An official says a 38-year-old-woman was collecting wood in a
southeastern forest when the python attacked her. The nearly 10-foot
snake wrapped itself around the woman, crushing her. She had been
swallowed up to the waist, head first.
Woman Partially Swallowed By Python
POSTED: 11:53 a.m.
EST November 21, 2003
RANGAMATI,
Bangladesh -- Police in Bangladesh say villagers beat a huge python
to death after the snake half-swallowed and killed a woman.
An official says a
38-year-old-woman was collecting wood in a southeastern forest when
the python attacked her. The nearly 10-foot snake wrapped itself
around the woman, crushing her. She had been swallowed up to the
waist, head first.
A mob of villagers
killed the snake with iron rods and sticks before retrieving the
woman's body.
AP 22/11/2003
If anyone has to say anything about me, let him say so in books and
articles," says Nasreen, whose new book 'Dwikhandito', meaning Split
into Two, refers to her sexual experiences with some leading
intellectuals of the two countries. "No one has the right to ban the
sale of my books. My books are autobiographical and I've never
exaggerated or made up anything. I have spoken the truth," Nasreen,
who is doing a fellowship at Harvard University, said in an
interview with New York-based Bengali "Weekly Thikana".
Answer me with books, articles: Taslima
By Krittivas
Mukherjee, Kolkata, Nov 22
Controversial
feminist writer Taslima Nasreen, whose latest book has evoked libel
suits from Indian and Bangladeshi intellectuals, has dared her
detractors to respond to her with literary creations.
"If anyone has to
say anything about me, let him say so in books and articles," says
Nasreen, whose new book 'Dwikhandito', meaning Split into Two,
refers to her sexual experiences with some leading intellectuals of
the two countries.
'Dwikhandito',
billed as the third in the exiled writer's autobiographical series,
has been banned in Bangladesh for allegedly hurting religious
sentiments and encouraging moral turpitude.
The 395-page Bengali
book's sale has also been temporarily stayed by the Calcutta High
Court following a petition by a Bengali author who Nasreen alleges
in the book shared a physical relationship with her.
"No one has the
right to ban the sale of my books. My books are autobiographical and
I've never exaggerated or made up anything. I have spoken the
truth," Nasreen, who is doing a fellowship at Harvard University,
said in an interview with New York-based Bengali "Weekly Thikana".
The fiery author,
who fled into exile after receiving threats to her life in
Bangladesh, said she had written about the men in her life because
"they were my friends".
"I wrote about them
because they were my friends. I didn't want to hide anything about
their friendship."
Most intellectuals
in India and Bangladesh have made unflattering remarks about
Nasreen's new book and said it would have been better had she
avoided indulging in personal slander. They, however, didn't support
banning her book.
Nasreen said she did
not want to besmirch anybody's name but "I only tried to write an
honest autobiography".
"It is but natural
that while writing my own life story, people who I've come across
and my interactions with them will find mention."
Nasreen told the
weekly that she was not influenced by anybody to write 'Dwikhandito'.
"I am driven by my heart."
She also denied that
her controversial books were an attempt to win publicity. "I'm
always in the limelight," she said.
She said there was
no way she could defend herself in court against the defamation suit
in Bangladesh, where she could not go.
"Even my Bangladeshi
passport hasn't been renewed."
Despite the ban, 'Dwikhandito'
is selling well in Bangladesh and Kolkata. Bookstore owners here
said the promise of raunchy read was attracting people to the book
that has sold over 3,000 copies in Kolkata.
The book has been
slapped with a damage suit by one of Bangladesh's leading
intellectuals, Also, Kolkata-based poet Syed Hasmat Jalal has moved
the Calcutta High Court to stop the sale of the book.
Jalal objected to
the printed matter in four pages that he claimed defamed him.
Nasreen has said she
is planning two more sequels to 'Dwikhandito' -- one dealing with
the two months she spent in hiding inside Bangladesh after she was
accused of blasphemy and the other with her life in exile.
Literary circles are
agog with speculation that the next two books could see Nasreen
talking about her relationships with bigger names in contemporary
Bengali literature.
In her years of
exile, she has passed through Kolkata several times.
Mid Day Mumbai, 22/11/2003
Three-decades later, Bangladesh remains an alien nation for many of
them, still striving to overcome cultural barriers, like language,
to gain acceptance. For starters, they speak a different language --
Urdu -- in a society that speaks the local Bengali.
Pakistanis in Bangladesh : Stuck in Alien
Nation
Sharier Khan
OneWorld South Asia
21 November 2003
DHAKA, Nov 21 (OneWorld)
- Some 300,000 Pakistanis, locally referred to as Biharis, living in
66 makeshift slums in Bangladesh for over three decades, are
battling to establish their rights as Bangladesh citizens, after
being virtually disowned by Pakistan.
Born and bred in the
slums which are now their home, ten of this tribe gained voting
rights in August this year, after the High Court declared them
citizens of Bangladesh by birth.
"We have always
considered ourselves Bangladeshi citizens. I am prepared to die for
the cause of this nation," says one of the ten petitioners, Mohammad
Hasan, 24, "Now that I am eligible to be a voter, I will fight to
establish all my rights as a citizen."
He adds, "The High
Court order is applicable not only to me but also to other stranded
Pakistanis in the country."
The verdict has
fuelled hopes among other Pakistanis who migrated here from the
neighboring Indian state of Bihar after the creation of India and
Pakistan in 1947.
Three-decades later,
Bangladesh remains an alien nation for many of them, still striving
to overcome cultural barriers, like language, to gain acceptance.
For starters, they
speak a different language -- Urdu -- in a society that speaks the
local Bengali.
The majority of
these people are illiterate and very poor, living in a sub-human
condition in camps set up after Bangladesh's 1971 war of
independence.
On the other hand,
old-timers who sided with Pakistan during the 1971 war of freedom,
getting stranded after Bangladesh's independence, keep dreaming that
Pakistan will take them back one day.
But Pakistan's stand
on the issue remains ambiguous. Till 1993, it allowed repatriation
of nearly 200,000 Pakistanis— three-fourth of them within four years
of Bangladesh's independence.
Since then, the
Pakistan government has consistently rejected pleas to take them
back.
"I'll fight till my
last for the cause," declares the chief patron of the Stranded
Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC), M Nasim Khan, 82,
stationed in Dhaka's Geneva camp — home to over 20000 stranded
Pakistanis.
In the last 32
years, Nasim has held countless negotiations with leaders of
Bangladesh and Pakistan and different international organizations
for their repatriation.
In September this
year, Nasim met visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud
Kasuri to reiterate the SPGRC's demand.
Laments Khan, "We
know there are 1,000 housing units constructed for us in Punjab and
sufficient funds available for our rehabilitation. These are lying
vacant because we cannot repatriate."
"We are here for
more than 32 years. And many Pakistani leaders gave us assurances
about repatriation. When Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf
visited Dhaka last year, he also gave us an assurance that he will
look into the matter. But nothing has come out of it as yet," quips
the ailing leader.
The younger
generation of stranded Pakistanis took their first practical move to
establish their rights as Bangladeshi citizens in December 1996.
Gathering under the banner of the Committee for Rehabilitation of
Non-Bengalis in Bangladesh, they began campaigning to say that many
younger Biharis can speak Bengali and have totally adopted the
nation's culture.
At the same time,
some 2200 families who applied for citizenship failed to get it.
The organization is
also demanding that the government provide these people funds to
build houses and schools — the rights they are deprived of as
stranded Pakistanis.
A walk in the Geneva
camp - also the biggest Bihari camp in the country — bears eloquent
testimony to their pathetic condition. The camp is crammed with
shanties — barely leaving walking space between homes.
Due to illiteracy
and ignorance, early marriages are rampant here.
Residents complain
of poor hygiene which triggers the outbreak of waterborne diseases
like diarrhea, dysentery and tuberculosis.
According to the
SPGRC, two of the 66 camps burnt to ashes two years ago, leaving
inhabitants to live under the open sky.
"I was brought to a
camp as a baby, and now have my own sons," says Abdus Samad, 30, a
cobbler at Dhaka's overcrowded Geneva camp, named after the Geneva
Convention. "My future is gone, but what about theirs? Our lives
have been one big misunderstanding," he cries.
Like Rouf, there are
at least 100,000 Biharis born after the 1971 war. To them the return
to Pakistan is a dream that holds little meaning. They feel their
only option is to accept ground realities.
All ten persons,
including four women, who approached the court for voting rights,
clearly express this sentiment.
But their daily
lives are plagued with other problems.
Declares shopkeeper,
Abu Sayeed, 30, "The leadership and direction of the older
generation has severely handicapped the youth in terms of education.
Due to their poor economic condition, most of them have to leave
school after a few years."
Hasan also claims
government schools refuse to admit Urdu-speaking children after
discovering they are residents of the camps.
Housewife at the
Geneva camp, Syeda Shabana, 20, says women here are deprived of
educational opportunities. They are skilled in handicrafts, but fail
to get fair wages.
Complains Jabbar,
60, "I came here in the 50s believing in Pakistan. I have been
misplaced. I am still looking forward to return to my country."
Significantly, these
hapless people do not conform to the UN definition of refugees, and
are therefore not supported by the UNHCR.
The government
spends about US $250,000 a month to provide them basic facilities
like water and electricity. Nongovernmental organization, Bangladesh
Red Crescent provides three kilograms of grains to elders and
one-and-half kilogram to children every month.
Most Biharis work as
daily wage laborers. While the men work as rickshaw-pullers and
peddlers, the women labor in Dhaka's garment factories or as
domestics. Some Biharis are involved in handlooms and weaving, while
others work in streetside workshops.
"Those born in the
camp and others residing in Bangladesh since the 1947 partition of
India are all citizens of Bangladesh," says one of the lawyers for
the ten petitioners, Advocate Ruhul Kuddus Babu.
"Their citizenship
cannot be taken away just because they live in the Geneva camp or
opted to go to Pakistan," he stresses.
For his part, Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed says the
government will comply with the court judgement on Bangladesh-born
Pakistanis.
One World
22/11/2003
