UP | uncultured project

Here’s a checklist things I’ve had to (or haven’t yet) had to endure during this project:

I’m glad I stayed home last Friday because riots broke out yesterday in Dhaka City and dozens were injured. There hasn’t been riots for a while in Bangladesh. The last time this happened was around when I first started this blog. Unfortunately, unlike the previous riots, these ones were religious in nature. Religious extremists were (violently) protesting plans to give women equal rights in regards to inheritance (equal rights for women? For shame! /sarcasm).

The simple fact is – especially when it comes to Islamic extremists – such protests are nothing but an exercise in hypocrisy. Because there is supposed to be “no compulsion in Islam”. If these religious extremists were truly following their religion – they should not have been trying to forcibly impose their particular interpretation of Islam on others. God gave us all free will and I – for one – will be damned if I accept the attempts of some of his more extreme followers to try and take away that gift.

As disturbing as these developments are this is proof of what Dr. Jeffrey Sachs has been arguing. There is a connection between religious extremism, terrorism, and poverty. It should be no surprise that these religious extremists were able to mobilize during a time of severely rising food prices. These food prices have already caused a lot of people to protest and riot. It’s very easy to redirect one’s anger when they are hungry – and that’s what the extremists have been doing.

To fight Islamic – hypocritical – extremism we need to fight poverty. It’s just that simple.

[This is my first cross-posting, I was invited by the News Director at NowPublic.com to write an article for them regarding my thoughts on the impact of Cyclone Sidr and my first hand experience. If you would like to read this article on their website, click here. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.]

The biggest impact of Cyclone Sidr may be that it has shaken up the local complacency towards the plight of the poor. Bangladesh, a small country in South Asia with large a population of over 150 million people, is no stranger to tragedy. In the past six months Bangladesh has faced devastating floods, violent riots, military-backed curfews, and now a devastating cyclone. At present count, the death toll is over 2,000 with countless others alive but in desperate need of assistance.

If such a natural disaster were to happen in America, there would be numerous stories of neighbors helping neighbors and of people (such as nurses, EMTs, and firefighters) packing up and traveling cross-country to lend their services for free. Not so in Bangladesh. While the international outpouring has been immense – and many local NGOs have mobilized to assist – many Bangladeshis are surprisingly nonchalant about the crisis at hand. Much of this has to do with the division between rich and poor. With an estimated 80% of the country surviving on less than $2 a day, Bangladesh is sharply divided between those struggling to survive and those living it up. Being rich, in Bangladesh typically means being insulated and detached from the tragedies that fall upon the country.

The rich tend to congregate in Dhaka City where they live in up-scale apartment complexes and homes. These are strategically built on higher ground, in gated communities, with their own backup generators and reserve water tanks. Most of the urban rich do not have to worry about driving, cooking, or cleaning as it is relatively inexpensive for them to hire chauffeurs, cooks, and maids. Having lived in this country for the past six months, I have observed that the typical routine for rich Bangladeshis is to stay sheltered at home during floods, riots, and curfews and then – when it is all over – resume daily activities as if nothing has happened.

“Poverty of most Bangladeshis is viewed as an important – but not urgent – issue by the Bangladeshi’s elites” explains Dr. Noami Hossain – an employee at the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and author of the book “Elite Perceptions of Poverty in Bangladesh”. The rich in Bangladesh “do not feel threatened by the extent of poverty, or by poor people” Hossain explains in one of her research papers, rather they feel that poverty threatens “the wealth or international stature of the nation”. [full disclosure: this was cited from a pre-existing piece of literature, not a new interview].

Cyclone Sidr’s impact, however, may change that. For the first time in a long time, a natural disaster was of such a magnitude that it not only affected the rural poor along the coastline – but also the urban rich nestled near the heart of the country. Many city dwellers, such as myself, were greeted by Cyclone Sidr with exploding transformers as the national power grid ground to a halt. The sight was both scary and felt like something out of a movie. Sidr’s winds were powerful enough to topple the homes of many of the poor but was also strong enough to violently shake the windows of many urban apartment dwellers.

The rich and poor of this country, who virtually live in different worlds, are now united in their need to recover. Even luxuries such as chauffeurs, cooks, and maids now serve as personal reminders of the loss this country has faced. As many of these employees are now asking for time off as they have either lost their home, lost their roof, or want time off to search for a lost loved one. Long lineups at the gas station also serve as a reminder of more important supply and demand problems – such as the distribution of food and blankets to the poor.

Whenever the wind knocks something down, there is always a desire to build something stronger in its place. Perhaps, Cyclone Sidr can forge a more unified Bangladesh – where people care for eachother just a little bit more than before.

“We can’t discuss this over the phone” is something I’ve been hearing a lot lately while in Bangladesh. Whether it’s openly talking about the military government, the curfew they have imposed, or the riots that instigated the curfew – people are scared to even talk. I’ve been to Bangladesh many times before – but I’ve never seen people this scared before.

There have been riots, strikes, and curfews in the country before – but there are a few things which make this time different. First, there is no longer a democratically elected government. In the past, one political party topples another (either by force or political pressure) – elections usually follow. But what happens when you topple a military government? No one is really sure.

This time is also different because journalists and foreigners are being targeted. Typically, democratic political parties would want cameras rolling – hoping that the media will sympathize with them and vilify the enemy instead. But, now even the BBC isn’t even safe from being caught by the army. Local journalists haven’t been as lucky – with many being detained and reporting beatings (source).

No one seems to be safe from the government’s eye here. The government’s have accused democratic politicians, foreigners, NGOs, or simply “evil forces” as being responsible for the riots and as justification for continued curfews.

It’s times like this that I’d rather be in South Bend. Aren’t we playing against Georgia Tech this weekend?

There is no universal language like the language of a man holding a gun. Even though I don’t speak the local language very well, I knew exactly what the man in military fatigues was telling me as he pointed to my empty camera bag with one hand and holding his AK-47 in the other. My camera promptly returned to its bag and I was allowed to leave….

After riots broke out in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the military government imposed a curfew: 8 pm. The photo above was taken with less than an hour before curfew. Those that were not home already were walking, taking rickshaws, and driving to get home before the military clamped down. Perhaps to keep people from organizing or maybe to stop them from finding out just how bad things are – cellphone lines have all been shut down. The local media has also been instructed to no longer discuss the current situation. Foreign media is also having a tough time reporting as their welcome here will be no more warm than when I tried to photograph some of this.

The BBC has done a good job of reporting the situation in Dhaka. But after the cars have stopped burning, after the protesters have gone home, and after the reason for the riot has long been forgotten – the real damage will remain. It’s instability like this that makes Bangladesh a hard place to work, live, and invest. As the curfew was announced, store owners were left scrambling to close early. Wage labourers have lost out on full day’s labour. Goods that were to be exported remain in warehouses. The service industry, a growing industry here in Bangladesh, shuts down as waiters, barbers, rickshaw drivers, and cooks all rush home to avoid trouble.

Economic hardship maybe a reason this riot started – but it’s riots that keep the promise of prosperity out of reach.