Hello Ayub Khan Sir, how is death treating you? You may have been little worried about how Bengalis may be thinking about you particularly after your commitment to make Bengalis suffer. You will be happy to learn that they remember you with great affection and think of you as a role model, always saluting you in every act and deed, particularly the “land grabbing” variety. They are like your children and always say, “Ayub Khan gave us this”, “Ayub Khan gave us that.” You are not just their father but Pir also. They have not only forgiven you but forgotten history as well. Hearty congratulations. Why you ask? Please read the next paragraph.
* * *
Well, there is a playground in a place called Dhanmondi which was and still is the residential area of the wealthy and nearly so. Now a major section of the sports leadership of Bangladesh led by the stalwarts like soccer icon Salahuddin have “taken over” the playground on the ground that it’s you – Ayub Khan – who gave it to them and it was meant for the “elites” only and not the “tokais”, which means the riff raff. Wah, wah…
* * *
Dear Ayub Khan Sir, by taking over Pakistan through a martial law, you established a glorious tradition of muscle over law. I am happy to say that this tradition has now been established with glory and honour in Bangladesh. Now, some environmentalists – the trouser wearing tokais of Bangladesh – are saying that your followers are violating a court decision. Don’t they know that you never bothered about such insignificant matters? If you could take over a country what is a playground?
It seems that in 2011, 15th March, the High Court said that all illegal constructions must be removed and the playground should be made open to all. In fact a contempt notice was issued on 27th May 2013 but your supporters ignored it. Of course they did! The courts are not greater than your tradition, your name!
* * *
There are several small matters and you will understand how small minded people in general are when I tell you. They think invoking Ayub Khan is bad just because you hated Bengalis so much. They are saying that you did your best to destroy Bengali nationalism and they had to mount a national upsurge to topple you in 1969. Why? Because as a patriotic Pakistani, you accused Sheikh Mujib of treason and tried to hang him by trying him in the Agartala conspiracy trial in 1968. How unfair they are! Sheikh Mujib always liked tokais and his vision was to build a Bangladesh for all while you built Dhanmondi for the rich. Have they no sense of whom everyone should support?
* * *
Let’s listen to Salahuddin, famous football player, freedom fighter and a close friend of Sheikh Kamal, eldest son of Sheikh Mujib. He is a national hero and icon and he has supported the project and said that this is a great thing to do. So said the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club President Manzur Kader and BCB president Nazmul Hasan. They all say that the situation has improved in the playground ever since the riff raffs been shooed away. We all support them. This is the glorious tradition of yours and to see freedom fighters like Salahuddin lining up to uphold your ideas of preventing access to all is a wonderful thing. If you can convert a freedom fighter to support your cause, it shows how great you are.
* * *
Now Sheikh Jamal was the slain son of Sheikh Mujib as was Sheikh Kamal. People have set up clubs in their name and these are well funded and supported and now the police have also lent support. Does it not mean that if you can have a club named after our national leaders and their children you can get away with whatever? I don’t think so but just as your family and friends used their names to grab things for themselves, we have learnt that a well loved name linked to the powerful is a great asset and so if the people who grabbed the playground and barred all others from playing there did so, well they were doing what you taught us to do. Might is right.
* * *
My heart is full of happiness today. People here say that Sheikh Mujib is the founder of Bangladesh and he fought for the national cause. But is that right? Where is Sheikh Mujib today? Where are his principles and ideals in Bangladesh? He doesn’t matter and we know that from many examples. Even sporting clubs named after his children are considered more important than the law. Why? Because those who do so are not following the example of Sheikh Mujib but your example. Aren’t you proud of your achievements that after all you did, it’s your name that we take when we grab property or prevent others from enjoying public property.
* * *
The idea that society was split between Ashraf and Atraf was your favourite idea and we saw that reflected loudly when the Dhanmondi playground was taken over and the tokais were kept out. Excellent! Not only that, you were very fond of false cases and we see that here too. Those protesting – at least two – have been implicated in cases for trying to get the court order implemented. It’s so beautiful to see people follow your lead. I am sure we will see more of this soon.
* * **
I am sure the sporting gurus of Bangladesh who have now declared their loyalty to you will offer us many more such glorious instances. Today, it’s the Dhanmondi playground, tomorrow maybe the Mirpur stadium. Not only that, they have shown us how to follow your ideals and exclude the tokais, the atrafs amongst us. What can we say Sir! The thought makes us shiver with pleasure.
Ayub Khan zindabad. Owner of Dhanmondi zindabad. Sk. Jamal club zindabad. Tokais murdabad.
– See more at: http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2014/04/22/to-gen-ayub-khan-pakistani-dictator-and-owner-of-dhanmondi/#sthash.ndG6fYqJ.dpuf
Hello Ayub Khan Sir, how is death treating you? You may have been little worried about how Bengalis may be thinking about you particularly after your commitment to make Bengalis suffer. You will be happy to learn that they remember you with great affection and think of you as a role model, always saluting you in every act and deed, particularly the “land grabbing” variety. They are like your children and always say, “Ayub Khan gave us this”, “Ayub Khan gave us that.” You are not just their father but Pir also. They have not only forgiven you but forgotten history as well. Hearty congratulations. Why you ask? Please read the next paragraph.
* * *
Well, there is a playground in a place called Dhanmondi which was and still is the residential area of the wealthy and nearly so. Now a major section of the sports leadership of Bangladesh led by the stalwarts like soccer icon Salahuddin have “taken over” the playground on the ground that it’s you – Ayub Khan – who gave it to them and it was meant for the “elites” only and not the “tokais”, which means the riff raff. Wah, wah…
* * *
Dear Ayub Khan Sir, by taking over Pakistan through a martial law, you established a glorious tradition of muscle over law. I am happy to say that this tradition has now been established with glory and honour in Bangladesh. Now, some environmentalists – the trouser wearing tokais of Bangladesh – are saying that your followers are violating a court decision. Don’t they know that you never bothered about such insignificant matters? If you could take over a country what is a playground?
It seems that in 2011, 15th March, the High Court said that all illegal constructions must be removed and the playground should be made open to all. In fact a contempt notice was issued on 27th May 2013 but your supporters ignored it. Of course they did! The courts are not greater than your tradition, your name!
* * *
There are several small matters and you will understand how small minded people in general are when I tell you. They think invoking Ayub Khan is bad just because you hated Bengalis so much. They are saying that you did your best to destroy Bengali nationalism and they had to mount a national upsurge to topple you in 1969. Why? Because as a patriotic Pakistani, you accused Sheikh Mujib of treason and tried to hang him by trying him in the Agartala conspiracy trial in 1968. How unfair they are! Sheikh Mujib always liked tokais and his vision was to build a Bangladesh for all while you built Dhanmondi for the rich. Have they no sense of whom everyone should support?
* * *
Let’s listen to Salahuddin, famous football player, freedom fighter and a close friend of Sheikh Kamal, eldest son of Sheikh Mujib. He is a national hero and icon and he has supported the project and said that this is a great thing to do. So said the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club President Manzur Kader and BCB president Nazmul Hasan. They all say that the situation has improved in the playground ever since the riff raffs been shooed away. We all support them. This is the glorious tradition of yours and to see freedom fighters like Salahuddin lining up to uphold your ideas of preventing access to all is a wonderful thing. If you can convert a freedom fighter to support your cause, it shows how great you are.
* * *
Now Sheikh Jamal was the slain son of Sheikh Mujib as was Sheikh Kamal. People have set up clubs in their name and these are well funded and supported and now the police have also lent support. Does it not mean that if you can have a club named after our national leaders and their children you can get away with whatever? I don’t think so but just as your family and friends used their names to grab things for themselves, we have learnt that a well loved name linked to the powerful is a great asset and so if the people who grabbed the playground and barred all others from playing there did so, well they were doing what you taught us to do. Might is right.
* * *
My heart is full of happiness today. People here say that Sheikh Mujib is the founder of Bangladesh and he fought for the national cause. But is that right? Where is Sheikh Mujib today? Where are his principles and ideals in Bangladesh? He doesn’t matter and we know that from many examples. Even sporting clubs named after his children are considered more important than the law. Why? Because those who do so are not following the example of Sheikh Mujib but your example. Aren’t you proud of your achievements that after all you did, it’s your name that we take when we grab property or prevent others from enjoying public property.
* * *
The idea that society was split between Ashraf and Atraf was your favourite idea and we saw that reflected loudly when the Dhanmondi playground was taken over and the tokais were kept out. Excellent! Not only that, you were very fond of false cases and we see that here too. Those protesting – at least two – have been implicated in cases for trying to get the court order implemented. It’s so beautiful to see people follow your lead. I am sure we will see more of this soon.
* * **
I am sure the sporting gurus of Bangladesh who have now declared their loyalty to you will offer us many more such glorious instances. Today, it’s the Dhanmondi playground, tomorrow maybe the Mirpur stadium. Not only that, they have shown us how to follow your ideals and exclude the tokais, the atrafs amongst us. What can we say Sir! The thought makes us shiver with pleasure.
Ayub Khan zindabad. Owner of Dhanmondi zindabad. Sk. Jamal club zindabad. Tokais murdabad.
– See more at: http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2014/04/22/to-gen-ayub-khan-pakistani-dictator-and-owner-of-dhanmondi/#sthash.ndG6fYqJ.dpuf
Reshma Aktar, who was rescued from under the debris 17 days after the Rana Plaza collapse, has received a month’s leave from her current workplace, The Westin, a five-star hotel in Dhaka.
She is now staying at her brother-in-law’s house at Rajashan, only a few hundred yards away from the collapse site.
Over 1,130 people, mostly garment factory workers like Reshma, died at this place after the worst industrial tragedy in the history of the nation which took place on Apr 24, 2013.
The 19-year-old Reshma does not want to remember the days spent in darkness inside the collapse site.
“I don’t want to remember those days. You should try to understand that I feel bad about this,” She said to bdnews24.com on Tuesday.
After four days of rescue operations with light machinery in which many people were brought out alive, it was assumed that there were no more survivors and heavy machinery were brought in.
On May 10, as one corpse after another was being pulled out of the debris, Reshma was found alive on the second floor of the building.
Journalists became curious about Reshma and started raising questions like what she ate for 17 days and why her clothes looked so fresh.
Some days later, British tabloid Sunday Mirror ran a report that claimed the Reshma rescue was a ‘hoax’. The army, which led the rescue operations, dismissed the report.
Reshma was taken to the Combined Military Hospital after the rescue and was treated there for about a month. The Dhaka Westin gave her a job afterwards.
As the anniversary of the tragedy approaches, the media is once again pursuing Reshma for interviews. Journalists contacted The Westin to get in touch with her.
Photo: Asaduzzaman Pramanik/bdnews24.com
The Westin told bdnews24.com Reshma had taken a month’s leave and was staying at her home.
Reshma’s brother-in-law Shahidul Islam took bdnews24.com correspondents to their tin-shed rented home, a few hundred yards from the Savar Bazar.
He said several reporters had come for an interview on Monday, and some others were coming on Tuesday.
A leaflet with Reshma’s picture and a plea for any news of her had been laminated and was hanging from the wall inside the house.
Shahidul said this was the same leaflet with which her sister had roamed the streets for 17 days.
Reshma, who was wearing a black dress and a scarf over his head, sat on the front yard as she spoke.
bdnews24.com: How do you like your new job?
Reshma: Better than before. It’s very different from a garment factory.
bdnews24.com: Do you feel like going back there?
Reshma: No, I don’t want to. That was a difficult life, a lot of work.
bdnews24.com: Can you recall anything about the collapse?
Reshma: I don’t try to. Sometimes when it comes to mind I feel bad. I feel scared.
bdnews24.com: How is your new life different from your past?
Reshma: It’s very different. I used to work all the time, and I could never go see my mother. I couldn’t help my family that much. Now I see my mother and siblings often and give them enough time.
At this point several other reporters arrived and set up cameras around Reshma in the yard. Neighbours crowded around as the word spread that Reshma was being interviewed.
A TV reporter started asking her questions.
Q: What was your condition inside the collapsed Rana Plaza?
Reshma: I don’t want to remember that. I feel really bad.
Q: When did you get out from home that morning?
Reshma: I got out at 7:30 that morning, as I used to do every day. Why don’t you understand? I don’t want to remember those days. You should try to understand that I feel bad about this.
Q: Why don’t you want to remember?
Reshma: Because I get really upset.
Q: What did you eat inside the collapsed building?
Reshma: I ate something. I don’t want to remember anything about that time.
Q: People doubt you…
Reshma: Many people say many things. I pretend not to hear them. I feel really bad. If you were there, you would know.
Q: Did someone pressurise you not to talk about this?
Reshma: No, no one has pressurised me.
Q: Did someone make you promise not to tell?
Reshma: No one.
At this point, Reshma’s sister Asma Aktar charged the TV reporter, saying, “A lot of reporters came yesterday, but no one asked these sorts of questions. Why are you asking these questions? She still can’t sleep alone at night. She gets scared easily.”
Reshma started to talk with other reporters when the TV reporter stopped asking questions.
Q: How do you feel about the other victims?
Reshma: I feel really bad for them. I want the government to be always by their side. I want get myself an education and work for them, although I don’t know what I can do.
Q: What kind of changes do you want to see in the factories?
Reshma: I just want that no other factory should ever collapse like this again. The owners should build factories so that they are safe for the workers, so that the workers’ safety is ensured.
Q: Owners say the situation has improved. What do you think?
Reshma: Owners say that, but the workers never do. I speak to a lot of workers. I don’t see any changes when I watch the television either.
Q: How do you feel about the people who raise doubts about your rescue? Do you feel angry at them?
Reshma: No, I don’t feel angry. They don’t know. They weren’t there. If they had been, they would know. I can’t argue or fight with them. When someone says these things in front of me, I try to reason with them.
Q: When you were rescued your landlord said he saw you two days after the collapse. What do you have to say about that?
Reshma: I also heard that he said I was rescued two days after the collapse and then sent back in again. Why would someone who was pulled out of that place ever go back in? Someone who did not experience that trauma will never understand. The people who rescued me know what state I was in and what I had been doing.
Q: What is the proof that you were in there for 17 days?
Reshma: How can I prove that? People who rescued me saw me.
Q: Do you remember what you did right before you were rescued? How did the rescue workers know you were there?
Reshma: I heard them moving around. Then I started screaming and beating a pipe. The rescue workers heard me and pulled me out.
Q: When you were pulled out, your clothes were very clean. How did that happen?
Reshma: When I was inside all my clothes had torn up. Before I came out I put on whatever I could find nearby. There were a lot of clothes there.
Q: Your hair was short too.
Reshma: Yes. My hair would get stuck [in the debris] and hurt. There were scissors there, and I cut my hair with them.
Q: Last question. What penalty do you want for the people responsible for the tragedy?
Reshma: I want them tried as soon as possible. They should have been hanged by now. So many people died for them. They should be given the highest punishment.
Reshma said she was getting a better salary at the hotel than what she used to get at the garments factory. She also wanted to continue her education. Recently she visited her hometown of Ghoraghat Oishibarhi in Dinajpur, where many people visited her.
(Written in English by Shegufta Hasnine Surur)
Source: Bd news24
