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From the euphoria of the autumn announcement that one of our own had won the Nobel Prize for peace, to the winter of discontent that our politicians, somewhat predictably, delivered to the nation, 2006 was a year when Bangladeshis experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
As we step into the New Year, frustrations abound at the way the political mainstream acts oblivious to the plight of the people. In actuality, in their mad rush for power and wealth, they remain indifferent towards their electorate, comfortable in the knowledge that come the general elections, the other option that the voters will have will be just as bad.
But even as the powers that be foster a society where faith in faux-religious dogma is increasingly threatening to uproot faith in humanity, countless others continue to stem the rot by being torchbearers of just that - humanity, the human spirit. The work of some, like our Nobel laureate Professor Yunus, has been nothing short of Herculean. But there are others as well, who have not necessarily achieved extraordinary feats, but simply by doing their job well, remind us that there must surely be a way out of the labyrinth.
These are our heroes.
We feature, for the third year now, ten people who have made a mark - some big, some smaller but no less significant - on present day Bangladesh. They might not be your stereotypical 'celebrities'. In fact, they more often are not, and that's exactly what we had set out to do - to
bring you the tales of heroes who might otherwise
have gone unsung.
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
The triumph
of idealism
If Dr Muhammad Yunus had ever thought to charge Bangladesh’s rich and powerful —bureaucrats, ministers, bankers and economists — one taka for each time they had dismissed, off hand, his ventures as ‘impossible’ or ‘naïve’, by now he would have them applying for Grameen Bank micro-loans to get by... [ + ]
ZAFRULLAH CHOWDHURY
People’s doctor
Moving through the outer ward of Gonoshasthaya Kendra Hospital at Dhanmondi, the hustle of any outpatient department would come to view – nurses running around, patients of all ages sitting with anticipatory calm, children restless. But this is no ordinary hospital. At the end of the corridor, and up two floors, in an office stacked up with almost all the worthwhile medical and public health journals one could think of, sits Bangladesh’s foremost public health practitioner, campaigner and activist Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury... [ + ]
SELINA HOSSAIN
Fact and fiction
A woman, who has prayed for a child for many years, seeking blessings from village wise men, is finally blessed with a child – a son. She soon, however, discovers that her son is mentally disabled, though he is endowed with good health. Nonetheless, she rears up the child, well into his youth, with her full love, affection and blessings... [ + ]
RAFIQUN NABI
Life in lines
and strokes
The life of Tokai, the famous cartoon-strip street urchin, who deliberates on socio-political issues, reflects, in many ways, the life of his creator Rafiqun Nabi, better known by his pen name Ronobi... [ + ]
CHINA BEGUM
National asset
Her means are modest and her manner meek and obliging. She could never imagine striking another person although she has known and suffered violence and abuse. The factory floor where she works is fitted with loudspeakers, and her bosses often scream obscenities at her and the 600 women she works with, calling them prostitutes and saying they will be thrown back into the streets again if the work isn’t sped up... [ + ]
SULTANA ZAMAN
Enabling lives
As the sun pours in through the open window, lighting up a face that has grown old with time, Sultana Zaman’s eyes still have an unmistakable sparkle as she recounts her fifty-fifth wedding anniversary which took place two days ago. She points to the huge bouquet that her children and grandchildren gave her... [ + ]
K SIDDIQUE-E-RABBANI
In search of
relevant science
As the power line tripped, on the third floor of a teachers’ flat at Dhaka University, a square, white device fended off any risks that could be caused by electrical surges to the ceiling fan that was spinning in the drawing room of Professor K Siddique-e-Rabbani, as he sat under it talking about the his life, science and the need for appropriate technologies. ‘That is Bangladeshi technological know-how and made in this country,’ says Rabbani, a professor of physics at Dhaka University and lifelong innovator of ‘practical’ and ‘innovative’ science, as he points at the device that sits right at the entrance of his flat... [ + ]
NAILA KABEER
Making women visible
If there was some way to cast future generations of feminists in the Naila Kabeer mould, the foundations of patriarchy might yet crumble some day. She makes herself heard without being loud. She has strong opinions on just about everything but the way she articulates them speaks of wisdom, not belligerence. She pauses often before answering questions, and she is intelligent and intense, but never dramatic. Her salt-and-pepper hair and her sharply enunciated accent exude confidence. And best of all: for an academic of her stature, she is never pedantic or patronising. Hours before catching a plane home to Sussex, she tells me precisely, succinctly, about herself and her work... [ + ]
SHAFIUDDIN AHMED
Wandering scribe
Young students at the neat, little North Kumarbhog Primary School of village Kumarbhog in Munshiganj were looking out with restless eyes through the windows. On the ground outside, by the dried up khal and the towering trees dotting it, the school’s founder Shafiuddin Ahmad was waving his shaking hands with unbridled energy and enunciates his raison d'être — to inform on and fight for the cause Bangladesh’s rural existence... [ + ]
MOHAMMAD RAFIQUE
Sultan of spin
After a Test hundred against the West Indies batting at number nine, seven five-wicket hauls, over a hundred wickets in one-day matches, a strike rate of 72.2 in one-day and 65.5 in Test matches and 108 one-day matches and 26 Tests, Mohammad Rafique, at the prime age of 37 and nine years on, still holds his performance and success at the ICC Trophy in 1997, as the finest moment in his career... [ + ]
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MUHAMMAD YUNUS