06/12/2015: When the Hype is Over

Narendra Damador Modi has come and gone. In the print and electronic media it’s all gold and glitter. Our honorable PM danced in elation. And our honorable ex-PM read a litany of complaints from her sorry cheat-sheet at Modi’s musings. Yes, if he wished, like Caesar, Modi could have twitted back to his own capital - veni vidi vici ...

Yes, substantial accomplishment happened. LBA is done. It’s great. However, the scope of LBA is not that wide or important in the context of wider national scape. Murder at border and Felani’s hanging corpse is languid but still lingers. Despite fanfare and signing of score-plus bilateral accords of puny-plus significance, a half billion vs six billion dollar trade imbalance still lingers in our sceptic mind. Visa simplification still cries in vain for the Delhi-Wala’s sympathetic ears. 

And the five-hundred-pound gorilla, I mean equitable sharing of common river waters, thanks to the Chief Minister of our neighboring Opar Bangla, is a hush hush taboo… 

In his well-received speech Modi uttered the forbidden words Teesta and Feni with an urbane inflection. He, too, is thinking of a resolution; he said – it is humanitarian … 

Sorry. It’s no humanitarian. It is a legal issue. Norm of water sharing of international rivers follows certain international rules and regulations. It can’t be done by diktat or by benevolence of a brutal (think of Gujrat pogrom) leader. 

Hope is what we got from Manmohan – it didn’t work. Hope is what we again got from Manmohan’s successor – and it shall not work. 

When the hype is over, it’s all fruitless floccinaucinihilipilification – thus says the wiser. 

04/09/2025: Haque Vs Awal Vs the Dark-Horse Candidate (An Wishful Musing in Political Romanticism)

Anisul Haque is a tested businessman and an untested and unknown quanta in politics. Tabith Awal is a novice businessman and also is an untested and unknown quanta in politics. Selection, as opposed to be popularly nominated, of these two persons for the highly prestigious mayoral office of Dhaka City Corporation North (DCC-North) is tantamount to political blighting or bankruptcy of the two major parties of today’s Bangladesh.

It is a shame that none of the party-supreme can find an untainted man/woman to steer the capital city to its rightful glory. And the reason behind is very simple – today’s politics nourishes neither politics nor political leadership for the morrow. It’s all about the supreme leadership – her wishes and the wishes of her kowtowing lesser leaders who have learned the art of playing kerfuffle so well …

Both Mr. Haque and Mr. Awal are from outside the rigid establishment of two political Ghoranas. It is possible that they will be able to think out of the box, and steer the city for better days. But history of the recent past forces us contemplate the opposite. If Mr. Haque wins, he will win because of the good grace of his mentor. Without any popular support (that a good politician usually can have), he will have no power but to succumb to the wishes of the Prime Minister. On the other hand, if Mr. Awal wins, his situation will be much more precarious. He will have to honor the wishes of his leader (Begum Khaleda Zia). At the same time, while navigating the murky alleys of political Dhaka, he will have to give way to the wishes of the perpetual nemesis of his own leader. An impossible feat to accomplish even by slickest of all slicks …

Any pragmatic mind, I think will give Mr. Haque a definite edge. He is smart, articulate, rich (does not own a car though … ha ha …), and above all he is in the good book of an all-powerful Prime Minister. If he works hard, and I think, he will, his chance of delivering on his promise is more than 50/50.

Mr. Awal, if elected, will find himself stranded between the rock and the hard place. Unless he switches his allegiance (yes, he will not be tethered by that awful Article 70), he may be able to finish a 5-year fruitless term and end up with a laurel of multiple politically motivated law suites; and if lucky will be dismissed by the LGRD ministry for some 'God-knows-what-reason' leaving the citizenry of DCC-North stranded in the same old “trishonku” position. However, fugacious glory, like cherry is never forever. Hence, who can tell for sure, what the fate of a Mayor Awal shall be?

Well, I am not a pragmatic guy. I voted for Professor Muzaffar Ahmed when the lesser Rahman (I mean, General Ziaur Rahman) bagged the presidency of Bangladesh almost effortlessly. I am a political romantic. When a very elderly Professor Muzaffar Ahmed politely declined to be honored with the highest state honor, my 'kind-of-dystopian' political romanticism got its highest credence.

Political romanticism still remains infectious. The primordial days of Shahbag is a testament that such romanticism can still capture the imagination of the nation. I am a hard core hater of capital punishment. I never believed that the slogan of “Fashi Chai” was the reason why the whole conscience of Bangladesh was moved so much by a handful of Shahbag Youth. An overwhelming, yet subliminal anti-establishment yearning was the essence of Shahbag-to-its-True-Core. The entrenched establishment, early on, understood the power of Shahbag. They rapidly moved in. Took it over. And entropy ensued.

That anti-establishment yearning is still in the air. The youth and the politically non-aligned majority of the citizenry can still pull an awe. Mr. Haque or Mr. Awal, even their all-powerful mentors can be dumb founded. Yes, this very romantic spirit of Shahbag is alive and well. When the right spark arrives, Shahbag shall roar again like a dragon and shall breath fire to burn the entrenched coterie to their ashes.

I still see the spirit of Shahbag in the blogosphere, in the twits and in the face book statuses. Some of the prime movers Shahbag are hyper-vocal and writing incessantly in support of the dark horse candidacy of Junaid Saki. I have seen him once in a television talk show. He came across knowledgable, thoughtful and well spoken. For Saki, being tall and handsome is definitely a plus in politics! Mahi B. Chowdhury is smart and articulate and handsome. He is likable and I like him. But his politics remain rooted in the non-kosher politics of BAL/BNP paradigm. I do not believe that he has the right innards to light up the aspirations of the Shahbag masses.

I am not sure, how things shall play out. My pragmatic brain is willing to settle for something like Mr. Haque. But my heart cries for something more, something that shall make make soul soar to its romantic self. Yes, my heart pines for the 'break-out-of-the-pack-dark-horse-candidate'.

If citizens of Dhaka desires an AshwaMedha Jagya, they have to look for and find out the right horse to run and claim the terror-laden territory once and for all. 

02/17/2015: It’s No Time to Discourse

DISCOURSE is the zeitgeist. Talk show pundits to ‘Aam Admi’ all are rooting for a discourse. Another diplomatic foray by Oscar Fernandez Taranco seems to be on the offing, apparently 'cause the natives of the land are not big enough or smart enough to tame the churlish braggadocio of the reigning actors (I mean, the honorable PM and the honorable ex-PM). 



I am not sure that a meaningful discourse is possible at this juncture, for discourse is a natural extension of two logical minds of differing philosophies as they interact and strive to interject some cohesion. Successful discourse is constructed upon a good dose of healthy respect for the “Opposing Partner”. Although it sounds oxymoron, I am choosing the term deliberately to emphasize the fact that discourse is not for the hot-headed philistine who cannot bear the smell of opposition. “It’s no time to discourse, so Chrish (Christ) save me; the day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the king and the dukes: it’s no time to discourse.” (Shakespeare: King Henry V, Act III, Scene II

Well, without a sense of healthy respect and optimal ambience, not even Christ is going to save a discourse.

I do watch deshi television and read a lot more deshi newspapers on the net. I notice a tremendous amount of knowledge and talent in flux. Some are lovable while some are odious; and that’s all right. But a discourse without a sense of common sense is nonsense. A discourse has to undulate our mind like a gentle stroke of a finger-on-a-harp. It’s okay to bite and scratch and scratch (borrowed from Montaigne) as long as there is a sense of sensibility.

Not long ago I received an email from a person who frequents NFB (a Bangladeshi news portal and discussion forum) rather frequently. A firm believer of religion, I gather, he was irrationally furious at a certain scribe who made a name for himself by incessantly trashing religion of all sort, especially Islam. I also gather that this gentleman, a representative of silent majority, wrote only because, he was infuriated. One who writes or speaks or proposes, by definition is vocal, and intends to modulate the hearts and minds of those who are not yet in sink. Hence a discourse that brings forth such outright aversion is no discourse at all.

Going back to our honorable PM and ex-PM; I am an eternal optimist and still my mind is shrouded in gloom. I don’t see them looking eye to eye, sitting side by side and picking and poking each other’s brain in a way, that shall glean a ray of hope for the seventeen crores of souls who call themselves the real owner of Bangladesh.

A proposition, a concept or a statement that materialize no sensible consequence in the minds of the involved, whatever vainglorious it may be, is of no meaning. A noun is nothing a noun unless a verb is there to undulate it.

January 28, 2015: Looking Beyond Hasina/Khaleda Paradigm

Post-election (or selection) twelve month caesuras of 2014 was the cauldron where unabashed hatred and miasma were brewed only to spill over by the sheer lack of political wisdom on the part of the one-person-rule-of-SHW (Sheikh Hasina Wajed).  

Yes, BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) too, is ruled by one-person wish and whims and it made and continues to make serious political mistakes. This, however, does not negate their continued 30+% popular support.  

Buoyed by winning a flawed election, SHW just cannot wish the opponent away. And with the headwind of public mood as evidenced by the local elections of previous year, she also cannot offer a fair and interim election in which her boat is almost certain sink. So, she took the hawkish stand to tame the political enemy by brute force; underneath which, a sense of moral guilt and/or uneasiness is easily palpable. She is showering the military and other law enforcement outfits with all-they-want … being unbeknownst of the power of people – her ultimate master!

Whatever rotten it can be, Begum Khaleda Zia (BKZ) needed a little space to maneuver; pressed against the wall, even a dog shall bark. So it happened, and now we live in the dark dungeons of BKZ/SHW paradigm.  

It is now a fight unto finish for the two leaders. No – it is not a fight between the file and rank of BAL (Bangladesh Awami League) and BNP; they socialize, they intermarry and they all are not hate mongers …

In her zeal to fight the melee, supposedly unleashed by BKZ’s unwilling utterance of “OBORUDH” when she herself was “OBORUDDHO” by the silly acts of some very silly police-politicians on a silly presumption of “SECURITY”.

SHW has ordered her gun-bearing outfits to do all they can without worrying about any legal consequences.  She may not have the “Lal Gora” her farther had, but she has the equivalent in totally politicized police, BGB and RAB. 

Well, she also is borrowing a chapter from the dark days of BKZ's regime when she granted indemnity to military thugs – Operation Clean Heart whereby was morphed into an Operation Heart Attack.

The other day four senior ministers of SHW-regime had a meeting with the who’s who of Bangladeshi Media. No, they were not there to intimidate. There were there to lay the facts on table that things are all hunky dory in the land of BAL. 

By the way, which country they live in? Do their kids go in school in Bangladesh? Do they ride on public bus? Do they do their health check in Bangladeshi hospitals? Nope… but they surely have visited the burn unit in DMCH along with their big entourage including a few television cameras …

No, things are not hunky dory.  Lives of the little people are in ruins. State power is helpless and cannot provide security to its people. And this reminds this scribe of another dark age of our history, when state was in tatters and melee was the norm. 

Yes, after the death of Sasanka, sociopolitical construct of Bengal (from late 7^th to early 8^th century AD) was in chaos. Harshavardhana of Kanauj- Sasanka’s perpetual nemesis took a big bite while the rest was wrested by Bhaskaravarman, king of Kamrup. 

Without an overarching power (of Hobbs’ Leviathan), the petty chieftains were running amok.  Rule of law vanished. Rich and powerful were preying on the poor and weak. Taranath, the astute Tibetan Monk coined the word ‘MATHSHANNYA (a moral parallel of large fish eating small fish)” to describe this state of total entropy. It was the six hundreds and early seven hundreds. 

Now fast forward more than a millennium to first month of 2015; two unwise persons, driven largely by personal animosity for each other are the prime movers and their minions and the elites of the civil and arms-bearing outfits abetted by a self-serving genre of business-bureaucrat nexus is running amok and gobbling up the little fish, 

I mean, the poor and the powerless … its déjà vu all over again …

But wait – out of ruins and melee came Goplala – the first elected king of Bengal.

9/12/2014: The Pickwickian Evil that Ails the Honorable Minister

Despite his inane and some kind-of insane doings, Syed Mohsin Ali, the honorable minister of Bangladesh government who claims to have shared smoke and/or smoked alongside the father of our all-powerful sitting Prime Minister, deserves some credit to bring the not-so-peculiar Pickwickian issue to the fore; this issue, indeed, is a public health scourge, yet not a single newsman has written anything about up to this time. May be we lack the astute sense of Dickensian observation or we are too busy vilifying the ministers distasteful testiness.

Dickens’s “The Pickwick Paper” described a young Joe who was generous in build, had a love for gastronomical delights and had an uncanny ability to fell asleep anywhere. One hundred twenty years later in 1956, Dr. Burwell and his colleagues described this medical entity in a medical case report titled “Extreme Obesity Associated With Hypoventilation: A PICKWICKIAN SYNDROME”. This was case of a 51-year-old obese business executive weighing over 260 pounds and standing only five foot 5. He was suffering from obesity, fatigue and daytime somnolence. Somnolence was quite disabling that during a poker game he failed to take the opportunity when dealt with a hand of three aces and two kings! Such was the peril … however, Syed Mohsin Ali, I bet, given his very busy and successful life is doing quite well …

We have new name for this condition. We call it OBSTRUCTICVE SLEEP APNEA, a disorder, usually occurring in obese persons, in which, during sleep, lax tissue crowds the access to the breathing tube leading to frequent micro-awakenings and a state of chronic sleep deprivation leading daytime somnolence to catch up. Loud snoring is a very common associated feature. There is another kind of less common sleep apnea that can happen in non-obese persons too; it is called CENTRAL SLEEP APNEA, because, here the brain is at fault. In this article, we will focus on the more prevalent obstructive type.

What causes sleep apnea is a query that defies a clear or precise answer. During the wakeful hours the active tone of the throat muscles keeps the airway wide open. During sleep the absence of wakeful tone causes the muscles to relax with subsequent throat narrowing. Normally this is not a problem; however, in persons with obstructive sleep apnea there is partial or complete obstruction. Enough air does not flow in the lung, oxygen level in blood drops, that in turn wakes the brain up which help tighten the upper airway muscles and open the wind pipe. Normal breathing starts again, often with a loud snort or choking sound.

This oft repeated drop on blood oxygen level and reduced quality of sleep can trigger the release of stress hormones which, in turn, increases the risk of other nefarious maladies like high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and irregular heart rhythm. When untreated, sleep apnea also alters the normal energy utilization leasing further worsening obesity and the risk of diabetes.

Yes, it is a nasty disease and commonly it comes with a loud bell – snoring, which can prove sore in relationship too. However, its symptoms are not as stealthy as early hypertension or diabetes or cancer. Excessive day time sleepiness, fatigue, poor concentration, morning headache etc. should prompt a doctor’s visit and subsequent diagnostic work up including a possible polysomnogram (PSG) that does simultaneous measurement of brain activity, eye movements and, hear rate and blood pressure.

Once diagnosed, treatment, cumbersome though, is very effective. However, losing weight, avoiding alcohol and stopping tobacco smoking can be an intial thumbs up ...And this brings us back to our honorable minister Syed Mohsin Ali, who happened to an avid smoker too. Sir, it’s time to stop smoking and see a doctor …

06/13/2014: Divas and Kings: They, too, do Defecate

Shashanka was the first to bring the whole Bengal (Banga, Samatata and Gaud) together under one rule. Shashanka's death in 625 AD left Bengal into the hands of feeble rulers.Harshavardana and Vashkarvarma came hounding. There was total entropy of the polity. According to Tara Natha – every single Brahmin, every single Kshatriyo, and every Elite became too powerful within their own small fiefdom. He described the condition as Matsyanyaya (big fish eating small fish) until the people got fed up and elected Gopala as king in 750 AD. Gopala was nothing more than a garden variety Khastriyo. His Pedigree was not of  high kind; definitely not the kingly kind, that our current Prime Minister or her perpetual nemesis Begum Khaleda Zia do aptly delude of. Yes, the first popularly elected leader of Bengal, Gopala made a great king. My be, he is the greatest Bangalee of all time! Anyway, genetic make up, indeed, is not needed for the make of a good king and/or leader.

***

It is a fact that, like our honorable PM is an accomplished artist; so was Hitler. But I shall talk about a different kind of artist now – Magadha'a Bimbisara was a true musician. He was no fan of the Licchavi republic at his northern border. But the knights of the Licchavi had Ambrapali – whose beauty was exquisite and her skills outstanding. She was a courtesan of the highest order – kind of a institution by herself and a pride of the Licchavi knights. Bimbisara was smitten and when, in disguise, he met Ambrapali, he was doubly smitten. His musical talent was a boon – Ambrapali too was smitten. But his days of dalliance with Ambrapli enraged the Licchavi knights of Vaisali. And the subsequent stories were rather incarnadine.

Affair of heart, yes, is not very compatible with affair of state. Thus, when the supposed servant of the people, the PM pours her heart for a N'Ganj family of ugly repute, not knowing how her heartfelt affair shall influence the rule of law, I cringe ... Ambrapali, eventually saw the light and dedicated her life to the alter of the Sakya prince – the Buddha. And let's hope for something of this sort to befall on the PM's beloved family of N'Ganj ...

***

And the prince of the vacuous house of air or Hawa Vobon is on a tirade. I guess ­ a smart tirade! The lesser Rahman (his father) was being vilified right and left with very unkind words by the PM and her lackey ministers and her Awami minstrels.

So, the evil prince came swinging. He knew it well that Awami League (and also his own party) are glued together by apparitions of its slain leader. So, he is trying to bring the aristocratic image of the Father of the Nation down to the dirty and dinghy earth. Questions are being raised. But the people are smart, they have seen a lot and they don't care much.

But the Awami leaders seems to be more gullible and they are snarling right and left, oblivious of the fact that they, too, are not immune of Achilles heel.

***

The turbulent 9-­month caesura that gave birth to a politically independent Bangladesh had no kings or queens. Dedicated leaders of like Tajuddin Ahmed handled the most critical period of our national life just right. With out the benefit of the wisdom of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, things went very well. Now, when the country is immersed in another crisis, reminiscent of post-Shashanka Matsyanyaya - may be we need another commoner like Gopola or Tajuddin.

***

Michelle de Montaigne was an aristocrat who after a brilliant carrier in public service, retired at age 38 to write and reflect. He wrote numerous essays, often loosely bound – full of quotations, anecdotes and stories; essays long and short – some as long as a short book. 

Despite his earthly riches and a lofty mind, he was refreshingly humble. “­­­ ... so the opinion I give of this is to declare the measure of my sight, not the measure of things” - he said; and from this tangent of ignorance he was able to question all the inequities of our lives. And as such, he was refreshingly down to the earth – a simple fallible man, a true humanist. 

He worked as a courtier and lived in a castle; he was a philosopher influencing the likes of Shakespeare and Nietzsche – and yet he attacked his own pedigree by saying, “Kings and philosophers defecate, and so do ladies.” 

***

When shall our leaders shall realize that they are just fallible human and they, too, do defecate ...

05/03/2014: MONTRI: ?A New Curse Word

The very long and aristocratic appellation of Suja-ul-Mulk Hasim-ud-Daula Mir Mohammad Ja'afar Ali Khan Bahadur Mahabat Jung, through the passage of time, has reduced to a rather short “Mir Ja'afor” with a even shorter connotation – “the traitor”. He was a man of power, a general, who could have clipped the wings of British East India Company in 1957; if he did, the history of India, if not better, could have been different.

Yes, history has its funny way of taking revenge on its bad actors! Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonsson Quisling of Norway did not fare better, for he too abetted a foreign invader – Nazi Germany to be precise. At the fag end of Pakistani regime of General Muhammad Yahya Khan, a significant number of Bangalee joined different para-military outfits to help perpetuate the continuation of status quo; notwithstanding their rationale; they were on the wrong side of history and history took its revenge - “Razakar” is now synonymous with traitor or Mir Ja'afor or Quisling … Like Mir Ja'afor, this again can claim its origin in Bengal!

Undertone of words evolves with time; at time sophomoric banality gives way to unpropitious connotations. Razakar and Mir Ja'afor are words that lost innocence and morphed into a curse words very rapidly; however, it also possible that certain words, because of long association with nefarious people, can acquire nefarious connotations and eventually become curse words.

In his article “montri” meaning minister, Professor Jafor Iqbal alluded to the fact, that word “Montri” is now in danger of such sad metamorphosis. He wrote,

“The word Montri does not remind of anything honorable. I can't tell of an exact reason, but it must be the way, our history has unfolded over time. While growing up, I saw the Pakistani ministers roaming around clad in some unnatural garb (achkan). I can't think high of those “achkan-wearing' guys; of course excepting the occasion when a groom weras the same … After 1971, we noticed a new set of ministers with a new kind of ritualitic raiment – the Mijib Coat.

After liberation, we dreamt of a dream only to be undone by the hideous governing ny Awami League. By then, ours was a “shaheed poribar (family of a martyr)”. My mother and I paid visit to a number of ministers to realize our rightful rights; and in the process, they lost my respect … However, things worsened during Ershad regime, when ministerial portfolio were distributed to a coterie of kowtwowing imbeciles; even some thugs, I carefully evoided during by university days, were ministers. Akin to the words “potni and upo-potni (wife and concubine)” we began to internalize new terms – montri an upo-montri (minister and deputy minister!”

The word “minister”, any way, does not boast a very flattering pedigree. It has evolved from its Latin root meaning “servant”. In the utopian (at least in BD perspective) sense of democracy, ministers serve at the will of the Prime Minister, who in turn serves at the will of THE PEOPLE – the real master. And hence, ministers are nothing more than a bunch of servants, picked by the Prime Minister to help her discharge the service properly.

However, in my God forsaken home, ministers abound in dozens, and many of them seem to have no veritable function other than, like a troupe of minstrels, dancing around and singing one or two pangyric for their dear leader; and that's not all, we even had had minister with no portfolio for days and months. In addition, we had ministers, who remained a minister even after resignation and being AWOL for years …

Ministers are no minstrels who shall dance and sing and exalt the Prime Minister; they are given a portfolio of people's business that needs careful attention. They also have the solemn duty to provide thoughtful advice to the Prime Minister; in Bengali the very word “montri” means a person who provides “montrona (advice)” - are they doing it? Probably not …

It is said the during the regime last BNP-JI regime, some of the ministerial portfolios were sold for a price. I am not sure what transpired during the last 5+ years of Awami League, but the way Padma Bridge was held hostage by one single rich man, hearsay abounds. Aside from that, the number of cabinet positions seems too much for a country like ours; compare with that of the US, where there is only fifteen cabinet posts and five cabinet level administrators; or with that of the biggest democracy in the world where it has only twenty eight cabinet positions including the Prime Minister. Yet, the most important cabinet positions including defense, home and foreign affairs remains in the very busy hands of the Prime Minister. And, very often, we see the full ministers are incapable of making any decision on their own. No wonder, plethoric number is no panacea for anemic performance!

Performance aside, a large number of ministers, as per published and electronic news media are involved in careless uttering, illicit amassing of wealth, and wanton waste of public funds. It seems unreal that such thing can happen in a country like ours that can boast of international repute like BRAC and Grameen!

If my daily read of the newspapers is right, I bet, some day, the following fearful pronunciation of Dr. Jafor Iqbal can prove to be prophetic,

“I believe, if the ministers, do not change their way, some day, the word “montri” shall be used as a curse word, just the way “razakar” is being used for the lowly betrayers.”