DHAKA Local Bus Services … let all be equal…

Wastage of time, energy and peace of mind… is it all which is being crushed due to traffic congestion? There are more … as thousands of men strive hard to get in the bus whole day through … women of similar extent does that too. In my 3 and half years of university life, mostly I had traveled through bus service in the capital uttara-banani route. During my internship, I experienced the appalling travel route from uttara to kawranbazaar area. And most believingly I despised it more than I reviled the university travel days. In the name of traffic congestion we hear issues regarding low availability-low consumption of transport, miss-management of seat system and adjustment, grubby environment in the bus counters, the offensive behaviors and bumpy driving, the bail-less attitude of the helpers and fuming passengers etc. but how many articles did make out the news regarding women exploitation in the bus? Physical molestation and contempt of gender is a common scenario in daily bus services. Currently “Stop Eve-Teasing” is a blazing issue in the newspapers and various media all over. But what about the incidents that take place and is never really been heard of - done by the educated so-called civics? Sigh…I am bit bewildered while writing about this as I don’t know whether I am writing this as in a victim myself or as in bearing a sensible milieu of journalism.

Yes…I am a victim in the sense that I have been through the filthy touches of strangers and mostly being silent in thoughtfulness of social bullshits. And also yes…I found it as mere responsibility to write out all these as I felt its nearly significant enough to question the erudite well-grown up male society who finds pleasure in touching women here and there while traveling beside them in a bus. Why am I calling them educated? Because unfortunately 90% of the men I found doing such shameful performance was wearing formal shirts-pants-ties with heavy silver watches (not cheap at all) along with shining shoes and laptop bags in the shoulders. Well-groomed, clean shaved and off course having the newest model mobile phones in one hand, I often found their other hand-fingers busy in finding place between my armpits next to my chest. In recent eve-teasing content, the uneducated boys full of ashes and brain depletion are being blamed for not choosing the right track in life and thus becoming criminals and murderers. It’s their drugs, drinking and ailing mental problems behind the disgraceful act they perform. But what about our co-passengers in the bus? Who treat us as if we are their keeps for the moment and its our job to allow them to touch us, press their bodies on ours as much as they want and stay silent, unnoticed about it? Many of you reading these must be thinking why not shout, why not slap tight these ill-mental creatures? When there isn’t much space for a girl or women to oppose against the social taboo’s limiting their rights and worthiness inside the house, it requires much, much more than courage or strength to do such thing on outside streets.

Most bus services provide at least 8 seats reserved for women now-a-days. Sadly, to sit in those our ears has to hear many of witty remarks from the men. Some of them even don’t want to let us take in – simply they make up such fussed drama that even if we get the seat it reminds us of unwantedness and embarrassment. And my o my, that of us who takes in the common seat- its more like getting on straight in the stove. Women these days are far near to what men works, earns, achieves, and gives out to life. If a women raises her voice for some reason that’s the moment the entire bus is cursing her with wide eyes and question-marked faces. But she isn’t supposed to do or question such groundless situations because it won’t matter or bother anyone. Regrettably till date Enormous amount of women suffer from male-abuse, gender discrimination, physical assault, mental break-downs in their households and workplaces 24/7. When those women can’t get out of their in-house sufferings, it’s practically pointless to expect women on street to gripe and defend thyself. I wonder what kind of men (?) does find pleasure or amusement
In touching women and torment their traveling experiences. It does tires me a lot and makes me feel like just a flesh with a skin of some dead raccoon. And honestly, such men seem to me worse than the meat-eaters of Africa.

I am not writing all these to speak of some awareness slogans or be a social-writer. I am writing to all those men out there, who don’t know how to respect a human-body. For you a woman is maybe just a body, but you have indisputably forgotten that your body was a small part of ours before you even saw this world. So in the name of your mothers, sisters and daughters, I pray to almighty that may you be blessed with keen pity for yourselves and be able to work-out your filthy retired mentality and leave our pride alone.

Disclosure: Rakhain Prabarana Purnima and Fanus Festival in Cox’s Bazaar

The total population of indigenous people in Bangladesh is around 1.4 million or more than that, consisting almost 45 indigenous communities using 26 different languages (internet). These Garo, Mogh, Mande, Koch, Marma, Khasia, Rakhain etc. indigenous tribes mostly live in the rural settings of Chittagong Hills, Cox’s Bazaar and in the regions of Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rajshahi. These people differ in their social association, religion, birth-death rituals, foodstuff, marriage system and other social traditions from the rest people of Bangladesh.

United Nations Human Rights Bodies, ILO, the World Bank and International Law apply four criterions to distinguish indigenous people:

• Indigenous peoples usually live within (or maintain attachments to) geographically distinct ancestral territories.
• They tend to maintain distinct social, economic, and political institutions within their territories.
• They typically aspire to remain distinct culturally, geographically and institutionally, rather than assimilate fully into a national society.
• They self-identify as indigenous or tribal.
•
The term “indigenous” is applied to elucidate certain social communities that shares comparable uniqueness – a cultural and communal subsistence that is distinct from the leading or primary communities in a society. Each indigenous community regardless to its extent carries out a typical, distinctive culture and heritage on its own. On 22
October, as part of out internship assignment in “Star Campus” we did endeavor the privilege to explore and experience such exclusive Rakhain Community in the Cox’s Bazaar Rakhain Polli. As in segments to that we attended the Rakhain Prabarana Festival at the IBP field Kiang (Buddhist monastery) and the Fanus Festival at the Barmiz Market local Kiang. The Prabarana Purnima (full moon) is the most significant and also the 2nd greatest festival among the Buddhism Followers. The Buddhists perform special religious rituals on the days of full moon generally because it is stated that the most memorable events of the Buddha’s life took place on the days of full moon. The followers all over the world observe the rituals and religious traditions on the same day for eons. On this very Purnima, Buddha displayed the miracles of spiritual power to his followers, which is why it holds an elite representation as a sacred festival for the Buddhists.

On the 22nd morning as we went in to the kiang, where people of all ages from the entire area were present. They have come to meet the current Vante (head bhikkhu of kiang) and other Vante’s from other kiangs in and out of the country with the offerings of various food items. They start the day with singing Buddhist chants and then all pay respect to the Vante’s and the Gautam Buddha figurine. After that all the Vante’s sit together and eats the foodstuff which followers had brought, till 12am. After taking the meal the Vante’s from other monasteries start off their journeys to new destination, within or beyond the border to visit other kiangs. Through a conversation with the current Vante with the help of a translator called Sha-mo, we ask him about his becoming a Vante. He tells us that he was just a 12 year old boy when he had the thought of becoming a Bhikkhu and left his parents in Burma to come to this kiang. It was his choice to leave the life of a regular person, leave off attachments, desires and started devoting himself in the convention of Buddhism. A Buddhist bhikkhu is allowed to go anywhere but return before night to a monastery unless he is on a journey. He is allowed to stay out of Kiang for maximum seven days in case of severe ill-ness related to his parents and his teacher only. As the mind mends no boundaries, Bhikkhu’s can and do go anywhere from Tibet to Timbuktu in search of peace of to practice Buddhism with true sprits. Hindering from sensuous lust, aversion and ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, sceptical doubt; To concentrate, be mindful and energetic, investigate, rapture and apply equanimity is the right persuasion of Buddhism. Though he mentioned that human-mind is wobbly and might change due to time. As for himself, he always wants to lead the spiritual life and continue doing what he enjoys most – spreading out Buddha’s principle among the people. It took him 30 years to reach such position which makes him 42 years old and looking at him it was quite hard for us to believe. His divine habits and apt living has kept him young as in a fresh soldier. During the discussion he also told us about the significance of Fanus (light balloon) Festival. Buddhist people believe that Buddha resides up there in the sky on the full moon night and Fanus’s are taken as the symbol of wishes and hopes. Through lighting these up and sending out in the air is more like reaching out the Buddha more or less. As speaking of the differences of past and present day celebrations, Vante shared that in past the younger ones were more into the religion and rituals. Now when the existence of the culture is at sake its natural they are more into changing religions or becoming less concern to their ancestral practices. The reasons behind it came upfront when we spoke to Sha-mo’s sister Ukhin, who had come with her little boy to visit Vante. Showing discontent in her voice she urged that Bengli customs and tribal customs are very different. But there is no safeguarding or fortification of tribal cultures and customs. Even they are bound to learn in Bengali, leaving off their own tribal languages. Hence, the younger generation is in lack of strong bondage with the religion and ethnicity. Talking to a 13-year old teenager outside the temple building, as she explained that she has been coming to the temple with her parents from a very early age and she more enjoys the celebrations than the regular prayers as it allows her to dress up nice and meet kids her age under one roof and dance and sing aimlessly. The religious patterns seemed less apprehension to her.

Due to the weather calamities, we had to wait for the next day to observe the Fanus festival and got on board with it on 23rd evening. By 5pm the sky started to getting filled with shining and shimmering light balloons. The Rakhain Polli kiang was surrounded by several booths made of paneled layers holding Buddha figurines and decorated in dazzling ways. All men came dressing up in their best and women wearing heavy ornaments made out of gold and silver. The teenagers were busy in setting out fireworks. The older Rakhain people were fueling up the Fanus and the kids gathered around
seemed composed with their face and glittering eyes. The balloons had the shapes of duck, bird, horse or just huge square typographies. As each Fanus went up in the air, the crowd screamed loud in excitement and joy. It was more of a fair of people occupied in lightening of both fireworks and Fanus’s all over.

While we wrapped up by 8pm and were preparing to get on the 10:30pm bus to be back in town, we were filled up with mixed feelings. Some of these were the happiness of knowing different culture, perceiving new dimensions of lifestyles which can be hardly seen in the capital. On the other hand we were in obverse of the mere truth of their insecurities- threats towards their own subsistence regarding their unique being. We felt bit accountable of the fact that despite of staying under one sky, at least 2/3 of the primary population doesn’t even think about of their uniqueness nor they have an option to come to us and exchange. For years the aboriginal population is fighting for their survival in the same homeland in the name of culture, language, education, land, shelter, recognition for equal rights and freedom to speech. But we choose them and culture as in our cover story topics once in a while and pay them a journey on pleasure basis. Sigh…How many of us do get back to them and speak with them, for them? Join them in and say “yes, we are equal“? The measure is doubtlessly countable.

Bangladesh is a well-developing country but our fellow Bangladeshi’s- the indigenous people are below the line to access development. For example: assuring a fixed quota in national university admission hasn’t ensured their development till date. Neither marking them as “Adibashi” and being nice to them does make us fair enough. Their language, clothing, food or maybe festivals are different then us… but they show the same amount
of energy or effort that a Hindu does during Durga Puja or a Muslim does during the Eid...they state their nationality as “Bangladeshi” as we do. It should be their existence we keep in mind not their quantity when we assess their individuality. It should be us not them, accepting them as in one of us.

...jo Barse boonDh boondDh...

tears fall out filled with silence
desires left to be unfold
love is so blind and lovers are the mistakes of God
rest of the world lies with it here .. there .. everywhere.

doing all fine.. stuck and strong ..
patting hard on ma own shoulders ...
wants and needs are just grasping for nothing ..
still i cant quit .. oh what a pity .. !!!

its what i want.. that's also what i want.
but holding both isn't possible ..
at least not in these life ..
god knows when its gonna end .. i pray quite early .. without any one's glare.

to hold onto something that you love..
is to give yourself all up .. even if its re-birth all round ..
its no other way in or out ..
you gotta try hard and hard ..

rip your self-justification off
let your perception go get lost
its not your life anymore ..
it does belong to the person u love .. INDEED!

Foreign People - Attached and involved in helping Bangladesh during The 1971 Liberation War

Sam Manekshaw
Sam Manekshaw, the first Field Marshal of Indian defense forces and hero of the conclusive 1971 war with Pakistan,
which culminated in the creation of ‘Bangladesh’, died just past midnight on Friday at the age of 94.
Born to Parsee parents on 3rd April 1914 at Amritsar, he was one of the 40 cadets of the first batch to join the Indian
Military Academy in Dehradun in 1932. His distinguished military carrier spanned four decades, from World War II,
to the 1948 war in Kashmir and the 1965 war with Pakistan, 1962 war with China, and finally the 1971 war with Pakistan.
He was made General Officer Commanding (Army chief) of the Indian Army on 7th June 1969, and was conferred the
‘Field Marshal’ designation on 3rd January’1973, just before his retirement on 15th January’1973.
apart from winning many military laurels, he was awarded ‘Padma Bhusan’ in 1968 for tackling the Naga insurgency
as GOC-in-C of Eastern Command and Padma Bibhushan in 1972 for his success in 1971 war.
Manekshaw became a folk hero after 1971 war, which resulted in the surrender of five divisions (90,000 soldiers)
of the Pakistani Army at Dhaka on 16th December’1971. Field operations in the eastern sector were commanded by
GOC-in-C of Eastern Command, Lt.General Jagjit Singh Arora, who in a swift maneuver outwitted the Pakistani Army
by destroying its two F-16 Sabre Jet squadrons stationed in Dhaka, in a matter of three days.
The war was over in just two weeks. Lt. General A.A.K. Niazi, commanding officer of Pakistani forces,
signed the surrender papers in a brief ceremony.


William AS Ouderland
was a Dutch Australian commando officer.
He actively took part in the World War II and the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Later, he was awarded with the fourth highest gallantry award, Bir Pratik by the government of Bangladesh.
He is the only foreigner to receive this honorary award.
Ouderland came to Dhaka in 1970 as the Production Manager of the Bata Shoe Company.
During the earlier half of 1971, Ouderland was appointed as the Executive Director of the company in Tongi, Dhaka.
On 25 March 1971, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal
suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight.
He was moved by the killings of the Pakistan Army on 25 March and took photos which he sent to the international media.
A war between the West Pakistan Army and guerrilla force, the Mukti Bahini, started immediately.Guerrilla operations,
which slacked during the training phase, picked up after August. Economic and Military targets in Dhaka were attacked.
Ouderland organized the guerrilla warfare in Dhaka. He built a friendly relationship with 22nd Baluch Regiment captain
Sultan Newaz and penetrated into Dhaka cantonment. Subsequently he created close relation with Governor General Tikka Khan
and Adviser Civil Affairs Major General Rao Forman Ali. He became a "Distinguished Friend" of A. A. K. Niazi at the
headquarters of Eastern Command and managed a security pass to contact with them frequently. Besides Ouderland continued
gathering information for the Mukti Bahini and sent it to Major ATM Haider of Sector-2 and Ziaur Rahman.
Inside his office of the Bata Company in Tongi, Ouderland organized and trained the guerrilla fighters of Mukti Bahini.
He planned and directed a number of guerrilla operations in Dhaka and nearby areas. He provided the fighters with food
and medicine and often gave them shelter.

Balu Sankaran
Balu Sankaran is a Professor, scientist and recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Vibushan awards.
He helped establish an artificial limbs manufacturing corporation and a Rehabilatation Institute.
He received Padma Shri award in 1972 for the trauma care and rehabilitation provided to soldiers injured
in 1971 Bangladesh war, while stationed at Safdarjung Hospital. He also received Padma Vibushan award for medicine in
year 2007.

Simon Dring
To conceal what they were doing, the Pakistan Army corralled the corps of foreign journalists at the International Hotel
in Dhaka, seized their notes, and expelled them the next day. One reporter who escaped the censor, was Simon dring who
net estimated that three battalions of troops--one armored, one artillery, and one infantry--had attacked the virtually defenseless city. Various informants, including missionaries and foreign journalists who clandestinely returned to East Pakistan during the war, estimated that by March 28 the loss of life reached 15,000. By the end of summer as many as 300,000 people were thought
to have lost their lives. Anthony Mascarenhas in Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood estimates that during the entire nine-month
liberation struggle more than 1 million Bengalis may have died at the hands of the Pakistan Army.

Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar requested that they should try to raise $25,000 (25 Thousand) for the UNICEF fund to help the Bengali
refuges who took shelter in India. After hearing the details about the loss of life and the liberation war of the
common people then George Harrison stated that they must try to do something bigger than that.
Thus the first concert for world humanity took place on 1 August 1971 at Madison Square Garden.
Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, and Bob Dylan- these great superstars took part in this concert.
I have gone through the history of rock music and I must say that we cant find any concert before ‘Concert for Bangladesh’
that included so many great talents in one stage.
Ravi Shankar presented the brilliant raga called "Bangla Dhun" with his excellent skill of sitar and other
Indian instruments. Bob Dylan came back to sing after a long self imposed isolation from music.
George Harrison sang some of his hit songs, but it was the last song, titled ‘Bangladesh’, that
created a somber atmosphere as it was an appeal to help mission of helpless people in dire distress.
At that time, India was a close ally of Soviet Union while Pakistan was the closest friend of USA in South Asia.
Thus the US Government remained silent about the genocide and tried to treat it as a civil war not as a liberation war.
Naturally the other US allies remained passive about this matter too. However, the Bangladesh cause received wide support
from the western media, the intellectuals, political leaders and the common people. And George Harrison played a pivotal
role in creating public awareness for this cause through ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’.
Pandit Ravi Shankar had close relationship to Bangladesh and he informed George Harrison about the Liberation War of
Bangladesh and suggested that they try to do something for the Bangladeshi people. Thus the first concert for world
humanity happened.

GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LEADERS
Neighboring India opened its borders to allow huge influx of refugees who had to flee to escape systemic genocide
and destruction. In spite of colossal economic burden, government of India organized shelters for estimated 10 million
refuges in make shift refugee camps, gave food and medical aids. Some national and international Aid Agencies assisted.
Government also helped in training of freedom fighters and gave logistic support. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured
major world capitals in support of Bangladesh cause and for resolution of the human crisis. After Pakistan army attacked its western part, government of India on 4th December 1971 gave recognition to government of Bangladesh and Indian Army in
allied command with Mukti Bahini started final assault and on 16th December Pakistan Army surrendered to this allied command.
According Indian government sources 1421 Indian Army personnel were killed in operation.
Indian Political parties of all shades and opinion and people in general have been highly supportive of Bangladesh
liberation war. Intellectuals and professionals campaigned for the cause. Cultural personalities throughout India
organized programmes and even demonstrated in the streets.

Soviet Union and Socialist Countries: In polarized world in seventies, Soviet Union and other Socialist countries played
critical role in favour of Bangladesh independence struggle. In early days of liberation war on 3rd April,
President Podgorny in a letter to President Yahya Khan expressed concern for tragic events in East Pakistan and
arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Following Indira Gandhi's visit to Soviet Union, Indo-Soviet treaty was signed on
7th August declaring readiness to protect each other's sovereignty. In December 1971 when allied command was marching
towards capital Dhaka, Soviet Union repeatedly vetoed move by United States in UN Security Council, to ensure final
victory on 16th December.

United States: Nixon administration never condemned mass killing and destruction, rather supported evil designs of Pakistani
military rulers. Declassified White House and State Department papers strongly suggest that US administration's overtures
toward Pakistani Military regime was primarily for global strategic interest to reward Pakistan for its support in developing
new US-China axis. In final days of liberation war, US seventh fleet was moved towards shores of Bay of Bengal and in United
Nation's Security Council US representatives moved repeatedIy.But in public front, there was a completely different scenario in United States.
Some Senators and congressmen took strong position in favour of Bangladesh cause.
Senator Edward Kennedy flew to visit refugee camps and condemned Pakistan atrocities in his discussion with
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, US dockworkers at Philadelphia put up human barrier against shipment of arms to Pakistan.
In a most exceptional move, 20 American officials of Dhaka consul general's office, US AID and USIS, endorsed by
Consul General Archer Blood, sent a note of dissent to State Department against policies of US administration.

China: Government of People's Republic of China supported Pakistan government. They also supported Pakistan and US
position in international forums. It is noteworthy that China was supplier of major hardwares of Pakistan army.
New US-China axis in global arena was being formulated during the period.

Non resident Bangladeshi: Bengalees from East Pakistan living in, particularly western countries organized powerful
campaign to create awareness and inform governments and public leaders of atrocities perpetrated by Pakistan military
and necessity of supporting independence of Bangladesh. They also raised fund for Bangladesh. They were largely successful
in this mission.

United Kingdom: On receipt of information of genocidal attack on 25th March, non-resident Bengalees organized protest
rallies in major cities of UK. A huge rally was held on 4th April at Hyde Park in London and memorandum was submitted to Prime Minister Edward Heath's office at 10, Dawning Street. On 24th April at a meeting held at Coventry, Steering Committee
of Bangladesh Action Committee for People's Republic of Bangladesh was formed with Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury as Chairman.
They also formed a Trust Fund with Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, John Stone House MP and Donald Chesworth as Trustee.
Fund was sent to help refugees and support freedom fighters.

United States: On 21st March 1971, East Pakistan League of America was renamed as Bangladesh League of America.
A huge rally was held on 29th March at pavement of Capital Hill in Washington DC. Memorandum was submitted to
President Nixon and UN Secretary General U Thant. They sent letters to all leading Senators and Congressmen presenting
Pakistan atrocities and for supporting independence of Bangladesh. Funds were collected and sent to support liberation war. They also regularly published Newsletters on updated informations of liberation war of 22 Bengalee diplomats working in Pakistan Embassy defected expressing allegiance to Bangladesh government with.

ROLE OF MEDIA
Print and Electronic media world over have been highly supportive of Bangladesh liberation war.
Western media, in particular, continued to cover horrifying stories of Pakistan atrocities, plight of refugees and
armed resistance by Mukti Bahini.
In March '71 many journalists of leading newspapers rushed to Dhaka to cover Yahya-Bhutto-Mujib negotiation.
They were forcibly moved out of Dhaka after start of genocide in 25th March. But brave journalist like Simon Dring hid
himself in Hotel Intercontinental (Now Hotel Sheraton) laundry and was first to inform world of tragic events in Daily
Telegraph, UK.
BBC, Voice of America, German TV, and All India Radio covered events almost daily. International media played all-important
role in influencing respective government and public leaders to take stand against Pakistan genocide in favor of Bangladesh
independence.

Bangladesh government started running "Swadhin Bangla Beter Kendra" (Independent Bangladesh Radio Station) and its
features and songs enthused people of in refugee camps, freedom fighters and those stranded in occupied country. Number
of news bulletins were published in different regions of Bangladesh.

ROLE OF CULTURAL ACTIVITE
Starting from language movement of 1952, cultural movement has been integral part of national struggle.
In 1971 liberation war, cultural activists from Bangladesh organized number of programmes in occupied territory,
refugee camps and Indian cities.
Cultural personalities world over played significant supportive role in campaigning for Bangladesh cause.
Pandit Rabisankar, Akbar Ali Khan and popular Beatle artists George Harrison organized fund raising "Concert for Bangladesh"
at Madison Square on 1st August in New York that attracted huge crowd.
In November, "Concert in Sympathy" was held at seven cities in United Kingdom participated by artists from Bangladesh,
India and Great Britain. Leading Indian artists like Lata Mangeskar, Waheeda Rahman and Sharmila Thakur organized concert "Strings and Stars - A cry for help" for raising fund for Bangladesh independence. In West Bengal, intellectuals and
musicians e g. Tarasankar Bendopodhya, Dipen Mukhopodhya, Suchitra Mitra consistently fought for liberation war through
writings and musical soirees. Great French philosopher Andre Malraux, inspite of his old age declared his readiness
to join Bangladesh liberation war. American poet Allen Ginsberg visited refugee camps and wrote his famous poem
"September on Jessore Road".

ROLE OF WOMEN
Women, particularly students, were in the forefront of national struggle from early fifties.
They played heroic role in every struggle for democracy and national rights in Pakistan days lead by personalities
ike poet Sufia Kamal.
Women were the worst victims of atrocities.
During liberation war of 1971, women were not only just rape victims of Pakistan army.
Brave women throughout the country defied torture and death to give shelter to freedom fighters;
treated wounded freedom fighters as doctor and nurses and took arms training in special "Gobra camp"
and fought in war front. Some of these women received gallantry awards for their heroism.



Articles on 1971 War
>> Against Our Will : Men, Women and Rape
>> By: Susan Brownmiller

Indira Gandhi's Indian Army had successfully routed the West Pakistanis and had abruptly concluded the war in Bangladesh when
small stories hinting at mass rape of Bengali women began to appearin American newspapers. The first account I read, from the Los Angeles Times syndicated service, appeared in the New York Post afew days before Christmas, 1971. It reported that the Bangladesh Government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in recognition of the sufferings of Bengali women at the hands of Pakistani soldiers, had proclaimed all raped women "heroines" of the war of independence. Further on in the story came this ominous sentence: "In the traditional Bengali village society, where women lead cloistered lives, rape
victims often are ostracised."
Two days after Christmas a more explicit story, by war correspondent Joseph Fried, appeared in the New York Daily News, datelines Jessore. Fried described the reappearance of young Bengali women on the city streets after an absence of nine months. Some had been packed off to live with relatives in the countryside and others had gone into hiding. "The precautions," he
wrote, "proved wise, if not always effective."


[NBC's Liz Trotta was one of the few
American reporters to investigate the Bangladesh rape story at this
time. She filed a TV report for the weekend news.]

In the middle of January the story gained sudden credence. An Asian relief secretary for the World Council of Churches called a press conference in Geneva to discuss his two-week mission to Bangladesh. The Reverend Kentaro Buma reported that more that 200,000 Bengali women had been raped by Pakistani soldiers during the nine-month conflict, a figure that had been supplied to him by the Bangladesh authorities in Dacca. Thousands of the raped women had become pregnant, he said. And by tradition, to Moslem husband would take back a wife who had been touched by another man, even if she had been subdued by force. "The new authorities of Bangladesh are trying their best to break that tradition," Buma informed the newsmen. "They tell the husbands the women were victims and must be considered national heroines. Some men have taken their spouses back home , but these are very, very few."
A story that most reporters couldn't find in Bangladesh was carriedby AP and UPI under a Geneva dateline. Boiled down to four
paragraphs, it even made The New York Times.
Families with money were able to send their daughters to expert abortionists in Calcutta, but shame and self-loathing and lack of
alternatives led to fearsome, irrational solutions in the rural villages. Dr. Geoffrey Davis of the London-based International
Abortion Research and Training Centre who worked for months in the remote countryside of Bangladesh reported that he had heard of "countless" incidents of suicide and infanticide during his travels. Rat poison and drowning were the available means. Davis also estimated that five thousand women had managed to abort themselves by
various indigenous methods, with attendant medical complications. A Catholic convent in Calcutta, Mother Theresa, opened its doors in Dacca to women who were willing to offer their babies for overseas, but despite the publicity accorded to Mother Theresa, few rape victims actually came to their shelter. Those who learned of the option chose to have an abortion. Planned Parenthood, in co-operation with the newly created Bangladesh Central Organisation for Women's Rehabilitation, set up clinics in Dacca and seventeen outlying areas to cope with the unwanted pregnancies. In its first
month of operation the Dacca clinic alone reported doing more than one hundred terminations.

But the mass rape of Bangladesh had not been unique. The number of rapes per capita during the nine-month occupation of Bangladesh hadbeen no greater than the incidence of rape during the occupation in
the city of Nanking in 1937. No greater than the per capita incidence of rape in Belgium and France as the German Army marched unchecked during the first three months of World War I, No greater than the violation of women in every village in Soviet Russia in World War II. A "campaign of terror" and a charge of "conscious Army policy" had been offered up in explanation by seekers of rational answers in those wars as well, and later forgotten. The story of Bangladesh was unique in one respect. For the first time in history the rape of women in war, and the complex aftermath of mass assault, received serious international attention. The desperate need of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's government for international sympathy and financial aid was part of the reason; a new feminist consciousness that encompassed rape as a political issue and a growing, practical acceptance of abortion as a solution to unwanted pregnancy were contributing factors of critical importance. And so an obscure war in an obscure corner of the globe, to Western eyes, provided the setting for an examination of the "unspeakable" crime. For once, the particular terror of unarmed women facing armed men had a full hearing.

Bengal was a state of 75 millions people, officially East Pakistan, when the Bangladesh Government declared its independence in March of 1971 with the support of India. Troops from West Pakistan were flown to the East to put down the rebellion. During the nine-month terror, terminated by the two week armed intervention of India, a possible three million people lost their lives, ten millions fled across the border to India and 200,000, 300,000 or possible 400,000 women (three sets of statistics have been variously quoted) were raped. Eighty percent of the raped women were Moslems, reflecting the
population of Bangladesh, but Hindu and Christian women were not exempt. Hit-and-run rape of large numbers of Bengali women was brutally simple in terms of logistics as the Pakistani regulars swept through and occupied the tiny, populous land, an area little larger than the State of New York. The Mukti Bahini "freedom fighters" were hardly an effective counter force. According to victims, Moslem Biharis who collaborated with the Pakistani Army - the hireling razakars - were the most enthusiastic rapists. In the general breakdown of law and order, Mukti Bahini themselves committed rape, a situation reminiscent of World War II when Greek and Italian peasant women became victims of whatever soldiers happened to pass through their
village.


- compilation of different information collected through internet....

Soi

Misss U soooOO

I keep on thinKing hard...
Its been late...quIte late...
That I paSSed a day without yOu...
Like tOday.

I miSSed yOu bad...
I miSSed yOu high bY nOw...
That am FeeLing sO emPty...
Am FeeLing sO lOnely...

I lOOk bacK to aLL thOse dayS...
We have had spent sO faR...
Darling...ItS been Quite a jOurney...
And I miSS thOse aLL soOOOo...

I wiSh to hOld yOu tiGht...
I wiSh to wisPer in yOur eaRs...
I miSS yOu ...
I miSS yOu sooo...

Push me...n thn jst touch me..till i get ma proper distruction..:P :P

its a beauiful day..and i feel so lovely-lovely today!

Seems like i am gonna get wet in rain today...ahaan!

I have waiting so long this summer to get myself all wet and frisky in rain, but its all stuck in the sky for last few days now.Hmph...where are the rain-drops fishing their head out...i wonder.

Its a very complicated life ... specialy when you are muddled up in too many burdens from people those who matters the most in your life...for me life has always been hard...and me to life...always been so happy-go-easy face.I feel so clumpsy and tired these days..sometimes i just wanna stop moving, refrain my brain from the over-dozes of thinking and sit at a place whining on nothing.

Why does it always have to be a reason to exist?to love?to live?

Stupid me in my supid world...

Still somedays are such meaningless beautiful as of today...and its enough to be on track atleast till tomorrow.

Missing myself...:(

Recently (more like yesterday or something) saw someone posted a list of 100 things that she loves. I decided to take the challenge and write a little (can a list of 100 be considered "little"?) list of my own. Here we go.

1. Maslf, duh.
2. My mom.
3. My dad.
4. Suvra
5.Tandra
6. Men
7. Asha
8. Samah onnnkkkk
9.  REAL FRIENDS!
10. Painting.
11. Reading.
12. The smell of books.
13. Tin goyenda series.
14. Online browsing (LoL).
15. Tom n Jerry.
16. Writing.
17. Colored Papers.
18. My computer (both desktop-laptop).
19. Day dreaming.
20. My skinny pair of jeans.
21. Noodlesss (yaammmyy pasta-spaghetti-Meggi) .
22. Nail polish( hahaha).
23. Message boards.
24. Online friends.
25. Facebook.
26.My collection of bangelzzz.
27. My cellphone (Moto-385+Samsung Corby TxT+Nokia 5300).
28. Sleeping.
29. shahnoor sir classes.
30. Blankets.
31. Taking Pictures.
32. Reading blogs.
33. Blogging.
34. Photoshop-Photocscap.
35. Kids (specially the new-borns).
36. Bunking classes :P.
37. Mosques.
38. Frames and Doors.
39. Polka dots.
40. BlaCk-Red-Yellow-Blue.
41. Music.
42. Movies at my room.
43. Unplanned journeys.
44. Rain.
45. Studying (things I WANT to learn)
46. Imagining my future house.
47. Black Cars.
48. Julia Roberts.
49. John abraham's-bipasha basu's sexyness.
50. My left EyE.

This is really hard.

51. My chunri dupattas.
52. My pillow.
53. My bed.
54. My huge earing-come-nosepins.
55. My cut-marks ( :D) .
56. Craft stores.
57. Balur chor.
58. The smell of Bely.
59. My lighters and diaries.
60. Smoking.
61. Listening to peOplE.
62. Knowing pEoplE.
63. Water.
64. SunShine-Sunset.
65. October to December.
66. Chand-raats.
67. Prayers.
68. my hairs.
69. Wii.
70. NFS.
71. Twinkles of laughter in the Eye.
72. Hugs.
73. Kisses.
74. Knifes.
75. Bubble baths.
76. Cheap stuff.
77. Food in general.
78. Bubble gum.
79. rickshaw.
80. Comfy clothes.

Like... Really really reeeally hard.

81. Hope.
82. Vacations.
83. Potato vorta (muhaha)
84. Bottled Water.
85. Cheese.
86. Goldleaf.
87. Friends.
88. Lingeries.
89. Tears.
90. Gift cards.
91. Red Roses.
92. Vodka.
93. Flip-Flops.
94. Hair cuts.
95. Powdery blue.
96. Lockets.
97. The number 3+5+211.


98. Thai Soup.
99. Flirting (positive and limited ones...LoL).
100. Everyone and everything.

Wheeeeeewww. Thanks for pretending to read.

...live...laugh...love...

whether a human exists or not human interests and feelings will always be in trend to revolve around the world..living is only existence in terms of how people enjoys it, dives through each drive of it...when there is no feeling of goodness or badness its no living at all. now..even if you cry...at one moment of life, if you are true to feelings...right or wrong doesn't matter...something or someone will definably make you smile...laugh..cheer up...and you are life would become much easier. And when life is easy, you will start loving it.

So...live your life...Laugh out your tears...and love yourself...and youll know how to celebrate the very identity of being a human. chao!!!

TFSA '10 Dhaka

11th evening at DU...Public Library portion..Shawkat Osman Auditorium..

Watchd two flims in a row .. Afgan Girls Can Kick..and The Battle For Pakistan...

The concepts were tremendously built with strong focuses.

though i liked the Pakistan movie more...straight to the point...about the madrassah culture and the blaming of suicidal bombings.

As it were said by a interviewee that..if a cars tire is punctured...it dosnt have to be like fire the entire car..you gotta fix the puncture. if there is flaws in the system , dont just bullshit and abundan it...fix the flaws. atleast try for it.

we ourselves create in the system, we change it as per requirement, we choose our governments and we blame it all. we say politics is a bad thing, its for corrupted people. we the educated spheres fly away for our greatest degrees and huge wealth earning. and leave our country to root and become a rug full of dust. we blame the politicians to be illiterate and we the literate liberty... piss ourselves with better establishment with luxury needs.

Wheeww... what a fish! really... we avoid incidents and accidents as if we arent part of this social structure still at the end of the day we act as if we are the actual creators.

Haay Bangali... Bangladesh is rotten as in shit for years. And we dont even care to took that blame on our head. Bangla dhuukche to dhukuk na...amader ki!

zzzZZZzzz

Its been so many days..I haven't slept a peaceful sleep. I wonder what keeps on running in my head even when i sleep. gosh..its hell of a stress at times. I keep on dreaming such meaningless stuffs and keep drowning in endless fantasies. its hard to even remember those when i am awake. but i d remember that those are something recklessly profound.

Now a days i am reading a book by salman rushdi..the midnights children. I hardly found any book in foreign language which captivated my mind with such attention. I love bengli books...both by bengli and Indian-bengli writers. also some famous authors creations sch as the animal farm, oliver twist, the galivars travel, love story by eric sehgal are surely my fevorites. i hardly remember the english books i go through. but rushdi's masterpiece has given me a very quite wonderful journey moist experience to seek upto.

I dont like feminine way of liking things. i have a minimal dress sense and i have hardly seen using make-ups. Not absolutely because i have a happy-go-pretty face...but i lack in the attraction towords making myself look good.

I am a tough person in forgetting incidents but easy as in forgiving.

I forgive people no metter what they do, but i cant forget them for their misdoings.

Do i even sometimes not misdo loads of things?

Nop, I dont. I am very n very honest to my understandings and i believe in my own exploration of the universe completely.

I am much not of a well organized person though i manage to be within my own possessions.

And as you can see ... am a very self-indulged person indeed. Otherwise I would have talked about myself less. :=)