Ted Kennedy Official Photo - from public domain via Wikipedia

Senator Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009), the second most senior member of the US Senate, died of cancer last Tuesday. The legendary politician is being mourned in USA and across the world for his legacy of fighting for the rights of the people in trouble, be it the Bangladeshi refugees during the liberation war, Ethiopian famine victims or being a catalyst to the peace process in Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina termed Kennedy a real friend of Bangladesh and recalled his role in mobilizing the world opinion for Bangladesh during the liberation war. Habib Siddiqui, a Bangladeshi blogger living in the USA says:

In deep sadness, I recall the demise of this great man whose contribution to the cause of Bangladesh should never be forgotten by our posterity.

So what did Senator Kennedy do for Bangladesh? Let the bloggers speak.

Smith Barney wrote in Open Salon, a hybrid blogging platform and social network site:

After the invasion of East Pakistan (also called East Bengal, now called Bangladesh) by West Pakistani forces in the spring of 1971, some 9,000,000 refugees streamed across the border into India. The world and the United States (Nixon/Kissinger mired in Vietnam, famously “tilting” toward West Pakistan) took little note. All except the 39 year old senior senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy.

In the brutal heat and monsoon muck of August, Senator Kennedy traveled to refugee camps throughout West Bengal (the neighboring Indian state) and reported back to the Senate in an extraordinarily passionate document about the plight of the refugees in India and what he called the “reign of terror which grips East Bengal.”

He concluded: “America's heavy support of Islamabad (West Pakistan) is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal.”

Kennedy not only bore witness, he jolted the world into taking notice and aiding the refugees if not the independence fighters in East Bengal.

Unheard Voices, a Bangladeshi human rights blog republishes Senator Edward Kennedy's report to the US Senate which articulates the plights of the refugees.

Mehrab Shahriar posts some photos of the refugees including Kennedy's visit to the refugee center in 1971.

H. A. Mahmud informs [bn]:

বাংলাদেশ স্বাধীন হওয়ার পর ১৯৭২ সালে এডওয়ার্ড সদ্য স্বাধীন রাষ্ট্র বাংলাদেশে আসেন। এখানে তিনি একটি শোভাযাত্রায় অংশ নেন এবং ঢাকা বিশ্বদ্যিালয়ে ভাষণ দেন। এডওয়ার্ড কেনেডি’র স্মৃতিবিজড়িত ঐতিহাসিক বটগাছটি এখনও কালের সাক্ষী হয়ে দাঁড়িয়ে আছে ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় এলাকায়।

Shada Kalo remembers Kennedy with gratitude:

Ted, you were a friend of Bangladesh. This did not get you any votes, and no one could have blamed you if you did not walk in the mud of the refugee camps in the sweltering heat of August. But you did it because it was the right thing to do. And you helped us because that was also the right thing to do.

Asadul Haque at Haque's Talking describes how this has been a hot debate in Bangladesh recently:

The Tipaimukh dam issue currently continues to dominate the domain of political, media, intellectual and civil society’s discourse in Bangladesh with a unilateral demand for revocation of India’s decision for the project. Massive public protest in different forms i.e. rallies, protest meetings, strikes and so on against the dam continue to gain momentum in Bangladesh.

Zahid at Sachalayatan writes:

বাংলাদেশ আজ একটি ভয়ঙ্কর সমস্যার মুখে পতিত, আমরা এখনো বিষয়টি পরিষ্কার বুঝতে পারছিনা তাই আসল চিন্তা না করে রাজনীতির কাঁদা ছোড়াছুড়ি করে যাচ্ছি। বিষয়টি নিয়ে ব্লগে, সংবাদপত্রে, টিভিতে, জনসভায় আলোচনা হচ্ছে, কুটনৈতিক পর্যায়ে মতানৈক্য চলছে, বিভিন্ন দলের বিশেষজ্ঞদের নাম জানা যাচ্ছে কিন্তু তার পরেও আমরা পনের কোটি মানুষ শান্তিতে ঘুমোচ্ছি। সুনামগঞ্জের হাওড় এলাকার দরিদ্র কৃষকটি, যার সারা বছরের খাবার আর জীবন যাপনের একমাত্র অবলম্বন বোরো ধান, কিংবা দরিদ্র জেলেটি যার খেয়ে পড়ে বেঁচে থাকা নির্ভর করছে বর্ষাকালের হাওড়ের মাছের উপর সেও শান্তিতে ঘুমুচ্ছে কারন সে জানেনা কি ভয়াবহ ভবিষ্যৎ অপেক্ষা করছে তার জন্য। ফাঁরাক্কা ব্যারেজের কারনে আমাদের উত্তাল প্রমত্তা পদ্মা আজ যৌবন হারিয়েছে সেই সাথে ধুকে ধুকে মরছে এর শাখানদীগুলো। ১৯৭৪-৭৫ সালে নির্মিত ফাঁরাক্কা ব্যারেজের ফলে ভারতের একচেটিয়া পানি উত্তোলনকে কেন্দ্র করে একটি চুক্তি করতে কুটনৈতিক আলোচনা গড়িয়েছে ২০ বছর, আর এই সুদীর্ঘ সময়ে আমরা হারিয়েছি আমাদের নদীর নাব্যতা, আমাদের ফসলের জমি হারিয়েছে তার উর্বরতা, লবনাক্ততা এসে গ্রাস করেছে আমাদের অহংকার সুন্দরবনকে, ইবনে বতুতার সবুজ বাংলাদেশের উত্তরাঞ্চল পরিনত হয়েছে শুষ্ক মরুভূমিতে।

The protests have already spread in Internet. More than 80 Facebook groups have been opened, which includes: :: Stop Tipaimukh Dam ::, Protest Against ‘Tipaimukh Dam', Tipaimukh Dam & Fulertal Barrage - Lets Stop India, Stop Tipaimukh Dam, Save Our Bangladesh Tipaimukh Dissemination. Dedicated blog sites have been launched to compile and disseminate Tipaimukh dam related news.

Anondomoye discovers [bn] from the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report:

সবচেয়ে উলেখযোগ্য যে তথ্যটা পেলাম সেটা হলো টিপাইমুখ ড্যাম সাইট থেকে ৯৫ কি.মি. ভাটিতে ফুলেরতালে একটা ব্যারেজ নির্মানের প্রস্তাবনা আছে (যা ভারত সবসময় অস্বীকার করে আসছে)।

Image courtesy Subir Bhowmik

Navid says:

The Tipaimukh Dam project may not be harmful to us rather useful if it only consists of a Dam. The problem will arise if India makes Fulertal Barrage along with the Dam. The Barrage can really render this great country into a desert.

The recent comments of the Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh has caused much uproar in Bangladesh politics, reports An Ordinary Citizen. Indian journalist Subir Bhowmik writes in his blog that hiding of facts are fuelling more controversies. He opines:

If we leave this aside as normal compulsions of domestic politics in Bangladesh, it still falls on India to take a lower-riparian neighbour like Bangladesh into confidence when we plan such huge projects like Tipaimukh.

However, Diganta Sarkar at The New Horizons comments on the EIA and EMP documents that he “hardly finds a ground to accuse (the Indian) Government of hiding anything” as these are available online. He is also satisfied with the mitigation effort and planning to tackle the environmental damages and earthquake threats published in those documents but questions whether all of them will be implemented.

Zahid has already published five posts of his investigative six part series [bn] describing the impact of the dam and barrage refuting the Indian claims that there will be no environmental damage in Bangladesh. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5). He says:

একজন সাধারণ মানুষও যেখানে জানে যে বাঁধের কিছু না কিছু প্রভাব উজান ভাটিতে থাকে সেখানে একটি বিলিয়ন ডলারের প্রকল্পের Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) এ এর ভাটি অঞ্চলকে প্রায় সম্পূর্ণ ভাবে উপেক্ষা করা কতটা যুক্তিযুক্ত ?

Indian blogger Biplob Pal says [bn]:

বিদ্যুত অবশ্যই চাই। ভারত এখন শিল্পোন্নত দেশ-সেখানে ঘন্টায় ৪-১০ ঘন্টা গড়ে লোডশেডিং নিশ্চয় কাম্য না। কিন্ত সেটা হিমালয়ের জল সম্পদকে লুন্ঠন করে কোটি কোটি মানুষের জীবিকাকে ধ্বংশ করে কেও নিশ্চয় চাইবে না ।

টিপাইমুখ কোন বিচ্ছিন্ন ঘটনা নয়। হিমালয়ের বুকে এই রকম আরো ১০০ টী জলবিদ্যুত কেন্দ্র তৈরী করার পরিকল্পনা চলছে। আফটার অল, যত বেশী বাঁধ তত বেশী ঠিকাদারি। পকেট ভরবে রাজনীতিবিদদের। দুদিকে লাভ। অর্থাগম ভোটাগম। মাশুল গুনবে ভারত -বাংলাদেশের সাধারন মানুষ।যাদের অধিকাংশই আদিবাসি। নদীই একমাত্র জীবিকা কেন্দ্র।

Jiten Yumnam at Intercultural Resources reminds that this project can spark movements in India's Manipur state:

India should refrain from constructing Tipaimukh dam to avoid multidimensional conflicts and complications as the project is potentially rife for causing conflicts between states, between state and indigenous peoples and between indigenous peoples all over control and management of resources and definition of developmental priorities. As Manipur is already rife with movements for right to self determination, any forced construction of Tipaimukh dam with its multifaceted impacts will only legitimize their movement to defend their land and resources.

A 10-member all-party delegation of parliamentarians of Bangladesh is visiting India currently to assess the situation. The Bangladesh government has requested India not to start building the dam without Bangladesh's consent. Muhammad Zamir opines in an Oped at The Daily Star:

What is required today is transparency and political will. One hopes that the visit of our Parliamentary delegation will be followed not only by intensive discussion on the basis of shared data between relevant experts from both countries but also meetings between the two political leaderships. An acceptable equation has to be reached between sovereign rights and national interests.

South Asian bloggers are also chiming in with their reactions.

Bhutan:

Earth Bound Insight thinks the world is a poorer place without Michael Jackson (MJ):

If there are 6 billion people on this planet, and every single one had decided to blog on Michael Jackson’s death, it wouldn’t matter that I am yet another one of the billions of bloggers.

But I still want to add my piping, squeaking ineloquent voice too, to give accolades, and pay tribute

To the man who was : the King of Pop.
To the Appollo Icon.
To one of the best entertainers in pop music history,

regardless of the controversies of his personal life, the man still made great music.

Pakistan:

Hamid Abbasi at Chowrangi writes:

Though he was no more enjoying the lime light as he used to get, his story is one full of determination, struggle and misfortunes. From a black in a society dominated by white, he emerged as the true generation leader, and this remained until his death.

Thanks for touching so many around the world, undoubtedly Michael was larger than life.

Pak Tea House remembers the influence of the king.

For many of us, he was the only face of western music in Pakistan the 1980s. We grew up admiring him, trying to moonwalk like him and trying to scream like him.

Danial Burki, a commenter on the above post recalls what the icon meant for them:

His music really kept hope alive in Pakistan during the 80s.

Bangladesh:

Ishtiaq Rouf writes:

বহু গায়ক আসবেন, অনেক “এন্টারটেইনার” জন্ম নেবেন, কিন্তু দ্বিতীয় জ্যাকসন আসবে না। শত বিতর্ক আর হাস্যকর কার্যকলাপ সত্বেও মাইকেল জ্যাকসন চিরকাল “থ্রিলার” হয়েই রইবেন। ..

একটু পাগলাটে আর খামখেয়ালি না হলে বোধহয় প্রতিভাবানদের মানায় না। একটু তাড়াতাড়ি ফুরিয়ে না গেলেও তাই। তাই বলে এতটাই দ্রুত? মাত্র ৫০ বছর বয়সে?

A commenter on the post writes:

| ভুতুম [অতিথি] | শুক্র, ২০০৯-০৬-২৬ ১০:০৬

নেভারল্যান্ডেও তাহলে বয়স বাড়ে, রোগ হয়, মরে যায় কেউ। মনটা খারাপ হয়ে আছে।

Kowshik writes:

তার প্রকৃতিপ্রদত্ত সৌন্দর্য আমার চোখে বেশী চমকাতো, কি স্পর্ধায় তাকিয়ে থাকতো মায়াবী-রাজপুত্রের কালো চোখ! মাইকেল জ্যাকসনের মৃত্যুকে প্রত্যাখ্যান করলাম। প্রকৃতির এই স্বেচ্ছাচার মানি না।

Sri Lanka:

Diaspora blogger London, Lanka and Drums says:

What became clear over the years to me, as well as several million other people, was that he was a troubled soul, a person looking for something. He had the money, he had the talent, the fame and all the trappings. He just never appeared to have the contentment, the inner peace that so many people who live a “normal” nine to five life have.

His legacy will last and his music will stay. As a musician I can have total respect for the way his contributions to the world of music actually shaped and changed things. Musically he's one of the greats.

But it's Michael Jackson the young kid in the early Jackson Five songs that I feel sad for. It's Michael Jackson the father of three that I mourn for. I hope he finds his peace.

India:

Uber Desi recalls that Michael Jackson toured India in 1996 and did a show in Mumbai.

Jackson is the one Western artiste who is known to even the common man in India.

Kamla Bhatt pays tribute to MJ:

Michael Jackson thank you so much for your music and the countless happy hours of music and memories that you gave so many people.

She noticed that Jackson exerted a huge influence on Bollywood and the Indian film industry. Ennis at Sepia Mutiny posts some videos portraying how MJ influenced the Indian film industry.

Bollywood actor Anupam Kher writes in a blog post:

In my book, Michael Jackson is to entertainment what Gandhi is to peace and humanity.

Aparna Ray at Newsmericks wrote a limerick as a tribute to him.

As a man who lived life off the wall,
Michael Jackson, King of Pop, had it all.
Unmatched voice and that dance,
Held the world in a trance,
But then after the rise, came the fall.

Aditi Nadkarni at Desicritics remembers:

He was my very first introduction to pop music, our generation's pop music. If it weren't for him, our times would not have had any star to show for itself, no Elvis, no Beatle mania. We from the 90s would have passed by without a craze.

I remember hearing the scream, the sounds of shattering glass weaved into his music, the irreverant howl, the vulnerable quiver of his voice and the startling hiccup that punctuated his songs so in contrast to the steady, unbroken, melancholy notes of Indian music.

Slime, a commentator on that post tells that Michael Jackson represents the impossible and wishes:

I salute God for making such people like MJ who conquered. MJ, u will be born again in future years as young people will try to achieve the impossible.

Map courtesy http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/Abid_Jaljala/28950257

While Hydroelectric projects are typically considered greener than other power generation options in short term, it has significant long-term impact to the environment like changes in the ecosystem, destroying nearby settlements and changing habitat conditions of people, fish and wildlife. Especially in the densely populated countries like India and Bangladesh, where rivers are lifelines, projects like Tipaimukh will create adverse effect to a huge number of population and their habitats.

No wonder right from the start this project faced protests from potentially affected people in India, and from the downstream neighbor Bangladesh. The people of Manipur have been fighting legally to stop the project but have so far been unsuccessful. The Indian government is going ahead with the plan. The Sinlung Indigenous People Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) of India said that “the process for choosing it (the project premises) ignored both the indigenous people and the recommendations of the WCD (World Commission on Dams)”.

From Bangladesh journalist and blogger Dhibor says:

এই বাঁধ তৈরির কি অজুহাত হিসেবে বলা হচ্ছে, আসামের বন্যা নিয়ন্ত্রন এবং জল বিদ্যুত উৎপাদন করে, উঃ পুর্ব ভারতের মানুষদের প্রভুত কল্যাণে এই বাধ নির্মিত হবে। পাঠকদের জ্ঞাতার্থে জানাচ্ছি যে, আন্তর্জাতিক পানি আইন অনুসারে, ভাটির দেশের পুর্ণ সম্মতি ছাড়া এবং পরিবেশের ক্ষতি করে কোন দেশই একতরফাভাবে নদী শাসন করতে পারবে না। তবে পরিতাপের বিষয় হলো, আন্তর্জাতিক আইন মানতে কোন দেশ বাধ্য নয়। এখানে জোর যার মুল্লুক তার হিসেবেই এই আইন প্রযোজ্য। ভারতের তুলনায় আমাদের অর্থনৈতিক-সামরিক বা খুটির জোর অল্প বলে, আমাদের মার খেয়ে যেতেই হচ্ছে।

উঃ পুর্ব ভারতের অধিবাসিদের নাকের সামনে টিপাইমুখি বাধের মুলো ঝুলিয়ে রাখা হলেও, তারা পঃ বঙ্গের অধিবাসিদের মত ভোলেননি। তাই এই বাধের বিরুদ্ধে সেখানে তীব্র প্রতিবাদ হচ্ছে। মনিপুরের ২০টি প্রভাবশালি সামাজিক রাজনৈতিক সংগঠন, “একশন কমিটি এগেইনস্ট টিপাইমুখ ড্যাম” এর ব্যানারে রাজপথে নেমেছেন। কারণ এতে উঃপুর্ব ভারতের লাভের চেয়ে লোকসানটাই বেশি হবে। আর প্রভুত ক্ষতি হবে পরিবেশের।

From India Namdingpou Kamei at E-Pao lists the losses and destruction this dam will bring to the local people.

# A total area of land 286.20 sq. km will be submerged forever.
# Barak waterfalls and Zeilad Lake, which are connected with the history of the Zeliangrong people, will be forever underwater and all folklores and legends will have no monuments' proof and it will become a make up story for the next generation.
# More than, 40,000 people will be rendered landless.
# Eight villages situated at the Barak Valley will be completely underwater.
# More than 90 villages mostly of Tamenglong district will be adversely affected.
# About 27,242 hectares of cultivable land will be lost. [..]

The Indian government has offered the Manipur state 10% free electricity (i.e. 40 MW) from the project in exchange of above.

The Hmar indigenous population of North East India fears that:

if the government plows ahead with its proposed dam “thousands of outsiders” will come to settle in the area and as a result the Hmars will be exposed to changes like never before to new culture, economy and politics.

Dr. Soibam Ibotombi of Dept. of Earth Sciences, Manipur University says that the dam will be a geo-tectonic blunder of international dimensions:

The site selected for Tipaimukh project is one of the most active in the entire world, recording at least two major earthquakes of 8+ in the Reichter Scale during the past 50 years. The proposed Tipaimukh HEP is envisaged for construction in one of the most geologically unstable area as the proposed Tipaimukh dam axis falls on a ‘fault line’ potentially active and possible epicenter for major earthquakes.

At BanglaPraxis the impact of Tipaimukh dam in Bangladesh has been discussed.

Paribartan Bangla writes [bn] that several campaigns are ongoing in Sylhet, Bangladesh protesting the Tipaimukh dam. The blogger describes:

এই বাঁধ নির্মিত হলে সিলেট, সুনামগঞ্জ, মৌলভীবাজার, হবিগঞ্জ, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, কিশোরগঞ্জ, নেত্রকোনা, নরসিংদী ও নারায়ণগঞ্জ জেলাসহ দেশের সমগ্র উত্তর-পূর্বাঞ্চলে মারাত্মক পরিবেশ ও আর্থিক বিপর্যয় নেমে আসবে। কৃষি, মৎস্য, জীববৈচিত্র্য হুমকির মুখে পড়বে। বর্ষাকালে প্রবল বন্যা আর শীতকালে পানির জন্য হাহাকার দেখা দিবে।

No to Tipaimukh Dam

Blogger Agami calls other bloggers [bn] to engage in online and offline campaigns to stop the project. A Facebook group has already been created by the bloggers. An online petition has been launched by the “Action Committee against Tipaimukh Project”.

Anandomoye writes [bn]:

উন্নত দেশগুলো যখন স্বল্প ও দীর্ঘমেয়াদি কুফলের কথা বিবেচনা করে বাঁধের মতো অবকাঠামো নির্মাণের মাধ্যমে প্রকৃতিকে নিয়ন্ত্রণের দুর্বুদ্ধি থেকে পিছিয়ে আসছে, সেখানে ভারতের এমন একটি বাঁধ নির্মাণের প্রস্তুতি আরো গভীর পর্যালোচনার দাবি রাখে।

Last Friday (April 24, 2009) was the hottest day of this summer (with 38.5 Celsius) for Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The Eastern parts of India is choking as mercury rises above 45 degree Celsius. Several deaths have been reported. Zoo officials in Patna took special measures to protect the animals from heat. There have been reports of forest fire in Nepal, and droughts in the typical rain prone areas.

The netizens are reacting strongly to this situation. Sukanya M writes in the post “United We Sweat” about the heat and the constant power cuts:

Phew. It's been unbearable.

Temperatures ranging around 40, 41, 41.8, and if we are lucky (like today), 39 degrees. Plus Humidity - according to Yahoo it is 84% today (felt like 100%). And of course power cuts everywhere and in a bizarre turn of affairs, Kolkata - Dumdum to Behala had 6-10 hours of power cut on Sunday..[..]

Here are some Twitter messages catching up the mood of common people:

calamur: Melting in the heat . #mumbai is seriously hot .

vitrag: afternoon heat, and boarding the Mumbai trains… damn it fells like stepping in the oven.

Amit Varma at The India Uncut jeers:

It’s so hot in Bombay… … that when I heat food in my microwave, it comes out colder.

In Bangladesh people are suffering badly because of heat wave and frequent rolling blackouts. Most people do not have air-condition at home; they use electric fans, which are useless during power cuts. Those who can afford to use power inverters do not get enough electricity to recharge the units. Worse, there is not enough electricity to run the water pumps. The water crisis has grown acute and people are protesting against the water shortage.

From Twitter:

dkhall44: Load shedding now at ridiculous levels in Dhaka. Electricity supply is cut for one hour every other hour. And its *38* degrees.

shahreaz: Working from the evening sounds more realistic in Dhaka. 6 hours of load shedding during the working hours do not make sense.

The power authorities have put up schedules of power outages online. Bernie Allen at Life & work in Dhaka city writes about the cause of the power outages in Dhaka:

Typical demand is 2000MW and one day this week we were allocated 1200W, so the shortfall had to be managed.

In Nepal, the power crisis has become a bit better. From an average of 14-16 hour load shedding a day the duration has come down. From Twitter:

zickme: Country facing an Electricity crisis and to over come this Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has imposed a 12 hrs load shedding each day.

Geshan's blog posts the load shedding schedule of Kathmandu showing the plights of the people.

The residents of Karachi city in Pakistan are facing unannounced power outages of 8 to 10 hour everyday. Pakistan Daily Photo posts pictures of how people are tackling the unbearable heat which is increasing day by day.

South Asia has seen much worse heatwaves than this. But the power crisis has really crippled peoples ability to cope with it. Until the rains bring some respite people will continue to suffer.

From Dhaka, battered by the heat, Blogger Kowshik is sarcastic [bn]:

সরকারের এখন বিদ্যুৎ এর বদলে বৃষ্টি উৎপাদনের চেষ্টা করা উচিত

Even if it sounds imprudent, in this situation the people of South Asia cannot ignore this idea.

Bubbles

The global effect of the bursting of the bubble economies in the developed world was sudden and devastating. For example, Jamaica’s dollar-earning bauxite industry has shed hundreds of jobs already because of the downturn in US car production.

In Bangladesh, the housing bubble is tied to the reliance of the country to the remittances sent by overseas workers. Now that migrant workers are returning home because of mass layoffs in Europe and US, the property boom in Bangladesh has come to an end:

The diaspora Bangladeshis have sent remittance of almost 6.5 billion US dollars in 2007. There is no doubt that remittances are good for a country's economy. But it is the sad truth that most of these remittances are used in investing in unproductive assets like lands and apartments. Because liquidity chases assets, those diaspora workers will certainly want to invest in a secured asset.

A huge sum of money is going after a tiny piece of land among limited land resources. So we have created our own bubble (like dotcom bubble). Everybody knows how the prices of lands and apartments shot up. The remittances are responsible for it.

Cambodia is also experiencing a property bubble. South Koreans are Cambodia’s biggest investors. Since South Korean businesses have been badly hit by the financial crisis, many of them have already pulled off their real estate investments in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean financial crisis originated in part from the sharp drop in methanol and real estate prices. In Antigua, the face of bank fraud is U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford who has been charged with investment fraud. Stanford has considerable investments in the Caribbean.

For many months, the Brazilian government has claimed that the local impact of the economic crisis is only minimal. But recent reports have shown that Brazil is now the second most affected country by the crisis. Blogger Luiz explains why Brazil’s economy is vulnerable:

Sim, o Brasil tem um mercado interno, mas não vive só dele. Vive, também, da exportação de seus produtos. A crise atingiu não apenas os Estados Unidos, mas também a União Européia. Dois grandes mercados brasileiros. Reduziu o crescimento na China, outro mercado importante.

Romania’s lending bubble is familiar because it is almost the same credit bubble which burst in other rich nations.

Political Cartoon by Sacrava from Cambodia

Bailouts

Many companies which asked for a bailout from governments were financial institutions. The response of some governments was to nationalize these money-losing firms. Bank nationalization schemes have been enforced in some countries like Iceland and Kazakhstan. Trinidad and Tobago banks were rescued not just by their government but also by governments from neighboring countries.

Is nationalization a wise economic decision? Should bankrupt companies receive government assistance? The opinion of bloggers is divided:

Barbados Free Press criticizes the lack of transparency concerning the decision to bailout the banks in the region:

How much will Barbadian taxpayers eventually be on the hook for? Good luck finding out the truth because the amount of taxpayer money and concessions being given by Trinidad, Barbados and other countries is being kept secret from the taxpayers.

Barbados Underground, reacting to the renewed government involvement in the financial sector, notes that this unorthodox thinking should generate a healthy debate:

If in fact, “national financial institutions,” enhance the capacity of a national government to respond to crises in the financial services sector, the question may well be, not whether a country can afford a “national financial institution,” but whether it can afford not to have one. Such a perspective goes against my many years of training, but economic orthodoxy has been found so sorely lacking in this crisis that I am open to new ideas. New answers often require new questions and a willingness to engage in fresh open minded debate.

Streetwise Professor from Russia disagrees that failing banks should be revived by the government:

These are companies that should have been euthanized. No, let me correct that. They should have been terminated with extreme prejudice. Instead they are being revived, and pushed into doing the kinds of things that created the financial crisis in the first place.

This politicization of these large financial institutions makes their continued reliance on the government inevitable. Soft budget constraints are addictive. More bad loans will pile up, making these firms even less able to survive in the marketplace without government assistance.

Even poet dergachew from Kazakhstan is afraid that the nationalization of business enterprises will be counterproductive:

I am not a politician, but nothing positive will eventually happen in result of nationalization of big business that takes place in our country now. Sure, the government remains the only capable market player because it accumulates income from extraction of minerals, but a priori it is well-known fact that business people run a business better, than the government.

In Jamaica, blogger Jamaica Salt suggests a bailout for the country’s rum industry because of declining tourism activities:

It is indeed a sorry state of affairs. Usually in times of downturn, alcohol sales increase as people look to drown their sorrows! But I imagine that the dent in tourism to Jamaica is largely to blame for the decreasing sales figures of rum.

Political Cartoon by Sacrava. A Big Fat Cat, AIG

Stimulus plans

To assure the public that something is being planned or done to revive the economy, governments around the world are drafting various economic stimulus packages.

Hungary will implement a tax reform. Taiwan has signed a controversial trade agreement with China and several Southeast Asian nations. Hiring street sweepers is part of the Philippine stimulus plan. Mongolia has unveiled a 1.5 trillion tugrik stimulus plan (USD 980 million) – but critics claim the program is only intended to cover the budget deficit. Malaysia has recently launched its second stimulus program. Named as mini budget, this stimulus plan has generated a lot of discussion and also criticism in the country.

Sean's Russia Blog notes that Russia is relying on “gunpowder economics” for its version of a stimulus plan:

Feeling the pains of economic crisis? Can’t find a suitable place for expanding market share? Don’t fret. There is one sure fire way to keep those exports up. Sell more weapons.

China’s central government has announced a four trillion yuan stimulus package (USD 570 billion dollars). Below is the coverage of the stimulus plan:

The four trillion yuan is going to be spent on 10 categories, among them welfare investment such as housing for low-income, health-care system and education, also infrastructure-building such as new railways, roads and airports. Specially, aid to post-earthquake reconstruction in Si-chuan is mentioned in the agenda. Equally notable is the subsidy for farmers and an explicit announcement to increase the price of state food purchase from farmers.

But some bloggers are worried that corruption and poor infrastructure projects will cause the failure of the stimulus plan.

In Cambodia, it is the opposition which is suggesting a stimulus package. Predictably, the government rejected it. The stimulus hopes to realize the following:

- Setting up mechanisms to support and stabilize agricultural prices in order to protect farmers' revenue and living conditions
- Investing in human resources by increasing spending on education, training and health
- Building infrastructure that Cambodia lacks most (roads, railways, water-control and irrigation systems, housing for the poor)
- Works to protect the environment and to restore the ecological system that has been disrupted nationwide, including replanting trees and dredging lakes and rivers
- tax cuts and reduction in fees for the use of public services including road tolls and the electricity price
- Special social allowances for the poorest segment of the population
- Loans with reduced interest rates for small domestic entrepreneurs and the needy.

Adolfo from Brazil, enumerates his stimulus proposal:

O Brasil tambem tem anunciado seu pacote, eu vou fazer a minha parte e sugerir um pacote tambem: que tal o governo brasileiro diminuir o imposto de renda? Operacionalmente o procedimento eh bem simples, basta devolver R$ 1.000 para cada contribuinte. Que tal esse pacote? Ele pelo menos tem o merito de devolver o dinheiro para quem ja pagou muito mais, e em nada distorce os incentives futuros em relacao ao risco.

There are bloggers who reject the wisdom of “stimulucrats”. John Quiggin from Australia shares this negative view on implementing a stimulus:

If you believe that the economy is like a swimming pool, and that no matter how big a splash some shock (such as the collapse of the financial system) might make, the water in it will rapidly find its own level, then you will agree that there is no need for, or possible benefit from, the stimulus package.

Adolfo from Brazil believes the government intervention in the economy is more dangerous:

Para a economia brasileira mais perigoso que a crise internacional são as recentes medidas anunciadas pelo governo. Os recentes anúncios de aumento do gasto público podem perfeitamente fazer estragos na economia. Ou seja, se o governo brasileiro ficasse calado e nada fizesse estaríamos a salvo. O problema é que o governo insiste em querer intervir na economia.

He explains why a bigger public spending will hurt the taxpayers:

Da próxima vez que você ouvir alguém pedindo por um aumento do gasto público lembre-se que isso implica em menos dinheiro no seu bolso, isso implica em menos dinheiro para as empresas investirem, implica que cada vez mais você dependerá dos favores do governo, e cada vez menos de seu próprio esforço e habilidade.

The quote from Bangladesh was an English translation provided by GV Editor Rezwan. The Portuguese translation was provided by GV Editor Paula.

Torpon appeals to the Bangladesh government not to takeaway the freedom of internet after providing some proofs of the filtering:

ঢাকায় ইউটিউবে ঢুকতে গিয়ে টাইম আউট হয়ে যাচ্ছিল দেখে অনেকে ভাবছিলেন যে ইউটিউবের সার্ভারের সমস্যা । এরপর দেখা যাচ্ছিল যে ইস্নিপস্ এও ঢোকা যাচ্ছে না । তখন সন্দেহ করা হলো যে সমস্যাটি অন্য কোন খানে । কোথাও ডেটা ব্লক হয়ে যাচ্ছে । প্রমাণ ছাড়া সরকার কে দোষ দেয়াটা অযৌক্তিক । কিন্তু অল্প কিছু সময়ের মধ্যে অভিজ্ঞ বাংলাদেশী নেটওয়ার্ক ইঞ্জিনিয়াররা বিভিন্ন জায়গা থেকে জানালেন সরকারী কোন সার্ভারের ফায়ারওয়ালে ইউটিউব সহ অনেক গুলো সাইট ব্লক করা হয়েছে।

Screenshot courtesy - Torpon

বাংলাদেশ লিনাক্স ইউজার গ্রুপের সার্ভার থেকে গুগল, ইউটিউব এবং ইস্নিপসের সাইটে ট্রেসরাউট কমান্ড দিয়ে দেখা গেছে, গুগল ঠিকই পৌছে যাচ্ছে গুগলের সার্ভারে কিন্তু বাকি দুটো আটকে গেছে বিটিটিবির ফায়ার ওয়ালে ।

Mango and BTCL (formerly BTTB) are the official IIGs (International Internet Gateway) in Bangladesh. Starting last April, by regulation, all Bangladeshis ISPs have to route their international traffic to either Mango, or BTCL, who send the traffic over either the submarine cable or the vsats.

The YouTube ban was confirmed [bn] by a Bangla Newspaper Prothom Alo. Twitter user Mahay Alam Khan reports on the ban on more sites:

mahayalamkhan: youtube, eSnips, midiafire, filefreak, upload-mp3 are banned or blocked in Bangladesh. Please, re-twitt.

Russell John speculates why the ban was executed:

Why did the Government do this? It's because of an audio recording that could “damage” the reputation of our great Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. For now they blocked YouTube and eSnips, but in the future there might be more sites. Maybe Facebook too? People shares a lot of stuff there.

After the recent BDR mutiny and massacre of army officers in Dhaka the Prime Minister met the aggrieved army officers in a confidential closed door meeting at Shenakunja where no press or outsiders were allowed. The conversions in the meeting and cellphone video recordings were leaked out, uploaded and shared using many file sharing sites including E-snips and YouTube. Unheard Voice blog discusses the issue of the leaked audio files which are being used by some quarters to create some political bickering and malign the army and the Prime Minister.

Dark ocean needs a lighthouse says:

If Bangladesh Govt thinks Internet is like Cellphone service then they are living in fools' paradise. There are many ways people can bypass the blockage. [..] In this particular case anyone can use Anonymous proxy and bypass firewall!

Youtube, eSnips etc are very common and useful services. If Bangladesh Govt think any particular Audio and Video harmful for our society they could directly request Youtube to remove them. Such wild blockage is not only stupidity but also raises question about Govt's intention.

Some bloggers like Kayes Mahmud are providing proxy links so that others can access the blocked contents. Razon Sun points out that the contents of the meeting at Shenakunjo have already been published in a local newspaper [bn]. So there is actually no logic to block the internet. It may be mentioned here that Bangladeshis outside Bangladesh can easily access to these contents, which can be downloaded and shared by email.

Sushanta says:

প্রচারনা বন্ধ করার আগে দেখেন কিভাবে এটা রেকর্ড হলো? প্রথমে কোন সাইটে এটা আপ্লোড হয়েছে। সেনাকুঞ্জের সভার ভিডিও টা দেখেন ভালো করে কোন সেনা কর্মকর্তা মোবাইল হাতে চুপেচাপে রেকর্ডিং করছে। এটা ধরা তেমন কঠিন কাজ না।

Russell vents his frustration:

What's ironical is that it's the same Government that talks about “Digital Bangladesh” all the time. We now know what Digital Bangladesh is like.

Now the question is how to unblock YouTube and other file sharing sites in Bangladesh. We have seen in previous cases that the authorities do not recognize that such bans were carried out in the first place shifting the blame to technical glitches. In the absence of ‘Right To Information Act' it is hard for a common citizen to ask why it was done. We hope that the authorities will unblock all these sites to prevent more controversies and bad publicity for the government.

There has been many turn of events the whole day as the armed forces prepared an offensive to quell the mutiny. Tanks rolled in Dhaka city and people living near the BDR headquarters were evacuated. But after Prime Minister's televised speech the rebels finally surrendered avoiding bloody consequences. As usual there were many rumors around and the blogs and twitter messages played a crucial part in disseminating the information.

Here are some Twitter messages which show how the situation was all day:

PurpleRome It all started in Dhaka but now its spreading to the rest of the country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address the nation in a while.

phpfour crowd rattled in shahbag…continuous gunshots heard near dhaka uni(versity)

mahmudur #bdr army high officials told doctors of dhaka medical college to be prepared for mass causalities to be happened in short time

seoexpertbd: The #BDR panic is still live and leaving office early now.

rajputro: 9 more bodies found from #bdr hq, one of which was of a little girl's :(

Check more Twitter messages here:
http://twitterfall.com/dhaka
http://twitterfall.com/BDR

Bloggers like BDfact were live blogging the prime Ministers' speech. Unheard Voice Blog posted regular updates the whole day. Joruri Khobor rounded up Facebook status messages which described the situation.

Jessica Lim posted some photos in her blog and in Flickr despicting the horror people faced. Dhaka Daily Photo has more pictures.

Videos were posted in internet as soon as tanks rolled in the city. Here is one such:

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

Shahnaz at Dhaka Dweller provides some background of the rebellion of the BDR members and asks some questions:

And this is how the seeds of discontent were first sown. The masters considered them an elite class, far above the lowly serfs. There was great disparity between pay, benefits, working conditions and career advancement between the officers and rank and file, and issues of corruption practiced by senior officers. [..] Soldiers raised their grievances again and again with their officers, to no avail. Their Director General had promised to place the soldiers demands to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when she inaugurated the BDR week events. But he must have forgotten his promise, for he only spoke on behalf of his officers on that august occasion. Disgruntled soldiers grumbled all night.

All Sector Commanders were assembled in the Darbar Hall the next morning when in the course of an argument between the soldiers and officers, weapons were drawn and fired. We do not know who fired first, but the results were the same. Soldiers and officers died. And innocent civilians were killed and wounded. Gunshots and heavy mortar firing were heard. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the BDR complex.

In a democracy, in a people's republic, grievances should not be allowed to explode in this manner. This situation has caught the government unaware, but really, did the government (albeit newly elected), have absolutely no idea this was brewing? Could it not have been prevented?

Bloggers are debating issues like why BDR members resorted to killing the officers and especially, the controversial ‘who fired first'. Quoting a army officer who was present in the scene media reports [bn] that the BDR jawans fired first on the officers. But this blogger quoting his uncle who was also present there [bn] reveals that the BDR chief was involved in firing on a jawan during altercation and this had escalated the situation. The question remains who is telling the truth.

Atiqul Haque rounds up [bn] newspaper and citizen media reports of survivors. Some of the officers who were held hostage revealed shocking tales of brutality on them. The public sympathy shifted from the BDR mutineers to the army victims who were brutally executed. Bloggers like Dhrubo Hasan mourned the deaths. A commenter Nighat Tithi said:

খারাপ লাগছে মানুষের সহমর্মিতা পাবার জন্য তাদের মিথ্যাচার দেখে, শুরুতে টিভিতে একজন জোয়ান বলেছিলেন, মাত্র একজন অফিসার মারা গেছেন, তার নাম বলা যাবে না। অথচ বিদ্রোহের শুরুতেই ৭০ জন (প্রথম আলো'র সংবাদ অনুযায়ী) অফিসারকে গুলি করে মারা হয়েছে। শুধু তাই না, তাদের গুলির পাশাপাশি বেয়নেট নিয়ে খুচিয়ে আঘাত করে হয়েছে। এই কি স্বাধীন দেশের মানুষের নিজের ভাইয়ের প্রতি আচরন? এইসব তথ্য সম্পূর্ণ গোপন রাখা হয়েছিলো ! আহারে, মাত্র ১৭ জনের লাশ পাওয়া গেলো। বাকি লাশগুলোকে কি করা হয়েছে? তাদের কি দাফনও হবে না?

The government bowed to BDR's demand by giving them amnesty for the mutiny. Kamaluddin asks [bn] to whom the amnesty was given? Those who brutally killed officers and innocent civilians?

Unheard Voice Blog appeals to the government to declare Saturday, February 28 as the national day of mourning to honor the deceased servicemen and the innocent civilians and demanded justice for the victims.

The most encouraging aspect of Bangla blogging is the number of books the Bangla bloggers have published. Farid writes:

বাংলা ব্লগিং প্ল্যাটফর্ম চালু হবার পরে গত তিন চার বছরে অনেক অলেখকও যেমন লেখালেখিতে হাত পাকিয়েছেন তেমনি অনেক নবীন লেখকরাও ব্লগে লিখে তাদের লেখনীকে ধারিয়ে নিয়েছেন। আর তাই গত প্রায় তিন বছর ধরে প্রতি বছরেই ব্লগ পরিমন্ডল ও ব্লগারদের লেখা বইয়ের সংখ্যা উত্তোরত্তর বাড়ছে। এইবছর তো মোটামুটি ব্লগাররা মিছিল করেই বই ছাপিয়েছেন বিভিন্ন প্রকাশনী থেকে।

This year about 50 books have been published by bloggers targeting the Ekushey Book Fair. Here is a list of those books compiled by blogger Meghbaji. Here is a Facebook group called “Bloggers Book“. Most of these books are fictions, non-fictions and poems by individual writers/bloggers and a few are collection of blog articles.

Organized by some bloggers of Somewherein Blog the third sequel of collection of articles published in blogs called Opor Bastob -3 has been published. This year's theme is 'short story'. Brigade Sixteen writes about the book:

মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের মুক্ত মতামত কেমন হতে পারে, সে ধারণা আমাদের অনেকেরই আছে। কিন্তু মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের সাহিত্য - গল্প, কবিতা, উপন্যাস - তাও কি সম্ভব? সে প্রশ্নের উত্তর খুঁজতেই ব্লগের নির্বাচিত লেখা নিয়ে ২০০৭ ও ২০০৮ সালে প্রকাশিত হয়েছিল সংকলন ‘অপরবাস্তব’।

ব্লগারদের কাছ থেকে মনোনয়ন আহ্বান করা হয়েছিল গত বছরের নভেম্বরে। একমাসেরও বেশি সময় ধরে মনোনয়ন গ্রহণের পর নির্বাচিত গল্পগুলো ব্লগারদের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত একটি নির্বাচক প্যানেলের কাছে পাঠানো হয়। তাঁরা একমাস ধরে যাচাই-বাছাই শেষে মোট ২২টি গল্প চূড়ান্ত করেন, যা স্থান পেয়েছে সংকলনে।

বইটির মূল্য রাখা হয়েছে ১০০ টাকা। “বিক্রিলব্ধ সমুদয় অর্থ ব্লগের নানা উদ্যোগ, ক্যাম্পেইন, মানবিক কর্মকান্ড ইত্যাদিতে ব্যয় করা হবে।

Shahriar Hasan writes in the comments section:

অনেকেই মনে করেন ব্লগিং মানেই সময় নষ্ট। বইটা তাদের কিনে পড়া উচিৎ।

Kowshik writes in the comments section:

২০০৮ এ ব্লগারদের বই বোধহয় বের হয়েছিল ৭/৮। ২০০৯ এ তো মনে হইতেছে পুরা বইমেলা দখল কইরা নিছে ব্লগাররা। ৫০ টার মত বই! গ্রেট!

Last year bloggers of Sachalayatan, an online writers forum published a collection of blog posts titled ‘Purnomuthi'. This year another collection of posts will be published by some Sachalayatan bloggers.

Sachalayatan has published a catalog [bn] of books published by Sachalayatan bloggers along with detailed description of the writers. The writers forum has also published four literary e-books till-to-date.

Now let us see how the bloggers are reacting to this phenomenon. Mahbub Shahriar writes:

এবারের বইমেলা আমার জন্য অন্যরকম৷ অন্যরকম এই কারণে যে এবারই প্রথম আমি মেলায় লেখক হিসেবে এলাম৷ এর আগে কতবার মেলায় এসেছি পাঠক হিসেবে৷

Lina Dilruba shares her feelings of buying new books and bloggers books:

আজকে বইমেলায় গিয়েছি। ..বইকেনার মূহুর্তগুলো খুব উপভোগ করি।
…
এই আনন্দ, এই সুখানুভূতির প্রকাশ ঘটানোর জন্য তাই ব্লগে বসলাম।
…
ব্লগার বন্ধুদের বই কিনিনি আজ। অফিস থেকে যখন বেরিয়েছিলাম তখন বইয়ের লিস্টটা নিয়ে বের হইনি। পরেরবার প্রথম তালিকাটা ব্লগারদের জন্য বরাদ্ধ থাকবে।
….

Mamun M. Aziz who blogs with the pseudonym Pathik writes:

প্রকাশক ফোন করে জানালেন আজ বইমেলায় চলে এসেছে আমার গল্পের বই –তথাপি।
ইস ! নিজে এখনো দেখলাম না।
কাল ইনশাল্লাহ যাব মেলায়।

Ahmedur Rashid, a publisher and a blogger is writing a series on the book fair and the bloggers each day. You can buy Bangla books online and learn more infos about Boi Mela from here. Anno Anon posts some pictures of the book fair.

Many bloggers are using blogs to advertise for free about their books and posting reviews to attract new readers. (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)

The publication of books and the book fair have also united the bloggers across platforms. Mahmudur Rahman writes:

আজ বইমেলায় ব্লগারদের বিশাল মহামিলন ঘটবে। সচলায়তন,সা.ইন,আমার ব্লগ এবং প্রথমআলো ব্লগের ব্লগাররা মিলিত হবেন ১৯২নং স্টলের সামনে। আজ অনেক ব্লগারের বই বের হবে। ঢাকার বাহিরের অনেক ব্লগারই আসবেন আজ।

অনেক ত্যাগ, সংগ্রামের পর গত ২৯ ডিসেম্বর ২০০৮ বাংলাদেশের নাগরিকরা নির্বিঘ্নে নির্ভয়ে তাদের অন্যতম নাগরিক অধিকার অর্থাৎ নিজেদের পছন্দসই প্রার্থীকে ভোট দিয়ে নির্বাচিত করার অধিকার ফিরে পেয়েছে। … দেশি-বিদেশী অধিকাংশ সংগঠন ও মানুষের কাছে নির্বাচনটি হয়েছে নিরপেক্ষ, অবাধ ও সুষ্ঠু।

Widely acknowledged as free and fair, the polls saw a record 87% votes being cast. That there was high excitement and involvement among citizens to participate in this election and bring the country back on the rails of democracy (back from the military controlled caretaker government that had assumed power on 11th January, 2007) was evident from these electoral statistics : of the almost 81 million voters registered, 31% voters were first-timers (age 18-25yrs) and 51% were women.

The results brought a landslide victory (263 seats out of 300) for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance, led by Sheikh Hasina . Of these, 230 seats were won by the Awami League alone, giving them a clear majority. Sheikh Hasina assumed office as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on 6th January, 2009.

It was clear that the citizens had voted for change. The sentiments have been captured in this open letter written to Hasina by blogger Sherif Al Sayar [bn]:

প্রিয় নেত্রী,
শুরুতেই বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগের নেতৃত্বাধীণ মহাজোটের এই নিরঙ্কুশ বিজয়ে অভিনন্দন জানাই সাথে ইংরেজী নতুন বর্ষের শুভেচ্ছা। বাংলার জনগণ বিগত সরকারের দূর্নীতি, দুঃশাসন, হটকারীতা এবং এই সকল অগণতান্ত্রিকতার বিরুদ্ধে ভোট বিপ্লবের মাধ্যমে তার প্রতিবাদ জানালো। এবং সেই প্রতিবাদ জানানোর পাশাপাশি আপনার উপর আপনার দলের উপর আস্থা জ্ঞাপণ করল। আশা করি সেই জনগণকে আপনি ক্ষমতার দম্ভে পড়ে ভুলে যাবেন না। সেই জনগণের পাশে আপনি এবং আপনার সরকার নিরপেক্ষভাবে সব-সময় পাশে থাকবেন। এমনটাই আমরা আশা করি। …আমি বর্তমান প্রজন্মের একজন ভোটার ছিলাম। এই বার প্রথম ভোট দিয়ে নিজের নাগরিকত্ব অধিকার এবং আমার দায়িত্ব পালন করেছি। এবং সেই অধিকারের মাধ্যমে আমার মতো আরো লক্ষ নতুন ভোটার আপনার কাছে এবং আপনার মহাজোটের কাছে দেশের দায়িত্ব অর্পণ করলো। তাই আমি যেটা বলতে চাই সেটা হচ্ছে, এই বিজয়কে ক্ষমতা ফিরে পাবার বিজয় মনে না করে দায়িত্ব ফিরে পাবার বিজয় মনে করার অনুরোধ থাকলো।
আমার মতো অসংখ্য নতুন ভোটার আপনার কাছ থেকে অনেক কিছু প্রত্যাশা করে। প্রত্যাশা করে, যেই দিন বদলের চেষ্টার কথা আপনি বলেছেন সেই দিন সত্যি সত্যিই বদলাবেন। তারা চায় একটি হানাহানির রাজনীতিমুক্ত, দূর্নীতিমুক্ত, দুঃশাসনমুক্ত একটি শান্তিময় দেশ।

Interestingly, the election promise that most people are discussing in the blogosphere is the promise of good governance and more specifically point 5.1 in the election manifesto that stated, "Terrorism and religious extremism will be controlled with iron hand. Trial of war criminals will be arranged."

"We want trial and punishment of the war criminals of 1971 " — this cry is growing stronger and louder. Sadik writes [bn]:

নতুন সরকারের কাছে প্রথম দাবী হোক যুদ্ধাপরাধীদের বিচার চাই। সবাই সমর্থন জানান এবং নিজ নিজ কর্মক্ষেত্র এবং পরিবার পরিজন নিয়েই সোচ্চার হোন "যুদ্ধাপরাধীদের বিচার চাই"। প্রতিটি মানুষ যদি সমস্বরে দাবী জানাই "যুদ্ধাপরাধীদের বিচার চাই" নতুন সরকার সেই দাবী মেনে নিতে বাধ্য ।

His sentiments are reflected by many other bloggers, some of whom are actively trying to mobilize public support to strengthen the voice of this demand. A mass signature campaign has been launched, to renew and strengthen the efforts started earlier through an online petition .

Blogger Sohail Motahir Chowdhury feels that the time has come not only to bring the war criminals to trial but also to cleanse and heal past wrongs. He suggests the following [bn]:

স্বাধীনতা পরবর্তীকালে বিভিন্ন অগণতান্ত্রিক সরকার বিভিন্ন সময় দেশদ্রোহী, মুক্তিযুদ্ধবিরোধী, যুদ্ধাপরাধীদেরকে যেসব রাষ্ট্রীয় সম্মান বা পদক দিয়েছে – সেগুলো বাতিল করা হোক।

Finally, Hasan Morshed writes that the task of the new government's good governance does not end with merely bringing the war criminals to trial. He states [bn]:

আর যুদ্ধাপরাধীর বিচার করাই শেষ কথা নয়, বন্ধ করতে হবে ধর্মভিত্তিক রাজনীতি…যে রাজনীতি রাষ্ট্রের জন্মের বিরোধীতা করেছিলো,সেই রাজনীতি রাষ্ট্রের কল্যান কামনা করবে-এমোন ইউটোপিয়া থেকে বের হয়ে আসা খুব জরুরী ।