Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) occasionally organizes events to inform, educate, and seek support from non-resident Bangladeshis living abroad to preserve the environment of Bangladesh. On Sunday, March 22nd, BEN organized a special event to welcome Mr. Abdul Matin, General Secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) – (Bangladesh Environmental Movement), who has been visiting the USA. BEN works closely with BAPA on environmental issues in Bangladesh. So close is the relationship that they are sometimes called BAPA-BEN. The event took place in Jackson Heights, New York. More or less 30 people attended the event.
The General Secretary briefly discussed BAPA and the different aspects of Bangladesh’s environmental problems and prospects.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) was launched in 2000 to create a nationwide movement to protect Bangladesh’s environment. Since then, it has been working with reputation, so much so that some people use the good name of BAPA to support their local environmental activities.
BAPA has to fend off requests for membership from corrupt government officials who want to use BAPA’s name and activity for their personal benefit. Due to resource constraints, BAPA has been expanding slowly at local levels. Some associates work independently with BAPA, following their model of community activism.
BAPA has about 500 members after cutting down almost 350 inactive members over the years. It has a central committee, an executive committee, 18 program committees based on various environmental issues, and 14 sub-committees to help those program committees. BAPA leadership is elected via a ‘controlled democracy’ for the organization’s smooth operation.
Many reputable personalities in Bangladesh, like lawyers, environmental experts, and teachers, provide their services for BAPA as a labor of love, and they are an essential lifeline for BAPA. Volunteers help them to carry out many of their field-level activities.
BAPA tries to maintain transparency by allowing anyone to see their financial statements by visiting their Dhaka Office.
When asked about BAPA’s organizational challenges, Mr. Matin said none! The main difficulties are convincing and motivating people and the government to care for the environment.
Even after many efforts and some improvements, the environment is an ever-neglected area for the Bangladesh government. As an example, he cited that Bangladesh has no national river policy. Therefore, rivers are facing ‘extinction.’ Many rivers are dying out, getting polluted, becoming narrower, and illegally used for personal and commercial benefits. It is a constant battle to save them.
As an anecdote, he told the audience how local officials in Sundarbans – a world heritage site, killed two deers to pleasingly feed the Prime Minister of Bangladesh when she was visiting the area! The PM was not happy, and the officials were suspended! The anecdote depicts the level of awareness among the local level Bangladeshi government/political authorities about environmental issues!
Many thanks to BAPA-BEN for organizing an informal and informative event. It is very commendable that BAPA is actively working to protect Bangladesh’s environment by providing information, generating public opinion, formulating policies, and persuading public officials. Without the presence of the General Secretary, basic information about BAPA was hard to find. BAPA’s website does not provide almost any information the GS supplied at the event. For example, what are the 18 program committees, what are their activities, what are the achievements of BAPA so far, what are their future plans, how are volunteers involved in the process, how can non-resident Bangladeshis and others help or raise concern or provide support? Can anyone see BAPA’s annual reports online? Etc.
BAPA’s website provides some minimal, formal, static information. The blog contains no entry! The list of activities is from March 14, 2012, although the organization was founded in 2000. The last activity was posted on May 22, 2013! Research papers/publications are not available either for free or for sale. There is nothing on the ‘Associates’ link! The General Secretary mentioned that volunteers help BAPA, but the website is empty! There are no social links of any kind.
Disseminating information, keeping it online, and regular updates are fundamental aspects of today’s environmental movement. BAPA can easily connect with outside communities and organizations through its online campaign.
Even though Bangladesh is nowhere close to being responsible for climate change due to carbon emissions compared to developed countries, Bangladesh will be one of the most affected countries. Many experts rightly and reasonably have mentioned that very little Bangladesh can do to ‘stop’ global warming. Whatever little Bangladesh can do, are they doing it to the furthest extent? While Bangladesh’s industrial contribution to global warming has been small, its contribution through deforestation has been significant. Between 1986-7 and 1996-7, the number of cars, trucks, and jeeps doubled in Bangladesh, etc. Bangladesh has to address these kinds of issues.
Although Bangladeshis living abroad can advocate, lobby, organize, and actively participate in civic forums to get attention about the effects of climate change in Bangladesh, most non-resident Bangladeshis seem to be least concerned about it now. Only a handful of Bangladeshis joined last year’s climate march in New York. BAPA-BEN can think of some innovative initiatives to motivate/engage them.
Before ending, two points to make in a positive spirit:
The speaker was forced to stop in the middle of his talk because the organizer forgot to welcome him with flowers! Therefore, he was interrupted, the flower was given, photos were taken, the audience waited, and then he went back to talking again. Flowers could have been given before or after the talk – not in the middle by interrupting the most essential part of the event. The incident was somehow connected with the Bangladesh environment movement – culturally. Bangladeshis need to rethink their cultural practices if they want to save the environment. Changing culture is hard, but it is sometimes essential and possible.
The projector at the event ran for more than two hours with just one slide! It’s caused some light pollution and made it difficult to take pictures of whoever wanted! Here is a different kind of example of how every small act counts!
Thanks again, Bangladesh Environment Network and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, for the event.
Documentary Films on Bangladesh by non-Bangladeshi Film Makers
A list of documentary films on Bangladesh was published in Part 1, Part 2,Part 3, and Part 4. This is the fifth installment. All documentaries in this list were made by non-Bangladeshi directors, producers, and production companies. It is not a review or not a critique of the documentaries – a mere list. This list is incomplete, so we will write on them as they come to our attention. The list here is in random order.
This group of documentary films is not entirely on Bangladesh. In a single documentary, Bangladesh was mentioned in a documentary as part of the issue presented. Bangladesh was presented in one of the episodes of a series of documentaries.
The Human Scale
Director: Andreas Dalsgaard
2012 • 83 Min • Denmark
Half of the human population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this will increase to 80%. Life in a megacity is both enchanting and problematic. Today, we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness, and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities for four decades. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction and argues that we can build cities in a way that considers human needs for inclusion and intimacy. ‘The Human Scale‘ meets thinkers, architects, and urban planners across the globe. It questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people at the center of our planning.
Poverty, Inc.
Director: Michael Matheson Miller
2014 • 94 Min • USA
The West has positioned itself as the protagonist of the development narrative. However, the results have been mixed, sometimes even catastrophic, and developing world leaders have become increasingly vocal in calling for change. Drawing on perspectives gathered from over 150 interviews shot over four years in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. explores the hidden side of doing good. From disaster relief to TOMs Shoes, from adoptions to agricultural subsidies, Poverty, Inc. follows the butterfly effect of our most well-intentioned efforts and pulls back the curtain on the poverty industrial complex – the multi-billion dollar market of NGOs, multilateral agencies, and for-profit aid contractors. Are we catalyzing development or propagating a system where the poor stay poor while the rich get hipper?
Plan B
Director: Hal Weiner
2010 • 84 Min • USA
Narrated by Matt Damon, Plan B is a 90-minute documentary based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown. Shot on location around the world, the film’s message is clear and unflinching — either confront the realities of climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed states. Ultimately, Plan B provides audiences with a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based on renewable resources and strategies to avoid the growing threat of global warming. Appearing with Lester Brown are Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman, former Governor and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, along with other scholars and scientists. Locations include China, Japan, South Korea, India, Italy, Turkey, Bangladesh, Zambia, Haiti, and the U.S.
Whores’ Glory
Director: Michael Glawogger
2011 • 110 Min • Germany & Austria
Whores’ Glory is an examination of the lives, needs, troubles, and hopes of prostitutes in Bangkok (Thailand), Faridpur (Bangladesh) and Reynosa (Mexico). The first part deals with the everyday work of prostitutes in Bangkok in a brothel called the Fish Tank. The prostitutes sit in a brightly lit glass room and are chosen by clients by the number used to identify them. The second part concerns a vast brothel called the City of Joy in Faridpur, Bangladesh. There, 600 to 800 women work in a confined space. In one scene, a madame buying a prostitute from another madame haggles over the price of the girl. The third part takes place in Reynosa, near the Texas border. There, it is expected, as in other Mexican cities, to designate the legal areas for prostitution as zonas de tolerancia (tolerance zones). The entrance to the Zona is secured with barriers and is constantly monitored by the police.
Let Them Eat Cake
Director: Alexis Krasilovsky
2014 • 81 Min • USA
Six years in the making, filmed in a dozen countries, ‘Let Them Eat Cake‘ is a poetic film essay that runs the full range from the pleasures and perils of overeating to the tragedies of world hunger.
Let Them Eat Cake is not your typical documentary. It is a poetic essay that takes you through twelve countries, exploring the contrast between pastry making and consumption in various parts of the world. While in some parts of the world, those who farm the ingredients for pastries can’t even afford them, in Paris, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, lavish pastries adorn the shelves of pastry shops along the streets. Written and directed by award-winning director Alexis Krasilovsky, Let Them Eat Cake addresses the planetary emergency of too little food while seducing the viewer with the lavish traditions and beauty of pastry and cake-making that call us back to our childhood roots.
ManIslam – Islam and Masculinity
Director: Nefise Özkal Lorentzen
2014 • 58 Min • Norway
‘ManIslam – Islam and Masculinity‘ is a voyage into understanding the masculinities of Islam. Why does a man in Kuwait inspired by the 99 names of Allah and the Quranic stories create comics about superheroes called the 99? Why does a man in Bangladesh travel from one village to another and teach the community how to play a board game? Why does a man in Indonesia encourage other men to wear mini shirts in a demonstration? They all have the same target. They will change the dark side of the masculinities in their cultures by playing games.
Years of Living Dangerously
Directors: Joel Bach and David Gelber
2014 • 58 Min/episode • USA
Years of Living Dangerously is a documentary in 9 episodes about worldwide climate change and global warming. Bangladesh was extensively covered in episode 8 (A Dangerous Future) and episode 9 (Moving a Mountain). From the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy to the upheaval caused by drought in the Middle East, this groundbreaking documentary event series provides first-hand reports on those affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In episode 8, Michael C. Hall travels to Bangladesh to see how climate change will impact workers and the poor in developing countries in the coming decades, when a projected 150 million people will be forced to leave their homes to escape sea level rise and increased drought, insect-borne disease, and flooding. In episode 9, Hall concludes his journey to Bangladesh, where rising seas are expected to submerge 17% of the country.
Don’t Tell My Mother
2008 • 58 Min • USA and France
Producer: Diego Buñuel
Don’t Tell My Mother is a television program hosted by Diego Buñuel and shown on the National Geographic Adventure channel. In this documentary’s episode of season 2, Dhaka was presented as a destination. Dhaka is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Amidst the busy streets, energetic creativity bubbles up in the most unlikely places. Diego begins his adventure in Dhaka, where the term urban jungle is given new meaning. In this area, Macaque monkeys have taken control.
Toughest Place To Be A…
Producer: Simon Davies
2012 • 58 Min • UK
Toughest Place To Be A… is a BBC Two television documentary that offered various working or retired professionals in the United Kingdom a different and more challenging working environment in the same profession they worked in.
Bangladesh was presented in Series 3, episode 2. 57-year-old Colin Window, the bridge officer of the Woolwich Ferry, travels to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to train and work as a ferryman on the Buriganga River. Hosted by 70-year-old Muhammed Loteef in one of the city’s slums, Colin is introduced to his new vessel, a small wooden rowboat known as a Sampan. In temperatures of up to 40 degrees, Sampan operators row passengers and goods across the quarter-mile stretch of river every day, dodging the huge barges and passenger ships that dominate the Buriganga. As Mr Loteef shows Colin how to master the sampan, he meets the other people who live and work on the river and have seen it transformed by sewage, rubbish, and industrial waste. Once the lifeblood of a traditional fishing community, the Buriganga is now officially a dead river.
However, the changes to Buriganga are just a glimpse of the transformations disrupting life in Bangladesh. Every day, some 2000 people leave their villages and travel to Dhaka, desperate for work, as traditional professions such as farming are threatened by climate change. Yet even in Dhaka, over a quarter of a million children live rough on the city streets.
After ten training days, Colin faces his final challenge: operating the Sampan alone during rush hour, taking passengers, and dodging huge ships.
‘Marxism and Islam in Bangladeshi Left Politics: A Conversation’ was organized and sponsored by the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI) on Saturday, November 29th, 2014, at a local Restaurant in New York. Azfar Hussain, Associate Professor of Liberal Studies at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, was the key speaker.
The key talking points of the speaker about Marxism and Islam in Bangladeshi Left Politics were as follows:
Marxism is falsely described in the West as a power struggle, atheism, dictatorship, against free speech, anti-individual rights, anti-spiritualism, anti-religion, etc. This kind of false stereotype remains. Even within some Marxist theorists (post-modern, post-structuralism, post-humanism, post-colonialism), a selective understanding of Marx’s work has undermined Marx. These created a vast challenge to re-establish Marxism as a valid ideology.
There is a new renewal of interest in Marx’s appeal and importance in the light of economic collapse, job loss, labor discontent in the West, and anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist activism in South America, Asia, Africa, and worldwide. Marx appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, and the Wall Street Journal wrote about Marx. Social breakdown, poverty, loss of livelihood, homelessness, and hunger around the world are bringing Marxism back into the game.
What is Marxism? Marxism is the body of works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Almost all and every extension of Marx’s ideas is also Marxism. Marx and Engels combined work (published in 50 volumes), and those who followed, applied, acted upon, and stretched the concept of Marx can be called Marxism. (Lenin, Mao, Che, Castro, MN Roy, Nkrumah, etc). In that sense, Marxism is better called Marxism.
Class struggle and the overthrow of capitalism have been the core of Marxism. Still, Marx’s concept of total emancipation of humanity is essential and crucial in understanding Marxism, which has been overlooked. Total emancipation of humanity means freeing the oppressed and the oppressors as well. The totality of all human practices is included in total emancipation. Therefore, religion is also included. Marxism cannot bypass the question of religion as part of its discussion. The speaker, Azfar Hussain, emphasized that this encompassing concept of Marxism attracts him, not the curbed, curated, stereotyped, narrow idea of Marxism. As a part of the revolutionary transformation and reconstruction of society, the speaker raised the possibility that religion can be seen as a sign of (kind of) class struggle.
Many Eastern and Arab philosophers deeply enriched Western Philosophers. Many concepts that are thought to be associated with Western Philosophy, such as rationalism and negative dialectical thinking, were independently developed in the Arabic world.
Marx lived in Algiers for two months in 1882, a year before he died. He observed various aspects of Islamic civilization and studied North Indian Muslims, Algeria, the Hanafi school of thought, and Indonesian society. Therefore, Marx’s inattentiveness to Islamic society was not correct. Late in his life, Marx paid attention to Islamic law and jurisprudence. Some authors think that Marx saw absolute equality in some social intercourse in Islamic law practice!
The relationship between Marxism and religion is that Marxism pays attention to the totality of lived human practices, including religions. Understanding how people become religious is crucial to understanding the masses in a given society.
In the case of Bangladesh, the Left contributed to the formation of Bangladesh by theorizing and sometimes participating in Bangladesh’s national liberation movement. Today, mainstream Bangladesh’s bourgeoisie political culture is marked by the bureaucratization of politics, the militarization of politics, the politicization of the military, the politicization of religion, the communalization of democracy, etc. And a significant part of the left has joined mainstream bourgeois political culture. Bangladeshi Left did not understand the question of religion in the light of Marx’s concept of total emancipation of humanity.
By and large, the question of religion and Islam has not been addressed in Bangladeshi left politics. Part of the reason is that the Left in Bangladesh is not interested in exploring Marx’s letter writings! For them, Marxism is still a matter of economic extremism, against capitalism, against imperialism, etc. They are not getting any momentum in their politics as they are not focused on the Religious people of Bangladesh.
Based on the above talk, Azfar Hussain ended his presentation by suggesting five key propositions regarding Marxism and Islam in Bangladeshi Left Politics:
» Marxism cannot ignore the totality of lived human practices. Religion is one of the practices. Therefore, the issue of religion should be addressed and reckoned with.
» Marxism may move forward the emancipatory potential of religion itself. It can take the challenge of combating and confronting the oppressive bourgeoisie’s abuse of religion by mainstream political culture.
» The Left in Bangladesh largely failed to face the question of religion/Islam. Islam’s forefront role in the anti-imperialist struggle, as well as the struggles of other religions, races, genders, environments, ethnicities, and languages, should be addressed.
» Marx’s letter writings should be discussed thoroughly in the contemporary environment.
» Mass line organizing or revolutionary politics cannot be assertive without considering why and how religion becomes a material force/cause.
It was undoubtedly an interesting talk.
Left politics in Bangladesh was never mainstream. There are many reasons for that. One strong assumption for it is that Bangladesh is a Muslim country. Ideologically, religion (especially Islam) does not go hand in hand with the ideas of Marxism. Therefore, Bangladesh was never shown much excitement about building a classless, secular, equal society for all based on Marxist ideas. Although the ideas of Marx were always an exciting intellectual enthusiasm among many, perhaps they still are. A country’s political history, economic life, cultural trends, societal values, nationalist ideas, spiritual inclination, environmental condition, geographic location, national psyche, international standing, etc., determine its historical place. Seeing and balancing all these factors is important in understanding a nation’s desire and destiny. Left politics missed the opportunity to find the pulse of Bangladesh and its people.
It seems like the above conversation was a way to address this issue. It was good to see that left-leaning thinkers of Bangladeshi origin are trying to spread ideas beyond the core Marxist thoughts (Though they are trying to find some support in Marx’s letters, notebooks, and side notes – which, perhaps, is unnecessary). However, a conversation is a good start. To go further, many questions have to be addressed:
In the West, there are some efforts to equate Marxism with Islam as they try to portray both as evil ideologies! Now, a similar effort is being made by some scholars to assimilate left politics (Marxism) more integrated with religion (Islam) as part of the total emancipation of humanity. How can these two opposing viewpoints be explained? Why is religion being considered as a “comrade” in Marxism now? Is Islam being used as a leftist tool or a genuine understanding? Do religion-based political groups see Marxism as their ally, too? How can various versions of Marxism coexist with many versions of Islam? How does the Left in Bangladesh explain Islam? Etc.
Hard questions were not addressed, as most attendees were ‘comrades’ to each other from the same school of thought. The talk ended with a free lunch provided by the restaurant.
Bangladesh embassies, consulates, high commissions, permanent missions in different countries, and international organizations represent Bangladesh and its people. These missions are controlled by the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). According to MOFA’s website, 65 embassies, consulates, high commissions, deputy high commissions, and permanent missions are stationed in 51 countries. (List below. However, this list may not be updated!) All these foreign missions have physical locations (buildings, offices), and many have an online presence (websites). Through their physical and virtual locations, these foreign offices offer a range of services to the public.
This article, in general, will review the state and effectiveness of the websites of Bangladesh embassies and consulates. It will touch upon the language, social engagement, quality of information, and related issues. At the end, it will attempt to provide some suggestions.
The Bangladesh government has 48 embassies, consulates, high commissions, deputy high commissions, and permanent missions, which can be found online (Sources: MOFA website and internet search). A gallery of screenshots of Bangladesh Embassies and Consulates can be found here.
Due to a lack of information regarding the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) ‘s website policy, this article has to rely on the WYSIWYG method to describe website conditions.
First, apart from James Bond 007, Mr. Daniel Craig’s visit to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, the online presence of Bangladesh’s foreign missions is not admirable. Many missions have no web presence. Those who have are plagued with difficulties, including dead links, no links, outdated information, slow speed, hacked domains, expired domains, disorganized information structures, lack of public engagement, and security concerns, to name a few. The following are some more prominent problems:
Naming Principles of Bangladesh Embassies and Consulates
Nomenclature? Bangladesh embassies and consulates have adopted various names for different missions—for example, bdembassy, bangladeshembassy, bangladoot, bangladesh, bdembassyuae, cgbdubai, etc.
Moreover, when a domain name expired or was hacked, another name was taken, and a website was launched. For example:
Bangladesh High Commission in India, New Delhi
www.bhcdelhi.org >> www.bdhcdelhi.org
Consulate General of Bangladesh in LA, USA
www.bdcgla.org >> www.bangladeshconsulatela.com
Embassy of Bangladesh in Japan
www.bdembjp.com >> www.bdembassy.jp
Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Kolkata, India
www.bdhckolkata.org >> www.bdhc-kolkata.org
Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in Geneva, Switzerland
Domain Policy of Bangladesh Embassies and Consulates
Acquiring and implementing a systematic, well-organized, appropriate top-level domain (TLD) policy is vital to any website. At the government level, it is also a question of public trust, national security, and standardization. Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not secured and implemented any consistent domain name plan for its foreign mission websites.
The Bangladesh MOFA appears to utilize every top-level domain name available for its missions abroad. Here are some samples of top-level domain names in use for MOFA foreign missions today:
Name (Entity)
Name (Entity)
.com (commercial)
.org (organization)
.bh (Bahrain)
.be (Belgium)
.bt (Bhutan)
.bn (Brunei Darussalam)
.ca (Canada)
.cn (China)
.de (Germany)
.lk (Sri Lanka)
.np (Nepal)
.nl (Netherlands)
.ru (Russia)
.sa (South Africa)
.sg (Singapore)
.se (Sweden)
.ch (Switzerland)
.tr (Turkey)
.uk (United Kingdom)
.uz (Uzbekistan)
.vn (Vietnam)
Language Support
All Bangladesh embassies’ and consulates’ websites are in English. Except for the Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal, none have Bangla language support. Other missions sometimes post government circulars, notices, press releases, directives, etc., in Bangla. However, they are all in JPEG or PDF format.
Considering its international importance, English is the right choice. However, the Bangla language is a big issue in Bangladesh, and possibly most visitors are Bangladeshi (an unscientific assumption!). It is the national language of Bangladesh, so the Bangla language could have been used to support all websites. And if possible, all websites can provide local language support as well. For example, the Bangladesh Embassy in Japan can be in Japanese, English, or Bangla.
Ironically, the Bangladesh MOFA website is entirely in English, but it has attempted to provide support in the Bangla language.
Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Bangla Help
Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, etc., are powerful tools for connecting and staying in touch with clients or fans of any service organization. Almost no Bangladesh embassies and consulates have social media connections except Kenya (Facebook) and Nepal (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). Interestingly, the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait does not have a website, but it does have a Facebook page!
Information and Website Structure
All MOFA websites have serious consistency problems regarding information and website structure.
Information
The information provided on various websites of Bangladeshi missions abroad is widely varied. Basic details on Bangladesh’s economy, culture, and tradition are not uniform, and in some instances, they are missing.
Structure
Like information, website structures are widely different, confusing, and have no harmony. Let’s take one example: contact is one of the most critical links or menus in the navigational structure of any website. One can see a wild ride of the link; here are a few examples:
Bangladesh Embassy in Sweden and Turkey: ‘Contact Us‘ on top right horizontal level. Good.
Bangladesh Embassy in UAE: ‘Contact Us‘ is located on the footer only!
Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia: There is no ‘Contact Us’, and if they have, it is HARD to find.
Bangladesh Embassy in Sri Lanka: ‘Contact Us’ is not on the navigation menu; it is just pasted on the front page, making it easy to lose.
Website structures can differ, but all must pass usability tests and be user-friendly. Navigation must not be the same or similar, but it must be intuitive. The ‘Keep looking until you find’ policy is not a great idea.
Control and Management
Who controls the websites of the Bangladesh embassy and consulate? According to the MOFA website, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand do not have websites. However, they have websites and can be found online. Is Bangladesh MOFA in control of these websites? Or is this simply an issue of a lack of update?
There is no information about the Bangladesh Consulate in Milan, Italy, on the MOFA website. However, one website of the Consulate of Milan was found online! The website works and seems legitimate, but the question remains: why is there no information about this consulate on the MOFA website?
The management of the websites can be delegated to other entities, but who controls and owns these domain names and websites remains unclear. Many websites are created, credited, sponsored, and donated by other entities. No copyright, disclaimer, terms and conditions, or privacy policy is posted on many websites, including the MOFA’s.
If the Bangladesh MOFA owns and controls these websites, that information should be mentioned as a general rule. Allowing a person’s or organization’s name to appear on a government website is unprofessional.
When writing this article, at least 19 MOFA foreign mission websites—including some foreign web developers—had the name of a person or organization printed at the footer. Even the footer of MOFA’s website bears the personal seal of its creator. There is nothing wrong with mentioning who the website designer or developer is; however, it is somewhat unconventional for a government website.
Proper control and maintenance of Bangladesh’s foreign mission websites are a national security issue.
Other Observations:
Many issues can be mentioned that are affecting a good web experience for visitors, such as
Websites often have many dead links and poor internal links.
Websites are almost static.
There are no interactive options on any websites.
There are many kinds of platforms in use.
No cookie policy compliance regarding EU countries.
Sites are not secured (https) for any data transactions, if necessary.
Ways to Improve Websites of Bangladesh Embassies and Consulates
There are many ways to improve the websites of Bangladesh embassies and consulates. Consulting with industry experts can be a valuable approach. Below are some obvious suggestions:
The naming principle can be made uniform and consistent. For example, using mofa.gov.bd as a top-level domain, all foreign missions can be named with the city they are stationed in. Here are a few examples:
Abu Dhabi
https://www.abudhabi.mofa.gov.bd
Karachi
https://www.karachi.mofa.gov.bd
London
https://www.london.mofa.gov.bd
Los Angeles
https://www.losangeles.mofa.gov.bd
New York
https://www.newyork.mofa.gov.bd
Nairobi
https://www.nairobi.mofa.gov.bd
Washington D. C.
https://www.washingtondc.mofa.gov.bd
The Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) can provide general information about Bangladesh’s history, politics, geography, culture, traditions, literature, government structure, investment policy, and more. This information can be data-rich, synchronized, and well-researched. The rest can be assigned to each mission to add information as needed. The website structure can be professional, user-friendly, modern, and, if possible, aesthetically appealing!
Websites can be made in English with Bangla and local language support. Bangla language will help Bangladeshis in need, and the local language may assist foreign investors, tourists, and information seekers. For example:
Embassy
Language 1
Language 2
Language 3
USA
English
Bangla
UAE
English
Bangla
Arabic
Sweden
English
Bangla
Swedish
Tajikistan
English
Bangla
Russian
Malaysia
English
Bangla
Malay/Chinese
A rating system, FAQ, QA, and social media sections can be added to better serve the clients.
All websites should be responsive and mobile-friendly, as more people access the web via cell phones and tablets.
According to industry experts, appropriate measurements can be implemented to make websites fast, secure, and hacker-proof. (like HTTPS, CDN, etc.)
Copyright, terms and conditions, disclaimer, etc., should be clearly stated on all Bangladesh MOFA foreign mission websites.
All foreign missions can have a web presence. At present, 17 embassies and consulates do not have websites.
The online presence of a nation like Bangladesh is significant as more people seek information online. For many investors, tourists, researchers, expatriates, and business professionals, a website is the primary source of information. Therefore, it would be wise for the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to create fast, secure, accurate, comprehensive, and functional websites for all of its embassies and consulates as soon as possible, including its own.
This article is about climate change and role of Bangladesh community living abroad. Ok, let’s get started.
People’s Climate March | Crystal Bruno
On Sunday, September 21, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of New York, and cities worldwide to pressure world leaders to take action on global warming, in what organizers claim will be the biggest climate march in history.
The UN Climate Summit happening right after the march, on September 23. World leaders will join at this summit on climate change, the first time world leaders have come together on the issue since the landmark Copenhagen summit in 2009, which was seen as a failure.
The People’s Climate March on 21 September is intended to send a strong signal to those world leaders and could be the ‘last chance’ for an international deal. If world leaders aren’t forced to step up, ‘then many believe that political progress is impossible.’ The People’s Climate March is a crucial factor in insuring the world gets on the right path.
Climate Change and Bangladesh
Climate Change is drowning Bangladesh
By the end of this century, best estimates predict between a 1.8⁰ C and 4⁰ C rise in average global temperature, although it could possibly be as high as 6.4⁰ C. This will affect many parts of the whole world in unprecedented ways.
For Bangladesh, the impact of climate change extremely severe. Already average weather temperatures rising; rainfall being less when it is most needed; more extreme hot and cold spells every year; rivers altering the hydrological cycle; more powerful tornados and cyclones are becoming common; sea level rising displacing communities, freshwater becoming saline; etc. The impact will be intensified by the fact that Bangladesh is both one of the most populated and one of the poorest. A conservative estimate predicts that by 2050, population of Bangladesh will reach 220 million. However, by then nearly 17%-20% of Bangladesh will be claimed by the sea, displacing about 20 million people.
Scientific data, solid predictions, real-life experiences and negative effects of the climate change on Bangladesh are everywhere. The worst senario is not unreal if the people are not united and demand action NOW.
What is happening in New York?
On Sunday, September 21, in New York City, people from all walks of life and organizations of all types will march together to put pressure on world leaders to address the issue of climate change. There is a very wide range and diversity of people, including immigrant rights groups, social justice groups, faith communities, students, professionals, unions, women, youths, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, you name it, are coming to join the event. Whoever you are and wherever you are, climate change threatens us all, so it brings us together.
The march will be happening all major cities around the world but New York City march is the most important and center of attention because world leaders are gathering in the United Nations in New York.
Why is this march important for Bangladesh community abroad?
As the negative impacts of climate change on Bangladesh are very high, it can be safely assumed that the Bangladeshi community living around the world can raise their voices to demand urgent, practical and political measurements to address the issue. Almost every Non-Resident Bangladeshi has some kind of ties to Bangladesh – familial, economic, social, cultural, emotional or ethnic. Therefore, Bangladeshis abroad should be at the forefront of the march.
The march and summit are happening in New York City. Fortunately, New York is one of the largest hub of Bangladeshi community living outside of Bangladesh. Therefore, it should be easy to attend for them.
Plus, the event is on Sunday. Sundays in summer season are generally a picnic day for Bangladeshi community in New York. Let’s do a ‘picnic-walk’ that the future generations will remember. Pack some food, take some water and come with your family, friends, festoons and flyers.
What Bangladesh community abroad can do?
First thing they can do is to show that they care for their country, Bangladesh. Geographically it is a distant land but memory of the land is closer than the heartbeat, specially for first generation immigrants!
Everyone can do something according to their capacity,
Everyone can come and join the march.
Bangladeshi community newspapers in New York can write about the event and place conspicuous ads to draw attention of the community.
Hundreds of Bangladeshi community organizations (district, cultural, student) can notify and arrange their members to come to the march or maybe even march altogether.
‘Mainstream’ Bangladeshi community organizers can show their magical tweaks by motivating people to participate.
Businesses and business organizations can provide space for flyer, fund the event, print posters, banners, etc.
Why Bangladesh community abroad should participate?
Show you care for your country, you are concerned and you demand action.
Show your anger, dissatisfaction, awareness about the inaction of political leaders of the world regarding climate change.
In 1971, expatriate Bangladeshis around the world created awareness about the Bangladesh Liberation War. Now it is your turn – only it is another issue and mother of all issues.
Your family, friends and ordinary citizens of Bangladesh expect this global civic duty from you. They cannot join the march in New York – you can. You represent them. You do it for them.
As Bangladesh will be severely affected by climate change, Bangladesh community’s presence should be noticeable, bold and forefront.
Be part of a global community that care and concern about global issues affecting all of us.
Documentary Films on Bangladesh by non-Bangladeshi Film Makers
A list of documentary films on Bangladesh previously published here in three parts. They can be found here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. This is the fourth installment. The list focuses on Non-Bangladeshi or Non-resident Bangladeshi film makers. The principal focus is to compile a list of documentary films on Bangladesh – it is not a review or not a critic. This list is not complete, therefore, as they come to our attention we will write on them. The list here is in random order.
Nine Months to Freedom
Director: S. Sukhdev
1972 • 72 Min • India
The film showing at length the war of East Pakistan with West Pakistan which led to the formation of an independent state of Bangladesh. India had played a very crucial role in this war in supporting the new state of Bangladesh. This film shows the impact of the war nine months. Sukhdev’s documentary is a partisan chronicle of the history of Pakistan to the point where Bangladesh, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, demanded its freedom. Then it narrates the events after 25 March 1971, when Yahya Khan sent in the raping and rampaging Pakistani army, the heroic struggle of Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini and finally the Indian Army’s defeat of Pakistan and the liberation of Bangladesh. The highlights of the film are its refutation of a clip from Pakistan TV with a strong voice-over, and the interview with an enraged Andre Malraux saying he wants to pick up a rifle and join the war against Yahya Khan’s army. Large parts of the story are told using a montage of stills, including newspaper headlines. In addition to footage from BBC TV and Pakistan TV, the film uses sequences of the massacre in Bangladesh (including the opening shot of a dog ripping apart a human corpse).
The Most Fearless
Director: Heather Kessinger
2014 • 77 Min • USA
Teenage Nasima struggles to achieve her destiny as a world class competitive surfer in conservative Bangladesh where women don’t even swim in public. The Most Fearless is a dynamic and universally accessible true story. A documentary film about youth, hope, and surfing; full of compelling characters, set in an exotic location, and rich with contemporary global cultural relevance.
Director: Javier Gomez Serrano
2010 • 60 Min • Spain
Shipwreck is the story of Johor and Salam, men that work at the ship yards breaking vessels in Chittagong, a coastal province of Bangladesh. Bengali men struggling to raise their families against a backdrop of labor uncertainty, health hazards unknown to us, and salaries that make them the most competitive labor force in the world.
Johor is a cutter, a crafted worker that slices down the ships day and night. He sits at the top of the job positions in the yard. Salam is older but strong, he is also a leader within the collective house he lives at. The two of them represent the whole of the man power assembled in the yards. This is their story. Shipwreck is the battleground where barehanded men dismantle these gigantic ships. Their work is considered a great asset to the country’s economy taking into account the high price of steel in the world market. For them workers, is a good way to ensure their children’s future and they believe, in time, their working conditions will only improve. Shipwreck is a modern version of David against Goliath. Where the real giant David must bring down is a system oblivious to the human beings which it is supposed to serve, represented in this film by the hopeless enormous carcasses wrecked at a soiled beach. An industry breaking down more than 500 large ships a year that is unlikely to stop while there are ships to be broken, unpaid and unprepared workers eager to break them, and large amounts of money to be made amidst the hypocrisy of the western world.
Heart to Head
Director: Gem Munro
2013 • 123 Min • Canada
Education is the most powerful weapon in fighting what Gandhi called the worst form of violence – poverty. This documentary film takes a close look at how Amarok Society has empowered some of the poorest, most oppressed mothers in the world to lead that fight. Rather than teach children, Amarok Society teaches wholly uneducated Muslim mothers in the slums of the world’s worst city to be neighborhood teachers – achieving what many said would be impossible. ‘Heart to Head’ reveals a rarely-seen world, providing an extraordinary view into these terrible slums and the lives within them as it follows Amarok Society’s quest to open a new school, and traces the journey of women who reshape their lives and their neighborhoods through education.
Flip The Coin – A Tower Of Promises
Director: Tom Heinemann
2008 • 57 Min • Sweden/Denmark
The world have never been bigger. In seconds we can connect. From Scandinavia to Bangladesh.
Globalization can create economic growth even in the poorest countries of the world. Good for some but not for all. The gap between the rich and the poor has never been bigger: 980 million people are starving every day, Just 1000 people own on average more than 4 billion Dollars, 850 million people suffers from chronic malnutrition. Who are the winners and who are the losers?
This documentary shows how Ericsson and Telenor for more than a decade have neglected to live up to their own Code Of Conduct. Fatal accidents, child labor, hazardous working conditions and environmental disasters are everyday occurrences in their factories in Bangladesh. Thousands of poor workers, work for subcontractors to Ericsson and Telenor (Two of the largest telecommunication companies in the world). These multinational companies guarantees to the public and their shareholders, that the employees and suppliers have to live up to the most basic human rights and environmental standards. “A Tower Of Promises” documents how these guarantees are nothing more than empty words.
Sixteen Decisions
Director: Gayle Ferraro
2000 • 60 Min • USA
Sixteen Decisions is a documentary film directed and produced by Gayle Ferraro, exploring the impact of the Grameen Bank on impoverished women in Bangladesh. The bank provides micro loans of about $60 each to the poor, as well as promoting a social charter that gave the film its title. The film was Gayle Ferraro’s first, begun in 1997 and completed in 2000. It has been shown at multiple film festivals, including the 2001 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival and 2002 Women With Vision Film Festival. It won the Bronze Award for Women’s Issues at the Houston Worldfest, and was broadcast by PBS in 2003.
Channel 4 News presenter Alex Thomson unwraps one of the nation’s favorite dishes. Through DNA testing he discovers the fish in fish and chips may not be quite as advertised and exposes how one major supermarket is misleading consumers about the sustainability of the cod it sells.
The apparent health benefits of fish have driven demand amongst consumers and made it a lucrative multi-billion pound industry in the UK. But Thomson reveals the chemical additives used in some fish products. He also uncovers that packaged fish on sale in the chilled section of the supermarket may have been frozen for nine months before it’s defrosted and sold to consumers – some of whom assume this is fresh.
Dispatches goes undercover to investigate the prawn industry in Bangladesh, which supplies Britain with several thousand tones of prawns each year, and finds a dangerously unregulated industry. Secret filming reveals serious hygiene issues and the use of a widely banned pesticide to combat disease in prawn ponds. The report also exposes how prawns are injected with a dirty bulking liquid to increase weight – and profit.
Hoolock Gibbons – Grasping the Last Branch
Director: Elliott Haimoff
2009 • 50 Min • USA
The Hoolock Gibbons of Bangladesh have been brought to the brink of extinction by the relentless destruction of their forested habitats throughout the country, even in the most highly protected forest reserves. This species used to number in the tens of thousands, but are now down to the last 200 or so.
Swamp Tigers
Director: Mike Herd
2001 • 50 Min • UK
Entangled, mangrove forest on the Bay of Bengal is the kingdom of a creature rarely seen by humans. One of the most efficient predators on Earth, this animal is feared as a killer and a man-eater – the legendary swamp tiger. These tigers are so elusive that all attempts to track them in these impenetrable swamps ended in failure.
More than a decade ago, cameraman Mike Herd captured the swamp tiger on film for the first time. It was an extraordinary breakthrough, the first glimpse into the secret life of the least known tiger in the world – the swamp tiger of the Bangladeshi Sundarbans.
This first tiger footage was tantalizing and all-too-brief, but for Mike it was enough to stir a passion. He resolved to return and unravel the secrets of this mysterious creature. The Sundarbans are remote and dangerous, so Mike will need an armed guard day and night. Somewhere in those 6,000 square miles, 10,000 square kilometers, are a few hundred tigers, yet the only way to track them is on foot.
Four mighty rivers rise in the Himalayas and pass through Bangladesh, dividing into small streams and channels to pour into the sea in the Bay of Bengal. They form an intricate mangrove delta, a collection of sand banks and mud held together by entangled roots.
Flood waters carry human victims downstream; corpses are washed onto the muddy banks of the Sundarbans giving some tigers the taste for human flesh. Every year up to a hundred people are killed by tigers, yet for the poor there is no alternative. The fishermen spend months on-board their boats trying to avoid the bandits who steal their catch and their belongings.
On the muddy bank there is the first tell-tale trace of the tiger – a recent set of pugmarks leading deep into the forest. Then more evidence – huge claw marks on a tree. The air is thick with a pungent smell of tiger. Mike believes it must be a tigress.
Documentary Films on Bangladesh by non-Bangladeshi Film Makers
This is the third part on documentary films on Bangladesh. First part of documentary films on Bangladesh listed nine documentaries. Second part of documentary films on Bangladesh listed nine more docs. Nine more documentaries added to this list. The lists are in random order.
Development in Bad Waters
Director: CrelisRammelt
2013 • 61 Min • Netherlands
In Bangladesh, millions of rural poor are currently drinking water that is contaminated with high levels of arsenic. Although the problem was described as the worst mass poisoning in history, little has been achieved to resolve it. Among the few projects that are being implemented, even fewer have managed to reach the poor and to implement water supplies and health support provisions that last. The Arsenic Mitigation and Research Foundation has implemented an integrated and participatory program that links research with project activities in a manner that reflects the priorities of local communities. More info about Development in Bad Waters here.
Le telephone portable de Halima
Director: Olga Prud’homme 2007 • 52 Min • France
This story takes place in Bangladesh. We are in May 2000. I have come to follow the arrival of a cell phone in Halima’s life, a village woman. Halima got this cell phone thanks to a loan from the Grameen Bank, the “bank of the poor”. It is the first phone ever found in this village. It should benefit to Halima as well as to all the village people.
January 2007: back to Halima. Has the wager of professor Yunus, who in between has been rewarded with the Peace Nobel Prize, succeeded? Can a cell phone change a destiny? Can micro credit help the poor to jump above “poverty line”? What happened to Halima and to her cell phone?
The film brings us into the world of two Bangladeshi folk musicians. MatalRajjakDewan, the ‘drunk poet’, is honored with a shrine after his death. His student, Abdul HaiDewan, calls his teacher ‘my Allah’ and continues to sing his songs of tolerance, mysticism and love at all-night celebrations and debates.
Matal Rajjak Dewan was an eccentric poet and singer who intrigued me the first and only time I saw him perform. When I returned to Bangladesh a year and a half later he was dead and his grave was a kind of shrine. Surprised, I set out to find out more and talked to his family, fans and, most of all, to his ardent student, the charismatic singer, Abdul Hai Dewan. For Abdul Hai, Matal Rajjak is more than just a teacher. “Nobody likes my songs,” he says unless Matal mixes in my soul and sings.” But Matal Rajjak is a puzzling figure who is described in many ways, a man who gave away all his money to beggars but who also beat people.
Way Back Home
Director: Supriyo Sen
2003 • 120 Mins • India
In this road-movie, the filmmaker follows his parents on their way ‘back home’ to Bangladesh. After the Partition of India in 1947, East Pakistan, (today’s Bangladesh) witnessed enormous atrocities. Rape, brutal killings and the separation of families, friends and neighbors literally happened overnight. After 50 years of living as ‘refugees’ in India, the filmmaker’s parents return to their home villages to see what remains of childhood memories. The journey is dangerous and challenging for those behind the camera as those in front of it. Filming takes place without the official permission of Bangladesh, which can provoke nasty reprisals. The urge to film his parents visiting home for what might be the last time in their lives though, was a great motivator. Emotional but not melodramatic, the film embodies the story of one family representing the faith of thousands of others in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. Poetic in approach, with beautiful songs and a measured pace, this journey is one of the rare documentaries that played for weeks in cinemas in Kolkata, India.
The Bangladesh Story
Director: FarisKermani 1989 • 78 Min • UK
The Bangladesh Story, a three-part series, broadcast on Channel 4, tells the story of Bangladesh from its creation to military rule of 1990s.
Part 1 – Under Three Flags – Bengal was the heartland of British India, and in 1947 it became the east wing of Pakistan, after much violence. East Pakistanis felt they still suffered from domination by their west wing, and Pakistan’s first general election in 1970 confirmed this. A second Bengali bid for independence resulted in nationhood.
Part 2 – The Mujib Years – The East Bengali majority in the 1970 election caused a civil war which shocked the world. The superpowers stayed on the sidelines, but the intervention of the Indian army ensured the existence of Bangladesh. Mujibur Rahman took power, but lost popular support within three years, and a new period of government by the armed forces began.
Part 3 – Military Rules – 80% of the population has dropped below the poverty line, while rulers come and go, usually through violent coups. The last program in the series looks at some different people’s attempts to find solutions to their country’s problems.
Between the Tides
Directors: Tyler Quintano & Nick Manning
2009 • 50 Min • USA
The sea level is rising at an alarming 3.14 mm per year in the Bay of Bengal due to climate change. An estimated 125 million people may be rendered homeless in India and Bangladesh by the end of this century. What are their options? How long do people have? Between the Tides is a feature-length documentary film that explores the human cost of climate change and those living on the front lines of sea level rise in the Ganges Delta.
The Micro Debt
Director: Tom Heinemann
2011 • 57 Min • Denmark
Microcredit has been hailed as the #1 solution to eradicate poverty. In December 2007, the Danish independent journalist and film maker, Tom Heinemann met with a woman by the name of Jahanara – living in a slum-like house two hours drive outside the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. Shortly before she had sold her house to pay her weekly installment\’s. For months, she had been intimidated, harassed and abused by the members of her loan group and by the loan officers from the various Micro Finance Institutions, who had given her the loans. The meeting with Jahanara was only the first in a long string of interviews with poor people in Bangladesh, India and in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. The Microcredit loan-takers told the same story over and over again: Most of them had numerous loans in various NGO’s and Micro Finance Institutions – and many must take new loans to cover the old ones. They paid annual interest rates ranging from 30-200%, and they are under extreme social pressure from the other members of their groups.
Strong Bodies Fight
Director: William Donaruma
2011 • 65 Min • USA
“Strong bodies fight, that weak bodies may be nourished.” This is the motto of the Notre Dame Boxing Team, which annually hosts an intramural charity tournament called “The Bengal Bouts” to support the Holy Cross development efforts in the poverty-stricken country of Bangladesh. Founded by legendary football coach Knute Rockne in 1931 and perpetuated by 80 years of blood, sweat, and tears, the Bengal Bouts represent a sacred tradition of dedicated students lacing up their gloves in a fight much larger than the ring in which they box.
In May 2008, a group of 5 student boxers embarked on a journey across the world to witness the Bangladesh missions. What they encountered was not what they had anticipated. Where they had expected to find weakness, they found strength; where they thought they would find despair, they found great resolve. They learned that the Bangladeshi people were not helpless victims to be aided but change-agents to be empowered. From the claustrophobic slums of Dhaka city to the remote tribal villages of Bangladesh, these students witnessed a world of poverty seldom seen in films or media – a world of hope.
Now 80 years in the making, Strong Bodies Fight is the unique and inspirational story of three groups of people – the Notre Dame boxers, the Holy Cross Missionaries, and the people of Bangladesh – reaching out across the globe to join forces as one Team in the FIGHT against poverty.
The Akram Tree
Directors: Francesco Cabras & Alberto Molinari
2011 • 81 Min • Italy
The Akram Tree is a journey through the personal and professional world of the British-Bangladeshi choreographer and dancer Akram Khan. My intelligence is in my body says Akram himself, a body built by acute observations of the reality, legends, and unceasing work here well represented by Gnosis, a pièce realized in collaboration with seven artists expressly discovered in different parts of the world. These traditions and experimentations from India, Japan, Pakistan, England, Egypt, Iraq and Bangladesh collaborate together to create a work between classic Indian Kathak and contemporary dance. The film portrays the story of this peculiar human and artistic adventure often transcending the narration for the sake of a more visionary look influenced by the location where the documentary has been shot: the futuristic and conflictive city of Abu Dhabi with its desertic and metaphysical surroundings.
Documentary Films on Bangladesh by non-Bangladeshi Film Makers
So here are another list of few more documentary films on Bangladesh. First part of documentary films on Bangladesh listed nine docs. In this part, nine more are included. The subject matter of these docs are microcredit, safe work environment, water contamination, social life, natural world, etc.
Again, the documentary films on Bangladesh here are not a review, just descriptions and are in random order.
Clothes To Die For
Director: Zara Hayes
2014 • 59 Min • UK
In April 2013, 18-year-old Shirin became one of thousands of people trapped inside the Rana Plaza building when it collapsed in the worst industrial disaster in the 21st century. In this moving documentary for BBC Two’s This World, Shirin and some of the other survivors tell their remarkable story of survival and escape. Many were rescued by ordinary local people who risked their own lives crawling into the rubble to save them. But Clothes To Die For also reveals the incredible growth of the Bangladeshi garment industry and the greed and high level corruption that led to the Rana Plaza tragedy. This tiny country has become the second largest producer of clothes in the world after China, transforming the country and providing employment for millions of people, most of them young women. As the personal stories of survivors reveal, in Bangladesh even a wage as low as £1.50 a day can be completely life-changing and many don’t want that opportunity taken away. Producing goods for several British and European high street stores, the tragedy at the Rana Plaza sent shock waves around the world about the safety of the Bangladesh garment industry. As one local factory owner said ‘At the end of the day if the retailers want more compliant factories they have to pay us more. Get the retailers together and make sure they pay us five cents more. Not even ten, we don’t even want ten cents, we want five, we’re happy with five cents on each garment’.
Bonsai People
Director: Holly Mosher
2011 • 56 Min • USA | aka. বনসাই মানুষ
Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus is aptly titled. Muhammad Yunus likens poor people to the artificially stunted bonsai tree, “where nothing is wrong with their seed; society never allowed them to grow as tall as everybody else.” His vision to remedy poverty and help poor people overcome their situations led to his creation of the Grameen Bank. This innovative financial institution, which furnishes microcredit loans to poor women and demands creative requirements for eligibility (such as learning about hygiene), has changed aid in the developing world in the last few decades.
From Yunus’ initial personal loan of twenty-seven dollars given to forty-two people, microcredit has become global, and has affected over a hundred million families. Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, received the Nobel Peace Prize for this work, and has since partnered with businesses in his attempts to do “social good.”
The video focuses on the life of poor people in rural Bangladesh, traces the steps that are taken to acquire a micro-loan, and interviews several recipients of loans in the past, assessing the benefits these specific village women have derived from the loans. The footage of the Bangladesh countryside is beautifully shot; the facts about poverty, health, malnutrition, and the fragility of life in much of the world are well placed throughout the video; and the interviews with the participants are moving.
Signature of Change, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh
Bangladesh with its 120 million people is one of the most densely populated countries. It is found in one of the world’s biggest river deltas. Most of the inhabitants, who are mainly Islamic, live in the beautiful countryside. Although very fertile, overpopulation and frequent natural disasters make life a continuing struggle; 85% live below the poverty line. The Bengali professor Muhammad Yunus cares about their fate. In 1983 he founded the Grameen Bank, which lends money to the poor and landless only. Today the Bank works in 35.000 villages and has more than 2 million borrowers, 94% of them are women. During the documentary Professor Yunus tells about the founding, development and future of the Bank. He seems like an impossible mix of socialist and capitalist ideals; a harmony of contradiction. His ambition is to create a poverty free world, for which he indeed set the first steps.
Bridging Two Worlds
Director: Mark Verkerk
2005 • 56 Min • Netherlands
In a world in which the rift between rich and poor has never been greater, comes a timely story offering hope. This inspirational film charts the life of MotalibWeijters, a remarkable man at home in two contrasting worlds: Bangladesh and the Netherlands. At just seven years of age, he was plucked from a Dhaka street and taken to the Netherlands. Seventeen years later, Motalib goes back in search of his roots and family. There he begins a process that over ten years has ended up transforming a whole community. From street child to village “father”, Motalib shows that even in the face of massive global problems, individuals can make a difference.
Spoken languages and subtitling of Bridging Two Worlds are in Dutch and English.
When The World Sinks
Director: YorgosAvgeropoulos 2009-2010 • 52 Min • Greece
On 25th May 2009, Cyclone Aila devastated southern Bangladesh, leaving an estimated 8,000 dead and over 1 million homeless. The IPCC claims that by 2050 1 in 7 Bangladeshis will be a climate migrant, forced from their homes due to ever-advancing sea levels, and the saline contamination and unemployment that inevitably ensue. With their land under water and their crops destroyed, many southern Bangladeshis have been forced to abandon farming for fishing, an industry that can only employ a fraction of the people who once worked on the now-vanished rice fields. As one former farmer explains, ‘My conscience tells me to leave, but where else can I go? It’s like a prison here.’
Tiger experts in Bangladesh have a problem: how can they encourage local people to protect the beautiful and endangered Bengal tiger when these animals have developed a taste for human flesh?
The Sundarbans forest is one of the biggest tracts of mangrove forest left in the world. It is rich in wildlife and provides important forest resources for communities living around its edge. But up to 50 forest workers are killed by tigers each year and now the boldest animals are sneaking into villages at night.
This gripping film reveals the tension and heartache of living so close to a killer cat and follows the bold attempt by one village to teach street dogs to scare away the rogue tiger on their doorstep.
The Concert for Bangladesh
Director: Saul Swimmer
1972 • 103 Min • USA
The first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise humanitarian relief funds for the refugees of Bangladesh of 1971 war.
Ex-Beatle George Harrison organized this spectacular concert on August 1, 1971 at New York’s Madison Square Garden to help and aid the people from Bangladesh with all the money raised destined to that cause. Along with Harrison the concert features Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Rusell, Klaus Voormann and an Indian music section by Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and a set by the legendary Bob Dylan. The concerts raised close to US$250,000 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. The event was the first-ever benefit concert of such a magnitude.
La boda de Mawla
Director: ZoltanEnevold
2009 • 52 Min • Spain | aka The Wedding of Mawla
Mawla is from Bangladesh and lives in Madrid. He has a job and a lot of friends but his dream is to have a family. After seven years he decides to go back to his country for the first time in order to find a bride and get married. La boda de Mawla was awarded the best medium length documentary at the Alcances Film Festival in Spain and was got honored mention at IV ACE Awards in Spain in 2010.
The Devil’s Water
Director: AmirulArham Sheikh
2006 • 52 Min • France | aka L’eau du diable
Every day 75 million people in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India consume water contaminated with toxic levels of arsenic. The problem has been ongoing since the late 1970s, when millions of tube wells were installed, throughout the region – unintentionally tapping arsenic tainted groundwater.
In what has been called the worst mass poisoning in human history, the World Health Organization estimates the extent of the human toll now exceeds that of both the Bhopal and Chernobyl disasters. Yet few are aware of the tragedy. Arsenic kills slowly, and its victims are poor, uneducated, and easily dismissed. The tube wells provide what appears to be clean, clear water; yet it is tainted with a tasteless and odorless poison. Millions continue to suffer in silence, slowly dying from cancer and other complications.
The Devil’s Water tells the story of three young women whose lives have been adversely affected by arsenic poisoning. Asma and Nazma are two sisters who have lost their mother to arsenic poisoning, and both suffer serious complications from arsenic themselves. Rekha is a young mother who has been rejected by her husband because of her illness, and is struggling to raise her son. The film captures the personal accounts of their tragedy and loss, set against the backdrop of scientists who examine the cause and effect of the arsenic contamination and attempt to discover a solution.
The Devil’s Water, is a film about what happens when water- the most precious of natural resources – turns deadly. The film is intended to draw world-wide attention to the humanitarian and environmental crisis that arsenic water poisoning poses to both Bangladesh and other afflicted countries around the world.
Documentary Films on Bangladesh by some non-Bangladeshi Film Makers
Documentary films on Bangladesh by Bangladeshi film-makers are very scanty – it is almost a non-existence genre in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshis like films that are dramatic, action-packed, emotional, hypnotic, and non-reflective. Therefore, fact-based, non-fictional documentary film making has no place there. Not in theaters, not on TVs. However, recently, there is a subtle movement among some young Bangladeshis to focus on this genre of film making.
Indeed, there are tons of issues to make documentary films on Bangladesh – Tons. Though it was not easy, over the years many non-Bangladeshis tried to document various issues affecting Bangladesh in film. Issues like environmental pollution, climate change, women’s right, working condition, prostitution, garments industry, labor rights, education, corruption, etc.
Below are a partial list of documentary films on Bangladesh made by non-Bangladeshis (and some are of Bangladeshi origin). Some are feature-length, some are shorts, some are old, some new. This list is certainly not complete, therefore, more writing this issue may follow! The list here is in random order.
These documentary films on Bangladesh are not reviews, just descriptions.
Iron Crows
Director: Bong-Nam Park
2009 • 93 Mins • South Korea • In Bengali with English Subtitles
This is a documentary about ship-breaking industry in Bangladesh. The world center for ship-breaking is located in the port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh — perhaps the poorest nation on earth — is home to the ship-breaking industry. Here huge megaton behemoths that once sailed the seas are sent to be broken apart by men and boys (some as young as 12, often wearing flip flops) who earn $2 a day, from which they send money home to their families. They wrestle with thousands of tons of iron and asbestos, wielding blow-torches, hammers and crowbars. Here is where half of the world’s retired vessels are dismantled by 20,000 people who risk their lives to eke out the barest living. Iron Crows is a remarkably beautiful film, in this case, not just for its superb cinematography, but also for its indelible insight into how some of the most exploited people in the world retain their courage, decency and fortitude.
“…Perhaps the most important achievement of this powerful film is the courage, dignity and humility of our heroes trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of crushing poverty. This film is a tour de force!” – IDFA 2009 Jury’s comment
Best mid-length doc, IDFA, 2009
Bad Weather
Director: Giovanni Giommi
2011 • 82 Min • England, Germany
Banishanta Island, a tiny sliver of land 100 meters long and 10 meters wide in the Bay of Bengal, south Bangladesh, is notable for two reasons: it is on the frontline of climate change, and its population is made up primarily of a community of sex workers. With the rising river, soil erosion, and frequent cyclones gradually destroying what is left of the island, Razia, Khadija, and Shefali, three of the last 65 women left living there, are in a battle for their homes, the future of their families, and even their quest for true love.
Bad Weather by Giovanni Giommi won The Doc/IT Professional Award 2012, screened at festivals worldwide. It was also got Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award Special Mentions.
Hazaribagh: Toxic Leather
Directors: Eric de la Varène and Elise Darblay
2013 • 52 Min • France
On the outskirts of Dhaka lies a giant slum of tanneries and over 500,000 people who work in them. Every year this living hell floods the European market with cheap leather. The workers here slave away at archaic machinery in absolute squalor, turning 14 million skins into leather. Toxic products used on the leather burn their skin, cause cancer and kill most before fifty. This film delivers a devastating insight into one of the most terrible places on Earth.
Working in a Hazaribagh tannery however is not just an assault on the senses. Every day, the workers in the busy factories are exposed to corrosive and explosive chemicals that were banned from much of the world 20 years ago. Their bodies carry the stains of this continuous onslaught. Hands and feet are malformed, and up to 90% of workers develop an illness related to their work. In her dispensary, a doctor explains her experiences: “Women working in tanneries are often frail. They suffer from vaginal infections, joint pain, fever and coughing. The men are also debilitated, suffering from heart problems and gastritis.”
However, there is no respite from the owners of the factories. The uneducated workers receive no guidance on how to use the deadly chemicals, and receive no sick pay when they are taken ill. Away from work, the chemicals seep into the water of the rivers, polluting the lifeline that the whole city of Dhaka survives on. Even though the river is biologically dead, tannery owners refuse to give concern to the hazardous results of their actions: “Of course water containing chemicals is bad for the health. But if we worried about toxicity we’d stop working. Who is ready to do that?… it’s just the way it is”.
In Hazaribagh the people are fighting back, both on the streets and in the strong sense of community that they create. This film not only charts the experiences of the workers in the factories, but shows how they defend themselves from the horror of their lives. Ultimately however, it asks if we, the West, really cannot afford to pay a little more, if only to help the millions around the world who live in hellish conditions to feed our greed for ever cheaper products.
Rory Peck Awards: Sony Impact Award 2013
Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears
Director: Simon Chambers
2006 • 62 Min • United Kingdom
Hushnara is a bride-to-be who has cold feet on the eve of her big day. Her sister, Shahanara, has already tied the knot, but she is far more Westernised than her Islamic village-boy husband from Bangladesh, and the marriage already looks shaky after only two weeks. Their father wants to see the girls settled, and their eldest sister urges them to fulfill their duty to the family. All the elements are in place for a crackling movie about reluctant brides and intractable elders. Only, Simon Chambers’s “Every Good Marriage Begins with Tears” is a documentary about real people and their unscripted attempts to balance their individual desires with social expectations. Shahanara and Hushnara are the children of Bangladeshi immigrants from London. Chambers was as a social worker for 14 years, and the family trusted him enough to let him record their most private squabbles and confessions. Chambers followed the sisters and other family members in London and Bangladesh, and has come up with a highly personal and intimate film about different attitudes to love across cultures and generations, which is at turns hilarious and deeply sad.
My Cultural Divide
Director: Faisal Lutchmedial
2006 • 75 Min • Canada
Filmmaker Faisal Lutchmedial goes beyond the activist stereotype as he takes a personal journey into his mother’s native country for the first time. A three-month visit to Bangladesh becomes a discovery of family and home that runs parallel with his attempt to tackle the complex issue of global trade. Starting from the opening scene My Cultural Divide questions the logic of the hardcore political activist, and wonders aloud whether ethical consuming actually does anything good for the workers behind the machines. Because of family connections Lutchmedial makes his way into some of the worst factories in Bangladesh, and talks frankly with the workers inside about their job and living conditions. Sometimes contradicting western activists, the labor leaders he speaks to soon make Lutchmedial question his own long-standing beliefs on child labor and personal responsibility. Accompanied by his ailing mother, Lutchmedial takes us on a very personal journey to bridge the gap between his heritage in Bangladesh and his life in Canada. He connects his politics with his humanity, and weaves together a story that is both thought-provoking and touching.
Eisenfresser
Director: ShaheenDill-Riaz
2007 • 85 Mins • Germany | a.k.a. Iron Eater
In his critically acclaimed documentary film Iron Eaters, filmmaker ShaheenDill-Riaz follows poverty-stricken farmers who try to escape the annual famine that strikes their home in northern Bangladesh. They trade in their plows for a blowtorch and begin to work as ship-wreckers, risking their health and their lives for a pittance.
The seasonal famine in the remote parts of northern Bangladesh forces farmers Kholil and Gadu to leave their fields. Along with several of their relatives, they travel south to work as seasonal laborers in the infamous ship yards that line the beaches of Chittagong. Their new job is to dismantle the garbage disgorged by the Western World: huge oil tankers, vast container ships and any vessel that has sailed the seas for too long.
Without heavy machinery and no protective equipment, they gut the ships right on the beach where they are driven ashore. Razor-sharp pieces of metal, toxic chemicals and hazardous tools turn the job into a living hell. > Buy this doc.
Easy Like Water
Director: Glenn Baker
2012 • 58 Min • USA, Denmark
As flood waters threaten, a visionary architect is building solar floating schools – and creating a blueprint for his country’s survival. But can ‘Bangladesh’s Noah’ keep his imperiled nation from drowning? By turns witty and heart-wrenching, ‘Easy Like Water‘ takes you on an off-the-grid journey that offers a refreshing new perspective on the resilience of the Global South.
Easy Like Water seeks to ignite and accelerate interest in “design for good” strategies for helping communities live with climate change in the world’s most-affected regions, such as Bangladesh, where the story unfolds. Learn more about each of the interconnected issues the film weaves together.
Scrap Vessel
Director: Jason Byrne
2009 • 55 Mins • USA
Scrap Vessel documents the last trip of the Hari Funafuti (formerly the Bulk Promotor and Hupohai – which means ‘Amber Ocean’), a cargo ship on its way to be scrapped. With a languid atmosphere using the massive ship like a landscape, the film explores what is found inside from the Hupohai’s communist past, onwards through an unseen attack by pirates and onto a distant beach and glowing ironworks factory, until the ship becomes a phantom.
Background: In 1973 the freighter ship, Bulk Promotor, is built by Norway to transport coal and iron ore throughout Northern Europe. In 1985 the ship is sold to mainland China. Renamed Hupohai, it is used to distribute coal along the Yangtze River. Thirty-two years into the ship’s life, now called the Hari Funafuti, we board the vessel in Singapore on its final journey to Bangladesh.
Filmmaker Jason Byrne boarded the ship with fellow cameraman Theron Patterson in Singapore. They documented the journey on 16mm film and video, exploring the huge vessel top to bottom, finding scraps of its past crew including photos and 16mm motion picture communist propaganda. Filming the ship’s destruction on the beach in Bangladesh, they continued with its pieces to the Ali Rolling Mill in Chittagong, where the scraps were melted down.
The ship is completely gone now, but various artifacts were saved by Byrne, including the blueprints, safety posters, some of the 16mm film footage, photos of the original crew, a diary kept by a crew member, and a cassette tape of the captain’s favorite music.
Water Wars
Director: Jim Burroughs
2009 • 60 Min • USA
This timely documentary uncovers critical water issues facing humanity. It takes the viewer from the floods and droughts in Bangladesh, to dam building in India, water management in the Netherlands and the latest wake-up call in America: the Katrina disaster and the drought in the Southwest. Future wars will be fought over access to fresh water, unless we come together to face this global crisis. Without water there is no life.
The tagline of the documentary is ‘When Drought, Flood and Greed Collide’
The speaker was forced to stop in the middle of his talk because the organizer forgot to welcome him with flowers! Therefore, he was interrupted, the flower was given, photos were taken, the audience waited, and then he went back to talking again. Flowers could have been given before or after the talk – not in the middle by interrupting the most essential part of the event. The incident was somehow connected with the Bangladesh environment movement – culturally. Bangladeshis need to rethink their cultural practices if they want to save the environment. Changing culture is hard, but it is sometimes essential and possible.
The projector at the event ran for more than two hours with just one slide! It’s caused some light pollution and made it difficult to take pictures of whoever wanted! Here is a different kind of example of how every small act counts!
