Democracy

Democracy
As per Wikipedia, democracy is a system of Government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as “Rule of the majority”. There are other definitions of democracy that relate to our political lives.
I think, democracy relates to all spheres of life. It is the essence of a civilized life. Democracy can survive in an educated and civilized society only, as the birds can survive where there are plenty of trees. A backward society cannot hold and maintain democracy. Even if the society wants to practice democracy, it often breaks down due to lack of understanding, patience and respect for others. Paying due respect to others is not that easy. It requires learning to respect, appreciate, share, sacrifice, tolerate and be patient. It needs a certain level of socioeconomic development, cultural development and a standard civilization.
I think, the key element of democracy is respect for others’ freedom and rights. I believe that any individual should be able to enjoy his or her freedom and rights without doing any harm to anyone else. He or she will not do anything that harms other people if he or she respects their freedom and rights. If we can develop our minds and habits to this level through practice, we will spontaneously respect their freedom and rights. This is the most ideal situation. Under such environment freedom and rights of all will be protected spontaneously. We will then appreciate people when they achieve something. If there are difficulties or problems, we will extend our helping hands to share. We will be able to sacrifice our comforts for others. When things happen that are not desirable, we will be tolerant and patient.
Democracy should start from home. I observed our family lives and found no democracy there. I think, it is dictatorship to a great extent. During my childhood, I observed that the wife was afraid of the husband. I heard only one voice. It was the voice of a master, the head of the family, the household owner. The wives had no voice. They were often beaten for trifling reasons. The children were also afraid of their father.
Once I attended an invitation to one of my cousin brother’s home. My mother accompanied me. My brother has two sons. They were ⅞ years old. During lunch, we were at the dining table. My brother was not there. He could not manage time due to official work. So, my mother, my sister in-law, her two sons and I were having our lunch. At this time, my brother came home. When he came, the horn of his car was heard from our dining table. As soon as the boys could hear the sound of the horn, they understood that their father came home. They frantically ran away from the room out of fear. I asked their mother why the boys left the room so fearfully. She said that they feared their father. Now, don’t you think that this family needs democratic environment?
To enjoy the democratic rights a person needs to be strong. One cannot enjoy democratic rights without economic power. The women of the developing countries do not enjoy democracy in their families because they are not self dependent economically. They have no income. It means that they are poor in their families. Poverty is a hindrance to democracy. We all know that money has prestige value. These days some women are having income. Those  who earn some money can enjoy their rights better than the women of the previous generations who could not earn money. Some others cannot earn even if they want. They do not have freedom of movement. They need permission of the families to go out and have some income. Often they are not given permissions.
In the developing countries democracy cannot work. The political leaders buy votes. These leaders exploit the poverty among people. During elections, they entertain them with good food, clothes, cash money etc. The poor people can earn some money which is more important to them than choosing a right person as their political leader.
I have seen the undemocratic office environment since I was in the Government service. Boss was the supreme in the office. All officials and staff were afraid of their bosses because their promotions, going abroad, good postings and other facilities depended on the bosses. Culturally and traditionally they were not supposed to express their ideas in front of their bosses. They could say, “Yes, sir” only. I did the same too. If I put up my own ideas or views that would be regarded as bad manners. I believe that all institutions should have democratic environment. Let everybody enjoy freedom and self-respect.
There is no democracy within the political parties. Elections must be there, whatever the system is. I think, the chairperson and other important leaders of the political parties should be elected by the relevant members of the parties. The political parties can find ways or develop systems so that the chairperson or other leaders of a political party are elected through elections.
In Bangladesh, there is no democracy in the real sense of the term. The newspapers and television channels are banned when they publish news and broadcast programmes independently. The famous newspapers are often banned. The Islamic TV and Diganta TV channels are banned. The television channels that are not banned, are the mouthpieces of the ruling party.
The constitution is amended as per wish of the Government. Our constitution was amended to snatch away our democratic rights. As per 16th amendment we lost three important democratic rights. The first one is referendum. They erased referendum from our constitution. Secondly, we lost our “No Vote” and thirdly, the system of Caretaker Government was abolished.
Political opponents are killed in the name of gunfight and crossfire. There are extra judicial killings and forced disappearances of political leaders and workers, journalists, writers, University teachers including people of other fields. The Independent, dated 14 November, 2017 reports that the list of disappeared people is getting alarmingly long over the past few months and the disappearance of North South University teacher Dr Mubashar Hasan is the latest addition to the lineup of unfortunate people. In the last three months,  a total of eight prominent individuals went missing from various parts of the country, but the Government has been unable to find trace of any of these missing persons and the scenario is the same in case of Mubashar Hasan as police are yet to find any clue three days after the teacher’s going missing.
Many people died in jail custody. People are arrested and tortured in the jail custody under remand. Political opponents are persecuted in other forms too. Countless court cases are filed against the workers and leaders of the opposition party.
The political parties are not allowed to hold meetings, processions, demonstrations, strikes, long march, human chains etc.
Recently, BNP Chairperson, Begum Khaleda Zia went to Cox’s Bazar to visit the Rohingya Refugee camps. Her car was attacked and many journalists were seriously wounded. theindependentbd.com/home /print news/121142 dated 28 October 2017 reports that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s motorcade came under attack in Feni when she was on her way to Cox’s Bazar to distribute relief materials among Rohingya refugees yesterday. The unknown criminals injured several journalists and vandalized 20 vehicles. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Secretary General, BNP, says that there are video records of the crime. The criminals are gang leaders of the ruling party.
bdnews24.com dated 14 November 2017 reports that BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s convoy was attacked in Chittagong on his way to Rangamati to meet local people affected by landslides. Mr. Amir Khashru, a member of BNP’s policy making National Standing Committee , said, “As soon as we reached Rangunia’s Ichhakhali, men armed with Iron rods and sharp weapons attacked our convoy. They have completely damaged our cars. We suspect, supporters of Awami League leader, Hasan Mahmud was behind the attack. He added that they were injured by shattered windshields.
Besides, the arrogant politicians are betraying the public by telling lies.
We are the people of Bangladesh. We want public meetings. We want to know what other political parties want to say. We want to hear their voices, agenda, political policies, philosophies, ideas, objectives, strategies etc. We are deprived of our democratic and political rights when we cannot attend the public meetings. There must be public meetings which are our democratic rights.
Some politicians tell hundreds of blunt lies without any hesitation. They told lies about the ex president, Hossain Md. Ershad. They kept him in the hospital without any reason. He was threatened and was sent to the hospital. They lied about the Chief Justice, Mr. S. K Sinha. Forcefully he was sent to Australia. The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs said that he applied for leave and showed his signed application on television. Mr.S.K Sinha said that he did not sign any paper. The Law Minister further said that Mr Sinha went abroad for the treatment of cancer, but the Chief Justice said that he was in good health. Things went worse when these politicians tried to erase their lies by producing thousands of other lies. Their statements become inconsistent and incoherent. These are very shameful behaviour patterns. They become laughing stock to the public.
Some politicians are very arrogant. They always abuse and attack the leaders of the opposition party. They make ugly comments shamelessly.
Bangladesh has ancient Indian civilization, but modern civilization has a different style. We are yet to adopt that style. We love democracy, but our political environment is not developed enough to maintain and sustain democracy. I hope, gradually we will overcome this transition or interim period. The new generation will come forward to restore democracy. There will be democratic political parties. They will save the nation from family politics. I hope they will understand that our future political leaders must be from Bangladesh and they should live in Bangladesh permanently. I believe that they will be strong enough not to allow interference into our politics from the people who live abroad and settled in foreign countries.
People of Bangladesh are politically conscious. They understand the false statements. This seems to be an ocean of falsehood. These dishonest politicians become laughing stock to the people of Bangladesh.
I would like to mention some facts of the violation of human rights in Bangladesh. This is not the first time that the facts are being disclosed. These were published in Bangladeshi newspapers. I got this information from the internet.
The US State Department Report, in its Country Report on human rights practices for 2014, quoted the NGOs to cite statistics that were as follows: -
The legal aid and human rights NGO, Ain O Salis Kendra (ASK) reported that during the first eight months of the year, security forces, including the RAB committed an estimated total of 113 killings and the local human rights NGO, Odhikar, reported that security forces killed 136 persons in the first nine months of the year.
There were an estimated 179 extrajudicial killings in all of 2013. The deaths occurred during raids, arrests and other law enforcement operations.
The Government, often described these deaths as crossfire killings, gunfights or encounter killings.
The report also mentions the gruesome seven murders of Narayanganj. Seven persons were abducted and killed by RAB personnel. The report also refers to forced disappearances based on NGO data.
“Disappearances and kidnappings, some committed by security services, continued. According to Odhikar, from January through September, there were 35 disappearances allegedly involving security personnel, compared with 14 in all of 2013”, says the report.
The report also touched on the press freedom, specially mentioning the ICT contempt charge against the British journalist David Bergman and restriction on the internet freedom.
Aljazeera news for Bangladesh, dated 30 March 2017 said the following: -
The United Nations has criticized Bangladesh's Government in a new report for a “higher rate” of extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances, as well as excessive use of force by state actors.
From the above discussion we understand that this situation is worse than absolute monarchy. It seems that during the next election, deployment of army with magistracy power is of absolute necessity.  We need a neutral and independent Government during the next election. The election will never ever be fair under the ruling party.
In Bangladeshi politics, India plays a significant role. The Bangladeshis want a state to state relation with India. When India supports a particular political party, that is, the present ruling party, people of Bangladesh become frustrated. They need India’s friendship. We all belong to Indian ethnic group. We are also of Hindu blood. We are families. We need their assistance to restore democracy in Bangladesh. People of Bangladesh are economic factors that can boost India’s economy too. We extend our hands and hearts to India for their cooperation in the next election of Bangladesh.
Democracy needs to be universal. Sometimes highly civilized countries disturb democracies in other countries for their economic and political interests.  In Egypt, President Morsi was democratically elected. He lost his position because of international politics.
It seems to me that democracy does not work well in the Middle East. There is democracy in Turkey, Lebanon and Tunisia. Wikipedia says that Israel is a democratic state. I don’t think so. Israel is a religious state. No religious state is democratic. It tells us that there are divisions. All citizens are not equal. The Jews are special. It is a Jewish state. It is a Jewish land. I think, Israel should be a democratic state. It should be “ People's Republic of Israel”. The Muslims, Christians and others should be allowed to feel that Israel is their country and they are respected citizens of Israel as much as the Jews.
In central Asia, democracy does not work well too. In the communist countries people’s thinking processes are locked.
Democracy works well in the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France, Germany and in other countries of the developed world.
Democracy goes well with high level of development. Democracy is for all. It is a civilized way of life. Democracy cannot remain alive in any country. It needs a developed ground or foundation to flourish.
I wish all countries of the world to have democracies. The developed countries should help the developing countries to develop and practice democracy. Let democracy be universal. Let us all enjoy democracy simultaneously together.

The Persecuted Nobel Laureate

The Persecuted Nobel laureate

For writing this article, I took extensive help from Wikipedia and the article of Mr. Rashidul Bari. I have referenced other sources as well.

I notice the undesirable and undemocratic political environment of Bangladesh with profound sadness. I am very shocked when I see that our intellectuals, scholars, writers, journalists and the members of the civil society are attacked and insulted by arrogant politicians in a very ugly manner. I wanted to do something that I could not do. I then tried to say something that I felt very deeply.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a Nobel laureate, revered all over the world. He is the son of our soil. He has brought pride, glory and honour for Bangladesh and the Bangladeshis. We love and respect him from the core of our hearts. We adore him. We are proud of him. We appreciate his dedication and contributions to the eradication of poverty from Bangladesh and countries of the world.

I have read some of his books. His writings include Banker to the poor, Creating a world without poverty, Building social business, A world of three zero etc. He is continuing his writings. Recently I read “History of Arakan” written by him. I wrote an article on my blog about the Rohingyas. I got ideas from this book for writing my article.

Dr. Yunus was invited to carry the torch in the Rio Olympics 2016. He bore the torch with Sachin Tendulkar at the Rio Olympics. He was the first person after Nelson Mandela to achieve this honour. It is a great honour for all of us.

Wikipedia described him as a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and a civil society leader.

Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concept of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to the entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for the traditional bank loans. Dr. Yunus tried to create a development process that would be initiated from the grassroots levels.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee explained why Dr. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. They said that the lasting peace could not be achieved unless the majority of the population found ways to break the chain of poverty. Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank have shown us that even the poorest of the poor can be self-sufficient and bring their own development across cultures and civilizations.

Dr. Yunus received not only the Nobel Prize but several other national and international honours and awards. He received the United States Presidential Medal of freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.

I have read President Clinton’s autobiography. In his book, President Clinton appreciated Dr. Younus with an open mind. He said, “Hillary and I first met Muhammad Yunus when I was Governor and he inspired us to create a microfinance program in Arkansas based on his model. Muhammad proved that the poor are creditworthy and that a microfinance effort can be self-sustainable, can create growth and spread peace. I have thought for years that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee could not have selected anyone better.”

Barak Obama remarked, “Professor Yunus was just trying to help a village called Jobra, but he somehow managed to change the whole world.”

Dr. Yunus is respected much in India too. Daily Sun, dated 4 January 2017 said that Bangladesh’s maiden Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus had been honoured with a gold medal by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his contribution to the society.” I am grateful to India for this precious gold medal. India respects great men. Although some arrogant politicians in Bangladesh are doing much harm to Professor Yunus, India did not hesitate to award this gold medal to him.

The Grameen Bank is a community development Bank. They give small loans to poor people without asking for money before the loan is given. Grameen Bank has 2568 branches all over Bangladesh as of 2017. Grameen Bank lends to its 8.3 million clients of which 97% are women and more than 112,000 beggars. Besides,  they have low-cost housing programs too.

Grameen Bank’s system and methods have been applied in 58 countries including the United States, Canada, France and the Netherlands (Reference: The Japan Times dated 16 September 2017).

Under Grameen Bank System, each borrower must belong to a five-member group. The group does not need to give a guarantee for a loan. The loan is made to only one person, but the whole is responsible for repayment of the loan. Each member has to pay back their own loan, but if they have problems the group may help them pay because the group would not get any more loans from Grameen Bank if all the group loans were not paid. Over 98% of Grameen loans have been paid back. It shows that the Grameen Bank could establish a very good interactional network. They could create a strong motivation, an intimate human bond and a spirit of unity among the borrowers, otherwise, the Bank would not be able to survive.

Grameen says that more than half of its borrowers (close to 50 million) now have all children of school age in  school, all household members eating three meals a day, a clean toilet, a rainproof house, clean drinking water and can pay 300 Taka a week (Around 4 USD) to repay their loans.

Grameen Bank has adopted Village Phone Program.  Women entrepreneurs can start a business providing a payphone service in rural areas of Bangladesh. The Village Phone Program was awarded the 2004 Petersburg Prize of EUR 100,000 for “Technology to Development”. The Development Gateway Foundation said, “Grameen has created a new class of women entrepreneurs who have improved their positions from poverty”.

In 2003, Grameen Bank started a small loans programme for giving small loans to the beggars. There was no capital cost of the loan. The borrower does not pay any interest on the loan. For example, a beggar taking a small loan of around 100 Taka (About USD 1.50) can pay only two Taka (About 3.4 US cents) per week). He pays back the principal amount only, that is, Taka one hundred only. By May 2006, around 73,000 beggars took loans of about 58.32 million Taka (Approximately USD 833,150) and repaid 34.78 million Taka (About USD 496,900).

In 1998, the Bank’s “Low-cost Housing Programme” won a World Habitat Award.

I think if any approach, venture or effort produces a positive outcome by which people are benefited, then it deserves appreciation. The women of Bangladesh suffer social discriminations. Often they are victims of domestic violence, divorce and persecution. If these women say that they are benefited, that is all success. It seems to me that no additional research is needed. Grameen Bank exists for the borrowers. Grameen Bank is supported because the borrowers support them and the borrowers enjoy benefits because the Bank supports them.

The Guardian published an article dated 21-02-2011 (Jason Burke, Delhi) that said Dr. Yunus was being ousted from Grameen Bank that he founded to help the poor in Bangladesh and across the developing world. He has been caught in a bitter political battle in his homeland, Bangladesh.

The campaign to remove Yunus, mounted mainly by the politicians to remove him from the position of Managing Director of Grameen Bank. Dr. Yunus had to appear in a Dhaka court to face charges against him. He faced increasing political hostility.

An international campaign to defend Yunus was launched. The high powered friends of Grameen, chaired by Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner for human rights and one time President of Ireland, condemned the “Campaign of misinformation against Yunus”. The increasingly aggressive attacks on Yunus were politically orchestrated.

James Wolfensohn, the former World Bank President expressed his concern too against persecution on Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Mr. Rashidul Bari wrote an article in HuffPost dated 16 August 2016. He said that during our liberation war, Dr. Yunus was the editor of Bangladesh Newsletter, which he regularly published from his Nashville apartment. His article against Pakistani genocide was widely lauded by the Bengali community as well as in the mainstream newspapers. He held the concerts for raising funds for our liberation war. He was involved in other motivational and informative programs to help achieve our independence soon.

Mr. Rashidul Bari said that the first trial against Yunus was launched in December 2010 in Bangladesh. This happened a month after an allegation against Yunus for corruption charge of USD 100 million was made by Tom Heinemann in 1996 through his documentary film. The Norwegian Government conducted a full investigation of the matter, but in the end, found Dr. Yunus innocent.

Yunus was fired from Grameen Bank showing the reason that he was older than the mandatory retirement age of 60, but the nine  Directors of Grameen Bank allowed Dr. Yunus to hold the position of Managing Director even after the age of 60. These directors were elected by 8.3 million Grameen Bank borrowers.

In September 2013 Dr. Yunus was on trial again. He challenged the allegations against him and said that the allegations were baseless and politically motivated.

I have heard from the citizens of Bangladesh that he wanted to establish a new political party named, “Citizen Power” with the objective of removing corruption from Bangladesh. He believed that in Bangladesh the politicians had no ideologies. They are involved in politics for getting money through corruption. Dr. Yunus wanted to change the society and make Bangladesh a corruption free country. There is no valid evidence to me whether it is true or not. Whatever it is, there is no harm in it.  In an independent country and as a free citizen, I have got all rights to be involved in politics. I want to enjoy my democratic rights. If Mr. X can establish a political party, why not Mr. Y? We are annoyed with hereditary family politics. It has become like an absolute monarchy. We want to get rid of this situation. Especially, our future political leaders must be from Bangladesh and they must live in Bangladesh permanently. There should be no aeroplane or flying politics.  There should be democracy within the political parties. The party Chiefs and the other executive members should be elected by the democratic methods. The new generations should wake up. The educated young people must come forward to create a new and fresh political environment.

All nations of the world are proud of their Nobel Laureates. Why Bangladesh would be so unfortunate to insult and degrade them? when we are insulting our Nobel Laureate, we are degrading ourselves. In Bangladesh, there are some unfortunate and arrogant politicians who are extremely jealous of Dr. Yunus. I believe that we should think and feel better. Jealousy is a poisonous deadly disease that destroys all. These people think that why the Nobel Prize was not awarded to them instead of Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Dr. Yunus is the son of our soil. We should be happy when it is awarded to Bangladesh. It is our pride, our glory. We are really proud of Dr. Yunus and his Nobel prize. Let us say loudly “Long live Grameen Bank, long live Dr. Muhammad Yunus”.

Mother

Mother

I am a mother

Sad, old

Depressed and devastated

Once I was the sailor of a ship

Now, I am shipwrecked

Once my house was full of joy

My children walked, ran, laughed

Sang and danced

I had no time then

I fed them, clothed them

Taught them alphabets

Taught their lessons

Saw them growing

When they were babies

I kept awake at night

I didn’t have enough sleep

I sacrificed my comfort happily

My children were gifts of God

This was my greatest fortune  

That I became a mother

I sacrificed my desires joyfully

I spent little for myself

I saved money for my children

I gave them good food and clothes

I admitted them to a famous school

I bought them toys and

Played with them

I took them to the parks and gardens

I had pleasure in doing

Little things for my children

Now they  are grown up

I have become old

My golden days are gone

I spent my savings for my children

I thought my children

Would be my future

The waited future came

Which is insecure and uncertain

I depend on my children for survival

I do not blame them

They are too busy to spare

Some time for me

Life is complex

This is the age of comparison

And competition

They struggle much with

Their lives

They raise their children

There is no time to pay

Any attention to me

They have their spouses

Who treats me like an old furniture

They count me to be extra

They take me to be a burden on them

They treat me brutally

I feel that their home is not my home

I am unwanted guest here

I feel that I should find a shelter

Somewhere else

There are shelters for the old

But that is expensive

I am poor

I have no shelter on earth

My shelter is my grave

Indians killing Indians

Indians killing Indians

From time immemorial, people are crossing borders for the purposes of travel, trade, migration, education etc. Many people cross borders for having a better life and better income.

I lived in New Zealand for some time. There are many immigrants in New Zealand. Many of them use New Zealand as a stepping stone. When they are in New Zealand, their access to other countries becomes easier. I personally know many Bangladeshis, Indians, Asians, Pacific Islanders etc, who migrated to Australia. Many white New Zealanders also migrate to Australia from New Zealand. The white New Zealanders have better opportunities because their academic degrees and certificates are recognized all over the world. Many immigrant doctors migrated to Australia for passing the medical course there. They said that  New Zealand was conservative. They could not pass the medical examination in New Zealand to work as a physician. They worked as medical technicians in New Zealand. They migrated to Australia and achieved their degrees there. They started working as physicians in Australia. Australia has wider, diverse and developed economy than that of New Zealand.

Some Government officers left Bangladesh and they were able to work for the Government of Australia. They said that Australia tried to place people in jobs so that they could have job satisfaction. This approach is conducive to productivity which facilitates economic growth.

All over the world, there are legal and illegal immigrants. In most cases, they manage to live in those countries permanently. The worst scenario tells us that they are deported. There are illegal immigrants in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, UK, Canada, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Thailand, Kazakhstan etc. There are Afghan illegal immigrants in Pakistan. There are Pakistani illegal immigrants in India.

In no country, people are being shot dead for illegal immigration. Capital punishment is not applicable for illegal immigrants. President Trump wants to build walls for preventing illegal immigration from Mexico, but he has no plan to kill them.

Now Bangladesh has 1000,000 (Ten lacs) Rohingya refugees. They are illegal immigrants to Bangladesh. Are we killing them for crossing the border? We have given them, food, shelter, medical treatment and all basic necessities of life. Even the local people are helping them.

India is killing us at our border. I think this is a savage, barbaric and brutal international crime. They can arrest them or send them back to Bangladesh. They can discuss the matter with the Government of Bangladesh, but why should they murder us? This is human hunting.

During our liberation war, they helped us tremendously. They saved our lives. They saved our souls. We are profoundly grateful to them for their assistance to us.

As Bangladesh was liberated, both Bangladesh and India were benefitted. We got a sovereign state. India could divide and weaken Pakistan. Bangladesh could provide them trade opportunities, transit facilities etc. All is good, but why are they killing us now? During Pakistan period they did not do it. At that time also there were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to India. It might be so that the Indians thought of Pakistan to be strong. Now, they are thinking that Bangladesh is weak. They do not kill Pakistani illegal immigrants at the border.

In effect, they are killing their own people. The Bangladeshis belong to Indian ethnic group. We are all Indo- Europeans and Indians. We have Indian facial features. Our culture, lifestyle, food habits, moral and social values etc, are very much Indian. Our language is Indo-European. Our mother tongue emerged from Sanskrit. We are of Hindu blood. Before 11947 we were citizens of one country. So, is it not true that the Indians are killing their brothers?

Especially the people of West Bengal are our closest brothers and sisters. We speak the same language, we eat the same food, we wear the same clothes, we share the same values, tradition and culture. In fact, we are families. I request the people of West Bengal to protest and condemn this brutality on the Bangladeshis very strongly.

The  Bangladeshis were converted to Islam. The Muslim invaders, travellers, traders, scholars and preachers came to India. People of the lower castes wanted a better life. They adopted Islam. Should they be punished for this?

Since our independence from Pakistan, the Indian Border Security Force( BSF) killed a total of 1,391 Bangladeshi civilians and personnel of Border Guard Bangladesh, formerly known as Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) along the border of India and Bangladesh (Reference: The Independent: dated 21 October 2017)    

Wikipedia says that Felani Khatun, a 15-year old Bangladeshi girl was shot and killed by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on 7 January 2011, at India-Bangladesh border. A photograph, showing Felani Khatun’s dead body hanging on a border fence made of. barbed wire was picked up by international media and the publication of this photograph evoked international concern.      

The BSF trooper Amiya Ghosh was responsible for this barbaric, brutal and savage killing. He faced two phases of trial in an internal court. In both cases, he was acquitted. We got no justice. India could afford it because we are weak. The communal feelings of India killed our Felani. They could not order even a minimum punishment to the murderer, Amiya Ghosh. We have no friend. We are surrounded by enemies.

Border killings are still continuing. So far 46 Bangladeshis were killed at the border by BSF in 2015. At least 236 Bangladeshis were killed by BSF in the last six years between 2010 and 2015 (Reference: The Daily Star, dated 07 January 2016.)   

I am very sad. My heart breaks into pieces when I see that my brother is killing me and my daughter, Felani Khatun. I don’t want to see my brother’s stained hands reddened with my blood and my daughter, Felani Khatun’s blood. Let us stop this barbaric, savage brutality. Let us stop this cruelty. Let us love and respect each other.

The pensioners of Bangladesh

The pensioners of Bangladesh

I was a Government officer. I get pension each month. I go to Sonali Bank, Ramna Corporate Branch, Dhaka to get my pension allowances. I don’t face any difficulty yet in withdrawing my pension allowances since I am in good health, but gradually I will be older and weaker. It will be difficult to attend Sonali Bank Pension Counter then.

The pensioners need to be present to the pension counter because it is necessary to know whether the pensioner is alive or not. This system is cruel. The pensioners are aged and many of them are very sick. I have seen that their sons and other relatives are carrying them on their shoulders because they are unable to walk. They suffer a lot. This is torturous for the old and sick pensioners.

During their youth, they worked very hard for the Government and the county. Let me cite one example. I have seen them typing one letter twelve times. At that time there was no computer. The employees typed on manual typewriters. The high officials made corrections again and again. They had perfectionistic demands. They wanted to make the writings perfect. These were summaries, briefs, letters etc.

Their labour had a low price. They were ill-fed and ill-clothed. There is an unequal distribution of wealth in the socio-economic structures of Bangladesh. The Government officers at mid-level and higher levels are well-paid. The Government employees below the officer ranks are ill-paid. The salary structure is based on the exploitation of the lower ranking employees. Salaries of the high officials are much higher than that of those who are below the officer-ranks. Sometimes these lower level staff went on strike with the demand for increasing salary. In the end, the high officials were benefitted much more than the lower level employees. The salary structure must be reviewed so that the income disparity among the Government employees, from the top to the bottom gets reduced and balanced. In this context, I would like to add my personal experience. I lived in the YMCA Hostel, Auckland, New Zealand for some time. The cleaners of the hostel had cars. They came to their works by cars that they drove themselves. The weekly payments of the receptionists and the cleaners were almost the same. The developed countries practice socialism in the real sense of the term. There is little difference between the physical work and the intellectual work. I hope, gradually our systems will also be upgraded to that level.

The Government needs to know whether the pensioner is alive or not. Some Government employees and officials may be engaged for this purpose. They can visit the pensioners’ home by using the Government transports. These transports are misused to a great extent. Most of the time these transports are used for personal purposes. As such, the visits to the pensioners’ home can be arranged easily. This is consistent with the social and the moral values of Bangladesh. Our children will learn to respect the elderly and the helpless people.

We have good news too. The Government launched a salary and pension fixation online system for Government employees. The aim is to make their salary fixation easy and reduce the sufferings in drawing pension (Reference: New Age dated 17 December 2015). The Finance Minister, AMA Muhith formally inaugurated the system at the secretariat. Under this system, the pension money will be sent to the bank accounts of the pensioners through electronic bank transfer and the pensioners will be informed through SMS to their mobile phones. The pensioners will be able to draw their pension money from their bank accounts as and when it would be convenient to them.

I appreciate the steps taken by the Government. I am not aware of this. I am sorry for my ignorance. I go to the pension counter of Sonali Bank, Ramna Corporate Branch, Dhaka to draw my pension allowances. I wait at the counter for a long time. I see other pensioners too who are very sick and weak. Some of them were carried by their sons on their shoulders. This is very sad. I am very depressed.

I think they do not know about the new system. It is good if the pension counters inform us about changes in the Government policies regarding pension. A written information booklet is good because many pensioners are not mentally capable due to their old age. In that case, their sons and daughters can be aware of the ongoing rules and regulations regarding pension. Our people become old much earlier than the real old age. They fight with poverty, malnutrition, social complexities, rapid changes in social values and ethics etc. In many cases, they cannot financially be dependent on their married sons. The society is changing. Individualistic values make lives difficult for the old people. Longevity in Bangladesh is low. Our pensioners do not live long. Let us make them happy for the last few days of their lives.

Polygamy or monogamy

Polygamy or monogamy

I am a man

I am a prisoner of

Civilization and society

No one is ready to accept

My natural instincts

Civilization has imposed

Marriage and discipline

On me

Civilization is a burden

On me

Civilization has restricted

My freedom

No one considers that

I am polygamous by nature

I want to enjoy life

Like animals

I want to fly like birds

I want to enjoy flowers of

The garden

I want to be a friend of

Any girl I like

Family is a cage to me

I want to come out

By breaking the cage

But I need family too

I need shelter and security

I need to choose one

Either family or freedom

In a family

My desires die every moment

Polygamy gives me

No shelter

No security

No intimacy

No love

No affection

No address

No home

No respect

Which one to choose?

Family or freedom?

I want both

Men like me

Decided to choose

Monogamy

It may not be

The best option but

Men like me

Thought it to be better

When I will be

Sick and cold

Family will take care of me

My children will hug me

My wife will nurse me

I will be warm

In their arms

I will be loved and

Remembered

When I die

So I choose family!