Editorial
No excuse for political parties to
shy away from relief work
An array of reports in the national media are testimony to the fact that six days into the Sidr disaster, an inadequate amount of aid and relief is trickling into areas where the cyclone extracted its greatest toll. While the government and the aid agencies may be pledging large quantities of relief for the millions whose every means of survival were destroyed by last Thursday’s cyclone, a lack of coordination on the part of the government is clear in that this relief is still too slow to reach those worst affected. At the moment, the challenge is to assist those who are struggling to keep their body and soul together without food, medicine, safe water and shelter. The millions who managed to survive the carnage of cyclone Sidr must not be pushed to the brink of death because the state and society at large did not do enough in the wake of the disaster to save their lives. This will after all be tantamount to a crime against humanity.
We would also like to point out that in providing the survivors of Sidr with adequate relief materials the political parties have a responsibility towards those whose mandate has brought them to office time and again in the past. Their responsibility in this regard is by no means any less. We are sad to observe that the political parties are yet to take any effective initiative to reach out to the people in the form of relief efforts. We recognise that the state of emergency may be perceived as a hindrance, and we urge the government to lift it in the current circumstances, but we would also like to point out that the government has clearly stated that the state of emergency will not impose any restrictions on relief efforts by the political parties. In light of this, we believe the political parties have the obligation to mobilise all possible resources, human and financial, in the relief and reconstruction efforts. While ‘emergency’ should not be used as an excuse to stay away from the cyclone victims, the political parties should rather be ready to defy emergency rules, if it does really pose an obstacle to relief operations: Nothing, not even the (political) state of emergency, should stand in the way of the political parties, which are expected to be people’s friends, for responding to the real emergency situation created out of the natural disaster.
We cannot overemphasise that relief and reconstruction at this crucial moment, when millions of lives can still be saved, should be a national priority that every able bodied man or woman must unite in assisting and aiding in every little way. To dither, will be to contribute to the death toll.
BTTB should be brought to task
for submarine cable fiasco
That the internet and overseas telephone call services were disrupted once again, for the second time in a week, as the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board’s Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar fibre optic link with the submarine cable was snapped, is a worrying news and calls for immediate and urgent investigation by the relevant authorities. Bangladesh gained access to the high-speed information superhighway after completion of a $41.42-million submarine cable project in the Bay of Bengal in May 2006. This new facility was meant to bring to an end the high-cost, low-speed internet access through VSAT — very small aperture terminal — technology. However, ever since the time of the project’s inception, this underground fibre optic network between Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar was snapped a total of 23 times, often by public and private agencies during maintenance work, by accident, by cable thieves and so on causing great inconvenience to many and the possible loss of large amounts of money.
The authorities need to investigate on an urgent basis why the connections were snapped so many times. The telephone board, which is responsible for this submarine cable’s maintenance, also needs to act with greater efficiency and do the needful to minimise such incidents. Also, a thorough investigation is required to ascertain whether any vested quarters have been involved in such disruptions, which may have acted with mala fide motive to hold our country back from enjoying this modern information and communication facility. According to a telephone board report, at least seven such incidents were acts of sabotage, which is a very worrying fact that needs thorough enquiry and those responsible for such acts need to be found out and dealt with.
For quite some time now, the telephone board has been set to strike a deal with the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh to use its Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar fibre optic cable as a backup to keep communications uninterrupted. A number of countries including our neighbouring ones have such back-up systems to ensure uninterrupted connectivity with the submarine cable. Why we are lagging behind in availing this facility and what holds us back from signing this deal needs to be looked into and the process needs to be expedited. Any sort of bureaucratic red tape in this regard should be eliminated.
We need to place utmost emphasis on advancing our national interests and do all that is necessary to help our country prosper. We strongly believe that technological advancement is necessary for any country to prosper in the current global scenario and to that end, we urge the relevant authorities to ensure that our internet and telephone connectivity are properly safeguarded and maintained at all times.
Culture of wife bashing must end
Although issues like dowry and women’s empowerment have often been discussed on public platforms, wife beating in isolation was not talked about much in public. This is a subject for ‘them’ to sort out which ‘others’ would better be keep out of. At any rate, this others – if it means the law and justice delivery system – can take action only if the victim reports. Not many would do so,
writes Zakeria Shirazi
IF IT is any consolation, the problem of domestic abuse is not unique to Bangladesh and is almost universal. But on this count also this country’s record is among the most dismal ones. It was a common belief that women in this country enjoyed some relative freedom and decision making authority compared to their sisters in some other developing countries. For example, before liberation social activists used to say that rural women in the erstwhile East Pakistan were less dominated and repressed than those in West Pakistan. Family planning people also reported that that contraception enjoyed a slightly greater acceptance in the erstwhile East Pakistan because women here had greater say in family matters. Therefore, it could be deduced that this country would compare favourably with some other poor Muslim countries as well.
A relative advancement is not much cause for elation, of course; and even that satisfaction comes into question in the face of some shocking disclosures made recently. A UNFPA report released in 2000 placed Bangladesh at the top rank in wife beating. We cannot vouch for the authenticity of the report as the small world is in one sense a vast space containing every variety of the macho culture. Apart from the worldwide gender imbalance the religious zealotry of the Taliban days in Afghanistan which robbed women of all security and basic human dignity should not be forgotten. (In September 2000 when the report appeared the Taliban rule was very much in place). Then how can Bangladesh be the top offender?
In a sensational case in Islamabad a decade ago the imam (or was he a muezzin?) of a mosque came home in the afternoon to find that his wife had not baked bread for him for whatever reason. As a punishment he pulled out from the oven a red hot iron skewer with a pointed end and drove it deep inside her private part leaving her screaming in pain and half-dead. She was, of course, rushed to the hospital where she reported her condition to be the result of an accident and stuck to her story. The nature of injury was such that doctors were not convinced. When she was out of danger they asked a female nurse to take the patient into confidence and get at the truth. When the truth was known there was a nation-wide commotion and feminist activists were in the streets asking how long shall such brutality on the part of ill-educated clerics be tolerated.
The purpose of citing instances from other countries is not to lighten the gravity of the situation in our own country. Even making allowance for bias and exaggeration, the picture of wife beating in Bangladesh must be regarded as very disturbing. Another researcher and feminist activist, Joni Seager, has said in her finding that 50 per cent murders of women in Bangladesh are committed by their partners. Domestic violence is also reported to be a factor in maternal deaths, according to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. This writer was in 1990 involved in ‘developmental reporting,’ a series of reports on rural life, sponsored by a non-governmental organisation. The stories on rural life and development revealed that violence against women was quite common and development agencies were trying to help but it was not easy. One’s domesticity was immune to outside interference and any ‘help’ might be counterproductive. There was not much that could be done directly. Of course, others can help during arbitration; or if divorce actually takes place, the pressure by social activists can ensure that the wife receive her rightful payment. But seldom does a woman exercise her final option of a divorce just because she is routinely beaten and abused. Nor will anyone feel happy to suggest to her this course. Very understandably, the victim suffers in silence.
Although the degree of violence and percentage of victims may vary, there is no reason to assume that domestic violence is a developing country syndrome. In the United States, one woman is battered, usually by her husband/partner every 15 seconds (UN Study on the World’s Women, 2000). In the US there is a tendency to view domestic violence as a disease. According to the Centre for Disease Control, domestic violence is a ‘serious preventable public health problem affecting more than 32 million Americans.’ Emotional abuse and intimidation also come under domestic violence. The US Office on Violence against Women defines domestic violence as a ‘pattern of abusive behaviour in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain and maintain power and control over another intimate partner.’ Estimates are that only a third of the cases of domestic violence are reported in the US and the United Kingdom. But these are the countries which give attention and support to the issue; in other countries the proportion of unreported cases must be still higher.
Domestic violence taints all classes in a country and not only the underprivileged. Many individuals who are apparently refined and mild-tempered and respectable are wont to physically abuse their wives. There are instances galore of such people who are Doctor Jekylls in social life but turn into Mr Hydes when angrily confronting their wives in the privacy of home. In Bangladesh the record has been badly tarnished in recent decades due to the pernicious system of dowry. Dowry is a new phenomenon. It was not a part of tradition of Bangladesh Muslims. Somehow this invidious practice has caught on. The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1980 but we find no evidence of its rigorous enforcement. Often the wife is tortured for dowry even after the stipulated sum has been settled. She must keep bringing money whenever money is needed.
The present-day cult of gobalisation has whetted greed and consumerism. The market is the decision maker in everything and everything is a commodity. In that case the bridegroom is also a commodity which has a price. There are not only greedy takers, there are also willing givers of dowry. Flouting the law against dowry audacious marriage advertisements are put out offering ‘generous financial help to a suitable boy.’ Most laws are violated, but is a law violated so publicly? Statistics on dowry-related killings are chilling. According to a report compiled by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, there were 114 dowry-related killings during April to August in 2000. In 2002, the report said, there were 325 reported acts of dowry-related violence including 182 cases of murder and 75 cases of torture.
Although issues like dowry and women’s empowerment have often been discussed on public platforms, wife beating in isolation was not talked about much in public. This is a subject for ‘them’ to sort out which ‘others’ would better be keep out of. There is also the myth to which some subscribe that women have a latent masochist disposition and do not necessarily hate their tormentors! At any rate, this others – if it means the law and justice delivery system – can take action only if the victim reports. Not many would do so. When there is so much hush-hush about the subject a group of social activists called Alliance to End Domestic Violence Against Women have made a laudable move by drawing public attention to the issue. The alliance is a coalition of 236 organisations. They clam they have mobilised two lakh male and female ‘change makers.’ They are working among about one crore people in 44 districts to resist domestic violence. Needless to say, the responsibility of these change makers will be very delicate.
Perfect marital harmony is an illusory goal. Every marriage comes under strain, more so if either partner is a distinguished person in any field. Instances of the Brownings and the Scottish surgeon and inventor of antiseptic Joseph Lister are few and far between. But disharmony must not be allowed to degenerate into violence. The world itself is not an orderly place; everything around is so asymmetric, so full of contradictions. Then why should one expect that their spouse will be perfectly tuned to their nature and mood. The spouses must learn to live with differences which cannot be resolved. The marriage vow should be ‘in sickness and health, in harmony and quarrel, till death do us part.’
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