FR CHOWDHURY:
A few days back I was talking to a friend of mine in Dhaka over phone. As soon as I asked him about the students’ protest against road accidents the line went off. I thought it got disconnected and redialled when my friend told me not to talk anything political. I got the message. Two days later I was talking to another friend of mine just returned from Bangladesh. According to him in any social gathering in Dhaka or Chittagong it was OK to discuss everything except politics. If you happen to say anything political, others quickly turn their heads away as if they did not hear anything. They also hesitate to go out on the street because you could be killed by one of those speeding bus or truck. If you are picked up by any law enforcement agency then there is little chance that you would return safe. You could be killed by so-called gun fight or cross fire. In some cases you may not be traced anymore because all of those agencies would express their ignorance. The present government has successfully silenced the press. The radio and TV stations are too busy talking about the achievements of the government and have no time for anything else. All glories belong to one party – and more precisely one family.
Under these situations the burden has fallen on us to keep alive the struggle to liberate the country. If we (those who live abroad) do not write about the true history, chances are there that newer generations will never know the truth. We shall not betray or disappoint our countrymen. We shall continue our efforts till our dreams are fulfilled. This book titled “BANGLADESH: my dream” is a step in the right direction. The dream is: to achieve true liberty where we do not have to remain in fear all the time – where people will not die in gun-fight or cross-fire, nor will anyone be made to disappear without any trace – where criticism of the government would not mean act of treason or sedition. There shall be democracy and rule of law. There shall be equality and justice. Bangladesh shall be a country that we will feel proud of. That is the dream. Butterfly in the cover is source of joy and happiness and we look forward to that joy and happiness.
In my articles/ publications I tried to point out the wrong practice and procedures followed in Bangladesh, and with each one I have given the solution as to how they should be modernised in the true spirit of democracy to establish rule of law. I have also taken the opportunity to include certain other matters that the readers may find informative and interesting. They include –
- Basic Economics and Business terms;
- Treaties and Protocols – adoption, acceptance, accession etc.
- Brief analysis of latest UN Convention on Carriage of Goods;
- UNCLOS-82: Can it be further improved?
I would be glad to receive any feed-back. fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com