Well it looks like everything is finally over. The mutiny supposedly ended in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon, but regional branches of the BDR either didn't get the message or didn't care, and the violence continued until at least Thursday night. I wasn't really sure until this morning if the violence had ended, and no one is quite sure yet how many people died during the attempted mutiny. International News Media seemed to struggle to disseminate any sort of meaningful report on what was going on. BBC is the only organization that seems to have its act together in Dhaka. What we do know is that the cause of the mutiny was the build-up of many grievances concerning salary and job benefits. The BDR was being ignored, while members of the Army were being given much better working conditions and job placements etc. etc. Regardless of the details, I am horrified that someone would think that these are grounds for killing dozens of people. Moreover, to think that members of the government's national defense force (i.e. the ones with all the guns and tanks) think this is okay is even more unnerving.
As all of this unfolded, I felt relatively safe knowing that I am probably in a better position than most Bangladeshis for receiving critical information, since I'm part of my school's Emergency Alert system which sends text messages if there is an emergency. Our school is in contact with the U.S. Embassy's Regional Security officers, which I will assume is pretty reliable. However, on Thursday the Bangladeshi government ordered all mobile phone carriers to stop providing service until further notice. This was both to prevent communication between the mutineers, as well as to prevent mobs from forming near outbreaks of violence. Luckily, things were sorted out quickly so the mobile phone silence didn't last long, but that means my school's alert system is definitely not foolproof.
Sara and I were hoping to go shopping for fabric downtown in New Market and Chandi Chowk for the last two weekends, but we have been foiled both times. Last weekend, a fire broke out in the market across from Dhaka College as we were driving to that very market to buy some cheap garment factory overstock. That market is right next to New Market and Chandi Chowk, so we were going to do some major shopping, but we had to turn back because people were going kind of nuts over the fire for the whole afternoon. Then, this weekend there was a mutiny in Rifles headquarters, just down the street from New Market. Kinda scary to think about, but Sara and I went shopping in Rifles Square, the building next to the site of the mutiny, about five days before the mutiny occurred.
So to summarize, two failed attempts at shopping, due to a huge fire, then a mutiny. What other forces will conspire against our desire to purchase cheap fabric and garments??
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Mutiny, Yikes!
What a day in Dhaka. Don't worry, I am safe.
Yesterday, about half of the 6,000 members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the border patrol division of the Bangladeshi Army, decided to hold a mutiny in Dhanmondi, in the western portion of Dhaka City. About six army officers were killed, and there was crossfire throughout the morning and afternoon. The school I work at is in the Diplomatic Enclave, which is about four or five kilometers from the mutiny, so we were safe, but the campus was closed immediately after school, presumably so all the local staff could get home safely. Beckley, Sara, and I watched for news on television, and we found some amazing coverage on the Bangladeshi news stations. News reporters decided it would be a good idea to drive right through the crossfire with a video camera, and another reporter was interviewing one of the mutineers, while the cameraman shifted rapidly between the man's face and left hand, which was holding two grenades. All of this footage was littered with gunshot noise in the background. Yup, these guys are out of their freaking minds.
I am not crazy, so I was not anywhere near these events, but some of the local newspapers got some great pictures. This is one from The Daily Star:
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77492)
Bengalis work pretty hard all day and they have no concept of punctuality, a combination which has slowly eliminated the fast-paced commuter from the streets of Dhaka, so you know its serious when you see Bengalis running. I know that sounds like I'm making light of the situation, but it actually gives me the chills seeing images of people running like this in Bangladesh.
Some pictures from the front lines. Scary stuff!!
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77494)
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77491)
Here is the New York Times coverage of the events that transpired yesterday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/world/asia/26bangla.html?_r=1
Yesterday, about half of the 6,000 members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the border patrol division of the Bangladeshi Army, decided to hold a mutiny in Dhanmondi, in the western portion of Dhaka City. About six army officers were killed, and there was crossfire throughout the morning and afternoon. The school I work at is in the Diplomatic Enclave, which is about four or five kilometers from the mutiny, so we were safe, but the campus was closed immediately after school, presumably so all the local staff could get home safely. Beckley, Sara, and I watched for news on television, and we found some amazing coverage on the Bangladeshi news stations. News reporters decided it would be a good idea to drive right through the crossfire with a video camera, and another reporter was interviewing one of the mutineers, while the cameraman shifted rapidly between the man's face and left hand, which was holding two grenades. All of this footage was littered with gunshot noise in the background. Yup, these guys are out of their freaking minds.
I am not crazy, so I was not anywhere near these events, but some of the local newspapers got some great pictures. This is one from The Daily Star:
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77492)Bengalis work pretty hard all day and they have no concept of punctuality, a combination which has slowly eliminated the fast-paced commuter from the streets of Dhaka, so you know its serious when you see Bengalis running. I know that sounds like I'm making light of the situation, but it actually gives me the chills seeing images of people running like this in Bangladesh.
Some pictures from the front lines. Scary stuff!!
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77494)
(http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77491)Here is the New York Times coverage of the events that transpired yesterday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/world/asia/26bangla.html?_r=1
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Eid-ul-Azha
So I am back in Dhaka after many weeks of travel! I will post pictures and thoughts from my adventures in other parts of Asia soon. But first, Eid-ul-Azha, which happened in the middle of December.
Eid-ul-Azha is a Muslim holiday that celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his own son. Muslims around the world celebrate this festival and in Muslim countries, families with money will purchase animals to sacrifice. Traditionally, one third of the meat is used as a meal for the owners of the animal, one third of the meat is distributed to other family, and one third of the meat is given to those less fortunate.
In middle eastern countries, the animal sacrifice is apparently done indoors, in the garage or behind a fence. In Bangladesh, the families have the sacrifice right on the street. In middle eastern countries, the animal of choice for sacrifice is sheep. In Bangladesh, they sacrifice cows. You can also purchase goats, and the unreasonably rich families import camels from abroad. Think about that for a second. Eid in Dhaka is a holiday where they kill cows on the streets. Thousands and thousands of cows! In the couple of weeks leading up to this event, huge markets are set up to sell animals for sacrifice.
Here are some cows being shipped into Dhaka. Apparently many are illegally imported from India, where there is a surplus due to the whole sacred cow thing.
A cow market about three blocks from my apartment.
The animals are then tied up in front of the houses, awaiting the day of slaughter. Some people like to purchase expensive cars to show off their wealth, while others wear expensive jewelry. Well, the Bangladeshis are no different, but they also purchase beautiful animals and tie them up outside their houses to show off before they kill them. When I was walking around to check out my neighborhood-turned-temporary-petting-zoo, some of the neighbors would point to their collection of animals and tell me how much they spent on sacrificial cows. Some of them spent thousands of U.S. dollars on cows!!
My friend Iftekar and his daughter Fatima posing in front of the camel that everyone was talking about in Gulshan.
Beautiful white cows down the block from where I live. These probably cost at least $2,000 each.
Well on the day of Eid-ul-Azha, the streets of Dhaka run red with blood, and I am not joking. It amazes me that I have never heard of this event before, but I suppose that since most Muslim countries don't have sacrifices on the street, the spectacle hasn't been as widely publicized. Whatever the reason, this leads me to believe that there are many more crazy things that happen in the world that I don't even know exist yet.
Some people stay indoors, close their windowshades, cover their eyes and ears and wait for Eid to pass. I imagine it is not a fun day for Hindus. However, I had no intention of missing the action, so I went with my friends Sara and Jason downtown to Old Dhaka. The residents of Old Dhaka might not have as much money, but they are proud of what they've got, and they love to show off their cows, dead or alive.
We drove down a little after sunrise, and found a cow market that was trying to get rid of their remaining cows. They don't really speak English down in Old Dhaka, so I needed to find out how to say "cow sacrifice" in Bangla. I mimed slitting my throat, and then asked how to say that. After a minute of clarification, I emerged with an important word, which probably roughly translates as "to slaughter". Old Dhaka was then subjected to three hours of Jimmy, Sara, and Jason, in which I asked questions like "where will cows be slaughtered?" and "can you bring me to a cow slaughter which is happening soon?" and the occasional "I want to see cow blood".
Because we had arrived so early, it was quiet, and we thought we might have missed out on all of the sacrifices. In about twenty minutes, we managed to see our first sacrifice, and then things got serious. The method of killing the cow is basically to cut the aorta and the windpipe without cutting the spinal cord, so the heart is still beating and pumping out blood for another four or five minutes. I'm not entirely sure why, but for some reason I think that they want to get as much blood out of the animal as possible before it dies. I would say that after seeing twenty-five cows being sacrificed, the novelty wore off a little bit. For about an hour, we were whisked through the alleyways by the locals. Everyone wanted us to see their cow being sacrificed, and how can you say no when someone asks if you will watch them kill a cow?
I will now post some pictures for your consideration. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING ANIMALS BEING KILLED OR BLOOD OR ANIMALS LEAKING BLOOD OR ANY COMBINATION OF THESE THINGS, YOU WILL NOT BE SCROLLING ANY FARTHER DOWN. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
SERIOUSLY, LAST CHANCE. DID YOU READ MY WARNING??
Cutting the neck of the cow. You can see the blood streaming out of the aorta!
The streets run red...
They were very proud of their used knives. Haha, its all fun and games! How could anything possibly go wrong...??
Well, it used to be fun and games, and now Jason is holding a warm, bloody knife. He is not sure whether to laugh or cry.
Some of these kids were uncomfortably immature about dead cows. I'm not even really sure how to explain that, except by showing pictures of the kids pretending to lick cow blood.
These guys managed to dismantle an entire cow in about five minutes.
Later in the day, the poor travel around in big groups with bags, where they collect meat being handed out by the rich families, aka Trick or Meat. This street is usually pretty quiet.
I got some people to show me their bags. They were so excited!
This is where Eid differs slightly from Halloween.
Eid-ul-Azha is a Muslim holiday that celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his own son. Muslims around the world celebrate this festival and in Muslim countries, families with money will purchase animals to sacrifice. Traditionally, one third of the meat is used as a meal for the owners of the animal, one third of the meat is distributed to other family, and one third of the meat is given to those less fortunate.
In middle eastern countries, the animal sacrifice is apparently done indoors, in the garage or behind a fence. In Bangladesh, the families have the sacrifice right on the street. In middle eastern countries, the animal of choice for sacrifice is sheep. In Bangladesh, they sacrifice cows. You can also purchase goats, and the unreasonably rich families import camels from abroad. Think about that for a second. Eid in Dhaka is a holiday where they kill cows on the streets. Thousands and thousands of cows! In the couple of weeks leading up to this event, huge markets are set up to sell animals for sacrifice.
Here are some cows being shipped into Dhaka. Apparently many are illegally imported from India, where there is a surplus due to the whole sacred cow thing.
A cow market about three blocks from my apartment.The animals are then tied up in front of the houses, awaiting the day of slaughter. Some people like to purchase expensive cars to show off their wealth, while others wear expensive jewelry. Well, the Bangladeshis are no different, but they also purchase beautiful animals and tie them up outside their houses to show off before they kill them. When I was walking around to check out my neighborhood-turned-temporary-petting-zoo, some of the neighbors would point to their collection of animals and tell me how much they spent on sacrificial cows. Some of them spent thousands of U.S. dollars on cows!!
My friend Iftekar and his daughter Fatima posing in front of the camel that everyone was talking about in Gulshan.
Beautiful white cows down the block from where I live. These probably cost at least $2,000 each.Well on the day of Eid-ul-Azha, the streets of Dhaka run red with blood, and I am not joking. It amazes me that I have never heard of this event before, but I suppose that since most Muslim countries don't have sacrifices on the street, the spectacle hasn't been as widely publicized. Whatever the reason, this leads me to believe that there are many more crazy things that happen in the world that I don't even know exist yet.
Some people stay indoors, close their windowshades, cover their eyes and ears and wait for Eid to pass. I imagine it is not a fun day for Hindus. However, I had no intention of missing the action, so I went with my friends Sara and Jason downtown to Old Dhaka. The residents of Old Dhaka might not have as much money, but they are proud of what they've got, and they love to show off their cows, dead or alive.
We drove down a little after sunrise, and found a cow market that was trying to get rid of their remaining cows. They don't really speak English down in Old Dhaka, so I needed to find out how to say "cow sacrifice" in Bangla. I mimed slitting my throat, and then asked how to say that. After a minute of clarification, I emerged with an important word, which probably roughly translates as "to slaughter". Old Dhaka was then subjected to three hours of Jimmy, Sara, and Jason, in which I asked questions like "where will cows be slaughtered?" and "can you bring me to a cow slaughter which is happening soon?" and the occasional "I want to see cow blood".
Because we had arrived so early, it was quiet, and we thought we might have missed out on all of the sacrifices. In about twenty minutes, we managed to see our first sacrifice, and then things got serious. The method of killing the cow is basically to cut the aorta and the windpipe without cutting the spinal cord, so the heart is still beating and pumping out blood for another four or five minutes. I'm not entirely sure why, but for some reason I think that they want to get as much blood out of the animal as possible before it dies. I would say that after seeing twenty-five cows being sacrificed, the novelty wore off a little bit. For about an hour, we were whisked through the alleyways by the locals. Everyone wanted us to see their cow being sacrificed, and how can you say no when someone asks if you will watch them kill a cow?
I will now post some pictures for your consideration. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SEEING ANIMALS BEING KILLED OR BLOOD OR ANIMALS LEAKING BLOOD OR ANY COMBINATION OF THESE THINGS, YOU WILL NOT BE SCROLLING ANY FARTHER DOWN. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
SERIOUSLY, LAST CHANCE. DID YOU READ MY WARNING??
Cutting the neck of the cow. You can see the blood streaming out of the aorta!
The streets run red... 
They were very proud of their used knives. Haha, its all fun and games! How could anything possibly go wrong...?? 
Well, it used to be fun and games, and now Jason is holding a warm, bloody knife. He is not sure whether to laugh or cry.
Some of these kids were uncomfortably immature about dead cows. I'm not even really sure how to explain that, except by showing pictures of the kids pretending to lick cow blood.
These guys managed to dismantle an entire cow in about five minutes.
Later in the day, the poor travel around in big groups with bags, where they collect meat being handed out by the rich families, aka Trick or Meat. This street is usually pretty quiet.
I got some people to show me their bags. They were so excited!
This is where Eid differs slightly from Halloween.
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