Global Voices » Bangladesh

Bangladesh: Bloggers March for Murdered Journalist Couple

Aparna Ray — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:06:03 +0000

Three months have passed since the murder of the journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and his wife Meherun Runi. Till date, the police have been unsuccessful in discovering any clues or leads that would help them to solve the case. In the early hours of 11 February, 2012, the couple was found brutally murdered in their West Rajabajar apartment in Dhaka.

The Bangladesh High Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the progress (or lack of it) of the Detective Branch (DB) of police investigating the murder. The case has since then been transferred to the anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit - Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The bodies have already been exhumed for a repeat postmortem. However, till date, there has been little progress in the investigation.

Bloggers have once again taken to the street, demanding justice for the murdered couple. On 11 May, they organized a protest in front of the public library in Shahbagh, Dhaka. This was their fourth protest gathering. In the video below, bloggers can be seen singing a protest song:

Another video shows bloggers holding a candle light protest, demanding justice in the Sagar-Runi murder case:

In the beginning, the police tried to prevent the protest rally by bloggers by parking their vehicles at the protest site and not giving permission for electricity connection at the venue. Later the bloggers conducted the protest by singing without the use of microphones. Sohel Mahmood informs us [bn] about the day's programme:

নানা বাধা ডিঙিয়ে হয়ে গেলো বাংলাভাষার ব্লগারদের প্রতিবাদী সংগীতের আয়োজন। পুলিশের “কমিশনারের অনুমতি লাগবে” টাইপের বক্তব্য, বিদ্যুতের লাইন টানায় বাধা আর সন্ধ্যার কিছু ভাগে “হঠাৎ বৃষ্টি”। তবে, সব বাধা ডিঙিয়ে প্রতিবাদী এই সংগীতে যোগ দেন ব্লগার, সাংবাদিক, ছাত্র-ছাত্রী আর সাধারণ মানুষ।

Crossing various hurdles, the Bangla bloggers conducted their programme of singing protest songs in public. Comments by the police commissioner that “permissions will be required”, not allowing the required temporary electricity connection at the protest venue, and even sudden rains during part of the evening, nothing could stop the bloggers, journalists, students and ordinary citizens from showing solidarity and participating in singing the protest songs

: Police using barricades to prevent journalists from entering the Home Ministry premises. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (15/05/2012)

Demanding the immediate arrest of the murderers of Sagar and Runi, journalist associations announced a gherao program to be held at the Home Ministry premises on 15th May. Bloggers too joined this protest programme. The police cracked down on the protesters. Quite a few photographs of police preventing the protesters from approaching the Home Ministry premises have been uploaded on the We Demand Justice for Sagar-Runi Facebook Page. At the end of the day's event, the next steps and upcoming protest programmes were announced. Among the future protests being planned by journalists and bloggers are the following:

১. ২০ মে থেকে ১৫ জুন পর্যন্ত সবগুলো মিডিয়া হাউসে সভা-সমাবেশ।

২. ৫ জুন জাতীয় সংসদে গিয়ে স্পিকারের কাছে সাগর-রুনি হত্যাকারীদের গ্রেফতার ও বিচার দাবিতে স্মারকলিপি প্রদান।

৩. ২৬ জুন প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কার্যালয় অভিমুখে পদযাত্রা।

৪. এরপরও সাগর-রুনির হত্যাকারীদের গ্রেফতার ও বিচার না করা হলেও দেশের সব সাংবাদিক কর্মবিরতি কর্মসূচি পালন।

1. 20th May to 15th June - Public meetings at all the media houses
2. 5th June - March to the Parliament and submit a memorandum to the Speaker of the House, demanding arrest and trial of the killers of Sagar-Runi
3. 26th June - Protest march towards the Prime Minister's Office.
4. If the administration still fails to deliver justice, all journalists across the country will stop work and undertake a ‘pen down' programme.

Bangladesh: Economic of Marriage payments

Rezwan — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:28:15 +0000

“There are two kinds of marriage payments — dowry and brideprice, with significant differences among their prevalences in time and across societies,” - informs J. Rahman at Mukti.

Bangladesh: Movie Theaters Are Dying

Rezwan — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:16:27 +0000

Watching movies in theaters was once a favorite pastime for Bengalis. The custom was to go to the movies on the holidays or special days. It was popular culture to follow the fashion and postures of the stars of the new released cinemas.

But cinema-loving Bengalis do not go to movie theaters nowadays and the country's cinema halls are closing one by one, as new shopping malls are being erected in their place. According to reports in the past decade, hundreds of cinema halls have been closed down [bn]. There also used to be approximately 100 cinemas built each year, which has now decreased to 30-40 [bn].

Darashiko blogs on cinema regularly. Here he shares the latest state of the Bangladeshi film industry [bn]:

Shyamoli Cinema Hall is just a memory. A 14-story shopping mall is being built in its place. Image courtesy Wikipedia

The Bangladeshi cinema industry is going through its worst time. In 1990-91 the number of cinema halls were around 1230. But in 2010 the number has decreased to 742. Out of 44 cinema halls in Dhaka 33 are surviving. Huge building were erected in their place. Big names like, Gulistan, Shyamoli, Naz, Lion, Star, Shabistan, Tajmahal cinema etc. went into oblivion. With Lack of quality script and mediocre performance the cinema industry managed releasing of 100 movies per annum. In 2010 the number was 63, one of the lowest in the decade. Its getting much worse. In 2011, in first six months only 19 cinemas were released and only 300 million Taka (US $3.6 million) was invested. Newspaper reports say that this year only 45 films will be produced and the next year it would be only 30.

But why are movie theaters being closed down? Why are audiences not going to movie theaters? Megh Roddur writes [bn] about it:

Of course I want to go to the movie theaters to watch movies. It hurts but the truth is that most of the movies are not of my taste. Why should I watch a movie full of weird costumes and blunt themes. Why should I go and watch repeating stories? Why should I go and watch copycats and gross copypaste movies?

The building behind the sculpture was once the famous Gulistan Cinema Hall. Now its a clothes market. Image by Ranadipam Basu. Used with permission.

A guest blogger at Sachalayatan reminisces about his childhood memories of going to cinemas with family. The blogger blames the film distributors for lack of viewers in movie theaters:

Now we don't watch movies in Theaters with family. I would not blame low quality pictures. I would place the blame on the environment of the movie theaters. There are a few good movies still being produced. Still we cannot go with the family to watch them in this environment.

Lekhajoka Shamim cites three reasons for the demise of this industry:

The low quality of the local cinema, indecent movies and the environment of the movie thater are the causes of lack of movie viewers.

Once the thought of going to movie theaters was an exciting thing. Many had keen interest. Russel Ashraf tells one such story:

Me and my uncle went to see the movie “Aguner Poroshmoni”. We thought that there would be no rush and went a few minutes before the start. But alas, we saw that the queue was extended to the road. What to do! Waited in the queue for the tickets and manged a seat in front of the screen. I could not move my neck for three days in pain.

To save the film industry and bring more viewers in movie theaters, the government decided to remove the ban on Indian cinema (it should be noted that Indian movies have been banned here since 1965). This move attracted sharp criticisms online.

Balaka cinema hall besides Dhaka New market. Image from Wikipedia by Ragib Hasan

Nazrul Islam says in a post in Amrabondhu blog:

Not from the hatred of Hindi language films, the government has to back down from such wretched decision to save a dying industry.।

But there are also those who favor import of movies:

One blogger (Fahmidul Haque) says:

To me its a right of a citizen to be able to watch local and international movies of different tastes. Lets not limit this right with the debate of saving of local industry by stopping the import of Indian movies.

Due to much criticism the government decided to reverse the decision to withdraw ban from the Indian movies.

Kallol Mustafa has specific suggestions on how to revive the local film industry:

We need government institution support, financial responsibility, institutionalization of the industry and mandatory show of international movies (not only Indian) in a week each month in every theater.

Bangladesh: How Democracy Works

Rezwan — Sun, 06 May 2012 09:39:10 +0000

J. Rahman at Mukti writes about the confrontational politics in Bangladesh and sheds a light into how democracy works in a developing country like Bangladesh.

Bangladesh: Citizen's Voice, A Citizen Watchdog for Public Services

Salman Latif — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:38:59 +0000

As internet connectivity grows in developing nations, technology is coming to play vital roles in shaping the trends of social activism and awareness. Although there is still limited access to internet in countries like Bangladesh, it is very promising to witness projects that are beginning to use ICT to address social issues.

Citizen’s Voice (Nagorikkontho.org) is one such project which has been launched by Population Services and Training Center (PSTC) to empower Bangladeshi public by having their voices heard, especially regarding feedback on public services. The platform supports both Bangla and English language to make it versatile for all the users and all the technology platforms (mobile texting sill do not support Bangla font).

Bangladeshi government agencies have recently defined service deliverables in their Citizens Charter. Documenting feedback about these services is important for their quality to be assessed.

Citizens Voice - www.nagorikkontho.org/

Citizen’s Voice believe that this would help enhance the standard of these services and bridge the common man to the public authorities:

“If common people become aware of what are their inalienable rights stated in the Citizen Charter, they can understand their needs and performance of the public service agencies. Therefore, they can monitor their deserved services and raise their voice to the civil societies and respective public authorities. This monitoring will further improve their civic facilities and augment their living status.”

A stack of bricks in a parking space that shouldn't be there. From Citizen's Voice.

The portal has been built based on Ushahidi platform and it contains different reports which cite the irregularities by government institutions, and has emerged as a watchdog for such irregularities, and media outlets can use it to locate such issues. One example is a report about Panchagah Women’s College. The college was charging students a fee for entrance forms more than double as high as was sanctioned by the government.

After Citizen’s Voice published the report, the media took notice, and college authorities were ordered by the board of education to revise their fees. This is one example of how something as apparently simple as a digital report published on a website can actually be significant enough to make a practical impact on ground. To facilitate access to a common man, reports can be submitted via sms, email or through a web form.

The header on the site lists a number of questions, asking about the availability of common services - such as access to health facilities, free education, and so forth. ‘If not, please send a report,’ it says. Reports can also be submitted in the form of a video, photo or a blog post. One video listed on the website by maaDiyan on YouTube shows a busride on “the busiest highway of Bangladesh” between Dhaka and Bandarban, and how drivers skirt traffic rules to get ahead faster.

We were taking the bus back to Dhaka from Bandarban. I think it was on 10 Sep 2011. I was wondering if there were any changes to how people drive on highways in Bangladesh, after so much was going on about road safety. I got my answer. These drivers are simply crazy. There were enough traffic signs on the road, but I have a suspicion that these bus drivers think those are there for decorative purpose only.

In these ways, Citizens’ Voice offers a democratic space for interaction between service recipients and providers through technology.

Bangladesh: Voices from the Korail slum

Rezwan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:19:47 +0000

Michelle Chaplin at BRAC Blog posts a video (with subtitles), which shares the initial reactions of some of the people who lost their homes in the recent Korail slum eviction in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Video: Better Aid and Development Discussions Through Islam Crash Course

Juliana Rincón Parra — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:55:19 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development.

An ongoing discussion over at the Uncultured Project has been the relationship between the lack of knowledge on what Islam is about and how aid and development organizations relate to the Muslim community. Shawn Ahmed shares a simple and short video explaining what Islam is in an attempt to pave the road to better understanding of a large group of people who could be aid recipients.

In Shawn Ahmed's 7 April, 2012, post Aid Work, Cynicism, and Islam he points out to yet another post from a Muslim on what Islam is about, and it excludes cynicism as well as respecting others.

I wish more aid workers (especially aid workers that serve in countries where there are a lot of Muslims) understood this and respected it. Because, especially in online conversations about aid and development, there seems to be a penchant towards cynicism.

In a November 2012 post, Islam and Online Aid and Development Discourse he reflects on how online aid discussions exclude minorities, even when those minorities are the target for those same aid initiatives being discussed. And he believes that one of the reasons for this exclusion could be because of the tone of these aid conversations not reflecting cultural norms, and this could be impacting the bad image the aid industry is garnering, particularly in the case of a mostly Muslim nation like Bangladesh:

This exclusion can happen simply because of the snark, sarcasm, and personal attacks that are frequently thrown around in online aid conversations… Many Bangladeshis already tell me that the aid industry and INGOs don’t reflect them, their values, or their way of doing things. If this tone is condoned and applauded by those working to help the poor…. then they may be right.

In the Uncultured Project's latest post Islam:101 Ahmed proposes that a better understanding of the culture in the communities aid organizations are targeting, could provide a better environment for these same aid organizations, where instead of rejecting work with a certain group of people due to ignorance and discrimination, they could learn about the culture and work from this knowledge.

But what is Islam? Well, instead of citing a religious scholar, I think my friend John Green summarizes Islam pretty nicely in this video. If you have 13 minutes to spare, it’s a must watch:

The video is from an online series called Crash Course, which focuses on short, engaging videos on World History and Biology.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development.

Bangladesh: Theory of Dynasty Politics

Rezwan — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:10:38 +0000

Mukti provides a rudimentary theory of dynastic politics in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh: Welcoming Pahela Baisakh

Rezwan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:52:24 +0000

Tomorrow is Pahela Baisakh (first day of summer, Bengali news year), the favorite festival of the Bengalis. Every year Bengalis celebrate their new year with galore. The first day of the new year is filled with festivities. Wherever there are Bengalis in the world, they celebrate this day with different events.

On this day everybody wears traditional clothes. The girls are draped in Saris and the boys wear Panjabi/Fatua (longer or shorter version of Kurtas). The shopping malls are engaged in brisk business. Especially worth mentioning are the summer collections by fashion houses targeting this day.

AlAmin90 shares what he presented his loved one:

পহেলা বৈশাখের জন্য দিনাকে আমি সাদা-লাল রংয়ের জামদানি কাপড় গিফট করলাম। আর হাতের লাল চুড়ি, মাটির গহনা আর লাল টিপ।

For Pahele Baisakh I gifted Dina a red-white Jamdani Sari. Along with that red churis (glass bangles), ornaments made of clay and red teep (Bindi).

One of the main attractions of Pahela Baisakh celebrations is the Panta-Ilish meal. Many houses prepare special cuisine including Panta Bhat (lightly fermented rice) and Ilish (Hilsha) fish cooked with mustard and green chili. As the demand of Ilish fish soars during Pahela Baisakh the price goes up steeply [bn].

The colorful rally organized by the graphic arts institute. Image courtesy Wikipedia

Every year after the sunrise a colorful rally called Mangal Shovajatra [bn] starts in front of the graphics arts institute of Dhaka University. This rally rolls across many streets of the city and comes back to the institute. The masks and placards of the rally portraits the rural life and the daily affairs of Bengal. Blogger Tung Tang was in one such rally [bn] and tells about it:

চারুকলার ঢুকে প্রথমে চোখে পরবে মাটির সরা তারপর এ আছে মুখোশ বানানোর কাজ। মাটির সরায় কাজ করছে চারুকলার শিক্ষার্থীরা বিভিন্ন রং বিভিন্ন থিম এর। নির্দ্দিষ্ট কোন থিম নেই, তবে বেশির ভাগ সরার ডিজাইন লোকজ সংস্কৃতির গ্রামীণ জীবন এবং আবহমান বাংলা ঐতিহ্যর উপরে। পহেলা বৈশাখের মঙ্গল শোভাযাত্রা যে কয়টি প্রচলিত আইটেম এর মধ্য রয়েছে মুখোশ, সরা আর কিছু প্রাণীর প্রতিলিপি ।

If you go to the graphics arts institute, the first thing you will notice are the clay pots and then you will see people crafting and painting masks. The students of graphics arts institute are painting the clay pots in different themes of colors. There is no fixed theme, but many pots are painted with the rural life and the daily affairs of Bengal. The typical items of the Pahela Baisakh rally are Masks, clay pots and modelling of some animals.

The Bengali new year celebrations started during the Mughal era (15th century). In those days the region had Zamindar system. The peasants used to pay tax to the Zamindars till the last day of spring. On the first day of summer (Pahela Baisakh) the Zamindars used to distribute sweets to the farmers. To celebrate this many festivities used to be arranged, fairs took place. Pahela Baisakh become a part of peoples' lives ever since. Gradually it became more festive and full of enjoyment.

Chayanat's concert at the Ramna Batamul. They are welcoming the new year with songs. Image by Abu Ala. Copyright Demotix.

In Bangladesh, the main celebrations of Pahela Baisakh take place in Dhaka, the capital. Cultural organization Chayanat [bn] arranges new year's concert at the Batamul of Ramna and one of the main feature is the rally of the graphics arts institute. Many people come to this area to celebrate.

Every Bengali has something to share about this day, especially the childhood memories of joining the festivities of Pahela Baisakh. Sheikh Jalil at Sachalayatan reminisces about his childhood memroies of this day:

বৈশাখ এলেই মনে পড়ে বৈশাখী মেলার কথা। গ্রামের হাট-বাজারে বসতো এ মেলা। নাগরদোলায় চলা, লাঠিখেলা দেখা, বায়স্কোপ দেখা, মেলা থেকে মুড়ি-মুড়কি-বাতাসা-সন্দেশ-মিষ্টি কিনে খাওয়া আমার শৈশব বেলার স্মৃতি। বাবা-মা, বড় ভাই-বোনের হাত ধরে মেলায় যেতাম। তারা কিনে দিতেন বাঁশি চরকী, বেলুনসহ আরো কত কী? সাপুড়েদের সাপ খেলা, বানরের খেলা আর ষাঁড়ের লড়াই দেখতাম এ সময়। সত্যিকারে আশেপাশের কয়েকটি গ্রামের মিলনকেন্দ্র ছিল আমাদের বৈশাখী মেলা। হিন্দু-মুসলমান সবাই মিলে আনন্দ-উল্লাস করে বৈশাখের প্রথম কয়েকটা দিন কেটে যেত।

I remember about the Baisakhi fair every summer. It usually took place in the rural bazaars. The Nagordola (ferris wheel), Lathikhela (play with sticks), Bioscope shows, and going home with sweet treats like Muri-Murki-batasha-Sandesh-Sweets are parts of my childhood memories. I used to go to the fairs with my parents and siblings. They used to buy me flutes, Chorki, balloons and what not. The other attractions were snake charming plays, monkey games and bull fights. Our Baisakhi fair was a huge funfair of several villages. Hindu-Muslim alike spent the first days of the summer with merriment.

Those who are abroad and cannot join the Bengali new year festivities regret that. A diaspora blogger writes [bn]:

বৈশাখ মানেই গ্রামহারা শহরহারা দেশ ছাড়া হয়ে বিশ্বের কোন এক ব্যাস্ত নগরীতে বসে শুধুই স্মৃতির জাবর কাটা, টেলিভিশনের পর্দায় রমনার বটমূল আর তরুন তরুনীদের গালে রঙের ছটা দেখা। হায়রে বৈশাখ তুই কি কখনোই শহরে আসবিনা? শহরের সাথে কি তোর চিরকালই আড়ি?

Baisakh means far from the villages, reminiscing in a busy city somewhere in the world, watching ramna Batamul and the paintings on the cheeks of boys and girls on the television screen. Oh Baisakh, won't you ever come to the city?

New years decoration - a little boy with a crown of leaves. Image by Abu Ala. Copyright Demotix

Pahela Baisakh is now celebrated across the classes, although it was only a funfair of the middle income Bengalis. Blogger Ektutells [bn] more about that:

বৈশাখের এ উত্সব, মানুষের সর্বজনীন এ অংশগ্রহণ দুই দশক আগেও এরকম ছিল না। বৈশাখের উৎসব আমেজ, ভালো রান্না আর অনুষ্ঠানমালা সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল মধ্যবিত্ত সংস্কৃতিমনা কিছু মানুষের মধ্যে। ছায়ানটের অনুষ্ঠান হতো বটতলায়। সেখানেও অংশগ্রহণ ছিল সংস্কৃতিকর্মী ও মধ্যবিত্ত একটি শ্রেণীর। গত দুই দশক ধরে বৈশাখ বরণে ব্যাপক পরিবর্তন এসেছে। বৈশাখ বরণের রং মধ্যবিত্তের গণ্ডি পেরিয়ে উচ্চবিত্ত ও নিম্নবিত্তের মানুষের মধ্যেও ছড়িয়ে পড়েছে। বৈশাখের অনুষ্ঠানে বেড়ে চলেছে সর্বশ্রেণীর মানুষের অংশগ্রহণ। […] নিম্নবিত্ত সাধারণ শ্রমজীবী মানুষও বৈশাখের জন্য আলাদা করে রাখছে তার ঘামে উপার্জিত অর্থের একটি অংশ। সাধ্যমত গায়ে তুলছে বৈশাখের পোশাক। ঘুরতে বের হচ্ছে প্রিয়জনের সঙ্গে। মেলা থেকে কিনে আনছে শৌখিন কিছু।

Only two decades ago the Baisakh festivities and the universal celebration were not like this. The programs, festivities and the food culture were confined within some middle class cultural minded people. Chayanat used to arrange their program at Batamul on this day. Only cultural activists and people of middle class were seen there. But a lot has changed in the past two decades. The colors of welcoming summer has spread to the higher and lowers classes of people. Now it has truly become a festival for masses. [..] Even the working class people are saving a budget from their meager income for the Pahela Baisakh festivities. They are buying special clothes for this day, going out with loved ones. They are buying something from the fairs.

There are many programs arranged by different socio-cultural organizations during the whole day. On this day Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) is campaigning [bn] to portray the culture and tradition of the country in Wikipedia.

Bangladesh is a developing country. Its per capita income is 828 USD [bn]. There are many problems in the country like political disturbances and unemployment. But during Pahela Baisakh everybody forgets that and joins in funfair. Everybody shares the enjoyment and celebrations. S. M. Rahat Khan shares (with picture) the same [bn] at Somewhereinblog.

লাল-সাদা শাড়িতে……পাঞ্জাবিতে…চারদিক এত বর্ণিল…কে বলবে পৃথিবীর একটি গরিব দেশ বাংলাদেশ? কে বলবে নানা কষ্ট আর না পাওয়ার দেশ বাংলাদেশ? সবাই যেন সব ভুলে একটি দিনের জন্য হলেও সুখের স্বর্গে পরিণত করে বাংলাকে…

In red-white Saris.. Panjabis… every place is so colorful.. who will say that Bangladesh is a poor country in the world. Who will say that Bangladesh is a country full of deprivation and pain. Everybody forgets those to make this day a heaven of happiness…

Bangladesh: Eviction of Slum in Dhaka Creates Humanitarian Catastrophe

Rezwan — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 22:59:49 +0000

On Wednesday (4th of April, 2012) the dwellers of Karail slum, one of the biggest in the Bangladesh capital, were evicted by the authorities to free Gulshan Lake from land grabbers. The inhabitants were given short notice via miking in the previous day, which many might have missed. Thousands of structures including houses and shops were demolished on less than a day's notice at 80-acre land of BTCL in Karail and other slums in Dhaka. A slum dweller claimed that her 4 year old girl has been missing as soon as bulldozers had hit the shanties.

The Incremental House posted a case study on this expansive slum:

The entire settlement is resistance. It is on someone else’s land. Morphologically, it couldn’t be any more different than the surrounding wealthy estates of Gulshan and Banani. The water bounds is. The inhabitants have set up full formal transportation networks of boats to ferry people to and from their jobs.

[..] It is pretty clearly planned, does that make it a space of resistance? Where does it gets it water and electricity from? The boats scrape the water pipes floating in the water. The pipes tap into the main lines in Banani. Someone is controlling it. Electricity is strung over the water, again tapped into the main line.

Here is a short video (uploaded by lizscarff) showing glimpses of coexistence of rich and poor in the surroundings of Karail slum:

In my Bangla blog I wrote [bn] about the background of the eviction:

গত বছর ২০শে সেপ্টেম্বর রাজউক এরকম স্বল্প নোটিসে আরেকটি উচ্ছেদ অভিযান চালায় সেখানে। পুলিশ আর পাড়ার মাস্তানদের দ্বারা ১২০টিরও বেশী পরিবার উচ্ছেদ করা হলেও পরে তারা আবার এসে বাসা করে। গত ২০০৮ সালে প্রথম পিডাব্লিউডি উচ্ছেদের নোটিশ পাঠালে আইন ও শালিস কেন্দ্র পুনর্বাসন ছাড়া উচ্ছেদ মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘন এই বলে হাইকোর্টে একটি স্টে অর্ডার নেয়। সেই মামলার বিভিন্ন শুনানীতে পুনর্বাসনের কথা বলা হয় তবে গত জানুয়ারীতে হাইকোর্ট সরকারকে আদেশ দেয় দুই মাসের মধ্যে এই বেদখলকৃত জমি উদ্ধার করতে - তবে সেখানে পুনর্বাসনের কোন কথা বলা হয় নি।

Last year on 20th September RAJUK (housing authority) went for another eviction drive giving short notice. Police and local goons forced 120 families out and destroyed their homes but later they came back. In 2008 PWD (Public Works Department) first sent the eviction letter to the slum dwellers. Ain O Shalish Kendro, an NGO advocated for them and obtained a stay order from the court claiming that without rehabilitation such eviction is a violation of human rights. In different stages of that trial the issue of rehabilitation was discussed at various lengths. But last January the court ordered to free those lands from land-grabbers and award the owners (govt agencies) - but there was no mention of any rehabilitation of the existing dwellers.

করাইল এলাকার এইসব ভূমিহীন বস্তিবাসীর ৩০ ভাগ দিনমুজুর, ২০% রিক্সা-ভ্যান চালায়, ১৮% গার্মেন্টস কর্মী ও ১২% ছোট ব্যবসা করে। তাদের মাসিক আয় ২৫০০-৪৫০০ টাকা এবং স্থানীয় মান্তানদের ৮০ স্কয়ার ফিটের ঘর ভাড়া দিতে হয় ৮০০-১২০০ টাকা।

More than 30 percent of the dwellers of Karail Slum are day labourers, 20 percent rickshaw and van-pullers, 18 percent garments workers and 12 percent small traders. An average family earn only BD Taka 2,500-Tk 4,500 ($30-$52) a month and they have to pay local influentials BS Taka 800 - 1200 ($10-$14) for rent of a 80 square foot illegal shanty house.

Residents of ‘Karail Slum’ take part at a human chain to express their demands. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (18/2/2012)

Julkarnain questions [bn] the eviction without any plans to rehabilitate these people:

আমাদের মানবিক বিবেচনা কী দিন দিন হারিয়ে যাচ্ছে? নাকি বিবেচনার গলা টিপে রোবোটিক হয়ে উঠছি প্রতিনিয়ত আমরা? এমনিতেই শহরে প্রচুর ভাসমান লোক এখানে সেখানে বসবাস করে। তার সাথে যদি এরা যুক্ত হয় তাহলে শহরের না কোনও সৌন্দর্য বর্ধন হবে না আইন-শৃংখলা পরিস্থিতির কোনও উন্নয়ন সাধন হবে।

Are we losing our humanity? Or whether we are strangling our power to considerate and are being robotic? The city is filled with landless destitutes. If these people join in the gang of homeless people then the city won't be beautified and the law order situation will deteriorate.

The slum dwellers protested forming a human chain and blocking important roads of the capital creating a chaos in the roads. The traffic was suspended in the Gulshan Mohakhali link road on Wednesday for three hours creating long tails in many roads of the capital.

Twitter users also expressed their opinions.

@nhasan89: I think today is a dark day that will go down in history. The people are being pushed to their absolute limit. #karail #freebangladesh

@EEP_shiree: A devastating eviction in Karail slum on April 4 broke nearly 45,000 houses … what can we do for these urban extreme poor people?

@KorviRakshand: At this moment, thousands of people are homeless and without shelter at the Karail Slum near Banani Lake. http://t.co/LpeAmBnk

Shanty dwellers of Karail Slum take shelter at T&T Colony ground in Gulshan after eviction. Image by Firoz Ahmed (Copyright Demotix 5/4/2012)

@shahanasiddiqui: It's unbelievably dark out - #kaalboishakhi - summer storm. Really worried about the ppl of #karail who are out under the open sky

@mehrabsaurav: Lying in my bed but thinking about the homeless people who were evicted from Karail Slum. I feel helpless, I couldn't be of any help! #Dhaka

@shahanasiddiqui: Hey everyone, @JAAGOFoundation is preparing food for the #karail evictees. help needed with distribution. Pls be there by 12 noon TNT field

@JAAGOFoundation: For the last 36 hours, we have been distributing food to the victims of the Karail Slum Demolition from a small… http://t.co/NarANbkC

Heavy downpour on Friday made the situation worse for the evicted slum dwellers.

South Asia: Every Day Is Earth Hour for Us

Rezwan — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:17:26 +0000

Earth Hour is a worldwide awareness event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and it is held on the last Saturday of March annually. On this day households and businesses are requested to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about climate change. More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 and this year many more cities like Dhaka, Bangladesh, will be joining.

South Asia is a region with many developing countries hungry for power. Millions of people in the Indian sub-continent have no access to electricity, and the power sector is plagued by corruption and inefficiency. The demand is much bigger than supply so many countries use load shedding (planned rolling blackouts) to manage the electricity distribution.

In countries like Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh daily there are 4-12 hours of load shedding varying on the situation everyday. Netizens are vocal on the issue of observing earth hour in the social media. While some are requesting others to observe Earth Hour, some are thinking that this is not more than a joke. The following tweets from the region reflect what they have in mind.

Bangladesh

@KaziAhadKader (Kazi A. Kader): “@dailystarnews Bangladesh for the first time tonight will observe Earth Hour…” We were doing that long before it had such a fancy name.

@shuvo666 (Shuvo Rashid): No wonder #Bangladesh is one of the most environment conscious countries in the world. We celebrate Earth Hour every day, 12 times! #Blackout

@irteja (Irteja Ali)‏ Today Power Development Board (PDB) is going to celebrate Earth Hour 2012 by giving 12 hours of load shedding of electricity in Bangladesh.

Bhutan

@AumChang (Aum Chang): i had an Earth Hour today. and also yesterday. and day before yesterday. thanks to BPC power cuts, i enjoy an #EarthHour every day! #Bhutan

A view of an Earth Hour in Dimapur, Northeastern State of India. Power Department of Nagaland, shut down power supplies to celebrate Earth Hour. Image by Sorei Mahong. Copyright Demotix (27/3/2010))

India

@suyogg (Suyog Gaidhani): Earth Hour in India is a cruel joke.

@MalluJat (Ramesh Menon) 72% of India with no power connection celebrate earth hour. 1% from the rest switch off their lights, and issue PR and congratulatory msgs

@RealBharatkumar (Bharat Kumar): In india especially where I am we have earth hour everyday. So all you people who are switching their light off an hour we do it everyday.

@virenb (Viren Bhandari): People of the world should not worry about the earth hour, India has got it all covered!! #nobizlii here.

Nepal

@ayushbista (Aron): Please Switch off your lights for the Earth Hour !! Oh wait !! Don't bother ! We've got Loadshedding anyway. Nepal, (Earth Hour Forever) !!

@hardfire (Avinash Kundaliya): every day, we celebrate earth hour in Nepal .. :-P

@cinderellaman23 (SumanK Rajbhandari ): #Nepal may be the greatest Earth Hour Supporter because of loadshedding :)

@nazushrestha (Sujan Shrestha): In case you don't have loadshedding 2nite, switch off your lights for one hour from 8:30pm-9:30pm to support Earth Hr. #Nepal @tfcNepal #fb

People participate in a programme on 60+Earth Hour in Kathmandu, Nepal. Image by Sunil Sharma. Demotix (26/3/2011))

Pakistan

@adnanrasool (Adnan Rasool): I have to say this… Y r certain corporations spending tons of money to celebrate earth hour.. we have it every other hour.. #Pakistan

@AzeemUhassan (Azeemullah Hassan ): So the Earth Hour would be celebrated from 8:30pm to 9:30pm in #Pakistan Thankfully there's no light in my area in #Karachi at that time :P

@Mahamali05 (Maham Ali)‏ Is Pakistan also supposed to observe Earth Hour? We already observe Earth Hour at least 6-8 hours a day everyday.

Speak For Change writes in a blog post:

Earth Hour is a serious issue and one must not write against it. Is it a bigger issue than load-shedding that we experience daily in all parts of the country? Is it a bigger problem than the losses in millions we attain due to the absence of electricity to the industries? Is it more serious an issue than the non-availability of electricity in a local hospital where patients are operated upon under standby generators because the electricity doesn’t show up? I don’t think it is more serious than countless scenarios like these, because it is not for us, people living in third world countries.

India, Bangladesh: Caught In The Cyber War

Rezwan — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 01:34:47 +0000

A cyber war between Bangladesh and India broke out last month as Bangladeshi hackers defaced Indian border security Force's website in protest of the recent border killings by BSF. When news broke out in Bangladeshi media on February 11, 2012 that Indian hacker groups, Indishell, Hindustan Cyber Army and Indian Cyber Army hacked five Bangladesh government ministry websites in retaliation, their Bangladeshi counterparts, Bangladesh Black Hat Hackers (BBHH), Bangladesh Cyber Army (BCA) and 3xp1r3 Cyber Army (3CA) joined in the frenzy. Between February 11 -14 reports claimed that over 400 Bangladeshi sites were hacked by Indian hackers and thousands of Indian websites were attacked by Bangladeshi hackers and many of them were defaced.

Screenshot courtesy Anup Sadi

Anup Sadi informs:

Bangladeshi hackers started cyber war against India on 8 February, 2012. The hackers declared that the Border Security Force of India must stop border killing at Bangladesh-India border.

Sebastian Murdoch-Gibson reported:

Young hackers affiliated with both the “Black Hat” group and “Bangladesh Cyber Army” have begun attacks on Indian commercial web sites. These hacker groups claim to have hit targets critical to the continuation of Indian commerce. Some of these sites include stock exchanges.

In keeping with the combative language of the hacker community groups, “Indishell” and “India Cyber Army” launched a retaliatory strike on Bangladeshi web sites.

The attacks of Bangladeshi hackers, who are claiming the complete attainment of all objectives, have followed a popular form similar to that employed by “hacktavist” group Anonymous. The hackers have typically defaced web sites, replacing their content with Bangladeshi flags and images of people tortured by Indian border guards.

The news caught much media attention and even a masked hacker was interviewed by a local TV channel. Netizens were also vocal on this issue.

Anarjo Sangeet at Sachalayatan writes [bn]:

সব মিলিয়ে জানতে পারলাম ভারতীয় ১৫ হাজারেরও বেশিসাইট হ্যাক করেছে বাংলাদেশী এবং বাংলাদেশের পক্ষে অন্য দেশের হ্যাকাররা। ভারতীয় হ্যাকারদের দল ইন্ডিশেল বলেছে, রবিবার রাতের মধ্যে বাংলাদেশীদের এই হ্যাকিং বন্ধ না হলে তারা বাংলাদেশের গুরুদ্বপূর্ণ সব ওয়েব সাইট গুঁড়িয়ে দেবে। তাতে অবশ্য বাংলাদেশের হ্যাকাররা থেমে নেই। বরং দেখতে পাচ্ছি ব্লগে-ফেসবুকে সাধারণ ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহারকারীদের প্রয়োজনীয় নির্দেশনা দিয়ে হ্যাকিংয়ে সম্পৃক্ত করছে হ্যাকাররা।

I have learnt that more than 15000 Indian websites were hacked by Bangladeshis and hackers of other countries supported them. The Indian hackers group “Indishell” said if this hacking spree do not stop within next Sunday, they will deface all important websites of Bangladesh. But that did not deter the Bangladeshi hackers. I am seeing that they are increasing force by recruiting more users via blog and facebook giving directions how to hack.

বাংলাদেশের হ্যাকারদের ক্ষোভ এবং আবেগের সততায় কোনো সন্দেহ পোষণ করছি না আমি। বিএসএফ-এর কর্মকাণ্ড ঘৃণ্য তাতে কোনো সন্দেহ নেই। এর প্রতিবাদ করা দরকার। প্রতিবাদ যাঁরা করছেন তাঁদেরকে অভিনন্দন জানাই। বাংলাদেশের হ্যাকারদের কর্মকাণ্ডও প্রতিবাদ। অবশ্যই যৌক্তিক প্রতিবাদ। প্রশ্ন হচ্ছে, প্রতিবাদের পদ্ধতিটি কতটুকু গ্রহনযোগ্য। অথবা যে পদ্ধতিতে প্রতিবাদ করা হচ্ছে তাতে কী ফলাফল আশা করতে পারি আমরা?

I am not questioning the rage of the Bangladeshi hackers or the honesty of their emotions. There is no doubt that the deeds of BSF is reprehensible. We have to protest. I congratulate to those who protested. The deeds by the Bangladeshi hackers are a kind of protest. A logical one. But the question is, whether their method is acceptable. Or the way it is being protested - can it bring any result?

The blogger also says that this incident should be a learning curve for the Bangladeshi government too who needs to beef up cyber security for its government sites.

Screenshot of a message by Indian hackers

Diganta commented [bn] on the above post:

ওয়েবসাইট হ্যাকিং করা সময় নষ্ট ছাড়া আর কিছু বলে মনে হয় না।

Hacking websites is nothing but wastage of time.

Blogger Kowshik warns [bn] that some political elements, especially the religious party Jamaat-e-Islami are using this cyber war to spread their hatred against India. He warned internet users not to fall into their prey.

The hacking spree ended when the law and enforcement agencies of both the countries became active to catch the hackers. Blogger Kawser Alam reports [bn] that on 27th of February a Bangladeshi hackers group had announced in their Facebook group that the war has ended claiming their success in escalating their cause.

Bangladesh: Court Orders Shutting Down of Facebook Pages for Blasphemous Contents

Rezwan — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 03:56:29 +0000

On 21 March, 2012, a Bangladesh court ordered concerned authorities to shut down five Facebook pages and a website for blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed, the Koran and other religious subjects. The ruling has also demanded why hosts/creators/administrators of the website/pages should not be be brought to justice for uploading indecent materials. The most worrying aspect is that the order also asks why the process of shutting down such websites/pages in the future should not be initiated.

Two university teachers filed a law suit earlier complaining that these pages and the site were hurting people's religious sentiments. Facebook is extremely popular in Bangladesh and there are an estimated 2.5 million Facebook users and the country ranks 55th. In 2010, Facebook was temporarily blocked for sometime on charges of malicious propaganda against the Prime Minister and hurting religious feelings.

According to reports the accused pages contain disparaging remarks and cartoons about Prophet Mohammed, the Muslim holy book of Koran, Jesus, Lord Buddha and Hindu gods. Some of the cartoons of the Gods are said to be very close to pornography.

The netizens were slow to react on this as they know that there had been a law suit against an University teacher for his Facebook Status. Furthermore, there is an increasing pressure on the government to closely monitor Facebook activities as it is being used for all sorts of purposes. They are also concerned whether this ruling, if imposed, will be used as a precedence to curb freedom of speech of netizens.

Facebook user Tanvir questioned in a note [bn]:

সংবিধানের ২৭ অনুচ্ছেদঃ সকল নাগরিক আইনের দৃষ্টিতে সমান এবং আইনের সমান আশ্রয় লাভের অধিকারী।

দেশে হিন্দু / বৌদ্ধ / খ্রিস্টান / নাস্তিক / মুক্ত-মনা / সংশয়বাদী / Agnostik ইত্যাদি দের সংখ্যা কম বিধায় তাদের অনুভুতি কম মূল্যবান এবং মুসলমানরা বেশি বিধায় তাদের অনুভুতি বেশী মূল্যবান এরকমটা আদালত মনে করেন কিনা জানতে চাই।

The 27th section of the constitution: Every citizen is equal in the eyes of the law and protected by the law equally.

I want to know whether the respected court feels that the numbers of Hindu/Buddhists/Christian/Atheist/Non-believer/Agnostic etc are less in the country so their feelings are not that important and because we have a Muslim majority their feelings are far more important.

বিজ্ঞ আদালত শুধু ধর্মানুভুতিতে আঘাত থামাতে আগ্রহী নাকি সব ধরণের অনুভুতিতে আঘাত থামাতে আগ্রহী (উদাহরণস্বরূপঃ আদালতানুভুতি, বিজ্ঞানানুভুতি , ইতিহাসানুভুতি, ক্রীড়ানুভুতি)…ইদানীংকালে আমরা অনেক ধরণের অনুভুতিতে লোকজন কে আঘাত হানতে দেখি । বড়ই অনুভুতি পরায়ণ জাতি এই বাঙালি।

Whether the respected court is interested only to protect only from hurting religious feelings or from other feelings too (e.g. feelings on court rulings, feeling on science, feelings on history, feelings on sports etc)…. we see that people are hurting all sorts of feelings of others. We Bengalis are very emotional with our feelings.

Tanvir comments [bn]:

কিন্তু ধর্মকে অবান্তর ব্যাঙ্গ বিদ্রুপ আর কটূক্তি অনুসরণযোগ্য না হলেও এই কাজগুলো বন্ধের চেষ্টায় ফোরাম /ব্লগ / ওয়েবসাইট বন্ধ করে দেয়ার বিজ্ঞ আদালতের সিধান্ত কোন ভাবেই সমর্থনযোগ্য নয় কেননা এতে করে যৌক্তিক ও বস্তুনিষ্ঠ সমালোচনার পথ ও রুদ্ধ করা হয় ।

মনে রাখতে হবে , কলমের জবাব সবসময় কলম দিয়েই দেয়া উচিও, তলোয়ার বা পেশিশক্তি দিয়ে নয়।

I am against such ridiculing and parody of the religions but cannot support the measure to shut down Forums/blogs/websites as a measure to deter such ridiculing. Because it shuts down the avenue of all constructive and logical criticisms.

We have to keep in mind, the reply to pen should be given with pen, not with sword or muscles.

Some Facebook users are supporting this ban and reminds that there are a few atheist sites in Bangladesh who do not have blasphemous contents but have constructive criticisms. The recent court ruling is not on those but on sites that are really harmful.

Another Facebook user Ranadipam says [bn]:

কোন অন্তর্জালিক সাইটের নৈঃশব্দ আমাকে বিরক্ত বা ডিস্টার্ব করে না। ওগুলোতে ঢোকা বা না-ঢোকার স্বাধীনতা রয়েছে আমার। কিন্তু আশেপাশের আয়োজিত ধর্মসভা এবং অন্যান্য আয়োজনগুলোর কানফাটানো মাইকের চিৎকার আমি না-চাইলেও আমার ব্যক্তিস্বাধীনতা বিপন্ন করে আমাকে বিরক্ত করে। আমার সবরকমের অনুভূতিকে আঘাতপ্রাপ্ত করে। এর প্রতিকার আমি কার কাছে চাইবো ?

The silence of the internet sites do not disturb me because I have the right to enter or avoid those sites. But the religious sermons and the loud sounds of other religious activities around me hamper my individual rights and disturb me. They hurt my all types of feelings. Where from will I get justice?

The concerned authorities said that they have contacted Facebook authorities to block these pages and the Bangladeshi netizens are fortunate that this time the authorities are following the court order prudently and there is no blanket ban on Facebook.

Bangladesh: The Plight of the Indigenous People

Rezwan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:50:46 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Indigenous Rights.

In Bangladesh there are more than 45 indigenous tribes (adibashis) [bn] of which 11 reside in the Chittagong hill tracts. The rest are scattered in other parts of the country. Many of them are not faring well. Every day some of them are being subjected to discrimination, oppression and abuse.

A report by Kapeng Foundation and Oxfam [bn] entitled “Human Rights Situation of the Adibashis - 2011″, reveals that last year violent racial clashes related to land disputes resulted in the burning down of 111 indigenous homes. Seven tribal people were killed and 12 houses were ransacked. Eleven tribal women were raped in different incidents and five of them were killed.

Tribal indigenous people of Bangladesh. Image by Anwar Hussain, copyright Demotix (9 August, 2010).

Mithushilak Murmu [bn] commented on the motivation of these attacks:

It seems that our neighbors, the bigger communities are being mobilized by racial thoughts. The father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's secular thinking and non-racial and inclusive perspectives are being blacked out by his successors. The indigenous people are afraid most of the times, they are living in fear.

Malobika Tudo [bn] said:

The tribal children learn their first words in Bangla, which is not their mother tongue. And it seems there is nobody in this country to speak for them.

Ajal Dewan came to Dhaka from Chittagong Hill Tracts for higher studies. He wrote [bn] in the Adibashi Bangla (Indigenous Bengali) blog how he faced problem with his tribal features:

Most of my experiences in this short lived life are bitter. But the most bitter ones include being bullied for my distinctive face and language. The waiter at the restaurant frowns at me and if I sing a song in my own language in the street I face the same consequence. If I sing or recite in Bangla, there is no problem. [It seems] it's a crime to speak in my language.

There is no respite even in university. My classmates think that we savor snakes and frogs as we live on the hills. I have to answer questions all the time on whether we eat cockroaches or sleep in treehouses. […]

Antoni Rema [bn] has similar experiences:

We are bullied [by men] when we walk down the streets. Especially the fair skinned tribal [women] like us are facing this trouble the most. On the streets, we are being frowned upon with nonsense words (like chang, chung), we are being teased, taunted and distracted. Do they know how much it hurts us?

We can get a feeling about the type of repression the tribal people are subjected to from the posts of Ajal Dewan and Antini Rema. This is not only true for the indigenous people of the hills - all tribes of the country have similar stories to tell.

The oppression on them is motivated by mainly the urge to grab and occupy their lands and livelihoods. Journalist Biplob Rahman wrote in an article [bn] after visiting a tribe in the north of Bangladesh:

In recent times the minority Santal tribes of Birganj, Chirir Bandar, Fulbari and Nababganj of Dinajpur Zila have continued to lost their lands to occupiers. Almost 500000 indigenous Santals have virtually no assets after losing everything over the years.

On the other hand Mithushilak Murmu [bn] writes about the plights of the indigenous labors who work in the tea gardens of Sylhet after visiting them:

They get a wage of Taka 30 (35 US Cents) after a day's hard work. In the early morning they start to pluck tea leaves and fill the bamboo buckets and continue till the evening takes them to the factory. […] The price of tea has increased day by day, but their benefits and wages haven't.

The plights of the discriminated, abused and oppressed tribes were deepened by a remark [bn] by the country's foreign minister. Several months ago in a discussion with the delegates of development organizations and diplomats she mentioned “there is no indigenous people in the country“.

In her opinion, because in the past centuries several tribes have come from neighboring countries to settle in the hills of Bangladesh, they should not be termed as indigenous, but tribal minorities. The indigenous tribes reacted strongly to this statement; they took the streets to protest and claim constitutional recognition.

Indigenous people of Bangladesh are demanding constitutional recognition in Dhaka. Image by Abu Ala, copyright Demotix (29/4/2011).

Odong Chakma in a post in Mukto Mona blog depicts how a poster on indigenous people in the Dhaka (Hajrat Shahjalal) International Airport has been altered. A white band has been placed on the caption “smiling indigenous women of Chittagong Hill-Tract” under the picture and it reads now “.. women of Chittagong Hill-Tract”.

The blogger says:

Can you wipe out the indigenous population by wiping the name?

It may be mentioned that although the tribal and Bengali people have lived together for centuries, after the partition of India (in 1947), Muslim settlers came pouring in from India and started to settle in the Chittagong Hill tracts. The confrontations started from there, which became acute when in 1979 the government undertook a program to settle almost half a million people in the indigenous lands.

Ramdaschand Hasda [bn] says in this context:

After living hundreds of years together, the Bengalis and the indigenous people could not be friends.

This post is part of our special coverage on Indigenous Rights.

Bangladesh: A Journey in Photos with Featured Blogger GMB Akash

Rezwan — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:41:07 +0000

“I breathe in photography. Without photography I have no existence.” - GMB Akash

Gone are the days when any news by the international media on Bangladesh would invariably contain photos of political disturbances and natural disasters. Thanks to many talented young amateur and professional photographers you will find thousands of photos on Bangladesh online, especially in photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa, showing the other sides of Bangladesh. There are also a number of photobloggers emerging from Bangladesh sharing their works and photo essays.

I would like to introduce to you the works of one such photographer and blogger who is making quite an impression in the international arena in portraying Bangladesh. GMB Akash's passion for photography began in 1996. He attended the World Press Photo seminar in the capital Dhaka for 3 years and graduated from Pathshala, the South Asian photography institute in Dhaka.

He has received more than 40 international awards from all around the world and his work has been featured in over 50 major international news and media publications. His awards include the World Press Photo award (2006) and the International Travel photographer of the year award (2009). Read an interview at Tiffinbox to learn more about him.

He writes about his photos:

These images are stories of my won experiences. I am displaying a short view about the tour of my life. These journeys blend me with so many characters of my life. Sometimes I run, sometimes I ride on the top of the roof of the train, I sleep in the flooded floor, I swim, I hang on, spend a long time in slums and above all I meet these souls. I become one of them in a while. These adventures lay in the bed of danger. But after reaching to those people, getting entry to their door and when they take me as friend all my hard work and risks become worthy. I will keep walking, touching every face through my lens. I will show the world those unknown stories of sufferings. If a single hand comes to give them a shade that will be the real honor of my sweat.

His exemplary works include photography on Hijras (physiological males who have feminine gender identity). Some excerpts from his blogpost on Hijras:

It was 1999, when I first realized I need to focus stories on helpless communities. For that feeling, there was a story behind. As a child, I was a frequent visitor to my uncle’s house at Narayangonj, some 25 kilometers north of Dhaka. My uncle had a hermaphrodite locally called as Hijra, whose name was “Khushi” -meaning happiness, but that is what she very much lacked in her life.

Hijras get a mixed reception from the people; the middle class thinks them as bad omen even the sight of a Hijra in the morning is regarded as the same and believed can spoil the whole day. Where as among the lower class they are believed to posses spiritual powers as they are deprived of the joys of a normal life, their prayers are believed to be answered.

GMB Akash is sitting with one of the many sisters from the Tangail brothel. By documenting on them he shares their story of pain to the world. Image courtesy GMB Akash

His photoblog contains stories of pain, sufferings, joy and hope of the ordinary people of Bangladesh. In the photo essay born to work he shares the issue of child labor:

Shilu works separating sand and stone. At least 10,000 people, including 2,500 women and over 1,000 children, are engaged in stone and sand collection from the Bhollar Ghat on the banks of the Piyain River. Building materials such as stone and sand, and the cement which is made from it, are in short supply in Bangladesh, and commands a high price from building contractors. The average income is around 150 taka (less than 2 USD) a day. Jaflong, Sylhet

Watch his TEDx talk in Portugal at TEDxO'Porto 2011 where he discussed his long term project, ‘Survivors’ offering an in-depth understanding of the process and motivation behind this kind of work. Survivors: “The invincibility of human determination to struggle and survive against all odds” is a book by Galleria di Porta Pepice of the photographs by GMB Akash.

You can follow GMB Akash at his Website, blog, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter accounts.