A letter in Daily Star

Update: Few days ago I wrote an article named 'student politics of Bangladesh' in my blog. An edited form of this post has been published in The Daily Star today.

26th March, Independent day & Independence

We all know 26th March is a red-letter day for every Bangladeshi. The day is our Independent day from the glorious year 1971. You know there is a proverb it is easier to achieve independence than to maintain it. I think we are passing a critical moment now when the defeated power in 1971 has got the partial power of government, most of the alive freedom fighters are being neglected and the young generation is going to a dark destination where no real history of liberation war is existed. It is noticed there is a strange tendency in some people. They are not interested about the past, about the war & about the history '71. Moreover they despair their children to know the past history of Bangladesh. But why? Past is past, isn't it? Question is what’s the base of present & future? I know present is based on past. And the base of future is present. Am I right?

Student politics of Bangladesh

Generally the politics in which the students play chief role is known to us as student politics. In Bangladesh student politics is existed. But can we comment it safe? Is it well? I am sorry to say that the present student politics of Bangladesh is quite ill. It needs treatment. Brilliant students have to come in the field of this politics. All black & ugly should be removed from here.
Let's go back to the history. In 1952, 1969, 1971 students played vital role to save this motherland & language. At that time student politics was used for the welfare of country. Most brilliant students leaded at that time. In those days there was no quarrel among the student politicians for money & power as of today. It’s our bad luck that a big portion of student politics has been spoiled at present. But why? Who are responsible for it?
Two big parties BNP & AL have student organizations. BNP has 'Chattradal' & AL has 'Chattralegue'. Do you know about the leaders of both students' parties? It’s funny though these parties are for students only but most of the central leaders of them are non-students, some of them are married & father of children! Any way! Other alarming matter is no brilliant students who obtain merit position/ A+ in SSC/ HSC are interested in student politics. The present student politicians are not interested in studying. Most of their interest is grown for money & power not for welfare of country. So what is the destination of student politics?
We should immediately conscious about the matter of spoliation of student politics. Because today's student politicians are future's leaders of the country. Can we go back to the golden age of student politics as like as 1952, 1969, 1971.........?

Where is our destination?

I am very much anxious about the future of Bangladesh. What will come for us? What would be commented for this country? We are passing an unhappy period at present. But why? Who/ what is responsible for the unexpected situation? Personally I think ill politics is the main cause for the upper situation. None know the destination of politics. Even politicians are also totally in dark about their goal. They are engaged in unnecessary debating against each other always. Observing their behavior it seems to me that the government party wants to be in power forever and the opposition party wants the resignation of government party without giving any chance to work by giving hartal & hartal.
These two parties are strict for their decision always. As a result general people are suffering much through facing useless fighting during hartal, losing wealth and sometimes life. At the age of e-net people of other countries know us as a nation who loves quarrel & fight. Often they are afraid of coming here. It is not only hampering but also terrible for our future. So question is " Where is our destination?". And the answer is totally unknown to me. Would you help me please?

We want judgement of genocide'71

Do you know the genocide happened in 1971 in Bangladesh? At that time this country was a part of Pakistan & she was called East Pakistan. West Pakistan tortured us socially, economically, religiously through every steps of life. They wanted to capture everything of us. But Bangladshis are brave. They announced war against Pakistan for freedom. For this reason Pakistani army tortured, raped & killed thounsands of people. About 30 lac innocent people including children, young & old were killed. Many women were raped. Perhaps their number was about 2 lac. Thus the biggest genocide of the world '71 was happened. Now we are independent. But we get no judgement of Pakistan for their evil work in 1971. Still now tortured people are looking for that future when Pakistan would be punished for doing genocide'71.

Is it true?

If you read my past post, then you came to know the confusing matter of mine about the announcer of freedom of Bangladesh. For truth I visited some websites. I got some information about the first declaration of freedom of this country.

Mujib said, "Today Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between EPR and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pindi on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May God aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla."

Zia said, "This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bango Bondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that the independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken command as the temporary head of the republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalis to rise against the attck by the west Pakistani Army. WE shall fight to the last to free our motherland. By the grace of Allah, victory is ours. Joy Bangla."

Both of these two leaders were really great. They contributed a lot for Bangladesh. But I think we're in a useless debate about their contribution. No need for such debate. We should respect them heartly avoiding any debate based on them.

The Announcer of Freedom of Bangladesh

March, the month of independence, is running now. 26th March is a red-letter day for Bangladesh. At this day in 1971 our independence has been announced. But it is our irony of fate that still now we're in dark about the real announcer of freedom of Bangladesh. When the present opposition party AL was in power, all textbooks informed that Sheikh Mujib was the announcer. After five years BNP got the government power and the information was totally changed. Now we know that Ziaur Rahman announced the independence of Bangladesh. So we, the new generation, are absolutely confused about the announcer. Who is right? AL or BNP? Once I knew that history could not be changed. But now I know nothing is universal including history in Bangladesh! Isn't it?

About Bangladesh// My country

Bangladesh Profile


Geography


Area: 143,998 sq. km. (55,813 sq. mi.); about the size of Wisconsin.
Cities: Capital--Dhaka (pop. 10 million). Other cities--Chittagong (2.8 million), Khulna (1.8 million), Rajshahi (1 million).
Terrain: Mainly flat alluvial plain, with hills in the northeast and southeast.
Climate: Semitropical, monsoonal.

People


Nationality: Noun and adjective--Bangladeshi(s).
Population: Approximately 128 million.
Annual growth rate: 1.6%.
Ethnic groups: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims.
Religions: Muslim 88%; Hindu 11%; Christian, Buddhist, others 1%.
Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English.
Education: Attendance--75.1% (primary school), 21.6% (secondary school).
Literacy: 50% for males; 27% for females, a total of 38.9% literacy.
Health: Infant mortality rate--81/1,000. Life expectancy--58 years (male), 58 years (female).
Work force: (54.6 million): Agriculture--63%; industry--12%; services--25%.

Government


Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Independence: 1971, from Pakistan.
Constitution: 1972; amended 1974, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1996.
Branches:
Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet.
Legislative--unicameral Parliament (330 members).
Judicial--civil court system based on British model.
Administrative subdivisions: Divisions, districts, subdistricts, unions, villages.
Political parties: 30-40 active political parties.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.

Economy


Annual GDP growth rate (1998-99): 4.2%.
Per capita GDP (2000 projected): $354.
Natural resources: Natural gas, fertile soil, water.
Agriculture (30% of GDP): Products--rice, jute, tea, sugar, wheat. Land--cultivable area cropped at rate of 176% in 1997; largely subsistence farming dependent on monsoonal rainfall, but growing commercial farming and increasing use of irrigation.
Industry (20% of GDP): Types--garments and knitwear, jute goods, frozen fish and seafood, textiles, fertilizer, sugar, tea, leather, shipbreaking for scrap, pharmaceuticals, ceramic tableware, newsprint.
Trade (1999): Merchandise exports--$5.4 billion: garments and knitwear, frozen fish, jute and jute goods, leather and leather products, tea, urea fertilizer, ceramic tableware.
Exports to U.S. (1999): $1.918. Merchandise imports--$8.6 billion: capital goods, foodgrains, petroleum, textiles, chemicals, vegetable oils. Imports from U.S. (1999)--$275 million.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, March 2000
Bureau of South Asian Affairs

A comment

“Everyone loses if one language is lost because then a nation and culture lose their memory, and so does the complex tapestry from which the world is woven and which makes the world an exciting place.” Vigdis Finnbogadottir, UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Languages, Former President of Iceland.

Happy Valentine!

"A Valentine is nothing like
A chocolate or a rose.
For in a week these shall be gone,
But Valentines remain.
If love were always sweet to tongue
Or fragrant to the nose,
Each day would be like Valentine's,
And we would go insane.

A Valentine just hangs around
Waiting to be kissed
Long after special days have passed
And every days are here.

So one is wise to choose one well
And chocolates to resist.
For in the midst of mania
It's nice to have one near."

Isn't it?

"International Mother Language Day aims at promoting linguistic diversity and multilingual education, and at raising awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue." Isn't it?

About J.K. Rowling

Joanne Kathleen Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series of books, was born in Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol, in southwest England. Her birthday, as all true Harry Potter fans know, is July 31, the same as her famous boy-wizard hero.
The family, including her parents and younger sister Di, lived in Yate and then Winterbourne, also near Bristol. Her father worked on airplane engines for Rolls Royce. When Joanne was nine, the Rowlings moved to Tutshill, near Chepstow, England, close to the border of Wales.

School Days

Joanne—called Jo by her family and friends—did well in school, and in her senior year was the top girl in her class. In fact, Rowling has said that as a child she resembled Hermione Granger, Harry's obsessively studious friend, whom she modeled after herself. Although, Rowling notes, "I was neither as clever or as annoying (I hope!)."

At school, Rowling's favorite subjects were English and foreign languages. She particularly enjoyed reading books such as Manxmouse by Paul Gallico, about a creature with a mouse's body, rabbit's ears, and monkey's paws, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and other books in C. S. Lewis's Narnia series.

After graduating from public school with top honors in English, French, and German, Rowling went on to study French at the University of Exeter. She earned her degree in 1986 and over the next several years held a variety of secretarial jobs, including one at a publishing firm, where she had to send out rejection letters to prospective authors.

What she really wanted to do, however, was write. Rowling wrote her first story, Rabbit, about a rabbit with measles, at age five or six. Later, she tried her hand at writing novels, for adults. But she never finished writing any novel before she wrote the Harry Potter books.

Harry Potter Is Born

Rowling started writing the first Harry Potter book in 1990. The idea for Harry—a lonely, downtrodden 11-year-old orphan who learns he is actually a wizard when he is magically invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—came to Rowling while she was stuck on a delayed train between Manchester and London. Although she left England a short time later to teach English in Portugal, Rowling continued to flesh out Harry's story.

Rowling returned to Britain in 1993, settling in Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near her sister. Divorced after a brief marriage in Portugal and now with a baby, she suffered through a period of poverty and depression while she struggled to earn a living and take care of her daughter, Jessica. It was during this difficult time that she finally completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the U.S. edition.

Success at Last

Following its publication in Britain in June 1997, the book quickly became a hit with children and adults alike and won numerous awards, including the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year. Rowling always envisioned the book as part of a seven-volume series—one book for every year that Harry spends at Hogwarts—and a new Harry Potter book appeared every year for the next three years. These were Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000). These were followed by two short books from Harry Potter's world, Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001). The profits from those two went to a British charity, Comic Relief.

Rowling's road to fame and fortune may have been a bit rocky at times, but her success has been sure. In 2000, the 35-year-old author became the highest-earning woman in Britain, netting more than £20.5 million (about $30 million) over the previous year. She received an OBE (Order of the British Empire), a medal of achievement awarded by the queen, in March 2001. At the end of that same year, she married her second husband, Dr. Neil Murray. On March 23, 2003, Rowling's second child, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born.

Not Just Another Best-Seller

On June 21, 2003, three months after David was born, the fifth book of the Harry Potter series was released. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix broke—no, shattered—no, obliterated—the previous record for first-day sales by a book, which had been set by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The fourth book sold 372,775 copies in the United Kingdom the day it was released; the fifth one sold almost 1.8 million. The United States sales figures were even more impressive. All told, Order of the Phoenix sold about seven million copies the day it was released.

The Harry Potter books have been translated into more than 55 languages, and it has been estimated that more than 250 million copies have been sold around the world. The first three books have been made into films: Sorcerer's Stone made more than $950 million; Chamber of Secrets, more than $850 million; and Prisoner of Azkaban, more than $650 million, as of July 2004, when the third was still in theaters. All three are among the top twenty highest-grossing films of all time.

In February 2004, Forbes magazine estimated that Rowling had £576 million, or more than a billion dollars. This would make her the first person ever to become a billionaire from writing books. While raising her children has cut into the time she has for writing books, the sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is now well underway.

A New Muggle in the Works

In late July 2004, Rowling announced on her website that she was expecting a third child. She said that she did not expect this to delay the writing of the sixth Harry Potter book.

Courtesy: cliphoto.com

Inside of me

MY love it should be silent, being deep —
And being very peaceful should be still —
Still as the utmost depths of ocean keep —
Serenely silent as some mighty hill.

Yet is my love so great it needs must fill
With very joy the inmost heart of me,
The joy of dancing branches on the hill
The joy of leaping waves upon the sea.

Hey, rose, just born
Twin to a thorn;
Was't so with you, O Love and Scorn?

Sweet eyes that smiled,
Now wet and wild:
O Eye and Tear- mother and child.

Well: Love and Pain
Be kinfolks twain;
Yet would, Oh would I could Love again.

Welcome 2005// Happy New Year

We've lost a year 2004 forever & got a new year 2005. In the recent past year many weal & woe came to our lives. It is the time to calculate the want & gain of last year.
War in Iraq, India-Pakistan tention, Different bomb blast, recent Tsunami attack, Professor murder etc. damaged human society vastly. Life & wealth were hampered. Thousands of people were finished.
What's the achievement in 2004? We won EMMY Award 2004 for 'Amrao Pari'. Abdullah Abu Sayeed obtained Magasaysay Award 2004. Young scientist Aref Chowdhury was selected as one of the best 100 scientists (young) of the world. So as a Bangladeshi our number of achievements were not so small, not so vast.
New year, new dream, new hope, new want, new gain..........new & new.........wish you all the best. Happy New Year!!!

N.B: As I'm a tender blogger & very weak in English language, so my reader (if any) should consider my posts with soft heart. I'm trying my best to be skilled in English.

Mother// The sweetest word

Do you know the sweetest word of the world? What is the loving word that is commented as the upper heading? It is ‘MOTHER’. Yes! In English it is called ‘Mother’ or ‘Mom’ or ‘Mama’ or ‘Mammy’ etc. Using my native language Bangla
it is said ‘Ma’ or ‘Mau’ or ‘Mago’ or ‘Amma’ or ‘Ammu’. Actually different people use different language to call their most loving mother. In Hindi the term ‘Mother’ is expressed as ‘Maji’ & ‘Ammaji’ is the Urdu term of ‘Mother’.
Mother is the nearest & dearest person for every human being. She gives our birth facing terrible sufferings for ten months or more. When I was child, she looked after me without neglecting any of my wants. Actually all mother of the world always ready to do anything for the welfare of their children. Sometimes it is seen that mother feeds child by her food & she doesn’t eat anything. She faces the effect of hunger smilly for the existence of the life of her child. A lot of sacrifice we get from mother.
Most of us just take from mother. But nothing is given to her. Very strangely many of us forget the sacrifice of mother. They neglect their old mother. There are some people who leave their mother in old-home. They come to meet her once a year. Some of them don’t come. Strange! Really human nature is very strange!!!
Mother is the best inspiration for anybody to reach his/her destination at any field. I think if a man follows his mother’s advise properly, he must succeed in life. Mother is the best blessing from God for men. Life without mother is totally impossible.
Now we, the Bangladeshis, are passing the month of victory. Because 16 December is our Independent Day. In 1971 through a bloodstained nine months long war we got our independence. At that critical time all the freedom fighters got inspirations from their mother as because mother is compared to motherland & motherland is similar to mother.
The national song of Bangladesh is based on mother. The first line of the song is ‘ OH! MY GOLDEN BANGLA I LOVE YOU....’ In this loving song at many points Bangladesh is called & compared as mother. Actually not only in Bangladesh but also in most of the countries country songs are written with a reflection of mother.
From birth to death in anybody’s life at every stage mother’s contribution is visible.
Now I am 400 km far from my mother. Mother I really miss you. Love you mother! Love you very much!

My Life in a Circle!!!!!!!

After a long vacation my class has been started a week ago. Now I'm passing a boring life that can be commented as a circle. Every early morning I get up from bed. Then going to toilet I face a long line of students. After sometimes I go to class. Most of the time I fail to take my breakfast due to lack of time. With hunger I attend sessonal classes, lectures, classtests etc. Three hours long sessonal classes make me so tired that I want to leave lectures of teachers. But I can't. Getting a short tea break I do class till noon. Going back I take meal & then go to sleep. Every afternoon I with friends go to Kazla, a place beside Rajshahi varsity. Eating something we back rooms. And then study till midnight. Everyday all these sequences come to my varsity life as a circle. I think most of the engineering students have to face boring lives like me. Perhaps it is natural!!! So I've to carry on this circle life though I want it or not!!!!!!

My friends! I miss u all!!!

Today I will not write anything. Now I will show some photos of my friends and favorite sir/madam including me. All these images sometimes fall me in nostalgia that were so so so sweet days! My friends! Most of you are now too far from me but not from heart!!


At last day of college with Sahid sir.


With our best teacher Dul-a-Shari madam whom we called MOM.


Birthday of Sanjoy.

I really miss u all! LOVE U ALL!!!
Courtesy for photos: Doctor(in future) Rakib Rahman.

Eid has gone away!!!!!!!!!!!

The biggest Muslims' festival EID has gone. Now all have to back to join jobs. Last month totally I spent with my family Baisal that is my home city with great joy. Next week I've to back Rajshahi where is my varsity. Again class, sessonal, exam & exam.............boring.......most boring!!! But the reality is so hard. I must have to back if I wanna be an engineer. So what can I do? just to back.

EID MUBARAK!!!!!!!!!!

Few hours ago it was announced that Eid , the biggest Muslims’ festival, will be held day after tomorrow. So EID MUBARAK!!!!!!!!!!

Eid & RAB

Eid, The biggest Muslim festival, is knocking at the door. So most of the people of town & city are eager to back home to meet relatives in order to enjoy Eid together. They are to use various transports for journey of going to family. But all the transport stations make them disheartened by announcing the lack of tickets. The authority of ticket selling says to people that they have no tickets. All had been sold. It’s a mystery that if you offer them extra money they may give you tickets. How is it possible? Is it a magic? May be or may not be. But the mystery should be discovered immediately. For this RAB may help us. So our all transport stations should be controlled by RAB immediately during this Eid season.