Mutiny Update

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??