Art, Literature and heritage of Bangladesh

The origin of art and literature is thousands years old. The first or earliest piece of literature is thought to be one thousand years old. The very first specimen of literature was written by the Muslim rulers during the Medieval period.  Having a muslim majority Bangladesh is still a mixture of different religions. Different establishments of Hindus, Buddhist and Christians are seen everywhere. With the importance Eid is celebrated, the same importance goes to Durga Puja. These adds to the variation of the culture. Also as Bangladesh had a lot of rulers, each of those time left their own marks. Bangladeshi people like a lot of color, starting from their dresses to art to celebrations there is color everywhere.

Architecture, literature, music, dance, drama, art and literature these are an inevitable part of Bangla heritage. There are many names that come in the contribution to literature. In middle ages writers and poets like Alaol, Chandi Das, Daulat Kazi had the biggest influence. During the 19th century modern literature was introduced by Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore, the Noble Laureate, not only enhanced Bangla literature but also made his work world known. He ruled over Bangla art, literature and songs over 60 years. When we talk about Bangla literature the name which is unforgettable is Kazi Nazrul Islam. He was the rebellion poet of Bangla and have written over 3000 songs. All his songs and poems encouraged the youth to fight for their freedom.

Zainul Abedin is the most prominent name in the art world of Bangla. During the 1940s his series of work took art to a different level. The best part is Bangle’s art does not confine itself in the famous paintings. The art is everywhere in everyday life in various forms. The hundreds and thousands of housewives are making crafts, dolls, fans, traditional cloths, domestic textiles. Handmade crafts and art are a special attraction of Bangladesh.

The music of Bangla can be divided in three categories- Folk, Classic and Modern. The classic music is very similar to the Indian subcontinent one. The major names in the classic music of Bangla are Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Ayet Ali Khan. The folk music is a bit different. Bauls with their groups usually roam from village to village. The folk music and drama are usually staged in Jatra. Jatra mainly folk  performance where a series of drama are staged with folk songs and dance.
There are some types of transportation that are different than the typical one and  related to the culture and heritage of Bangla. One of those is Palki, a very famous one. Palki is basically a wooden box carried by solders of four men. Palki is a special vehicle that is only used for brides while they are taken to their bridegroom’s house.

Rabindranath Tagore

Kazi Nazrul Islam

 

 

A Zainul Abedin Painting

New Year (Nababarsha) Celebration

Classical Dance Position

Classical Music Instruments

Food that Reflects Culture

Bangladeshi food draws its culinary roots from Indian food culture. There is proverb that is Mache Bhaate Bangali (rice and fish). Rive is the staple food here and it is not taken in a small amount. Most of the people from all over the country eat rice for the main three meals and eat it everyday. Bangladesh comes from the cultural food habit of rice, fish, chicken, mutton, egg , spices and lentils (dal) etc. Fish is a chief component of the daily meal for the average Bengalis, and a unique Bengali dish is ‘Paturi’ which is basically fish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked with desi (local) spices.

Panta Bhaat

Other important and famous festival meal include the ‘Panta Bhaat’, which is served during the Bengali New Year festival. This is essentially white rice soaked and boiled in water for a night and served with spices, salt and various other mixes, but most importantly served with a piece of Hilsa fish. This is an important yearly tradition, specially observed in rural areas. Another important and equally tantalizing dish is the ‘bhorta’ which is a mesh of fishes, potatoes, vegetables, chicken. Also various spices, salt and herbs add to the delicacy. Another daily side meal is Bhaji, that is fried vegetables cooked with salt. Vegetable and fish curry are served with thick gravy known as ‘Jhol’. Another rich delicacy includes the ‘biryani’ which is fine rice mixed boiled in oil and served with chicken roast and mutton rezala( curry delicacy). The Benglai style drink that goes with it is the ‘borhani’, which is basically a spicy and concentrated yoghurt flavored drink. Biryani is usually arranged for special occasions, specially weddings. Kabab is very popular and well known also in few other countries too. it was mainly introduced by the mughals and is mainly a chunk of meat skewered on an iron spike mixed with other spices. Another very popular food item is Pitha or cake made with mixture of rice, flour, water and gur (raw sugar or molasses). These are especially made for traditional occasions, Bangla new year and during winter.

Puchka

The talk of food can never be completed without mentioning the street foods. Bangladesh is popular for it’s cheap street food. Though these tend to be not so healthy still these food are being consumed daily by a large number of people for their mouth watering tastes. Few mentionable street food are Puchka, Jhalmuri, Chotputi, Badam. Among these the most popular one is Puchka. They are made from dough that itself is called Puchka. These doughs are meant to be very thin, crispy and round shaped hollow balls. Different stuffings of potatoes, coriander and other spices are put inside. It is eaten with turmeric sauce.

Longest Sea Beach and Biggest Mangrove Forest Hidden in Bangladesh

 All over the world people love to enjoy sea beach but very few people know where is world’s longest sea beach located. World’s longest beach is hidden in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Cox’s Bazar is a district of Chittagong which is a division of Bangladesh. Cox’s Bazar is 150 Km from Chittagong. This place was named after Lieutenant Cox, who during the british period helped and rehabilitated many people. He died in 1978 in Cox’s Bazar. Cox’s Bazar sea beach is the longest, unbroken sandy beach of 77.67 miles (125 Km). It is situated between river Bakkali and Bay of Bengal. This beach is also known as Palongkee and Panowa, which means Yellow Flower. There are many other small islands nearby. Among those islands St. Martin is really popular as it is the only Coral Island the country has. The unbroken longest sandy path to walk on and the strongest waves ever very easily attract tourists from all over the world.

Longest unbroken sandy beach

 One of the largest forest and the largest mangrove forest in the world lies in Bangladesh. The forest in known as Shundarbans. It is located in the south west of the country, where it has river Baleswar in the east and Harinbanga in the west. The total area of the forest consists of 10,000 square Km, where 60% of the forest lies in Bangladesh and the rest in India. It is divided in Sandbars (70%) and water bodies (30%). Though from outside Shundarbans looks like one big forest, but from inside it a beauty of mosaic of islands. These islands of different sizes and shapes get washed by brackish water shrilling in and around the labyrinth of water channels. It is not only seen as the scenic beauty and natural resources but also a place with high biodiversity of Mangrove flora and fauna both on land and water.  The forest is considered as landmark for ancient heritage of mythological and historical events. Also recently it has become the universal importance for endangered species such as tiger. Tigers are on the top of many attractions of the forest. As being the national animal they are preserved carefully in the forest.

Largest Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh

Bede, River Gypsies of Bangladesh

Till the last entry most of my posts were about the problems and bad sides of Bangladesh. From this post to the next few ones I would like to highlight some beautiful sides of the country; because fully knowing a country is impossible without knowing it's culture, tradition and main attractions.

In Bangladesh the river gypsies are known as Bede. They simply add to the already existing diversified culture of Bangladesh. In the country there are about 40 groups of indigenous people and it is assumed that Bangladesh has the most diversified culture in Asia. Among all other groups these Bedes have their own lifestyle and history. Their origin can be indicated across the Asia, Himalayan area. Also their family ties, relationships and dress sense can be like the Scottish Clans.

They usually live nearby rivers where they do not have any permanent houses. For ten months of the year they sail from one place to another. They usually cover over 90 villages, and the two months they take to rest. During these two months they stick nearby to the river and built semi titular shaped tents covered with oilcloths or plastics. Either life on the boat or life in these tents, both show their lifestyle that goes bellow the poverty line, deprived of basic rights. 100% of the Bedes have early marriage. Children age of eleven or twelve are married off. 98% of them live bellow poverty line. In these groups people usually women are the bread earners. They earn 300 taka ($3.75) a day. If the women do not work than the men and children have to starve. Their work mainly includes snake charming, preparing traditional medicines, showing magic in public places, selling hand made crafts and they also have trained monkeys and snakes to perform. For about 100 years they practice traditional healing. If someone is suffering from jaundice Bedes give them rice made with yellow feathered birds. According to them fish bone can be used to remove back pain, seashells can be used to negate evil eye and Maryam flowers can be used for pregnancy problems. 95% of the bedes do not have any education. Some children of them now a days go to school, but these schools are also boat schools. These floating schools are organized by some local NGOs.

Though their population is increasing, but as the country is developing they are seen much less. But their life style and traditional belief have not been changed. Where in normal households have 4.2 people in average, Bedes have 7.5 people. Bedes have their own tribal language, they are a mixed of many religions. River is their life. They bath in the river, wash things in the river and drink the same water. At the same time they also face the daily challenges of survival. There are many holes in their boats and they almost sink every day, and they fix it every day. Despite of all the challenges Bedes live a very colorful life.

Life of Bede in Bangladesh

Puran Dhaka, Old Town

There is a small part of Dhaka city known as Puran Dhaka (Old Town). Whenever there are tourists or someone wants to explore Dhaka, Puran Dhaka is always on the top of the list. It is such a mesmerizing part of the city and it’s history.

Even before there was any sign of the capital city Dhaka, there was the foundation of this Old Town. It was founded in 1608 known as Jahangir Nagar, the capital of Mughal Bengal. The story actually started in 7th century when this area was controlled by Buddhist Kingdom of Kamarupa. This place was ruled by Buddhist for more than 800 years. But soon in 9th century the Hindu Sena took over the power. While the Hindus were ruling the famous temple, Dhakeshvari, was built. Many assume that the city, Dhaka, was named after this goddess by Bellal Sena. Soon there came the Mughals and they took over. Through all this time old town was the most large and prosperous city of the Indian continent. Also soon it became the center of the Muslim trade. As the British came this place started to become more inactive. That time it was known as “City of Magnificent Ruins”.

Since it’s (old town) foundation as many rulers came and gone they all left their own touch and establishments. Centuries old establishments, Temples (Puja house), courts, Palaces, architecture are still there. Especially the  narrow roads made during the British period just simply add to the beauty. As time passed by rest of the city got developed and recreated except for this area. The ancient settlement of the old town is now different from the rest of the city. Along with the architecture it also differs in culture a bit too. The people living in Old Town know as “Dhakaia” are still holding onto the history and tradition of the place. Maximum of people are hindu, and most of the people still live in those ancient settlements. From the name “Old Town” it can also be understood that the people live there belong to low and low-middle class people. It is the streets of Old Town that can take a person back in time.
Old town has eight districts- Lalbagh, Haziribagh, Chowkbazar, Bangshal, Gendaria, Kotwali, Wari and Sutrapur. These eight different districts have different attractions where history still reflects itself. One of the very famous one is Chowkbazar. It is in lalbagh and was established by the Mughals. Men and women work in the bazars, make various crafts for living. There is another thing for which Old Town is really popular, it’s food. Old Town of Dhaka city has never failed to attract the attention of both locals and tourists, And it still is going on by spreading it’s magic. 

Professional people making the Goddesses for Temples 

Life in Old Town

Third Gender Recognition in Bangladesh

Hijra, mostly known as transgender people in western countries. But the hijras in Bangladesh do not really think of themselves as transgender. Most of them see themselves as neither women or men. They face this challenge of sex and gender issues. They are originally born as male. Some of them identify themselves as women and some as a third gender. Many of them go under many feminizes surgeries and other processes.  But most of them are rather happy identifying themselves as a third gender. Hijras in Bangladesh have to face a tremendous amount of daily challenges. Mostly they come from the low class of the society and live by going from door to door and asking for alms.

In 2013, 11th November, Monday prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, added a new identity in petition, third gender, in official documents in a cabinet meeting. This incident took place after a two day roundtable discussion of Center for health, law, Ethics and technology in Jindal Global Law School on 9th to 10th of November. Also there were discussion on “Human Rights of Transgender People, Hijars and other gender non-normative gender groups in India”. The decision taken by the prime minister of Bangladesh spread tremendous amount of joy among the hijras and all the institution supporting them. In Bangladesh there are more than 10,000 hijras and they were given the rights they deserve as just another human being.

"I never dreamt that I would see this day in my life," said Sonali, a 25-year-old hijra who uses one name.

After the declaration the cabinet secretary Muhammed Musharraf Hossain said “There are at least 10,000 hijras in Bangladesh. They are being denied their rights in various sectors including education, health, housing because of being a marginal group”. It is also said by him that Hijras will be known and called as Hijras in both English and Bangla. Translating the name by any other word will be misleading.

One year later, on 10th November, 2014 at least 1000 hijras marched on the roads of the capital city to express their joy about the landmark decision. As their days of fear, stigma and discrimination are over.

First Nation Wide March of Hijras in the Nation

Blackout in the Entire Country

The people of Bangladesh have always faced electricity shortage problems. It has become a daily problem that often  for 1 to 2 hours there will be no electricity. The problem has become so frequent that people now have adjusted with it and have taken it as a part of their daily life. but the blackout that happened on 1st November was the worst people could imagine. 1st November Saturday around 11.30 pm the whole country witnessed a blackout. It was the worst since the 2007 incident. In 2007 due to a powerful cyclone 2500 people were killed and rest the people experienced a great power failure.

Last year Bangladesh started to import electricity from India to solve it’s everyday problem. The import of power transmission was of 400 kilovolt. It runs from Baharampur in the Indian state of west to the town of Bheramara in the southwestern of Bangladesh. Blackout happened because of a failure in the power line that comes from India. It caused a failure of the nation power grid, power plants and substation were being shutdown. Only the hospitals and the International Airport had an emergency generators supply. Other than that whole country survived with candles and lanterns. During those dark hours crimes, mugging and looting increased by a large number. People were insecure even in their homes. But soon the problem was solved partially and the rest were under work.

Whole country in darkness

Traffic Problem in Bangladesh

Daily traffic of the capital city

The traffic problem in Bangladesh especially in the capital Dhaka has become so acute that now Dhaka is called the capital of traffic. From 7 in the morning till 11 at night the roads are packed with vehicles. It does not spare even the rich people. The people sitting on the back seat of their air-conditioned cars become patient less and the poor outside take in all the harmful gases coming from the vehicles. The way the population of the city has grown and still growing it is ranked as world’s 20th most populated city. Being such a small country the population is way big for the country to hold properly. There are about 650 major intersections in the capital, but only 60 traffic lights. Every big roads and intersections have traffic polices. When one looks at first it will look as if the traffic polices are trying to enforce traffic rules, but in reality they are actually directing the traffic nothing else. If we convert the cost of traffic congestion in to money value it will be $3.8 billion, and it does not even include the less tangible losses.  Also due to this traffic Dhaka losses more than 8 million work hours each day. All the vehicles are stopped on the roads for average 6 hours a day, standing there being useless, unproductive, killing time and efficiency. Despite of this major problem 37,000 new cars are being added every year. There are many reasons behind this problem. At first other cities being not so developed people have a tendency to gather in the capital. Most of the roads do not have any lanes, and the ones have it drivers do not tend to maintain that. All sorts of vehicle run on the roads together. Where fast vehicles like cars, buses run at the same time slow vehicles like CNG, rickshaws are also running.

Rickshaws of Bangladesh

Rickshaws are the slowest vehicle Bangladesh has and they are mostly blamed for the traffic. Rickshaws are the main mean of transportation for the lower and lower middle class people and students. Being an interesting mean of transportation it is also popular among all sorts and classes of people. There are about one a half million people who drive rickshaw and few hundreds and thousands who work to repair them. Rickshaws can be replaced by more busses and CNGs but it will cause a major unemployment problem. There are plenty of busses but most of them have no fixed rate and proper license. Another big transportation problem is the train system of the country. Too many small amount of trains compared to too much of population. The rush for trains are especially visible during the vacations when people go back to their home.

 

War Criminal's Punishment

The war criminal know as Rajakar started their hypocrisy from 1971 and still continuing. Their friendship and connection with Pakistan has not been changed since the war. After Bangladesh got independent these Rajakar's formed their own party know as Jamat-e-Islam, as I mentioned in my last post. It has been 42 years we Bangladesh got it's independence but till today not all of the war criminals got their deserved punishment. The political parties who hace the responsibilty of punishing them can come up with many excuses. Awami League, that was fromed by Sheikh Mujib always wanted to give these criminals the ultimate punishment. But the opposition party known as BNP is an ally of Jamat-e-Islam. All these years the patience of the public and also few parties have been tested as they still have to see those criminals roaming around.

One of the many leaders of JI is Abdul Qader Mollah. During the war they have committed murders, rapes and looting. The attempt of punishing them has been going on for the last 42 years. When finally Awami League came into power, Sheikh Hasina the PM got determined to punish them. In 2010 Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal was formed. In 2013 5th February after many days of trial Abdul Qader Mollah, 63 years old, was sentenced to life in prison. He was convicted of five out of six crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was accused of raping an 11 year old girl and killing 344 people during the independence war. JI took it as an achievement as they knew they could get him out as soon as other party comes in power. The common public could not accept this decision as they could not wait anymore for justice. Soon hundreds of thousands common people especially young generation gathered in Shahbag Square, center of the capital. Reporters estimate that there were 100,000 to 500,000 people demanding the death penalty of war criminal, Abdul Qader. The place now is know as Projonmo Chottor (New Generation Roundabout). People were not satisfied with life imprisonment. Their demand was that he should get the punishment that serves his crime. They began with the call "fashi chai, fashi chai" (let him hang). Because it was now more than a revenge, it was something to get the true freedom and justice. 10 other Jamati leaders were with Mollah on the trial. As the loose punishment angered the people, the protest of Shahbag continued from February till April. It was thought that Shahbag Square can be the next Tahrir Square. It was the first time after liberation war that so many mass people gathered for justice. Soon it made the high court to reconsider the matter.

The protest of Shahbag Square

On 17th September 2013 the supreme court found Mollah guilty for murdering and converted his life sentence to death sentence. This decision made Jamat-e-Islam furious. They protested and attacked the capital. There were several clashes between them and the police forces, where 60 people got killed.  Finally the execution was scheduled on 11th December the same year. But due to all the challenges it took place on 12th December. During the same trial another JI leader, Delwar Hossain Sayedi, was sentence to death on 27th February. Qader Mollah had his time in power from 1986 to 1996 where he contested for Faridpur, one of the cities of Bangladesh, representing the party Jamat-e-Islam.

In 2013, from February to December all the protests and violence lead to many deaths. The most significant one was the blogger, Ahmed Rajib, who was one of the most prominent activist of Shahbag. He was killed by Jamt-e-Islam in front of his house.

The Muslim Extremism in Bangladesh

The religious extremists now have become an inseparable part of Bangladesh politics. The birth of these extremists started from very early, from the Pakistan era, but were never so active as they are now. The first such group is Jamat-e-Islam. Jamat-e-Islam people are the independence war criminals and they collaborated with the Pakistani force and despite of being Bengali they did not want the Independence. Their such thinking started from 1947 while helping the Pakistan army. With time they were growing and becoming stronger. There are other two extremists groups very well known, they are Hizbut Tahrir and Hefazat-e-Islam. There are various reasons for which these groups can be created and can turn into most alarming social problem. The first reason can be the failure of the government. The government of Bangladesh fails every time in imposing strict laws, they lack capable leaders, lack of justice system. No matter what political party is in power, they all fail to establish correct justice system, and the main reason is the political leader's lure and hunger for power. They are ready to compromise many such problems to hold on to their positions.

The students of various religious institution are mainly the members of the extremist groups

The first extremist group that started with the birth of independent Bangladesh is Jamat-e-Islam. Even two decades ago there activities were not so much threatening. As 16th December being independence day every year they are a lot inactive that month. But for the first time in 2013 they started protesting on that day too. It all started three years back when their top leaders were arrested for being violent and creating tension country wide. On 15th December 2013 they became so violent that led to a country wide shutdown. Their main target is to establish Islamic caliphate as the savior. As Bangladesh lack good leaders and better policies, JI believe they can bring positive changes in the society. They want to do this by running the country by establishing Islamic ways. Their main targets are always the poor and disadvantage people who lack education and fall for their lies. JI has a student wing named "Islami Chattra Shibir". Through the recent years they have done bombing, burning assets, cars, shops, they have killed innocent people, damaged national property and by rioting led to economic damage. Such acts are defined as "Act of Terror" by UN and International Community. In 2013 18th august JI leader, Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani was arrested. Other disciples of Rahmani were arrested during recent years too. Rajib Karim was arrested in UK in 2011 for 30 years for creating terror. Five university students in Dhaka were jailed for killing a blogger named Rajib. Also a 22 years old boy, Nafis, was jailed for 30 years in US on 9th August of 2011 as he tried to bomb the US Federal Bank in New York.

With the passage of time by following the steps of Jamat-e-Islam raised another group called Hizbut Tahrir. Thier main aim is to free the country from Awami League and BNP. They belieive that these political parties have become slave to Indo-US-Israeli axis. Just as all other religious extrimist parties they want to take control and impose Islamic rules. There main target is the private university students, upper middle class families and especially young generation. They choose students very carefully and slowly brainwash them. Many of the youth are falling for this and turning into an extrimst 'beast' for their own country. 

The most recent group is formed in 2013. They are mainly formed of Quomi Madrasa Lobby. During 2013 when the government declared equal rights for women, they started their protest. On 5th May, 2013 with millions of Madrasa students they tried to enter the capital city and shut down the whole city. But soon with the help of police and all other forces they were being stopped and sent out of the capital. That night things went really violent and many got killed. And their plan to do something big on 24th decenber did not take place. 

The religious extremism influence on Bangladesh has been going on from 1999 till now. In recent years when arresting them has been increased they have started regrouping. They have started forming many more small groups. Their aim is to turn Bangladesh into a Medieval Theocracy. And they are being encouraged due to the weak democratic institution in the country. When Sheikh Hasina, PM of Awami League, tried to establish strict laws against them she was attacked by grenade on 21st August, 2004. So far the country is seeing only darkness ahead.