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It is good knowing that two mobile courts set up by the authorities have been busy carrying out their responsibilities. The country has just been informed that one of the courts recently imposed a fine of Tk. 1,00,000 on Fu Wang Foods because the food company failed to have the manufacturing and expiry dates of its products labelled on the packages. It may come as a surprise to a lot of people in the country that there are indeed traders in Bangladesh who are quite averse to implementing such business rules as mentioning the expiry dates of the produce they sell in the market. But the truth is that such practices have been going on for a long time and not just in the matter of food items. One sometimes comes across essential items like medicines where there is simply no mention of the time by which the efficacy of the products is supposed to run out. Besides, there are shops and other business establishments which on their own carefully scratch off or tear out the price tags on the products sold to the public. An amazing aspect of such a demonstration of price tags being tampered with often is to be noticed on books imported from abroad. The local prices mentioned in terms of dollars or pound sterling, along with the obvious rates of import duties, on books by local dealers and sellers all too often exceed reasonable limits. Indeed, there are bookshops which have been springing up all over the capital, which by itself is a good thing. What is not so good, however, is the arbitrary nature of the prices mentioned on the back flaps of the books.
   Readers might have noted that our present discussion has moved from one of food through medicines to books. That is because we would like to draw the attention of the general public as well as the authorities to the many levels at which one can spot a lack of scruples in the country. Fining Fu Wang Foods and a number of other food-producing establishments such as sweet manufacturing industries could just be the tip of the iceberg. There are entire firms spread all over the country where the rules set in place by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) are simply violated or ignored altogether. One could well inquire as to why such reckless behaviour occurs among people whose interest ought not only to be in earning profit but also in providing food of impeccable quality to customers. The answer is simple. There is, first, a shortage of the manpower needed to have the BSTI requirements put in place. And, second, there has clearly developed an attitude among some people in the business community that rules can be flouted with little possibility of the authorities taking notice. That, in a nutshell, is the predicament we happen to be facing in this country. The fact that a mobile court has also been imposing fines on traders dealing in poisonous dried fish at such places as New Market is proof of the widening circle of dishonesty in business practices in Bangladesh. In fact, when one observes the broad range of business activities in the country — and we mean across the spectrum — one unfortunately stumbles into clear areas of some extremely inappropriate behaviour.
   As to the matter of arbitrary practices employed in the sale of books, one wonders if there is any official mechanism geared to keeping booksellers and importers aware of the rules. It is clear, through an observation of the rampant manner in which such book dealers operate, that people are being subjected to treatment that not only goes against the principles of morality but is also a clear transgression of the rules. How do we put an end to such profiteering?

Masum’s father has a point

The demand made by the father of the recently slain Masum for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances of his son's death makes sense. We at this newspaper, like so many other people, have said earlier that the mysterious and dangerous way in which Masum’s life was put to an end calls for a thorough inquiry. The home ministry has, of course, decided to carry out its own inquiry and punish the guilty if proof of guilt is there. While we expect that the official inquiry will be carried out swiftly and a definitive result arrived at, we cannot but suggest that the idea of a judicial inquiry holds a far better chance of unearthing the truth behind the murder of the young man.
   There is a whole range of questions which need answers here. In the first place, who were the men who called out Masum from a family reception and where did they take him, eventually putting an end to his life? In the second, in what circumstances did an individual now in prison on charges of being involved in a double murder on the Dhaka University campus in 2003 reportedly mention Masum’s name in a confessional statement to the police? The strange part of the statement is that the man did not appear to know Masum’s full name. Given a social scene where perfectly innocent people have suffered in prison because they have borne names similar to those of the criminals actually being sought, it is just probable that some grave mistake in identification has been committed here. That calls for a probe. But, beyond all these thoughts, there arises one other question: what were the police, particularly in plainclothes, doing keeping watch over people visiting Masum’s family residence in Mohammadpur on the occasion of his qul khwani on Thursday? There is a very strong whiff here of an attempt to intimidate people. More fearfully, it is possible that some of the people who did make it to the qul khwani may already have been noted carefully by the police. The principle of human rights, it is clear, has come under a cloud here. The job of the police must be to identify the criminals responsible for killing Masum, not to create a condition where they can be saved. That is where the need for a judicial inquiry comes in once more.

There is a gobheer sense of bhoy-bheeti in Chintagrosto these days. The way in which people have been getting killed in all those rohoshsho-jonok crossfires makes him fear for his own life. What if one of these days he is picked up by the shada poshak dhari people and told that he is a shontrashi and so must accept his mrityu in a crossfire? This is not flippant thinking. It is a real fear. Last week our poolish bhais, clearly to give the impression that they can really do a job they have failed to do for years, killed six people in Kazipara and Lalmatia areas of this nogor. They have told all Dhaka-bashees that these people were dakats and died after much gola-gooli with the aaeen rokkhakaris. But when you ask the people of the two mohallas, they do not remember hearing any shobdo of bullets or any other such thing. In fact, a lot of people are now beginning to think that the six men killed were niriho men who were murdered in cold blood. It reminds you of how a young man was photographed alive, surrounded by the police and the jonota immediately after the killing of the bitorkito Sagir, and soon afterward was seen lying in a pool of his own rokto. We know who killed him. It could not have been the crowd. The angul points at the police. You can take another udahoron here. A medhabi chhatra named Masum was picked up by the police last week, taken to their office, killed and left dead at Rayerbazar. He was not a criminal and even the thanas say they have no criminal record of him. So who killed him in such a nishthur way and for no rhyme or reason?
   The more we think of our durgoti, the more we become apprehensive of our bhobishshot. This is not why we achieved shadhinota from the Pakistanis choutrish bocchor ago. If the rashtro has now become something we should be afraid of, then who can we depend on to give us nirapotta? In a bhadra shomaj, people always feel safe when they see the police. As for the police, they are always polite purush and naris in the pashchatto jogot. But here we have for joog-joog been afraid of the poolish. Our parents used to talk to us about darogas with a lot of dapot in the past. It seems that dapot has not only survived but has in fact increased in our bortoman shomoy. Why else would so many people, without any shujog of appearing before the adalot, die at the hands of the RAB bahini and policemen in the country? You see, everywhere you go, so many people speaking out against the barha-barhi of the bahinis. But no one seems to care. If you have a young brother who goes to college or university, you feel chintito about whether he will come back home in a shabhabik way. What if some shotru of your family tells the poolish that your bhai is a shontrashi, just like that, to settle some old scores that have nothing to do with the rashtro? Can you be sure that you can then save the young man? That he will not become a mrito deho like so many other people before him?
   Odbhoot things have been going on. When some people at the NSI gave some shokto pituni to some of our photo shangbadiks last week, we were shocked. Yes, the big man at the organisation has regretted the ghotona. But is that enough? What about giving upojukto shasti to the men who committed that oporadh? It seems that the people who are supposed to reassure us about our dignity and our security are the very people who are determined to attack our maan-ijjot and when we protest will either not listen or will try to get away with saying they are dukkhito about the whole bishoy. Why should this thing happen? When our shadharon jonogon — students, chashis, shorkari servants, shoiniks, everybody — went to the juddho in the ekattur shaal, they did not imagine that as bhadraloks they would one day be subjected to some extremely obhadra achoron from some shoktishaali people in their shadhin maatribhumi?
   
   Now, the prodhan montri?
   In the gelo shopta, we expressed bishshoy at the banijjo montri’s belief that there was no price hike in the market. We were angry and upset that the minister saw nothing wrong with the way the jonogon were being forced to spend more in buying their doinondeen necessities. Secretly, we thought that the prodhan montri would ask for an explanation from the montri about his insensitive remarks on the bajar dor situation. But that has not happened. What has happened is that it is now the prime minister herself who has said that the prices of essential commodities have not gone up. So who is responsible for creating such bheeti around us? The prodhan montri had an easy answer: it is the potrika wallahs who are doing ohetuk lekha-lekhi about a situation that does not exist. So what are we supposed to do? When the shorkar prodhan herself denies that the kacha bajar has become peerhadayok for the general public, there is no one else who can help us.
   But there is one big proshno before us. Who are the bektis who keep the prime minister in the dark about the bastob situation in the country? We have all seen before how many powerful people were brought to ruin because their advisors created a dhumrojaal of lies around them. If outside the people were hurting, these khomotabaan people were told the desh was in an absolutely normal condition. We hope the same ghotona is not happening now. But much as we would like to believe that the prodhan montri knows what is actually happening in the markets, we cannot but feel a sense of despair inside ourselves. She clearly does not think there is anything wrong. That means the kortripokkho will now not be in a position to take action against the oshadhu byaboshais in the market. The result will be the people going through increasing dukkho koshto in the coming days and weeks. But have you noticed that although the prime minister has denied any rise in prices, every shorkari porishongkhan has revealed that the bajar dor has gone up. So who will now explain this du-mukhi attitude of the government about the market? In the ingreji bhasha, there is a beautiful word people use to explain the confusion that a shorkar may sometimes get into. It is called drift. Is something like that happening in the country?
   
   Brishtipaat situation
   The ojhor dhara brishti we have been going through has raised once again questions of what we must do about the resultant pani-bondi situation. In the past too, there were rains. The monsoon has always been part of the oitijjo of this country. But in the past, the rainwater simply disappeared into streams and beels and the sewerage system. Not any more. What you see after a slight brishtipaat these days is a whole city going under water and citizens unable to do anything. It is a bonya situation. All forms of transport get stuck in the water and in an extended way it is a whole system of administration and a pattern of life which comes to a standstill.
   What can we do to get out of this situation? The uttor is simple: more of action on the ground and less of alochona by the borho kortas of the shorkari machinery.

The manuscript of mayhem is now out in the open. The young and hitherto un-tinkered minds of some of the Muslim youths living in Europe and the United States are being filled with dangerous propositions by dangerous people who go about in their communities as harmless, respectable individuals. Go and die for your religion, they are telling the young people. According to some media reports the carnage in London has been masterminded by a Muslim teacher who taught in a special school for the disabled. How ironic. Scores of his victims will soon become permanently disabled losing one or more limbs or vital organs following the bomb explosions. The teacher allegedly recruited the young people who perhaps had only elementary idea about their religion, exploited their anger at the happenings in Iraq, and became successful in injecting enough hatred in them against the west, and then do what they did without a second thought.
   The youngsters who blew themselves up with the intent to kill as many as they could in London last week were purportedly angered by the US and UK led war in Iraq and in retaliation, in the true spirit of a jihadist, they wanted to kill the enemies of Islam. This disturbing underlying psyche of the suicide bombers was exposed by the family members and friends of Shahzad Tanweer, the 22-year old young man of Pakistani origin who was one member of the suicide squad, already identified by the British police. According to his family sources, this particular young man for whom everything was going on smoothly in London suddenly began to take avowed interest in his religion Islam and remained highly disturbed by the killings and destructions going on in Iraq on a daily basis. His devotion to his religion and daily prayers began to seem like unusual obsessions for a person of his age. His close associates and friends confided to the British media that Shahzad gradually began to shun their company and became more and more withdrawn in the recent months. Obviously different ideas were taking shape in the mind of this disturbed individual of which none in the family had any clue until it was too late. He, therefore, became an easy target of the teacher who has been given the responsibility of recruiting potential suicide bombers. The clever teacher quickly identified the dispositions in the young man that he was looking for. The rest is history now. Shahzad blew himself to pieces to fulfill his given task of taking revenge on the ‘infidels’ who were involved in the war in Iraq, and he did it little realising that he was going to do exactly the same thing that the occupation forces in any part of the world are doing at the moment – killing innocent people.
   The tragic incident no doubt has shattered the lives of all the people of the migrant community as it has opened up many windows of trouble for them. Shahzad and his recruiting bosses have done great and irreparable harm to the small communities of secular, educated, hard working, patriotic (British or Australian or American) moderate Muslim migrants in various foreign countries where they have been living in total peace and earning livelihood for many, many decades now. They have contributed immensely to the social welfare projects and many of them have held high positions in public offices. Never before religion came to play any major role in creating feelings of animosity among the peoples of various cultures living in Great Britain or the USA. But, with the latest incidents of bombing and killing of innocent people in the name of Islam, the religious divide would suddenly appear to be wider than it ever seemed before in these two countries.
    Roger Hardy (BBC’s Islamic Affairs analyst) wrote yesterday : ‘The radicalisation of some younger members of Britain’s 1.5 million-strong Muslim community has led to often heated debate. Now questions are being asked about whether British-style multi-culturalism is succeeding or failing.
   Muslims have lived in Britain for centuries, but only relatively recently have they become the focus of controversy. Three big crises over the last decade and a half have heightened tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims:
   The Rushdie affair of the late 1980s
   The attacks of 9/11 in the US, and their implications for Britain
   And now, potentially most serious of all, this month’s London bombings.
   They pose awkward challenges for British policy-makers.’
   Interestingly, Roger Hardy thinks that the trouble that ensued following the publication of Rushdie’s book ‘Satanic Verses’ was a turning-point in this relationship. He further wrote ‘until then most Britons, especially in London and the prosperous south, had scarcely been aware of the new Muslim communities taking root in northern industrial towns like Leeds and Bradford. The public burning in Bradford of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses was therefore a huge shock. The affair showed up the yawning gulf between Muslims, who believed the novel slandered their faith and its prophet, and a liberal intelligentsia outraged at the idea of banning, let alone burning, a book. The Iranian death threat against Rushdie, which a few British Muslims supported, further polarised opinion. The affair triggered the first serious debate about a community which was little known or understood.’
   Some facts given by Roger Hardy are worth taking note of:
   * Large-scale Muslim immigration to Britain occurred after World War.
   * Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India provided cheap labour for the textile industry in northern England.
   * At first, they were unaccompanied men intent on earning money and then returning home.
   * But in the 1970s, they began to bring their wives and children to join them.
   * By the time of the Rushdie affair, they were starting to think of themselves as British Muslims rather than Muslim immigrants.’
   It seems Muslims in Britain and elsewhere will have to identify themselves as proud citizens of the country they live in. It is their home, where they are working, earning a living, paying taxes, where their children are going to school and growing up to fulfill their individual dreams and so on. Destructive ideas like taking revenge on innocent fellow citizens for something the incumbent government is doing somewhere else should not be allowed to take firm root in the minds of their growing children. They should also tell their children what Saddam Hossain did to thousands of Iraqis even though those people were Muslims. Therefore, taking revenge for something that is happening in another Muslim country should not be the preoccupation of young Muslims in another country. The following words spoken by a friend of a suicide bomber to a British writer amply suggest that the young Muslims there need effective counseling by their community leaders: ‘They’re crying over 50 people while 100 people are dying every day in Iraq and Palestine,’ said Iqbal. ‘If they are indeed the ones who did it, it’s because they believed it was right. They’re in Heaven.’
   The writers is senior assistant editor, New Age