Bangladesh
Picture: A Rohingya man is begging the Bangladesh border guard to let his family in to the country
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO OPEN BANGLADESH BORDER TO MYANMAR REFUGEES!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Open_borders_to_Myanmar_Refugees
The Rohingya minority in Myanmar, estimated by the U.N. to number about 800,000, lack official acceptance from both Bangladesh and Myanmar, leaving them in effect stateless as the violence exploded June 8, 2012. An estimated 30,000 people have been displaced by the violence, about 2,528 houses were burned and of those 1,336 belonged to Rohingyas and 1,192 belonged to Rakhines. According to the United Nations, the Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
Imagine your parents running about bare feet, trying to flee from strange people burning their homes, imagine your brothers and sisters trying to protect each other’s dignity and at the same time trying to protect their families as well. While some manage to barely survive, others witness the murders of their own flesh and blood in front of their very own eyes. Imagine your friends coming and narrating stories to you about how they have been asked to leave their homes because apparently, they don’t belong. These are families like yours and mine – they worry about their kids, school, career and look forward to celebrating their yearly festivals, just like we do. Watching their parents die or children murdered are probably the last thing on their mind.
Please sign the petition so the Bangladeshi Government can review the reported decision to close its borders preventing the victims who are clearly in desparate need to escape violence and deaths, and allow them temporary refuge under special arrangement with the UNHCR. We make this appeal inspired by our own history and from an understanding that human rights are indivisible, and protection of victims of violation of human rights in one country is a shared responsibility of another, particularly in the immediate neighbourhood.
Read more on the 2012 Myanmar riot here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Rakhine_State_riots
Famous Bengali: Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani
Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani was a prolific Muslim writer and a social welfare activist. She was a rich Zamindar and followed all the tenets of Islam. She received no formal education but she educated herself in her library during leisure time. She was proficient in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Bengali languages. She learned at a time when the superstitious belief existed that women would go to hell if they were given education but she was aware of the fact that a nation would never advance without modern education. She believed that a nation would prosper only if both men and women were educated so with her own funds she established eleven primary schools in her own Zamindari.
Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani was born in 1834 in the village of Pashchimgaon under Laksham in the district of Comilla. She was born into a rich aristocratic Zamindari family and married to another neighbouring zamindar faily. However, the marriage did not last and she obtained a divorce from her husband. After her mother’s death in 1883, Faizunnesa inherited her property and became zamindar of Pashchimgaon.
Faizunnesa cultivated Bangla at a time when it was not normally practised by upper class Muslims. Rupjalal (1876), an autobiographical allegory which describes her troubled conjugal life, is written in prose and verse and has been acclaimed for its literary value. Another important work is Tattva 0 Jatiya, Sangeet - a book of Bengali poems that deals with religion and politics. Rupjalal depicts the social condition of Muslim society in the nineteenth century. She also wrote a number of other books: Sangitsar and Sangitlahari.
Faizunnesa was not only confined to the literary field but also to social welfare activities. Overcoming many difficulties she laid the foundations of the traditional Sanskrit school, JOLE. In her village she started a free Madarassa known as `Faizunnesa Government Degree College” and also a Middle English School in Comilla town. Faizunnesa performed hajj and is said to have founded a madrasah and an inn (musafirkhana) at Mecca, Saudi Arabia as well. She established a charitable hospital at Laksham and founded a hospital for women at Comilla. Her primary concern was the welfare of human beings irrespective of gender and faith. She donated funds for the digging of ponds and improvement of roads.
Before her death in 1903 she donated her entire property to the nation. In appreciation of her social work, in 1889 Queen Victoria awarded Faizunnesa the title of ‘Nawab’ making her the first woman in Bengal to receive this title.
Praying.
Bengali New Year or Pohela Boishakh occurs on 14th April, the first day of the Bengali calendar. In Bengali , Pohela stands for ‘first’ and Boishakh is the first month in the Bengali calendar. It is celebrated in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, and in Bengali communities in Assam ,Tripura and Orissa and all over India as well as Bengali communities around the world. Pohela Boishakh connects all ethnic Bengalis around the world irrespective of religious and regional differences.
The Bengali calendar is closely tied with the Hindu Vedic solar calendar, based on the Surya Siddhanta. King Shoshangko of ancient Bengal, who ruled approximately between 590 CE and 625 CE, is credited with starting the Bengali era. The starting point of the Bengali era is estimated to be on Monday, 12 April 594 in the Julian Calendar and Monday, 14 April 594 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.
Under the Mughals, Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar to streamline tax collection. Accordingly, the Bengali year was formulated based on Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new year was introduced and dated, which also coincided Emperor Akbar’s antecedence to the Mughal throne.
Celebrations of Pohela Boishakh started from Akbar’s reign. It was customary to clear up all dues on the last day of the year . On the next day, or the first day of the new year, landlords would entertain their tenants with sweets. On this occasion there used to be fairs and other festivities. In due course the occasion became part of domestic and social life, and turned into a day of merriment.
Pohela Boishakh is really about celebrating the simpler, rural roots of the Bengal. As a result, more people can participate in the festivities together without the burden of having to reveal one’s class, religion, or financial capacity.
- Pohela Boishakh
People of Bangladesh: Biharis
There are about 300,000 Urdu-speaking people in Bangladesh, considered as refugees from the 1947 religious riots in Eastern India. They are Muslims and sought refuge in East Pakistan, and were granted Pakistani citizenship.
However, this status became disputed once East Pakistan seceded to become Bangladesh. They were unable to re-immigrate after 1971 due to the long distances and continue to claim Pakistani citizenship. They are casually referred to as Biharis because most of them are from the Indian state of Bihar; a formal term is “Stranded Pakistani”.
Religion in Bangladesh
The main religion in Bangladesh is Islam, but a significant percentage of the population adheres to Hinduism. Bangladesh has the fourth largest Muslim population after Indonesia, Pakistan, and India, with over 135 million. The majority of Muslims are Sunni. Many people in Bangladesh practice Sufism, as historically Islam was brought to the region by Sufi saints. Other religious groups include mostly Theravada Buddhists, Roman Catholics, and Animists. The religious communities in Bangladesh tend to be accomodating to other faiths and beliefs and Bangladesh is known for its lack of communal strife.
