tide of human misery begin to flow
across its borders, could have cordoned off its land and refused entry. But, to
its everlasting credit, India chose the way of compassion. The Indian Government
has made Herculean efforts to assist and accommodate the refugees�efforts which
history will record and remember. And while the magnitude of the problem
staggers the imagination, the individual accounts of the people who have fled
East Bengal tear at your heart.
A 55-year-old railway employee�he was a Muslim civil servant with 35 years of
service�told me of an unexplained noontime attack by the Pakistani army on his
railroad station. "I do not know why they shot me," he said. "I don't belong to
any political party. I was just a railway clerk." Now he sits idly in an Indian
refugee camp, financially crippled, and with no prospect of returning to receive
his long-earned government pension that was to begin next month.
Even more tragic are the experiences of the innocent and uneducated villagers.
You can piece together the mosaic of misery from dozens of interviews among new
refugees on the Boyra-Bongaon Road north of Calcutta.
On the day we traveled this 20-mile road, at least 7000 new refugees were
streaming along the banks of the border river crossing near Boyra. Nearly all
were peasant farmers. Most were Hindus, from the Khulna and Barisal districts
south of Dacca�on the fringe of the area affected by last fall's cyclone.
The very young and very old were exhausted from many days and nights in
flight�usually on foot. Many were in a visible state of shock, sitting aimlessly
by the roadside or wandering aimlessly toward an unknown fate. They told stories
of atrocities, of slaughter, of looting and burning, of harassment and abuse by
West Pakistani soldiers and collaborators. Many children were dying along the
way, their parents pleading and begging for help. Monsoon rains were drenching
the countryside, adding to the depression and despair on their faces. To those
of us who went out that day, the rains meant no more than a change of clothes,
but to these people it meant still another night without rest, food, or shelter
It is difficult to erase from your mind the look on the face of a child
paralyzed from the waist down, never to walk again; or a child quivering in fear
on a mat in a small tent still in shock from seeing his parents, his brothers
and his sisters executed before his eyes; or the anxiety of a 10-year-old girl
out forging for something to cover the body of her baby brother who had died of
cholera a few moments before our arrival. When I asked one refugee camp director
what he would describe as his greatest need, his answer was "a crematorium". He
was in charge of one of the largest refugee camps in the world. It was
originally designed to provide low income and middle income housing, and has now
become the home for 170,000 refugees.
The tragedy of East Bengal is not only a tragedy for Pakistan. It is not only a
tragedy for India. It is a tragedy for the entire world community, and it is the
responsibility of that community to act together to ease the crisis.
Simple humanity demands that America and theUnited Nations must accept the
truth that this heavy burden should be borne by the
entire international
community, and not by India alone.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uttorshuri/message/9742
(bdnews24 report)

While I am writing at this hour of midnight, cartoonist Arifur Rahman is
traveling to Jessore to face justice. He has to appear before Jessore's Judicial
Magistrate's Court tomorrow morning following which, I assume, he will be sent
to prison.

Earlier in November, Arif was sentenced to two-month rigorous imprisonment by
the same court following a case filed by ATM Shoaib, the Imam of a Jessore
mosque. Arif didn't even know about the case until the verdict was given. The
whole trial took place in his absence.

I met him today at the Dhaka University campus. He looked confused and somewhat
afraid of his future. He was suspecting that the followers of the Imam might
physically assault him if he appears before the court. I tried to call a few
friends but everyone suggested that Arif should appear before the court. 'The
law requires him to appear before the court first and then he can get bail,'
they said. The other day I was reading in newspaper how Salauddin Quader
Chowdhury got bail without even appearing before the court. Justice is blind for
sure! I don't know what's going to happen to Arif tomorrow morning. I don't know
how long he has to suffer. Even if the court grants him bail tomorrow (chances
of which is very low), his ordeal will not end.

From Uttorshuri, we strongly condemn the way Arif is being harassed and demand
that he gets justice.

Shuvo
Dhaka

Dear Mr. Roy,

Thank you very much for your kind response. Please allow me to clarify that I am
neither a student nor do I practice law, I am just an ordinary person who
happens to love my country, Bangladesh.  It gives me great pain to see the
situation of my country so that is the reason of my outburst. I do not write
just because I can, but I write what I mean.

Bangladesh has hundreds of political  parties, some are registered while others
are just on papers, it is not possible to list all the parties, as I prefer that
my writings remains short and to the point. I did not omit Ershad's Jatiya
Party, I misquoted it as "Janata Party". If you recollect that Ershad had first
formed "Janodal". I apologize if that caused you concern.

Let me repeat, "Corruption is in each and every Government department in
Bangladesh" coruption even lies in semi government agencies. It is not possible
for any government to fight coruption in every section at the same time, it's
too huge and robust. We only need to curb it from the Police and Court systems.
Any government can do it, it will not need to much of man power, but it shall
limit the politicians to call the police stations to release their friends who
are apprehended by law. I hope to get the point.

Thank you sir,

Kind regards.

H. Haider


To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 21:03:38 -0800
Subject: Re: [uttorshuri] Most Corrupt Countries



       (We invite our members to join this discussion thread on corruption.
Interestingly, tomorrow (9 December) is International Anti-Corruption Day. -
Moderator)

Dear Henry Haider

Sir Are you a student or a practitioner of Law?

You wrote- "Why are we in this horrible situation and

what needs to be done. Awami League, BNP, Jamait E Islam,

Janata party and even communism cannot stop the

infestation,..........



Did you intentionally(?) miss one important (Not Jatia

Party of Ershad)�party those who ruled the country

for mentionable time. Does it mean that they are better???

I do not understand�your letter's "Majeja" . Sorry, If I

am wrong. correct me please.

�

It seems to me that you are putting something which is

against the politics and political parties. You mentioned

in your last paragraph that "government"...... . Who�is

government? who will form it ?�You can not built a castle

on the air. if you do not invite some one else.......

Political party(s) will take care of what you are

thinking....Fight for that. Time is an Important factor

here. Do not�talk like a Sunday Politicians/our

Civil Society Please .....At least you need to have soil

under your foot.

Corruption is so ubiquitous in Bangladesh that I have
a 'yak' feeling as I am writing. I worked in Bangladesh
Jute Mills Corporation, BJMC, for about a decade. Those
days BJMC was infamous as the haven of corruption. I was
able to see all the inglorious faces of corruption.
Corruption like mutual sex crime, is a matter of two
parties- the villain and the authority. In a case of
corruption, the authority is the main offender not the
culprit. It can not happen if the authority did not assure
leeway, protection and encouragement. Then again, corruption
can not take place secretly as many people have to be involved
in the process of approval and disbursement. All of them join
the party because they also get the spoils in diverse kinds.
Thus corruption is an endemic vicious circle. Even if good
governance is ensured, transparency of transactions enforced,
media keeps vigilance, it will take long time for the cure
of this congenital disease. However, corruption can be rooted
out if any head of the government and his or her party
really wants it because corruption like dews evaporates
when the Sun rises. No one would like to feel guilty
before his children parents, relatives, friends and neighbors.
In a Bengali proverb it is said, 'churi biddya boro biddya
jodi shaira khaite pare'- theft is a great art if you can escape'.
If there is no escape, there will be no corruption. However
if corruption comes from demons having State power, the
whole nation needs to stand up against it. Unfortunately
Bangladesh can not do so because of its utter poverty,
backwardness, ignorance and lack of wise, honest, patriotic
political leadership. Even the media of Bangladesh that
is supposed to Crusade against corruption, itself is
sometimes the medium of corruption.

Belal Beg



_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live Hotmail is faster and more secure than ever.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/hotmail_bl1/hotmail_bl1.aspx?ocid=P\
ID23879::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-ww:WM_IMHM_1:092009

(We invite our members to join this discussion thread on corruption.
Interestingly, tomorrow (9 December) is International Anti-Corruption Day. -
Moderator)


Dear Henry Haider

Sir Are you a student or a practitioner of Law?
You wrote- "Why are we in this horrible situation and
what needs to be done. Awami League, BNP, Jamait E Islam,
Janata party and even communism cannot stop the
infestation,..........

Did you intentionally(?) miss one important (Not Jatia
Party of Ershad)�party those who ruled the country
for mentionable time. Does it mean that they are better???
I do not understand�your letter's "Majeja" . Sorry, If I
am wrong. correct me please.
�
It seems to me that you are putting something which is
against the politics and political parties. You mentioned
in your last paragraph that "government"...... . Who�is
government? who will form it ?�You can not built a castle
on the air. if you do not invite some one else.......
Political party(s) will take care of what you are
thinking....Fight for that. Time is an Important factor
here. Do not�talk like a Sunday Politicians/our
Civil Society Please .....At least you need to have soil
under your foot.

--- On Mon, 12/7/09, Henry Haider@...
<Henry Haider@...> wrote:


From: Henry Haider@... <Henry Haider@...>
Subject: [uttorshuri] Most Corrupt Countries
To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 1:42 PM

Many of us are thrilled because Bangladesh is no more on the bottom rung on the
list of Most Corrupted countries. Yes,  we are proud but look closely again and
you shall find we are a little better than the failed countries of the world. We
have a long way to go just to reach the middle stage.
�
The truth is “Corruption” lies in each and every government agencies, be it
the bank, customs, Land Reforms, Post Offices, Forest department,
Anti-corruption,  you name it and you shall find it. Without the hands
corruption one cannot do a darn thing in Bangladesh . Even buying and building a
home in any part of Bangladesh . You need to pay the local tax. Try to visit the
secretariat and see the hassle you need to face.
�
Why are we in this horrible situation and what needs to be done. Awami League,
BNP, Jamait E Islam, Janata party and even communism cannot stop the
infestation, it's too ingrown and we need to look at it differently and resolve
with our own capacity.
�
Our government, even with sincerity, cannot cope with the situation; they do not
have enough honest man-power and corruption is too much spread.

The motorist does not care for road traffic rules because he/she knows that
nothing will happen to him/her, the government officer does not hesitate to
demand speed money because he knows no laws will come after him, same goes for
custom officer and NBR staff. Everyone is scot free to do whatever he likes
because we do not have LAW ENFORCEMENT mechanism.. We are in a desperate
situation.
�
I suggest that we only clean up one area, which is the LAW. All police officers
who are vowed to uphold and enforce the law is one of the most corrupted
agencies in Bangladesh . Let the government form a department to curb corruption
within the police department and form another department to oversee the Courts
all over Bangladesh . Every case whether civil or criminal should to heard and
fairly finalized within a reasonable time. If we stop or at least minimize
corruption in these two sections, other agencies will automatically reduce
corruption. Bangladesh will reach the middle rung within the next year.
�
Any comments?
 H. Haider

Please read the piece below by an Indian activist in
the Northeast region which hugs the border of Bangladesh.
The howlers against India should know that Tipaimukh dam
is an important environmental issue for all human beings
in the region.

Farida Majid

Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 09:21:53 +0530
Subject: Re: [india-unity] Climate Justice in the Northeast

Dear Friends

I had sent the article in the Assam Tribune as an attachment.
With best wishes

Walter


The Assam Tribune, December 6, 2009

Climate Change or Climate Justice in the Northeast?

Walter Fernandes

The Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 15) beginning
at Copenhagen on December 7, 2009 is the most important
COP after the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. In that protocol the
rich countries made a commitment to reduce by 5.2 percent
by 2012 with 1990 as the base, their emission of four
greenhouse gases (GHG) that damage the ozone layer and cause
climate change. But all of them have backtracked on it
and are putting pressure on India, China, Brazil and South
Africa to reduce their GHG emissions. Because of such pressure
the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting was turned
into a climate change meeting. There was pressure on India
during the G-8 summit to reduce its carbon emissions.
President Obama phoned to Dr Manmohan Singh on 1st December.

The rich countries are thus trying to escape their
responsibility. They focus on emission reduction and ignore
resource sharing. But more and more analysts recognise that
climate change is a development issue that questions the
fossil fuel based model which the world has known for two
centuries. The GHG emissions it causes are threatening the
earth's sustainability but the rich countries do not want
to change their consumerist lifestyle that depends on it.
So they are trying to shift the burden to the poor.

Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) is one of their ways out
of the Kyoto protocol. A country gets points for emission
reduction according to the number of projects it has under
it. That is good in itself but the rich countries have
found a subterfuge by inserting a clause that allows them
to get points for emission reduction by funding CDM projects
in poor countries without changing their own lifestyle.
The first CDM is low emission technology. Some rich countries transfer their
outdated technology to the poor because it
is less GHG emitting than what they have at present but
it is not clean.

More important are carbon sinks that are forests or greenery
meant to absorb the GHG emissions. The carbon sinks do not
have to be in the polluter’s region or continent. For
example, Northeast India has been identified as a possible
carbon sink for Europe. It is never mentioned explicitly
but during the negotiations a proposal is made every now
and then to turn this biodiversity rich region into a carbon
sink. Most carbon sinks are commercial monoculture forests.
The Northeast is one of the world’s 25 mega-biodiversity
zones. So turning it into a carbon sink will involve
planting a series of commercial forests that will destroy the biodiversity on
which is based the identity and livelihoods
of the people of the region. This aspect is ignored in the international
negotiations that treat it as a CDM.

That brings two facets of the justice issue to the fore.
The first is international justice. The fossil fuel based
development model and overconsumption of resources by the
rich is responsible for the problem. But they are trying
to shift the burden to bigger countries in the developing
world that want to invest in their own development. The
USA with 6 percent of the world’s population contributes
25 percent of its GHG emissions. Europe and USA account for
20 percent of the population and for 80 percent of its emissions. India, whose
per capita emissions are about a hundredth of
those of the USA and less than a fiftieth of Europe, is
asked to reduce them because in recent years it has been
investing in projects that are increasing GHG emissions.

The second issue is justice within the poor countries. The
most vulnerable groups like the agricultural labourers, fish
workers and small farmers do not leave their carbon footprints
behind i.e. they do not contribute to GHG emissions. If they
do, they are survival emissions such as methane gas produced
by paddy cultivation and animal husbandry while the rich
countries and the Indian middle and upper classes produce
luxury emissions through fossil fuel and synthetic materials.
These vulnerable groups, particularly women among them pay the highest price of
climate change but they are ignored in the negotiations.

This issue is crucial for India where 70 percent of the
population depends on climate sensitive sectors like agriculture
and fisheries. Climate change has enormous implications
for them particularly for the Northeast which is one of the
world's 25 mega-biodiversity zones but has become a biodiversity hotspot in
which biodiversity is being destroyed fast. One
of its impacts is greater intensity and frequency of floods
and droughts. The landless, fish workers and small farmers
are its worst victims. Turning the region into a carbon sink
will destroy it further. But the Government of India seems
to have accepted commercial monoculture as a CDM. For example,
the Bhadrachalam Paper Mill in Andhra Pradesh has planted
eucalyptus for raw material on 300 acres of land taken from the tribals. That
has impoverished the tribes. So for sheer
survival they resort to the only alternative available to
them of overexploiting the forests around them for sale
as timber or firewood. That damages the environment much
more than what the paper mill claims to preserve. But the
eucalyptus plantation that is responsible for their
impoverishment and environmental degradation has been
declared a CDM and gains points for it.

The Northeast can face a similar situation. If this policy
is followed in the region and its people are impoverished
and forced to overexploit the resources for survival, they
will be declared enemies of nature. Consumerism of the rich
nations and of the middle and upper classes in poor countries
has caused the problem. These classes invest in more and more vehicles. The
state is investing on coal-based GHG emission
producing thermal power plants. The 48 major dams it is
planning in the Northeast will destroy its biodiversity
and impoverish its people. Scarcity of resources will be
one of its consequences. That will result in competition
for scarce resources and more ethnic conflicts.


These justice issues do not figure in the climate change negotiations. Awareness
of climate change is low in the
region though it is paying a high price for it. Time has
come for persons committed to justice to join hands to
demand an equitable climate justice policy that goes beyond
emission reduction and protects and develops people's
livelihoods. The region has to accept the challenge of
evolving a climate justice based development model that
creates jobs for its estimated 40 lakh unemployed backlog
and for the youth coming out of its universities, while
preserving its resources and avoiding further damage to
the environment.

The author is Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre, Guwahati.


Dr Walter Fernandes
Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre
110 Kharghuli Road (1st floor)
Guwahati 781004
Assam, India
Tel. (91-361) 2602819
Email: nesrcghy@...
Webpage: www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/NESRC

Many of us are thrilled because Bangladesh is no more on the bottom rung on the list of Most Corrupted countries. Yes,  we are proud but look closely again and you shall find we are a little better than the failed countries of the world. We have a long way to go just to reach the middle stage.

The truth is �Corruption� lies in each and every government agencies, be it the bank, customs, Land Reforms, Post Offices, Forest department, Anti-corruption,  you name it and you shall find it. Without the hands corruption one cannot do a darn thing in Bangladesh. Even buying and building a home in any part of Bangladesh. You need to pay the local tax. Try to visit the secretariat and see the hassle you need to face.

Why are we in this horrible situation and what needs to be done.  Awami League, BNP, Jamait E Islam, Janata party and even communism cannot stop the infestation, it�s too ingrown and we need to look at it differently and resolve with our own capacity.

Our government, even with sincerity, cannot cope with the situation; they do not have enough honest man-power and corruption is too much spread.

The motorist does not care for road traffic rules because he/she knows that nothing will happen to him/her, the government officer does not hesitate to demand speed money because he knows no laws will come after him, same goes for custom officer and NBR staff. Everyone is scot free to do whatever he likes because we do not have LAW ENFORCEMENT mechanism.. We are in a desperate situation.

I suggest that we only clean up one area, which is the LAW. All police officers who are vowed to uphold and enforce the law is one of the most corrupted agencies in Bangladesh. Let the government form a department to curb corruption within the police department and form another department to oversee the Courts all over Bangladesh. Every case whether civil or criminal should to heard and fairly finalized within a reasonable time. If we stop or at least minimize corruption in these two sections, other agencies will automatically reduce corruption. Bangladesh will reach the middle rung within the next year.

Any comments?

Here is an article titled: BNP conference and citizens' expectation - of Dr.
Badiul Alam
Majumdar. Please see the following link:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=116657

Thank you,

Bidhan Chandra Pal

[We would like to close this thread now. If members have something
important to share, please use a different thread name. - Moderator]

Akbar Bhai
Enlightenment is a western concept and was born during 17th and 18th centuries
as an intellectual movement emphasizing on reason. Your views on religion and
God coincide with theirs. But Farida Majid is a practicing Muslim. Probably you
are not. But both of you share many common ideas that tend to push us forward.
To me the teachings of the Upanishdas were aimed at enlightening the individual
soul. Its target was never collective improvement. The ancient sages encouraged
(even made mandatory) sacrificing. They still believed in rakshas (monsters) who
were nothing but human beings outside their own society.
Regards.
---Subimal Chakrabarty 

--- On Sat, 12/5/09, Akbar Hussain  wrote:


If any one wants to get rid of tuberculosis medication
and smoking can’t go together. Our struggle for
enlightenment will never be complete if we continue
to appreciate ignorance. The notion of enlightenment
is neither occidental nor oriental, it’s universal.
The teachings of Upanishad were there when there was
no European enlightenment. This debate started with my
contention that there are religious rituals which does
not pay attention to the social realities. If someone
thinks that his/her performance of Hajj is more important
than a hungry child in his community, a poor father's agony
how a arrange a wedding for his daughter, a sick persons
painful steps towards death without proper treatment, a
poor students dreams are shattered because he/she cant
pay the fees, I cant stop that intending pilgrims selfish
efforts to go to Mecca but I will not stop lamenting the
spell of these rituals which makes a faithful so oblivious
to these dire human necessities. I will not be distracted
if anyone wrongfully thinks that my views are beneficial
to Jamatis.  It will be a grievous blunder to think that I
want to demolish all the faiths; I just want to insist
that faith must conform to the realities. Ms. Farida Majid
so eloquently wrote against the system of madrassa education
and the evils associated with it and by doing so she
forcefully argued that education is for enlightenment not
for spreading ignorance.  Observing a faith is fine but
taking the pagan practices as holy is dangerous and
irresponsible.

Regards

Akbar Hussain

Times of change: Erasing the Ottomans from Mecca

GÜL DEMİR - NİKİ GAMM

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Friday, December 4, 2009

www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=times-bring-change-8211-erasing-the-ottomans-from-mecca-2009-12-04

The 350-year-old portico designed by legendary Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan for the Sacred Mosque is to be torn down now that the pilgrims have left. And with its demolition Mecca’s last traces of Ottoman architecture will be dust in the desert wind

Now that the Kurban Bayram holiday and the time of the Hajj pilgrimage have ended, Islam’s holy city of Mecca can return to normal. But with the number of pilgrims estimated to rise to 10 million in the coming years, Saudis have been working hard non-stop for years to prepare for them.

This year approximately 2.5 million pilgrims converged on the Saudi Arabian city that for centuries has been the focal point of Muslim believers who gather to partake in the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime provided they can afford it and are in good enough health.

How the city prepares for its visitors, however, is a question that some experts say has not been addressed appropriately, especially regarding ancient Islamic architecture and Ottoman heritage.

According to reports during this year’s Hajj, now that the pilgrims have left, the portico around the Kaabah, designed by legendary Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in the late 1500s, is to be torn down.

Dr. Sami Angawi, head of the Amar Center for Architectural Heritage in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, is an expert on the region's Islamic architecture. He said he acknowledges that the Saudis have the right to provide modern cities for their citizens, but also noted that many buildings from early Islamic history are being demolished and replaced with high-rise buildings. Angawi said he calculated that over 300 historical buildings in Mecca and Medina have already been destroyed.

Also, the Washington-based Gulf Institute has estimated that, in the past two decades, 95 percent of the millennium-old buildings in Mecca have been demolished.

Furthermore, the British-based Gensler architectural firm disclosed during the Hajj that is has plans to redevelop one square kilometer in the historic southern area known as Darb Al-Khalil. When completed, however, the area will include residences, hotels and amenities for pilgrims and will allow easy movement from the area to the Mosque Al-Haram, or Sacred Mosque.

Admittedly, the Saudis have the right to ensure that the annual pilgrimage occurs as safely as possible, so it is not surprising they are bent on making changes. For example, the ramp that leads to the area where the pilgrims “throw stones at the devil” at times was where hundreds could be killed when crowds rushed forward to complete this portion of the pilgrimage. Today, however, the ramp system has been changed and can hold 3 million people and has capacity for as many as 5 million.

They also expanded the Mosque Al-Haram in the center of the city, and where there were once hundreds of houses, they have now been replaced with wide avenues and city squares.

The Ottoman fortress that looked over the Kaabah for two centuries has already been razed  to make room for the Abraj Al Bait Towers, which are supposed to be finished in 2010. This move provoked anger among Turks who viewed the fortress as part of Ottoman heritage. The towers, however, will have a prayer hall capable of holding 10,000 worshippers, a seven-star hotel, a shopping mall, residential housing and a parking lot. All told, the entire structure will be capable of housing up to 100,000 people.

Mecca has gone through many rejuvenations before. One example is in the late 1500s, when Ottoman Sultan Suleyman had Mimar Sinan design plans that included widening the courtyard and building porticoes. The plan was carried out in 1590 by Mimar Mehmed Ağa. Sultan Selim II, in 1571, ordered Mimar Sinan to renovate the mosque and replaced the prayer hall’s roof with domes and reinforced it with new columns. The portico plan was deferred to a later date. In 1629, excessive rain damage led to the restoration of the mosque and the Kaabah.

But with demolition of the portico, the last traces of Ottoman architecture will be erased from Mecca.

The Saudi way

In 1924, Mecca became a part of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis espoused Wahhabism, a puritanical form of Islam that rejects many of the practices attached to Islam. In particular, certain locations in and around Mecca and Medina that were connected to the Prophet had virtually been turned into shrines. The Saudis viewed this as sacrilegious and moved to eliminate them.

Furthermore, certain buildings from the Ottoman period were made sacred because they were historical. The Saudis, however, saw these new traditions to be expendable because the kingdom was facing a growing numbers of pilgrims.

Mecca history

The foundation of the city dates back to 2000 B.C. and flourished when it became a center of north-south trade routes. Little is known about the city’s early years but some of its history can be found in the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istanbul where pre-Islamic artifacts are displayed.

For Muslims, Mecca became important as the center of the Prophet Mohammed’s activities in the 7th century and the city from which Islam spread throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia by military conquest and trade.

Ottomans take responsibility

In the early 1500s, Sultan Selim I conquered Egypt and from then on Ottomans provided the main caravan to Mecca for the Hajj and for centuries held responsibility for the upkeep of the Kaabah and surrounding mosque and town. Ottoman control over Mecca meant that with the exception of brigands, caravans were not raided. More people could travel safely. Fortresses and caravanasaries were built along the roads for accommodation as well as wells for drinking water.

In Mecca, the legendary Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan designed the facilities around the Kaabah including the domed portico that currently encircles the enclosure. The large Kışla Fortress of Mecca was built overlooking the Kaabah and constructed in the 18th century for defense purposes. Also, efforts to safely organize large numbers of pilgrims to certain locations were carried out.

Momentum of change

In the 16th century, no one would have thought that millions of people would flock to the religious sanctuary centuries later. Since then hostels, hans, government buildings and private houses were built, railroad lines expanded, improvements in passenger ships and ferries and finally cars and airplanes contributed to an ever-increasing number of people participating in the pilgrimage.

As is the case everywhere in the world, without more attention to development, it appears the massive influx of people will outweigh the momentum of history.

Dear Mr.Taher,

To any intelligent person ignorance and reaction is a constant pain. Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen or Ayman al Hirshi did not harm Islam. It�s the vicious mullahs and the people who follow them blindly have harmed Islam. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia thousands of Muslims are being killed by the Islamic extremists and tell me was there any protests to condemn those killings? But when some one drew a cartoon of Muhammad there were thunders every where. Thousands of bloody and mercilessly burned dead bodies could not touch their emotions but a person who died 1500 years before made them crazy. What kind of logic is that?   This is a lingering pain in Islam, a phenomenon of unrealistic passion ignited by ignorance and dogmas. George Bernard Shaw once said that, politics is business for scoundrels, in Bangladesh and in every Muslim nation this is true. Politics is governed by opportunism and greed. I heard that when Prof. Ahmed Sharif died some mullahs objected to give him a Muslim funeral. Now you say if Prof. Ahmed Sharif can�t qualify a Muslim funeral as per the mullahs who can deserve it? A murderer like Ghulam Azam?

Regards

Akbar Hussain

If any one wants to get rid of tuberculosis medication
and smoking can�t go together. Our struggle for
enlightenment will never be complete if we continue
to appreciate ignorance. The notion of enlightenment
is neither occidental nor oriental, it�s universal.
The teachings of Upanishad were there when there was
no European enlightenment. This debate started with my
contention that there are religious rituals which does
not pay attention to the social realities. If someone
thinks that his/her performance of Hajj is more important
than a hungry child in his community, a poor father's agony
how a arrange a wedding for his daughter, a sick persons
painful steps towards death without proper treatment, a
poor students dreams are shattered because he/she cant
pay the fees, I cant stop that intending pilgrims selfish
efforts to go to Mecca but I will not stop lamenting the
spell of these rituals which makes a faithful so oblivious
to these dire human necessities. I will not be distracted
if anyone wrongfully thinks that my views are beneficial
to Jamatis.  It will be a grievous blunder to think that I
want to demolish all the faiths; I just want to insist
that faith must conform to the realities. Ms. Farida Majid
so eloquently wrote against the system of madrassa education
and the evils associated with it and by doing so she
forcefully argued that education is for enlightenment not
for spreading ignorance.  Observing a faith is fine but
taking the pagan practices as holy is dangerous and
irresponsible.

Regards

Akbar Hussain

To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 16:31:22 -0800
Subject: [uttorshuri] Re: How holy is this?



There is a problem here. A big problem indeed. It

is the problem of mutual understanding. No doubt

both Farida Majid and Akbar Hussein are enlightened.

Both have faith in western enlightenment. Looks

like Akbar Hussein has too much of it. Farida Majid

is a practicing Muslim, probably, Akbar Hussein is

not. Jamatis (including those who participated in

1971 killing and rape of of innocent Bengalis) are also practicing Muslims.
Islam (like any other great religion) is practiced at different levels and in
different forms. Akbar Hussein and many others are angry because nine-eleven was
committed by people coming from Muslim community. Many of the heinous acts are
still being committed everyday here and there by people belonging to the same
community. So to be most simplistic, they have to blame Islam. To them Farida
Majid'a and innumerable others' Islam is not a mainstream Islam. Islamic ideals
preached by the militant Islamists constitute the only Islamto them. So attack
it!

On the other hand, Farida Majid has all-comprehensive view of religions. To
properly understand them and those who practice them, she urges us to understand
among other things the Geo-political circumstances also. But Akbar Hussein and
his cohorts either have not the ability and depth to understand Farida Majid's
logic or simply do not want to understand her as they are too stiff with respect
to their agenda.

To me it does not matter. Both of them are willing to advance civilization in a
positive direction. Neither of them is a worshiper of the dark force. So debate
should continue. Let not the evil forces smile behind the rational debaters.



-----Subimal Chakrabarty

Dear Mr. Akbar Hossain,

How can I agree with you?!!  If what you say is true,
then why when some people raised questions on some of
the contents of those texts and their given meanings
were banished from their motherland and sentenced to
death by the powerful lobby of clergy - while the
opportunist politicians remained conveniently silent?
When answer to questions are given by the swords,
in the name of the creator, how can you find an
environment congenial to cultivating knowledge?

Taher, Dhaka.

On 05/12/2009, <> wrote:
>
> Dear Mr.Islam,
>
> Thank you for very inspiring comments. Following
> a faith does not mean crossing the road without
> looking at the traffic. In reality the purpose of
> faith was not to keep people bogged down in a certain
> spot. If faith only means unquestionable surrender
> it becomes a cult. Koran clearly says to seek knowledge
> and knowledge is not a stagnant phenomenon. When we
> say Rabbi jidney elman kathirao, O Lord give me lots of
> knowledge, we ask freedom from ignorance. If God, the
> fountain of all knowledge, is within my own self, my
> ignorance will never allow me explore that treasure.
> I have no other option but to ask question to seek
> more knowledge.
>
> Regards
>
> Akbar Hussain
>

The following article is from Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director,
Transparency International Bangladesh on Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
2009.

Bangladesh improves in CPI:
Can we keep it up?

Iftekharuzzaman*

The CPI - Corruption Perceptions Index - 2009 was released by Transparency
International (TI) on November 17. It provides international ranking of
countries in terms of perceived
degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption.
The index shows that Bangladesh is among nine out of the 180 countries included
in this survey of surveys that have achieved "notable improvements". In a scale
of 0-10 Bangladesh has
scored 2.4, compared to 2.1 last year. In terms of ranking
Bangladesh has become 13th from below which is 139th among 180 whereas in 2008
it was 10th from below or 147th among 180.

Other countries that are in the category of notable gainers
like Bangladesh are Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland,
Syria and Tonga. On the other hand,
significant decliners are Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia,
Malta and Slovakia.

Somalia, having scored 1.1, remains at the bottom as they
did in 2007 and 2008 implying that corruption in that country
is perceived to be the highest, followed by Afghanistan and
Myanmar in the 2nd and 3rd, and Sudan jointly with Iraq in
the 4th position from below.

New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore are highest scorers with
9.4, 9.3 and 9.2 respectively meaning that corruption is
perceived to be lowest in these countries, closely followed
by Sweden and Switzerland with 9.2 and 9.0 respectively.

Bangladesh's gain is notable as all its South Asian peers
except India have received lower than previous year. India
has remained steady with 3.4; Afghanistan declined from
1.5 in 2008 to 1.3; Bhutan from 5.2 to 5.0; Maldives from
2.8 to 2.5; Nepal from 2.7 to 2.3; Pakistan from 2.5 to 2.4;
and Sri Lanka from 3.2 to 3.1. However, except Afghanistan,
Nepal and Pakistan all other South Asian countries remain
in higher positions than Bangladesh.

It may be recalled that Bangladesh was earlier placed at
the very bottom of the list for the fifth successive year
from 2001-2005. In 2006 Bangladesh was ranked in no 3,
in 2007 in no 7 and in 2008 no 10.

This year's performance is good news for many in Bangladesh.
However, with the score remaining below 3, according to
the index, we continue to be among countries where corruption
is pervasive with deep and wide impacts.

The CPI being based on 2-years rolling estimates, this
year's data are from 2008 until September 2009. Therefore, Bangladesh's
performance reflects a perception of progress
as a result of the then government's nationwide crackdown
on corruption during 2007-08, which was also accompanied
by some institutional and legal reforms to strengthen the
capacity to fight corruption.

It may also be a reflection of a perceived positive assessment
of the fact that many of those reforms were carried forward,
or so promised, by the government elected to power in December
2008 to a great extent from an anti-corruption platform.

A key contributing factor to the index is the political and institutional
capacity to prevent and control corruption.
Therefore, whether or not the improvement achieved by
Bangladesh would be sustainable and whether further progress
would be achieved, will depend on the government's will and
capacity to deliver, especially in ensuring integrity,
independence, impartiality and effectiveness of key
institutions like the Parliament, the Anti-corruption
Commission, Election Commission, Information Commission,
Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the public service
and the Human Rights Commission.

The ruling alliance, especially the Awami League (AL),
spared no effort to make a series of commitments, of which
more than a dozen were specific to building and strengthening
the anti-corruption institutional and policy infrastructure.
After forming the Government, the commitments have continued
to be reiterated, especially at the top level, which helps
retain the optimism.

However, there are also increasing indications for concern.
The proposed reforms of the Anti-corruption Commission,
especially the reported exclusion of political and
administrative corruption from its jurisdiction as well
as assigning the status of chief executive to the Secretary
of the Commission will not only be counter-productive to
the Government's election pledge but also be the easiest
way to climb down again in the index.

The Parliament started very well with some unprecedented
indicators. The committees have been formed in the very
first session which also witnessed the Speaker play a
commendably balanced role in conduct of proceedings;
the Prime Minister's question-answer sessions were lively
with participation of the opposition when they were
available; the Committees have also started to function
well. But the boycott of sessions by the opposition on
grounds that as ridiculous as could be easily addressed
if only our political leaderships could rise above the confrontational and
zero-sum game, does not auger well
for an effective parliament, especially for its capacity
to discharge the function of holding the government
accountable.

The Government's failure to refrain from introducing
some basic changes to the procurement rules, especially
to the effect that experience and expertise would not
be mandatory upto certain threshold can be very detrimental
to ensuring transparency, efficiency and integrity in
the public sector. Corruption in public contracting always
takes place through a triangular coalition between the
political authority, public officials and the private sector.
If the changes are pushed ahead, the prospect of sustaining
the upward movement in the CPI will erode sooner than later.

The adoption of the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the
Parliament must be commended. If properly enforced, it can
bring wonders in promoting transparent governance and
preventing corruption. Experience has shown a positive
relationship between enforcement of RTI with capacity to
control corruption in general and score in CPI in particular.
The Government must move ahead firmly in strengthening the Information
Commission and creating the capacity and skills
to move from a culture of secrecy to that of openness. The
civil society, NGOs and the media who can play great roles
by creating the capacity on both supply and demand side in
this regard must be taken into confidence.

The most formidable task would be to effectively challenge
impunity. Corruption must be punished, and the law must be
allowed to take its own course without any political or other
forms of influence or intervention. Corruption cases must
be handled in due judicial process. Any effort to influence
the judicial process by partisan political or other means
shall be counterproductive. The lower the level of integrity, professionalism
and public trust upon the judiciary, the
lower the score in CPI.

The extent to which anti-corruption can be mainstreamed in
the public service including the administration and
law-enforcement agencies will be critical. The enhanced
salary and benefits package in the public sector is a step
in the right direction, but only partial. Equally important,
if not more, are specific measures to free public service
from the partisan political influence. If appointments,
promotions, rewards and punishments are determined on the
basis of anything other than merit, efficiency and performance, integrity in
public service shall remain a far cry. The Public Service Conduct Rules must be
drastically reformed to introduce
code of ethics and integrity that would institutionalize
positive and negative incentives against corruption.

As some of us will take satisfaction for the gain in CPI,
though marginal and far from enough to be reflected in the
way corruption affects the daily life in Bangladesh, there
is no scope of complaisance. Given the depth and breadth of corruption in the
country, no one can deny that it will be
only in the long term and through a comprehensive and
well-designed strategic campaign with a multi-stakeholder
ownership and engagement that corruption can be effectively controlled. Failure
to move ahead without fear or favour
would not only reverse the gain in CPI but also further
disappoint the people who voted the Government to power
with great enthusiasm. It is only natural to expect that
the last thing that any Government wants is to lose the
trust of the people.

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

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman is the Executive Director of Transparency International
Bangladesh.

'God, indeed, asked for sacrificing the dearest.
It is deeply morose even to imagine that one or two
farm-raised cow and/or goat shall do it.'

Yes, be it in Hinduism, Islam or any religion...mindless
animal slaughtering in the name of religion should be
abolished. Once upon a time, Hindus thought it beacon
of their religion to offer a son in the river Ganges or
leading a widow to die with her husband or even the
Christians considered education of women in university as
an attack upon their respective religions. But, things
have changed.

But, regarding pilgrimage...my own perception and
observation is sometimes pilgrimage can be a source of
traveling and gaining knowledge. Pilgrimage is practiced
in every religion. But, there again comes the question:
should I today move to India and visit the pilgrimage
spots to attain 'punya' or virtue or should I first give a winter cloth to those
two old women lying over the opposite
footpath of my home in Dhaka? Which would ultimately make 'God' or the 'heavens'
happy? �

--- On Wed, 12/2/09, Mohammad Zaman@... <Mohammad Zaman@...> wrote:

From: Mohammad Zaman@... <Mohammad Zaman@...>
Subject: [uttorshuri] Re: How holy is this?
To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 1:59 PM



God desired to test the submissiveness of his messenger. The messenger dreamed
that he ought to sacrifice his dearest. After a through introspectio n, he came
to a rather incarnadine conclusion. It is his own flesh and blood – his SON.

In servile deference, as the apostle of God was about to sacrifice his willing
son – the irenic hands of God played its tricks. The child was saved.  This
is how, the legend says, the religious ritual of   “sacrifice” – got
enrooted.

Now, on the eve of a religious day of sacrifice, to my mind, it is but an
“empty nothing” to enact the same annual drama by slaughtering a few
hapless animals without going through a deserving and painful introspection as
to the nature of our sacrifice!

God, indeed, asked for sacrificing the dearest…It is deeply morose even to
imagine that one or two farm-raised cow and/or goat shall do it.

Dear Mr.Islam,

Thank you for very inspiring comments. Following
a faith does not mean crossing the road without
looking at the traffic. In reality the purpose of
faith was not to keep people bogged down in a certain
spot. If faith only means unquestionable surrender
it becomes a cult. Koran clearly says to seek knowledge
and knowledge is not a stagnant phenomenon. When we
say Rabbi jidney elman kathirao, O Lord give me lots of
knowledge, we ask freedom from ignorance. If God, the
fountain of all knowledge, is within my own self, my
ignorance will never allow me explore that treasure.
I have no other option but to ask question to seek
more knowledge.

Regards

Akbar Hussain



To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 09:32:37 -0800
Subject: Re: [uttorshuri] Re: How holy is this?


       Akbar Hussain,



Thank you for your thoughtful rational writing on the

believe of religious rituals. The fundamental problem

is that, we do not read books of different religion

and writings of philosophers views and try to re think

logically! Just three books of Bangladeshi writer, Arooj

Ali Matobbar may change a person's thinking pattern.



Secondly, we really do not think deeply to search out

the truth. Religious belief (fear) always holds us

getting out of the box - fear, if I do the mistake

god will take me to hell! That imaginary HELL!! Just

think the time stated creation of the earth in religious

books, or in Bible! Was that true?



Once upon a time, for telling the truth that Earth is

orbiting the Sun, people has to go under the guillotine

dictated by religious leaders! But now we know the truth!

Religions also needed time to get educated to know the

truth. What we are debating today, after a course of

time common people will reject as we know Earth is

orbiting the Sun.


Best, Nazrul

There is a problem here. A big problem indeed. It
is the problem of mutual understanding. No doubt
both Farida Majid and Akbar Hussein are enlightened.
Both have faith in western enlightenment. Looks
like Akbar Hussein has too much of it. Farida Majid
is a practicing Muslim, probably, Akbar Hussein is
not. Jamatis (including those who participated in
1971 killing and rape of of innocent Bengalis) are also practicing Muslims.
Islam (like any other great religion) is practiced at different levels and in
different forms. Akbar Hussein and many others are angry because nine-eleven was
committed by people coming from Muslim community. Many of the heinous acts are
still being committed everyday here and there by people belonging to the same
community. So to be most simplistic, they have to blame Islam. To them Farida
Majid'a and innumerable others' Islam is not a mainstream Islam. Islamic ideals
preached by the militant Islamists constitute the only Islam
  to them. So attack it!
 
On the other hand, Farida Majid has all-comprehensive view of religions. To
properly understand them and those who practice them, she urges us to
understand among other things the Geo-political circumstances also. But Akbar
Hussein and his cohorts either have not the ability and depth to understand
Farida Majid's logic or simply do not want to understand her as they are too
stiff with respect to their agenda.
 
To me it does not matter. Both of them are willing to advance civilization in a
positive direction. Neither of them is a worshiper of the dark force. So debate
should continue. Let not the evil forces smile behind the rational
debaters.   
 
-----Subimal Chakrabarty   

The trial of Nazi guard John Demjanjuk started last
Monday. Demjanjuk has been charged with helping to
force 27,900 Jews into gas chambers at Sobibor camp
in 1943. Probably, this is going to be Germany's last
war crime trial from the Nazi era. John Demjanjuk is
89 year old and appeared before the court in a wheelchair.
If found guilty he may have to spend the rest of his
life behind bars, according to reports. His victims'
families insist he must face justice.

The plaintiff Thomas Blatt was quoted as saying "I didn't
come to take revenge on Demjanjuk. I came to explain what
it was like in Sobibor." Blatt's family was killed at the
camp in 1943.

People present at the court viewed the trial as a platform
to remind the world of the Nazi gas chambers.

Blatt's lawyer Stefan Schuenemann said that his client was
not doing this out of revenge or to be compensated. "Mr
Blatt thinks that after such a long time it is too late for atonement, the
lawyer said, adding: "Mr Blatt doesn't really
care about Demjanjuk's fate. It is important for him that
the story of Sobibor ... is today given a platform so that
he can describe the terrible murders that were carried out
in this extermination camp 66 years ago."

Robert Cohen, 83, a co-plaintiff and survivor from the
Auschwitz camp in southern Poland with a six-digit
identification number tattooed on his arm, said he felt
positive about the proceedings. "I'm here because it is
the duty toward my parents and my brother and for millions
of others who were murdered by the Nazis," said Cohen, who
was in Auschwitz for 11 months and was in concentration
camps for a total of 27 months.

(Compiled from Reuters.)

When will our political leaders take lessons from it?
If Nazi war criminals can be brought to justice 66 years
after the crime had been committed then why are we still procrastinating and
thinking whether 38 years is too
late for the trial or war criminals of 71?

It is never late when it is about justice.

Please folks! Give me a break! Look at the subject
line. It comes from Akbar Hussain denigrating the
practice of millions who performed a religious
pilgrimage. Let us not indulge in double standards!

I am not attacking Mr. Hussain's personal religious
faith.  I am objecting to the constant references he
makes to people born with blind faith, steeped in dark
medieval age practices, etc. Such denigration violates
my sense of democratic principles. "Holier than thou"
is not the attitude of a tolerant person. Is it?

Why am I being personally attacked for objecting to
someone attacking other people's faith and belief sytem?
Performing pilgrimage is a part of religious performance
of many religions. Why should one particular religious
group be picked for the 'crime' of spending money on
silly pilgrimage?

As I have been trying to spread the message all along,
SECULARISM is a Constitutional issue. It is not a
religious issue, though it is about unqualified guarantee
of religious freedom for all individual citizens.

No religion remains unchanged for 1500 years. It is an
impossibility, an anthropological absurdity, and
historically untrue. Yet Akbar Hussain insists that
Islam has remained unchanged.

Jamaat would like us to believe -- it is at the center
of their propaganda -- that they are the upholders of pure,
unchanged Islam. This is what modern Islamic fundamentalism
is all about.  Akbar Hussain (and Taslima Nasrin in her
own way) swallows this Jamaati stunt-baji. Therefore these
people act, inadvertently, as allies of religious
fundamentalism.

Please study the history of Bengal before the colonial
times to learn how we lived in a prosperous secular
country.

Farida Majid

=======================================


> To: uttorshuri@yahoogroups.com
> From:
> Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 10:52:10 -0500
> Subject: [uttorshuri] Re: How holy is this?
>
> [This post has been edited since we do not want to to post comments
>
> on a member's personal beliefs by another member. - Moderator]
>
>
> Dear Farida Majid
>
>
> I sincerely appreciate the caution issued by Uttorshuri Moderator.
>
> On the other hand, I am requesting you to review your own posting again
please. You,
> yourself did not refrain from personal attack and vilifying Akbar Hussain.
What lesson should we learn from the Moderator?
>
>
> I am sorry to state your caution note jumped from one issue to another,
without any conclusion. From medieval darkness to European Enlightenment,
> enlightened soul to anthropological absurdity, Jamaati-allies to Taslima
Nasrin,
> Mr. Know-all to Panni. What is your theory?
>
> I must admit that you are barking at a
> wrong tree interpretating Akbar Hussain�s posting as an ally of Jamaati. What
an
> unpleasant compliment by the Moderator.
>
>
> xxxxx
>
> Life is beautiful!
>
> Saleem Samad
>
> Toronto
>