That said, there were people who were glad to see the country divided. The Muslim League, so as to 'protect' the interest of Muslims, the Congress leadership, because it had convinced itself that the country could never be really 'divided' (because its foresight was blurred by the prospects of leading an Independent nation's destiny) and the Britishers because they just wanted to get the hell out of India. None of them, however, had calculated the implications of this hasty decision taken on June 3, 1947 and forced up on the ordinary Indians in an impossible time frame of two and a half months. Millions were displaced and big cities on both the sides were flooded with refugees. The mental trauma suffered by the people, especially the women, is something that can never be quantified as many of them swallowed it and lived on with their lives.

Yasmin Khan's The Great Partition - The Making of India and Pakistan, is an attempt to capture the disastrous effects of the Partition on the ordinary Indians. Her work is well researched, and the narrative is powerful. Khan, a British historian with origins in both India and Pakistan, is able to connect the confusion that existed in the minds of the decision makers and the effect it had on the lives of millions of Indians very effectively. Many Muslims, for example, had been convinced that the place they stayed in would be a aprt of Pakistan. Migration was never mentioned to them--either by the Muslim League or the Congress. Had they known this, they'd have probably never supported the Muslim League. Even when the people did migrate, they did so with a thought of coming back soon, hoping that it was a temporary move. Khan manages to bring out the sheer futility--and inevitability--of the whole exercise using real life examples.

In the introduction she writes, "The plan...was heralded by a leading newspaper's special correspondent with great enthusiasm as a day which would be 'remembered in India's history as the day when her leaders voluntarily agreed to divide the country and avoid bloodshed'." Bloodshed, as we now know, is what personified partition. It allowed millitants on both sides of the new border, in the West and East, to use state machinery to carry out the worst kind of ethnic cleansing on par with that carried out by the Nazis.

The irony of the whole fiasco was that people were promised equality in countries that had been formed on the basis of religion. What a paradox. But it was an illusion that worked with the short-sighted Hindus and Muslims. The Sikhs, probably the worst sufferers given that the Radcliffe Line sliced Punjab into two, had no say whatsoever in the goings on. Nothing, however, explains the short-sightedness of the decision makers more than what happened in East Pakistan, today's Bangladesh. No wonder then that same politicians who were happy at getting their share of land were shocked at the way events unfolded. In their knee-jerk reactions they painted the whole episode with nationalistic colours (albeit in varying degrees), blaming the 'other side' for the disaster. This mindset has lasted till date on both sides of the border and is perhaps the reason why any discussion on the Partition of India inevitably ends up as a cuss fest against Pakistan.

Nearly one year ago, I wrote a blog post titled: Channel South Asia? Yes and No!

My closing words at the time were:
"I, for one, am relieved that South Asian governments are unlikely to come together in such a venture - we’ve suffered long enough and hard enough with our state-owned, government-controlled, ruling party mouthpieces (both radio and TV) that pollute our airwaves (a public commons) every day and night. Euphemistically called ‘national television’, these conduits of governmental propaganda have progressively lost audience share — and influence — since private channels started operating in the early 1990s. They are today reduced to vanity channels for vane politicians and bureaucrats. The mass audience has long ago abandoned them. I’d rather take chances with a South Asian Murdoch, than with our unaccountable, selfish governments."

Chevaan Daniel, head of Sri Lanka's enterprising Channel One MTV, posted a comment soon afterwards, on 27 July 2007, saying: "Maharaja Channels have pioneered this for Sri Lanka, by joining together in an initiative involving media companies from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh to launch ‘The SouthAsian’. This collaboration includes a weekly programme produced in Calcutta, aired at the same time in the region. The next step is indeed a SouthAsian Channel, which we are working towards."

Well, I'm delighted to find that over the past 12 months, they have indeed been investing time, creative effort and money in this venture. TV Southasia is now a reality!

It's a collaborative venture of commercial broadcasters in five countries of South Asia, who have joined hands to produce and share content across their national borders. Mercifully, no governments are involved and certainly none of the state-owned broadcasters (Babu TVs) whose lack of vision and creativity is only matched by their depleting audiences these days.

Indeed, there's nothing official about TV Southasia (TVSA), and that's to be celebrated on its own merit. And if they get it right, TVSA founders -- Rtv of Bangladesh, TARANEWS of India, Image Channel of Nepal, Aaj TV of Pakistan and News 1st of Sri Lanka -- can tap into an enviably large audience. Between them, their countries have more than 1.5 billion people, most of who have access to television.

TVSA founders are taking one step at a time, perhaps knowing very well that cross-border ventures in South Asia need to be nursed slowly and incrementally, while dealing with assorted historical hang-ups and tonnes of red tape (or these days the colour could well be saffron or khaki, depending on where you live!).

It all started when a group of broadcasters and activists from across South Asia came together in Kolkata in December 2006 and agreed to forge the Southasian initiative. They swapped content to start producing a half-hour magazine programme (containing news analysis, music, features and interviews) from April 2007. Called Southasian, it was produced by Taranewz drawing on content from the participating channels, who then broadcast it weekly and also made it available online.

Taking the next logical step, the five broadcasters decided in August 2007 to form a channel, branded as TV Southasia. It started being previewed on 19 April 2008.
Read more about TV Southasia on its own website

The channel is being distributed by Thailand's ThaiCom5 satellite, and would be available through cable operators across South Asia. It's an English language channel, based on the reality that English is the only link language shared and understood by all countries of South Asia.

TVSA says it's concentrating on talk shows, interviews, lifestyle, music, short films, sports, cuisine and quiz -- most of this content is already available through many national channels and occasionally from global channels too. But TVSA can bring in a trans-boundary, pan South Asian outlook which is largely missing in these channels. In fact, it would be refreshing to see a TV channel covering South Asia as a whole, without giving into the frequent pressures or temptations of national tribalism and geopolitical posturing that we see all the time on both BabuTVs and many commercial channels.

Click here for programme lineup on TV Southasia

I have so far only caught glimpses of their offering, when Channel One MTV shows the Southasian magazine show. Going by this limited exposure, I can confirm that the products of this collaboration are superior to what BabuTVs have been struggling to do for two decades through the very official (read: officious and unimaginative) framework of SAARC Audio-Visual Exchange, or SAVE.

Started in 1987, just two years after the South Asian governments formed the regional grouping called South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC, SAVE brought together the so-called national broadcasters in radio and TV. Trapped in inter-governmental bureaucracies, they tried to share and carry each other's broadcast content. The officially sanctioned programmes, often made by committees, completely failed to capture the diversity and vibrancy of what's going on in each South Asian country that interests the rest of the sub-region. I have no idea if SAVE still exists, because I don't watch BabuTV anymore (does anybody?). Even in its formative days, I could tell that SAVE was beyond saving...

Enter TV Southasia - and not a moment too soon. As its website says: "It is for the first time in history that the private electronic media channels have come together and have formed a collaborative channel sharing the same view points on diversity, heritage, bondage and possibilities."

Unlike many broadcast ventures, TVSA declares its agenda - and it's a lofty one. It is to promote values like liberalism, scientific temperament, education, heritage and cultural diversity. Rather courageously, it also declares what it is explicitly opposed to, which includes superstition, fundamentalism, corruption, violence, cultural hegemony and communalism -- the long and depressing list of evils that keeps hundreds of millions of South Asians from achieving their full life potential. Read TVSA's vision, mission and ideals

This resonates with the equally passionate, secular idealism of Ujala TV, another satellite broadcast venture aimed at South Asia since mid 2006, which I have been cheering and about which I wrote a blog post a year ago.

Well, we need as many idealists as we can find in South Asia. Encouragingly, TV Southasia has already involved Himal Southasian founder and editor Kanak Mani Dixit, a great champion of people-to-people collaboration in South Asia. Perhaps it's due to Kanak's influence that the brave new channel is spelling Southasia as one word, as Himal Southasian has been doing for some years now. It might seem an aberration in spelling to some, but in fact, it separates these entirely unofficial, people's ventures from the many committees and initiatives of the official SAARC, which are endlessly meeting yet constantly failing to forge regional trust, cooperation and cohesion.

The official, officious and unproductive SAARC will be on parade once again at the next Summit due in late July 2008. My SAARCasm is shared by many journalists, intellectuals and activists across South Asia who have tracked the origins and evolution of this grouping since its founding in Dhaka in 1985. To put it charitably, at 23 years of age, SAARC has the mental development of a 3-year-old (if that). We only need to take a look at the People's SAARC Declaration, adopted in Kathmandu in March 2007, to realise how much the official SAARC has failed to accomplish.

That's in spite of its frequent and highly expensive meetings. Alas, this time they have chosen to meet in my city of Colombo, which means - after footing a massive Summit bill of LKR 2.8 billion (over USD 27 million) - we ordinary citizens will very likely be kept under virtual house arrest for its duration. All in the name of security, of course.

I hope I can catch a bit more of TV Southasia when the visiting SAARC-babus drive us off our own streets.

Photos and images all courtesy TV Southasia

Below - photos from TV Southasia launch

By Gautam Ghosh, Kolkata, July 5 : As many as 53 out of 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal have a high concentration of voters who happen to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Similarly, the fate of forty Assembly seats in Assom depends on the votes cast by Bangladeshi infiltrators. All this has been revealed by a recent report of the union home ministry on infiltration from India's neighbour. The report has been prepared on the basis of facts and figures provided by the Task Force on Border Management and Assom's former governor S.K. Sinha.

According to the report, at present there are 80 lakh Bangladeshi infiltrators in Bengal, 55 lakh in Assom, 4 lakh in Tripura and 5 lakh in Bihar(Katihar, Purnia and Kishenganj districts) and Jharkhand(Sahebganj district).

As far as West Bengal is concerned, the concentration of infiltrators is quite marked in the border districts like North and South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda and North and South 24 Parganas. The affected areas in Assom are Dhubri, Goalpara, Karimganj and Hailakandi, while a similar scenario is noticeable in Kailashar, Sabrum, Udaipur and Belonia areas in Tripura.

The illegal migrants are coming mainly from Sayeedpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Kushthia, Meherpur, Pabna, Nitpur, Rohanpur, Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira areas of Bangladesh. Pakistan's ISI is believed to have a hand behind this large-scale infiltration which has been playing havoc with the economy of Bengal and Assom.

Home ministry sources say Harkat-ul-jehadi-Islami(Huji), the dreaded militant outfit active in Bangladesh, has succeeded in sending a large number of militants along with the infiltrators to West Bengal. The ministry has laid stress on an early completion of barbed-wire fencing along the borders with Bangladesh. Of the 2216 km-long border the fencing could be completed only along 1167 km till last year.

The continuous infiltration has brought about serious demographic changes to Bengal's border areas and made the border-map, drawn after the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement, somewhat irrelevant. The Centre has consequently sought a detailed report from the state government on changes in the population pattern in 66 blocks of nine border districts.

The Bengal administration, which had taken a serious view of the problem in the initial stages of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government, now seems to have accepted it as a fait accompli.The chief minister had adopted some steps to contain the menace when the BJP strongman L.K.Advani was the union home minister. But his initiative has slackened after the installation of the UPA government at the Centre.

--- ANI

Pakistan vs. India (Victors: Pakistan)

In a must win match against India, Pakistan chased down India's total of 308 in 45.1 overs of the alloted 50. The youngsters and the debutants gave nice performances which had a lot of character to them. India's blazing opening start was first stopped in its tracks by the young fast bowler Abdur Rauf who took 2 quick wickets and later the debutant Saeed Ajmal kept the Indians in check by giving just 47 runs off hi 10 overs with 1 wicket. Mind you, this was a flat track with nothing favoring the bowlers.

On the batting front, Nasir Jamshed and Salman Butt started aggressively and were scoring faster than their Indian opening counter parts (V. Sehvag and G. Gambhir). Salman later got run out and Nasir completed a half century but had to leave because he was cramping up. A quick loss of Muhammad Yousuf brought Younis Khan and Misbah together for a partnership that saw Pakistan through. Younis's 125 off 117 was majestic and Misbah's 70 was nothing short of remarkable either.

Pakistan's performance renewed hopes of Pakistan reaching the finals of the Asia Cup. Had Srilanka beat India the next day with Pakistan beating Bangladesh later on would have seen Pakistan against Srilanka in the final. Unfortunately, India won against Srilanka. I would however like to add that India would be thankful to Srilanka for resting their spinner A. Mendis. I can without a doubt say that he would have wrecked havoc on the Indians looking at the form he was in. The possible reason I can think of is that Srilakans did not want India to play A. Mendis for if India were to reach the final, they would let him loose on India for the first time then. As tricky and hard as A. Mendis can be to handle, he can be the difference maker in the final.

Pakistan vs. Bangladesh (Victors: Pakistan)

For me this was a no contest. Pakistani bowlers ripped through the Bangladeshi batsmen and restricted them to a mere 115 in a tournament where scores above 300 were a norm. All the bowlers were simply unreal especially Abdur Rauf (8 overs, 1 maiden and 3 wickets by giving away 24 runs) and Iftekhar Anjum (10 overs, 6 madens and 2 wickets by giving away mere 20 runs).

With the bat, Bangladesh were again kept at bay with an opening stand that took Pakistan through. Half centuries for both Salman Butt (56 of 62 balls) and Nasir Jamshed (52 of 56 balls) awarded Pakistan a 10 wicket victory (Pakistan's first in the Asia Cup) in the 20th over with 2 balls to spare.

Since India had already won against Srilanka, Pakistan's victory did not take them to the final, but having said that Pakistan proved themselves a force to reckon with and shut off many mouths which doubted Pakistan's capabilities as a world class team.

People watching while waiting for a fare.

10" X 12" acrylic on canvas.

yep. he went there... discuss.

Now, the choosing the honest and best candidate will depend on the judgment of the voters of the local area.

Dr. Tofayel Ahmed, the local Government expert opined against the direct mayoral election but suggested for selection of the best from the elected ward commissioners in a city or municipal set up and selection of best for the post of chairman in the union parishad from the elected ward commissioners. This model is followed in the Panchayet Election of the west Bengal where local government structure is working very effectively. But out local government ordinance didn’t go that option.[PA]

Let us wait and see how everything goes. It is good that atleast the wheel of election in Bangladesh starts moving.

An ordinary citizen

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Haqqani acquired traditional Islamic learning as well as a modern education in International Relations. His journalism career started with work as East Asian correspondent for The Islamic World Review during the turbulent years following the Iranian revolution. During this period he wrote extensively on Muslims in China and East Asia and Islamic political movements around the world. Later, as Pakistan and Afghanistan correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, he covered the war in Afghanistan and acquired deep understanding of militant Islamist Jihadi groups.

Pakistani lawyers and the rest media personals apologizing for the 1971 genocide last December 25th, on the Quad-E-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s birthday. It should be the government apologizing since they committed the crimes and not the people.

Language Differentiation
Both Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are Muslim majority countries. The problem with understanding each other is the language differentiation. Each side lack the understanding of each other due to the Urdu-Bengali language borderline which keeps the flame of hate burning. However, in the United States and in United Kingdom I see the new generation Bangladeshis and Pakistanis talking to each other, hanging out, and praying together side-by-side.

Racist Perception
Racism is one of the most disgusting thing that comes out of the minds of the ignorant people in the Pakistani Union prior to 1971. Not all Pakistanis think of Bengalis in a bad manner; however, there are some who think Bengalis are like Indians and that they are inferior, which inflames anger and hatred toward Pakistanis not only from Bangladeshis but also from India’s side. Most of the elite class of Punjabis of Pakistan spat at the Bengalis and showed hatred and animosity towards them ever since the state of Pakistan was created. From my personal experience, regardless of my physical appearance as a tall, light skin (lighter skin than most Pakistanis) Bengali, a Pakistani Punjabi called me a “short, dark-skin, disgusting, Hindu Bengali” even with the knowledge that I am a born Muslim. Apparently that ignorant Punjabi have forgotten the teachings of Muhammad (SAW), that everyone is equal in front of Allah (SWT) regardless of appearance.

Recognize Bangladesh as a Sovereign Muslim Country
Many Pakistanis still believe Bangladeshis are East Pakistanis regardless of 1971. Most Pakistani intellectuals, such as doctors and lawyers recognize Bangladesh as a Muslim brethren country; few of their articles are published in Paktribune or on Reddiff.com. From my personal experience I see a lot of Pakistani youths don’t take the sovereignty seriously which inflames angers from the Bangladeshis. There was an incident in Georgia State University when I was the president of the BASA (Bangladesh America Student Association). In the international office, one side of the room is covered by a giant wall map of the world; few people from the PSA (Pakistani Student Association) went in when no one else was in there, and they cross out Bangladesh and wrote East Pakistan on the map. The entire international student council saw that and brought everyone’s attention on PSA. On the next international association meeting PSA was humiliated as their president had to apologize in front of everyone for the disrespect of Bangladesh. I was given the power to expel the students who were responsible from the university; however as Muslim Bengali, I showed that I was better than that and I accepted the apology even though it was not enough; anger and hatred burned inside me as I saw the PSA’s president walk away after the apology. A Muslim should forgive another Muslim and that’s what I did, for vengeance is for Allah (SWT).

Offer Friendship to the Punjabis Along with the Rest of the Pakistanis
The war of 1971 was all history and it should not stop the friendship between Bengalis and Punjabis. The Pakistanis of today are not responsible for the mass killings of Bengalis of 1971. Also note, that after the 90,000 Pakistani soldiers were captured, the Bengalis fighters went after the civilian Urdu-speakers in the established Bangladesh and massively slaughtered them as revenge. So, Bengalis are at fault too and they did commit crimes back then toward civilians. Both groups from each country are Muslims and they should increase the Muslim bond that was slowly torn since 1947 and finally broken in 1971. The Punjabis are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan after the Bengalis of East Pakistan left the union so you can’t avoid them. The loss of East Pakistan and the genocide of the fellow Bengalis is a painful and a dark memory of Pakistan; however, ignorance is decreasing and as English is widely used in countries abroad, the relationship between Bengalis and Punjabis living abroad should increase as well, which will be carried back to Bangladesh and Pakistan for better understanding of each other. My brother-in-law tells me “Pakistanis are stupid” but I talk to him and try my best to help understand that not all Pakis are bad, as in not all Bengalis are good, most to all West Pakistanis in 1971 were against the genocide of the Bengalis. West Pakistani civilians never wanted to loose the Bengalis and even today we see the goodness in Pakistani people (refering to the picture above), as they do not represent the notorious government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. We are Bengalis, let’s not follow Mujibir Rahman and live with hatred, offer friendship to our Pakistani brothers for they are Muslims just like us.

The creator of the Millie beat, Shondrae explains why he changed to his name to Bangladesh.

Clear proof why its not good to blaze a fat one before you do an interview.

Chief Adviser Dr. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed in his inaugural speech urged the Saarc countries to put pressure on the developed countries to reduce their carbon emission.[DS]

An ordinary citizen

It's a fairly common sight, here in Dhaka, to spot people on the road patiently reading newspapers. These have been pasted on walls by good samaritans for those who cant afford to buy them everyday.

"Catching up on news", 6" X 10" acrylic on canvas.

Two factors influence the BNP decision not to join the election: a) no breakthrough in the release of Khaleda in the near future b) the decision of the Jamaat-e-Islam, partner of BNP 4 party alliance in the last regime.

Whereas, AL molded its stand with the changing situation, BNP fails to realize the reality at the field level where the party workers and leaders are eager to join the election.

The ‘Khaleda’ factor becomes important for BNP in determining their strategy. The ‘Nizami’ factor is also working in the same way for Jamaa’t. Jamaa’t is a non-flexible organization that occasionally took unrealistic decision and remain rigid to that. The participation against the Liberation War in 1971 is such an example for which they will remain condemned as a political party in Bangladesh for ever.

If the influence of Jamaat on the remains strong on BNP, then it is certain that BNP will not change it’s decision, as BNP not in a position to take any collective decision through Standing Committee or Central Executive Committee. Pro-Reform group may take the opportunity and make contact with the grassroots level workers to feel the pulse of them and to be in support of them.As the local government election is a non party election, the local leaders and workers may participate in the election.

If ‘Khaleda’ factor is so important to them, BNP should think of Thailand where Thaksin, the ex-prime minister of Thailand was accused of corruption but could come back to his country after his blessed party won the election.

The political situation is different from that of 1986 during Ershad regime when AL join the election with JP and BNP & Jamaat boycotted. Later, the movement against Ershad took momentum and all the parties boycotted the election and the regime fell.

Now, a care taker government came to power on the background of violent clashes among the political parties and their failure to hold a fair election. After 1/11, the corruptions of the political leaders are also exposed. The people are dissociated mentally and physically from the political parties.
The people want a healthy politics and political parties. People also want all the parties to participate in the election and a peaceful transition to democracy.

An ordinary citizen

At the first stall I came to, I told the man what I was looking for, and he sent a couple of boys round the market to try to find them. From among the mountains of discarded chemistry text-books, Jackie Collins novels, and back issues of Cosmopolitan, they returned with two heavy compilations of documents, speeches and articles from the time of the conflict. I thought that the best way to find out what had happened would be to read contemporary accounts like these, because no war crime trials have taken place, either here or in Pakistan, and the history text books have since been altered or influenced by different political parties.

Massacre

One of the books, "International Press on Bangladesh Liberation War", compiled by Dr M.D. Husain in 1989, includes a startling account in Newsweek, from August 1971, of the massacre of the Bengalis by the Pakistan army and their local allies, which was the dominant story of that year. It is so horrific I find it hard to imagine it can be true.

It seemed a routine enough request. Assembling the young men of the village of Haluaghat in East Pakistan, a Pakistani Army major informed them that his wounded soldiers urgently needed blood. Would they be donors? The young men lay down on their makeshift cots, needles were inserted in their veins and then slowly the blood was drained from their bodies until they died.

India Vs China

The other book I picked up was published by the Indian government in 1972. It is simply called "Bangla Desh Documents 2," and reprints many of speeches and interviews given by the Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, as she toured the World trying to persuade other governments that they should stop Pakistan's brutal campaign of repression. Mrs Gandhi sounded increasingly exasperated as she appealed for help with the enourmous refugee crisis caused by the conflict (more than ten million East Pakistanis fled into India), and tried to counter the prevailing opinion in Western countries that Pakistan, India and the separatists were somehow equally to blame for the violence.

The failure of the West to censure Pakistan, was one of their most appalling compromises of the Cold War. The US was allied to Pakistan which in turn was friends with China, which had recently cut its ties with the USSR. Nixon was using Pakistan as a conduit to Beijing, so did not want to endanger that relationship. India meanwhile was friends with the Soviets. This all led to some fiery debates at the UN Security Council. This is from Jacob Malik, the USSR's ambassador:

The Soviet Union does not kiss the boots of bloody dictatorship...Slander against the friendship between India and the Soviet Union: we are proud of that friendship; we cherish it as the apple of our eye. This was Lenin's dream...The Chinese traitors to Socialism are pretending that it is the intention of the Soviet Union to conquer the Indian Sub-Continent and launch further aggression against China. Who will believe that? That is the fairy story for little children or great fools.

Before reading these speeches and articles I had no idea how worried people were that the war on the Subcontinent could force both China and the Soviet Union to intervene. It is amazing to think that three decades later India, China and Russia are all now friends with rapidly growing capitalist economies. 

The Sunday Times

But the thing I really wanted to find was not in either book. For that I has to search the web, and came across it at a fascinating new online archive, dedicated to ensuring that the history of the war is neither forgotten nor rewritten. 

It is an account of the massacres by a Pakistani journalist, Anthony Mascarenhas (who was originally from Goa), which was published in the Sunday Times. He later went on to write Legacy of Blood, the seminal study of the first years of Bangladesh's independence, when coup followed coup.

Mascarenhas and a handful of other Pakistani reporters were invited to tour the conflict zone with the Pakistan army, and report on atrocities committed by the Bangladeshi freedom fighters. The other reporters duly filed their propaganda pieces, but not Mascarenhas. This is how the Sunday Times described what happened next, in a straightforward, modest way, which is hard to imagine any newspaper (or broadcaster for that matter) doing these days:

On Tuesday, May 18, he arrived, unexpectedly, in The Sunday Times office in London. There was, he told us, a story he wanted to write: the true story of what had happened in East Bengal.

He made it plain that he understood that if he wrote his story there could be no going back to Karachi for him. He said he had made up his mind to leave Pakistan: to give up his house, most of his possessions and his job as one of the most respected journalists in the country. There was only one condition: we must not publish his story until he had gone back to Pakistan and brought out his wife and five children.

He was able to get them out of the country easily enough, but the authorities refused to let him leave. Tantalisingly, The Sunday Times reports that Mascarenhas  "found a way of leaving anyway," but does not explain any further.

Genocide

Back in London, on June 13 1971, The Sunday Times then ran his powerful story, simply headlined GENOCIDE.  This is how it starts:

Abdul Bari had run out of luck.

Like thousands of other people in East Bengal he had made the mistake - the fatal mistake - of running within sight of a Pakistani army patrol.

He was 24 years old, a slight man surrounded by soldiers. He was trembling because he was about to be shot.

Read the rest here.

Abul Hussam
Abul Hussam is a Chemistry professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is from the country of Bangladesh, from the Kushtia region.

Education
Ph.D. Chemistry (Analytical), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA. December 1982.
M.Sc. Chemistry (Physical-Inorganic) University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1976.
B.Sc. Honors in Chemistry, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1975.

The SONO filter
Each filter contains 20 pounds of porous iron and locally available coarse river sand, which the arsenic binds to, separating from the drinking water which is drank by millions every day in the rural areas. Currently there are 30,000 of those filters in use in Bangladesh delivering safe water to the rural inhabitants. The SONO filter doesn’t need to be maintained so, it can be used by poor people without much effort.

The invention of the SONO filter is another proud invention that Bangladeshis can be proud of, thank you Abul Hussam.

Contact Information
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
Tel: 703-993-1085 (or 1087)
ahussam@gmu.edu, abulhussam@gmail.com

Source: George Mason University, Grainger Challange, Time Magazine

At least 15lakh children are engaged in hazardous occupations in the country and the number is rising day by day due to the hike in food price. Moreover, most of them work with little or no pay but for three meager meals.

According to reports, there are 218 million child laborers between the age of five and 17 in the world. Of them, 126 million are performing dangerous tasks or working in hazardous conditions.

In Bangladesh, there are 79 lakh working children of whom 64 lakh are in rural and 15 lakh in urban areas. Of them 15 lakh are engaged in hazardous jobs.

Besides, at least 7.20 lakh primary school-aged children are not enrolled in schools globally, while the number of such children in Bangladesh is about 86 lakh, source said.

In the city at least 5 lakh female child work as domestic helps. They get only three meals a day and on an average Tk 300 per month. At the age of 16 to 17 they look for jobs in garment factories.

Rahmat is 9 years old and works as an apprentice in a Saw Mills in Khilgaon. "I get three meals a day here, plus Tk 70 a week," he said.

His father, Karamat Mia, 30, used to draw pushcart in the city. His mother Shahana Begum, 25, works as a domestic help. Rahmat used to go to the free government primary school but when Karamat had to have a surgery for a stomach tumour, the family's finances were decimated.

"With coarse rice selling at Tk 35 per kg Rahmat is better off at work than at home. The Tk 300 I earn is our only income. My employers keep me free from worries about my food," said Rahmat.

"I enjoyed going to school, but now I can't. I have to earn money for my family. I will go to school again after my father's recovery," Rahmat hoped.

Like Rahmat many children are involved in dangerous occupations at Dholai Khal area in the city in lathe machines or welding or in paint making workshops. Some of them make an early start as rickshawpullers or brick crushers.

The recent eviction drive of the law enforcers against floating population in the capital also displaced a number of families, who are employing their children to run make-shift shops in the city for longer hours to evade police harassment.

There are also a section of the street children, who are engaged in rag picking or litter collecting, both involve health risks but are very lucrative. This section is prone to engage in drug dealing and other anti-social activities.

In line with the UN theme of this year, "Education is Right Response to Child Labour," the government is pledge-bound to eliminate child labour and implement education programme for the children.

Along with the government, 30 non-government organisations are also working to withdraw children from hazardous jobs.

In addition, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), with the government, has established the Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Working children in six major cities.

In the first phase of the project, 11,550 centres nationwide offered two-year courses to 339,150 working children aged between eight and 14. Classes were held in two shifts to accommodate the children's work schedules, with a maximum of 30 students per class. Learning materials were provided, and there was no homework involved.

Phase two aims to withdraw 30,000 child labourers from hazardous jobs through a two-year non-formal education and six-month skill development programmes. It also provides micro-credit to parents.

"With very poor or no education, child workers become trapped in the cycle of low skills, low income and low education that further pushes them into the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty," said a Dhaka University professor

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a great humanitarian and his theory of banking to the poor was out of the question for conventional banks so he took it upon himself to give loans to the poor. His Grameen Bank has helped millions of Bangladeshis get out of poverty. His method is spread to other countries such as India, China, and Brazil and it’s working and helping so many people.

Dr Yunus said you need to go to the local level and give the poor the first dollar so they can catch the next dollar to build up the local economy. He also mentions that 97% of his customers are women.

Education Can Solve Bangladesh’s Problems
What I believe is providing free education to common people is the key to solving all of Bangladesh’s problems. Just think about it, why do you think probashi Bangladeshis want to go back and help, because most to all of them are shikkitto (educated in Bangla). Educated people have the capacity to govern and positively handle situations independently.

Rioters on the Streets
I never understand why these people go on the streets and fight against their fellow Bangladeshis for political leaders who don’t care about their lives. Most to all of these people don’t have the proper education to realize that rioting on the streets only harms the country as a whole, as it stops businesses from functioning and tightens up security. If these people would be given proper education then they would realize that Hasina and Zia are not the only candidates that can come to power; they will realize that there are leaders better than them.

Women Need the Education More
Women in Bangladesh are the key to the development of future generations of the country. Dr. Muhammad Yunus targeted women to give loans because women, unlike their male counter parts, will used the money for good and they will not spend it on gambling or drinking. Women, with their natural instincts, will use the money to raise the standard of living for their families.

Now, giving free education for women will secure the primary education for future generations. Women are the ones who stays home and takes care of the kids, and as mothers they will do whatever it takes to secure their children’s future; they will teach their children everything they know. My proposal is similar to why Grameen Bank targets women to develop the poor society to higher levels of living, because they are the ones who can fix Bangladesh in the local level.

I remember going to Sunflower Primary School in the Kishorgonj district during General Ershad’s rule when I used to live in Bangladesh and they taught me well. I believe primary education was free for everyone at that time, correct me if I’m wrong. However, today some schools can’t even function and teachers can’t teach due to lack of funding because of the corrupt bureaucrats taking money form the reserves.

In the video, Dr. Yunus said, referring to the poor people, “people have a lot of capacity to do things for themselves, to change their lives”; and it is a concrete fact. If we aggressively distribute free education to majority of the Bangladeshi population, if not completely to everyone, then we would build a foundation for society to develop.

Emerson said “There is no knowledge that is not power” as in there is no power if there is no knowledge. If we distribute education then we distribute power; that’s the whole idea of democracy, power to the people.

What Should We Do
There are a lot of NGOs and other types of organizations who come together and feed the poor; they can do better if they diversify what they use the money for. It’s good to feed the poor but food is consumed and it’s gone; however, if education is given then that investment is kept by the poor for their lifetime. They can use what they learned such as reading, writing, math/economics, and law to build themselves up.

Instead of completely using your fund raising money, or your Zakat money to buy food, use half of it to pay teachers to teach the poor. A lot of NRBs send Zakat money back to feed the poor, don’t do it, only spend half of it to feed the poor, and use the other half to give them free education. If they don’t want education then bargain with them, give them free food (from the Zakat money), in exchange for them to receive free education. Give the the common people the power of knowledge.

Let’s go back and help our Bangladeshis out, “Bangladesh Zindabad!”

The columnist Sydney Harris says:

Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.

Nationalists, followers of nationalism, have love for their own country; however there is hatred toward other nations. Such as the hatred of leaders of India and Pakistan toward each other. Nationalism is what caused the destruction and degradation of Germany as Adolf Hitler’s nationalism led him to put down anyone who did was not German descent or who did not speak German. The favor of Bengali Nationalism will only lead to the backward society of Bangladesh. Nationalists usually refuse change as they want to keep things the way it is and refuse outside influence to come in. Nationalists usually look down and show aggression to people of non-Bengali background. Muhammad (SAW) spoke against nationalism as it divides Muslims among themselves. Nationalists are the one’s who are and have slowed down Bangladesh’s progression, as they do not want outside influence.

Patriots, followers of patriotism, are the ones who love and have pride for where they are from. Patriotism does not encourage hatred for other countries or people of other origin. I consider myself to be a patriot as I have love for Bangladesh, since that’s where I’m from, and I encourage diversity among people of different backgrounds to come and live with Bangladeshis.

President Pervez Musharraf’s Visit to Bangladesh

In 2002 President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan came to Bangladesh and showed regrets of the 1971 massacres. He, by doing so, acknowledged that there was a genocide. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the elected leader of Bangladesh at that time, accepted the Pakistan President’s reconciliation.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said:

Thank you, Mr. President, for your candid expression on the events of 1971. This will, no doubt, help mitigate the old wounds.

The leader of Bangladesh at that time accepted the Pakistan’s leader’s reconciliation; however, Bangladeshi nationalists accused the President Musharraf by saying that it’s not good enough. I spit on the the nationalists’ words; what President Musharraf did was better than what most Pakistani leaders have done with the past, as his visit and words of regret was very significant to create a stronger bond between the Muslims states. A formal apology is still needed from the Pakistani leadership, but this is good so far. In the years to come the apology will come, insh’Allah.

Islam First
Bangladesh is a Muslim country and us Bengalis need to put Islam above all. In Bangla, shob che prothom Islam, in Urdu, sab se pehle Islam, in which Islam should not be treated below anything else, it should be put first above any representation.

The Fall of Dhaka was sudden and abrupt. As late as December 15th 1971, my pro-Pakistan friends kept saying that the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy was on its way and as soon as it reaches the Indian Ocean, India and it’s ally Russia would back down. Their claim about China’s intervention to provide air support to Pakistani troops, without which they had become sitting ducks, made more sense. China had already fought a war with India and was considered a more reliable friend of Pakistan. But neither the Americans nor the Chinese showed up. The Indians and the Russians did!

On the morning of December 16th, 1971 around 8 a.m, I heard a rumor that General Arora of the Indian Armed Forces was coming to Dhaka to accept the surrender of General Niazi. By 10 a. m this rumor became the news.

Millat, my bridge partner, who was a co-coordinator of the freedom fighter’s movement in Bangladesh, confirmed that a General of the Indian Army was at that very moment having a meeting with his Pakistani counter-part at Savar, just outside Dhaka, to discuss the terms and conditions of the ensuing surrender.

An hour later, I came to know that the draft agreement was approved by Pakistan and the formalities of the surrender would take place at Ramna Racecourse in late afternoon.

It actually took place at 5 p.m after General Arora arrived from Calcutta by helicopter. Pro-Bangladesh Bengalis started celebrating and the Pro-Pakistan Bengalis and non-Bengalis started panicking. By noon, one could see Pakistani soldiers heading towards the Ramna Race Course. Then I noticed some flags being hoisted on roof tops. It was a green flag with a red circle on it. Someone explained to me that the green background symbolized the greenery and the red disc represented the rising sun and the sacrifices we made to gain the independence.

I was on my way to Shantinagar from Tipu Sultan Road, when I saw near the Christian graveyard, three Bengalis with guns chasing four Bengalis and two non Bengalis. The crowd was running behind them. Mukti Bahinis, were chasing the Razakars, to kill them. The crowd was shouting “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangla” and gun shots or blank fire in the air could be seen and heard. I could not feel any joy or excitement. I was relieved, yes, because the liberation war was coming to an end without millions more having to pay the price for it. But I abhorred this revenge part. Why not arrest and hand the suspects over to the authorities and let the court decide? Many Bengalis like me had similar mixed feelings of relief and sorrow. But for those, whose loved ones could only return to their homeland after the departure of the Pakistani troops or those whose daughters, mothers and sisters were raped by the Pakistani Militia and Army, this was a day of rejoice and revenge. They could not touch the defeated Pakistani Army, who had surrendered to the victorious Indian Army and were therefore under their protection. So they went after the civilians and the paramilitary forces – those who had openly supported Pakistan and were called Razakars.

For the “Biharis” and “Razakars”, it was doomsday. Bihari was the term used for all non-Bengalis and Razakars were paramilitary forces who had volunteered their services to the Pakistan Army, who utilized them as “ Mujahideens to kill the Kafirs” by giving them Islamic names like Al-Badr and Al-Shams and misleading them into believing that East Pakistanis were no longer Muslims. Razakars could be a Bihari or even a Bengali. Many of them were hunted and killed by the people who recognized them, supported by the Mukti Bahinis with guns and pistols . Every Bengali became a Freedom Fighter and all the non-Bengalis became Razakars. Those Bengali civilians, even politicians who cooperated with the Pakistan government, were termed as traitors and treated as such.

There were many Bengalis, from other political parties like Muslim League and Jamaat-e- Islami, who did not agree with Awami League mandate of autonomy. Nor did they wish the break up of Pakistan. Some of them even cooperated with the Martial Law government to buy time and to convince the military rulers that what they were doing was not right. Maulvi Fariduddin was one of them. He was a God fearing Muslim and a genuine Bengali. He had been a Member of the National Assembly too. Fariduddin was mercilessly beaten to death. There were many others like him who did what they thought were right and it turned out to be a wrong decision that cost them their lives.

Even Mohammad Idris, who started shooting at the Mukti Bahinis because they had broken up Pakistan, was not a bad person. He was more patriotic than many in West Pakistan and simply could not stand the sight of its army’s surrender. He decided to go down fighting for the country he loved most. It is a pity that Pakistan does not appreciate this sense of patriotism and is still making excuses about bringing the “Biharis” back home. Almost all the non-Bengalis were treated badly after the fall of Dhaka with the exception of the members of Aga Khan community, who had behaved very sensibly by not acting like Maulvi Fariduddin or Mohammad Idris. From the beginning, they followed the command of their leader Aga Khan, to mingle with the local people, respect them and learn their language.

December 16, 1971 was a day of “ Saneha”, “Doorghotona” or “Tragedy” for the Muslims of the Indo-Pak subcontinent including a large percentage of Bengali Muslims in East Pakistan, who considered that Yahya Khan’s reluctance to convene the National Assembly was very unfair and his agreement with Bhutto to keep Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan was a conspiracy. But all of them were not Awami Leaguers and most of them believed that people charged in the Agartala conspiracy case, if found guilty, should be punished. They did not support the break up of Pakistan. They remembered well, the bad treatment their fathers and grand fathers had received from the Hindu Zamindars before the partition of India in 1947 and felt relieved to find Pakistan as their new homeland. Therefore at the beginning only Awami League and its staunch supporters wanted a separation while the majority wanted that the power should be handed over to the person who had won the election.

Sheikh Mujib controlled the majority seat in the National Assembly. Out of 300 National Assembly seats, Awami League had won 167 and Wali Khan had offered to join him with his 30 seats, yet Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto wanted to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan with his only 97 seats. Yahya Khan supported him because he was promised to be made the President. The parties failed to agree on anything or were failed to decided on a solution and Martial Law was declared. Failing to beat the Bengalis into submission, they resorted to committing the greatest genocide in recent history. This atrocious behavior of Pakistani politicians and army generals alienated all the Bengalis of East Pakistan and infuriated many, resulting in the War of Liberation on March 26 itself. At the behest of a Chittagong industrialist Mr. A. K. Khan and on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, General Zia declared the independence of Bangladesh from Chittagong radio station.

Slowly but steadily, more and more East Pakistanis realized that independence from the clutches of the rulers of West Pakistan was the only way left for them. Their children started going away to India to join the liberation war and they continued to suffer in the hands of what was now the “Occupation Army”. They sought India’s help, who was anxiously waiting to provide them. This was their chance to retaliate against Pakistan that was calling their part of the Kashmir as “ Occupied Territory” and fought two wars with them over this issue.

India declared that “Pakistan was occupying its Eastern Wing against the will of its people and forcing them to seek shelter across the border”. They intervened with the backing of Russia and the result was the creation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh - even better than the autonomous East Pakistan that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had initially demanded. A look at Dhaka alone will testify that it turned out to be a great boon in disguise and the reward fully justified the demand for it.

A new generation of Bengali industrialists, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats and diplomats cropped up overnight and started building the city skyward. A look at the Dhaka high-rises puts Calcutta (Kolkata now) to shame.

In the villages too, thanks to NGOs like BRAC and Grameen, people are in sync with the progress that the country has made in the past 35 years. More educated, better skilled and less poor, they certainly look happier than they ever were in the colonial days of British and then with Pakistan. Yet I sometimes feel that we should have retained the name of Pakistan and Mr. Bhutto, if he so desired, could have walked away with his Sindh province and found a name for his new country. Just kidding!

But it is a fact that in 1970, there were more Bengalis in united Pakistan than there were Punjabis or Sindhis or Pathans combined. It was the Muslims of East Bengal who had wholeheartedly supported the Lahore Resolution of 1906 that the Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq moved and Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah mooted - making the demand for the division of India on the basis of religion. Even though Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, as a Muslim leader and the President of the Indian Congress Party had appealed to the 120 million Indian Muslims to stay back, over 60 millions of them left their home and hearth to migrate to Pakistan. Mostly to West Pakistan and some to East Pakistan - from the neighboring states of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and even Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. For them, it would have been Love’s Labor Lost.

My parents migrated from West Bengal to East Bengal, which became East Pakistan. But my grandmother did not. She remained in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and even advised her only son to stay behind. He did not listen to his mother and eventually had to pay a price. My parents admired Mr. Jinnah so much that when he declared that “Urdu and Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan”, they admitted us to an Urdu medium school. But we continued learning and speaking Bengali because that was our mother tongue and she did not know any Urdu. Nor did any of our maternal aunts and uncle know Urdu. After the independence of Bangladesh, we quickly reverted back to Bangla Bhasha. Who wants to be a second class citizen? That is what the non-Bengalis had suddenly become.

After Bangladesh was created and after the 90,000 troops of the Pakistan Army and some civilians who surrendered to the Indian Army were taken to India and after President Yahya Khan resigned and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto became the Prime Minister of “what was left of Pakistan”, Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman was released from the Pakistani jail and sent to London. There he gave the statement (in English) that he was against the creation of Pakistan. Bhutto was vindicated. It restored his credibility having said that Mujib wanted independence. It seemed to me Bongo Bondhu (Sheikh Mujib) was out smarted or was it a condition of his release?

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Dhaka on January 10, 1972. A proclamation of Independence, adopted and formally announced by the Bangladesh Government in Exile on April 17, 1971 had declared that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the President of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Tajuddin Ahmed the Prime Minister and Nazrul Islam, the Vice President. Nazrul Islam had signed it as the Acting President in the absence of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was locked up in a Pakistani jail. Some say that it was only after he reached London that he was told that Pakistan had lost the war and Bangladesh had won the war of liberation. I do not buy this simply because I cannot believe that Mr Bhutto would unconditionally release the “ Big Fish” without laying any fresh bait. It sounds fishy.

I was there at the Tejgaon airport when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to a hero’s welcome. M illions of his countrymen came from far flung areas and villages to catch a glimpse of their Bongo Bondhu. Advocate Kamal Hossain was with him. It was rumored that because of his affinity to Urdu, he had betrayed the champion of the Bengali Language Movement, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. First thing that Sheikh Shaheb did was to introduce Kamal Hossain as his friend in need who , he said “was a loyal friend indeed. He called him a proud citizen of Bangladesh just like him. I personally was impressed and liked the gesture and felt encouraged that with his arrival the riot among Bengalis and ‘Biharis” would stop and this racial problem of Bengalis seeking revenge against the “Biharis” would come to an end.

I also hoped that like Kamraj of the Indian Congress, he would resign from the office of the President and continue as the Party Chief of the Awami League allowing Mr Tajuddin to run the government under his guardianship, supervision if necessary. Something that Sonia Gandhi is doing now. I was disappointed on both counts. He did resign from the post of the President but only to become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Mr. Tajuddin was sent a prepared resignation letter to sign on, which he did, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh that very day. Justice Sayeed Chowdhury was sworn in as the figure head President which Mujib refused to be. He then introduced the one party system BAKSAL, which he called the 2nd. Revolution.

Mujib now made new enemies. He changed the constitution and once again became the President of Bangladesh on January 24, 1975. Sheikh Mujibur was the Father of the Nation and the most beloved and respected person in Bangladesh at the time of its independence. He could have been the King Maker for the rest of his life, but he decided to become the king himself and ended up losing his life.

With the deportation of the Pakistani Army and Militia and the disappearance of Razakars - the paramilitary voluntary force of the Pakistan Army, people in the streets once again started rejoicing. Army remained the main topic and all kinds of jokes and slogans surfaced about them. Some real and some made up. Some were even taken from Moin Akhtar shows. For instance, there was this story about an Army Major and his wife being stopped at the gates of Dhaka Inter-Continental Hotel by a Pathan Sentry. The guard asked the Major to show his Denty ( identity) card. He said that he was Major so and so and this was his wife and they were going inside the hotel to watch a cultural show. “Denty cards?” the sentry insisted. “ I have left it at home” the Major replied. He was getting annoyed and felt insulted by being questioned like this in front of his wife. Without blinking an eyelid and looking at the wife, the Pathan pondered aloud “ What is this? The thing that he should have left at home, he brought along and the thing that he should have brought with him, he left that at home ?”

Similarly there was this joke about two soldiers walking inside the Thetari Bazaar with an intention to bully the hawkers who were selling chickens. They asked the first one:

“ What do you feed your chicken? “ He said that I feed them “gaum” Which means wheat. With a kick at his butt, he was admonished with these words: “We send wheat from West Pakistan to feed the men and women and you feed it to hens and cocks ?”

When the next hawker was asked the same question, he said that he was feeding them Chawool” (Rice ) He too received a kick and was sternly told “There is no rice to feed the people and you are feeding it to the birds? ”

The 3rd.hawker was a Dhakayeah Kutti, a native of Dhaka, well known for their wit and humor. When asked, what he fed his chickens, he said : “ I do nothing of the sort. “ Early in the morning, every day, I give a “Shikki” ( a Quarter or 25 paisa ) to each of my birds and they buy and eat whatever they fancy” “You do the right thing.” The soldiers remarked and went away. These jokes may or may not have been made up by the people who had suffered from the indignity and humiliation of rude behavior of its own army that they once loved and respected.

But this is what I know to be a fact. One day I met a staff of my friend Somji who was my competitor in jute business but always helped me out when I got stuck with the pricing of hessien and sacking. He was a gem of a person. I noticed an expensive Omega watch in Aslam’s wrist and asked when did he get it. He said “yesterday while I was riding my bike in front of Gulistan cinema, one Swati Militia stopped me and asked for my citizen watch. I had to give it to him. He tied it on his wrist, next to three other watches that he was already wearing. I complained “Khan Saheb, you already have three other watches and you decided to take away my one and only watch? The man said “You do not have any other watch” I said “ No” So he took out the first watch that he had on his wrist and gave it to me. “This is it. Not a bad exchange” Aslam smiled.

I laughed, thinking about one day when a Militia was frantically looking for a building. He went around asking :“Sona Ka Bangla Kahan Hai ?” Perhaps someone had half understood the Rabindra Nath Tagore song “ Amar Shonar Bangla, Ami Tomai Bhalo Bashi” (This is our National Anthem now.) and told him that in Dhaka, they have Bungalows that are made of gold. Mercifully, those army Jawans and Militia kids, who were made to believe the infidelity story of the Bengalis and fairy tales of the Bangla Desh, were now sitting in Indian prison camps near Agra and the slogan in the streets of Dhaka was: “Merein tou Shaheed, Marain tou Ghazi aur Surrender Karey to Niazi”. Meaning that if you get killed, you are Shaheed, if you kill, you are Ghazi but if you surrender, you are Niazi”

This was a way of making fun of the Pakistan Army who had declared Bengalis as Kafirs and used Islamic terms like Al-Badr and Al-Shams to subdue them and yet had surrendered in such a large number to Indian army, whose Commander-in-Chief Field Marshall Manikshaw had simply outfoxed them. His larger army by-passed the entrenched forces of the Pakistan army at the various cantonments of East Pakistan and reached Dhaka without facing much resistance. Perhaps never before, in the history of Islam, more than 90, 000 Muslims had surrendered to a Hindu force, no matter how big. But again, never before a Muslim army had committed an act of genocide against its own Muslim countrymen.

Cheers and jeers apart, after downfall of Dhaka on December 16th 1971, I personally got very worried about my school friends, who were Urdu speaking and living in district towns of Khulna and Mymensingh. Most of them had already left for Karachi or London but one of my childhood friend Matiullah Khan was from Bihar and he was caught up in Khulna. He was working as an Assistant to my brother-in-law, who was the Chief Engineer at the Crescent Jute Mills, in Khalispur, Khulna. When army cracked down on the night of March 25, 1971, my brother-in-law had to run away to his home town in Noakhali and he resigned from his job. Matiullah was given the charge by the army to run the workshop and now the army had gone. I knew that he would be in trouble. So I started calling and could not trace him. The Security Officer of the Mill said that he was not there but he was last seen at the Sports Club of the Residential Quarters by the side of the river. I decided to go to Khalishpur with another friend Majeed who was more fluent in Bengali. Majeed was nearly killed by a Bengali Razakar but managed to save his life by speaking in Urdu to a Punjabi soldier. He was also a very good singer and often sang Rabindra Sangeet for us. So we flew to Jessore and went by bus to Khalishpur. There someone told us that all the Biharis were either killed or arrested. Those living were placed in a camp under the protection of the Indian Army from Bihar. We went and found Matiullah. He was still dazed by the killings he had witnessed, while sitting at the Officer’s Club. Killing of Bihari men, women and children took place with swords and knives across the river at the ghat of Star Jute Mill. Majid and I were ashamed to hear his sad story but at the same time we felt proud that we had risked our own lives to save Matiullah’s. We brought him back to Dhaka. He is now living in Karachi. I was also lucky to be able to safely see off another Bihari friend and his family and my wife’s Punjabi friend and her family at the Dhaka airport after the 30th of December. But I could not save the life of another good friend Riaz, who played cricket with us. An amiable and harmless person, who copied Khan Mohammad while bowling, was a manager of the United Bank in Mymensingh. I heard later that he was put in jail for ten days, then killed.

I had always wanted to drive to Calcutta and then drive up to Delhi through the Grand Trunk road that was originally built by Sher Shah Suri. I got the necessary permission from the Government of Bangladesh and convinced my wife to come along. I also invited my brother Naim and my nephew Yusuf to join us. Depending on who you are, you can call it an adventure or a stupid act. The treacherous road to Calcutta from Dhaka via Aricha, Kushtia and Jessore had land mines laid out by the Mukhti Bahini for the Pakistan Army and by the Pakistani Forces for the Indian invaders. We had to get off from the road at some places and drive through the Dhan-Khet or paddy field. It took us 18 hours to reach Calcutta. Here I found one of my “stay back” aunts sadly sitting in the dark without even lighting a candle. I asked her if the power was out. She said, “No, I just did not feel like switching on the light, thinking that Pakistan has moved away from us. We felt so comfortable and strong when Dhaka was a part of Pakistan”.

Next day, we were treated like film stars wherever we parked our car. Returning to our car after watching a Bengali movie, very often we would find garlands at the windshield of the car which had an East Pakistani number plate EBD 3. When told that we were planning to drive up to Delhi, we were advised even by strangers not to travel through Bihar at day time, as they were very mad at the Bengalis for killing the Bihari immigrants. We left in the evening. Before reaching Banaras, the clutch plate of our car got burnt and we had to leave the car in a garage until we could purchase and bring back a new clutch plate from Delhi.

Continuing our journey by train, I had to face one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. We were traveling Janata class and the compartment was full. A punditji with a big mustache, made place for all of us and then asked me if we were Muslims. After I said yes, very politely he narrated the story of how, once when he was traveling from Karachi to Lahore in First Class with a First Class ticket, a few Pathan passengers entered the compartment and asked him to sit on the floor because he was a Hindu. Then he said, again very politely “You meat eater Muslims have very little patience as compared to us vegetarian Hindus. See, how nicely we made place for all of you” Feeling embarrassed, all I could say was “We are Bengalis, not Pathans”. Other than that, we received a favorable treatment by the Indian Railway officials, who thought that we were Freedom Fighters from Bangladesh.

Our one page passport was mistaken to be a travel pass and more than one booking clerk told us that we did not require tickets because we were Mukti Bahinis. For fear of being apprehended as Bihari refugees from Bangladesh, we were careful not to speak in Urdu, even after reaching New Delhi. The clutch parts we were looking for were not available there and on the return trip, the boys had to get down in Banaras while we continued to Calcutta. They arranged to bring the car back to Calcutta on a truck and narrated this interesting story about the Banarsi mechanic who opened the hood of the Volkswagen and yelled, “This car has no engine” This is how unfamiliar the Indians were of foreign cars in 1971.

Under pressure from Maulana Bhashani and following his own election mandate, within three months of assuming power, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman nationalized major industries, trades and banks. The British Delegation that had come to convince him to not nationalize the jute trade at this critical juncture, was turned back without the Prime Minister taking the time to even see them and explain his point of view. When I was driving them back to the airport, we saw Mujib addressing a group of beggars with their list of demand. Bill Duncan, the leader of the Jute Delegation remarked that “ Perhaps he is not wasting his time. He must learn to beg because business, he does not understand.” Obviously, he felt insulted by Mujib’s refusal to meet the delegation that he was leading. But during those same days, I was surprised and rather annoyed to see a similar statement made by US Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger. He had described Bangladesh, as “a basket case.” Looking back, I now realize that by saying that, Kissinger had in fact done a favor to Bangladesh. Since its inception in 1971, Bangladesh has been receiving aids and grants to the tune of nearly one billion dollars annually. It still remains one of the poorest countries and many of its loans are routinely written off.

In 1970-71, the Republican Government of Richard Nixon had to take a pro-Pakistan stand against India and Russia as far as the separation of the Eastern Wing of Pakistan was concerned. But Nixon never considered sending the Seventh Fleet to Indian Ocean in aid of Pakistan. Something that the Pakistanis were so desperately hoping for during its 1971 war with India. In spite of all the NATO and SEATO pacts that the USA had signed with Pakistan, it did not feel obliged to defend Pakistan against India and Russia.

The genocide in East Pakistan was no secret to the American public or its government. Even though at times the Republican tried to look the other way and called this issue an internal affair of Pakistan, there were people like George Harrison of UK, who lent their ears and opened the eyes of the Americans by holding concerts for Bangladesh

The refugees had spilled over to India and India was smart enough to solicit the support of Russia and the United Nations to send back the Muslim Bengalis to Muslim Bangladesh. Nixon was no Bush. He fully understood the consequences of going to war with India and Russia away from home. He did not want to be responsible for losing American lives for the sake of Pakistan retaining its Eastern Wing. Yet, after the fall of East Pakistan, when it appeared that India would continue with the annihilation of Pakistan in the West, it was Nixon who warned India and forced Indira Gandhi to declare a cease-fire. Otherwise India was planning to overrun Lahore and perhaps even Islamabad. I therefore think that Pakistanis should be thankful to America for at least keeping a part of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s dream alive. Just as well. Today Pakistan is America’s biggest ally against Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Could Nixon be so farsighted?

I left Bangladesh after the nationalization of its jute trade and migrated to the United States at the end of 1972. I had come to USA for a visit with my wife and child in July 1972 and leaving them here, I went back to Dhaka a month later with the hope that jute trade would not be nationalized and I would call them back. After they nationalized banks, most trades and industries, I tried to find a suitable job for myself in Bangladesh. But I was told by a director of the jute board that I had my turn and now it was their turn. So, instead of getting my family back to Dhaka from USA, I decided to join them in Chicago and then moved to Metropolitan Washington DC area.

After spending some time here, I realized that Sheikh Mujib’s demand for autonomous East Pakistan was not as outrageous as Pakistan made it out to be. Over here, each state has that sort of autonomy, with their own flag and even flower. As a matter of fact, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s idea of United States of India was even better. With no big budget for defense, United States of India would be such a viable country today.

Of course it needed more planning and a mutual understanding to treat the various provinces justly and fairly like the agreement that the original thirteen states of USA signed with each other. The Constitution that the Founding Fathers of USA drafted, could have served as a sample. But our Founding Fathers started fighting with each other even before the British left and we were not European immigrants like the Americans here are.

Bangladesh Minister for Jute, Mr. M. R. Siddiqui, became the Bangladesh Ambassador to USA. I knew him very well and often visited the Embassy near Connecticut Avenue. Because of my fluency of the Urdu language, a First Secretary at the Embassy once remarked that since I speak such good Urdu, I could not possibly be a Bengali. Narrow mindedness is a big handicap that we Bengalis suffer from. Mainly because we do not want to learn other languages. Urdu, Persian and English were the court languages of the British Government in India that broadened the minds of its intelligentsia.

In 1974, I read a story in the front page of the Washington Post that went like this; “Two young boys in their twenties were arrested and brought to a police station in Dhaka, Bangladesh on suspicion of a robbery and rape case. The Officer-in-Charge telephoned the Police Commissioner, described the boys and asked “ What should I do with them?” The Commissioner told him to hold the line and called the Home Minister, describing the situation and asking the same question. The Minister in turn called the Prime Minister and informed him that two boys of his sons’ age and description were arrested. What should be done with them?

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a shout and asked Hasina’s mother: “Are Kamal and Jamal home?” After being told that they were resting in their rooms, PM told the Minister and the Minister told the Commissioner and the commissioner told the OC to lock the boys in the cell and file a charge against them.

The Washington Post reporter remarked that while this story may have been fabricated to illustrate a point, it is true that the situation in Bangladesh is very much like this. The sons of the Prime Minister are doing whatever they want and they are protected by their parents.

Within a year of reading this story, one morning in August, 1975 when I opened my front door and grabbed the Washington Post lying on my door mat, I was shocked to read the headline. It said something to the effect: “SHIEKH MUJIB –UR –RAHMAN AND HIS 14 FAMILY MEMBERS SLAIN IN THEIR DHANMONDI HOUSE.

I took the newspaper to my mother-in-law who was visiting us at that time. She started crying thinking of her husband who was a friend of Mujib. How could a man so popular, well loved and respected only three and a half years ago, be now hated so much that his entire family would be ruthlessly killed. It was the shortest span of time during which love turned into hatred.

Footnote:
My Phoopi used to mention about an old lady she once saw many years ago. Some time after Bangladesh came into existence, she went to Makkah for Umrah. There she saw this old lady, touching the cover of Kabbah and praying to Allah: “ O’ Allah, whoever has been responsible for the death of my family members, make them pay a price with their own death and the death of their family members.”

As I sat back and reflected upon the old lady’s prayer, I recalled that both of Indira Gandhi’s sons, Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi died violently. She herself met a violent death. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto got hanged - his eldest son Murtaza got murdered and his youngest son Shahnawaz died of poisoning. Sheikh Mujibur and all his family members except for Shaikh Hasina were eliminated by his own army.

Were these people or any one of them responsible for the death of the old lady’s family? Had Allah punished them in response to her call? Or is it just co-incidence?

May Allah guide us and our political leaders to the right path and forgive us and our families for all of our sins. He is Most Gracious, Most Merciful and oft-forgiving.

But I have not seen anywhere in the Holy Quran saying that He is Always Forgiving!

Source: Despardes