The Orient

Police excesses betray govt’s intolerance to dissent

2009-09-05T01:13:00.001+07:00

Police excesses betray govt’s
intolerance to dissent

WHEN members of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port, a citizens’ platform, brought out a procession on Wednesday in protest at the Awami League-led government’s decision to award three offshore blocks to international oil companies, they were only exercising their democratic right to register protest, which is enshrined in the constitution of the republic. Hence, the ensuing police excesses on the protesters, which resulted in grievous injuries to nearly 50 people, including the committee’s member secretary Anu Muhammad, amounted to impingement on the protesters’ constitutional rights. Crucially still, the police excesses tend to indicate what could very well be the inherent intolerance of the ruling quarters to dissenting views. The conscious sections of the citizenry have rightly condemned the police excesses, which were not only unacceptable but also incongruent with the Sheikh Hasina government’s promise for change.
The national committee, supported by most left-leaning political parties, staged a protest rally and brought out a procession towards the Petrobangla offices on Wednesday. Reportedly, about 1,000 protesters had gathered at Muktangan from where a procession was scheduled to march towards Petrobangla offices in Karwan Bazar and lay siege to it. The national committee, as it is often called, organised this particular event to protest against unjustifiably allowing foreign oil companies to export up to 80 per cent of the natural gas they find in the offshore blocks that have been recently awarded. This provision, according to reports, would be included in the new generic production sharing contract that is generally the primary tool of agreement between the oil companies and Petrobangla. Thus far the production sharing contracts prohibited gas exports through pipeline implying mandatory value addition, and thus potential foreign investment, employment generation and technology transfer. The contract also stipulated Bangladesh’s first right of refusal in case of gas sales.
But it appears from reports that despite a rising demand for natural gas in the local market the Bangladesh government decided not to buy gas from the foreign companies. This would evidently allow foreign companies to sell their product abroad to third parties for a higher price than that offered by Petrobangla. In doing so the government would also have to change the provisions prohibiting direct gas exports without value addition, and thereby absolving the foreign oil companies of their obligation to make substantial investment in production of liquefied or compressed natural gas. The current provisions, as the government has decided to amend, have all the advantages for the foreign companies but there are almost no discernible benefits to the country. Thus the reason for allowing gas exports, or Petrobangla’s refusal to purchase gas from the foreign companies, thus allowing them to export, must be questioned. That is what the national committee sought to do but ended up being severely beaten for having done so.
One of the many people who visited Anu Muhammad, admitted to a hospital with fractured legs, was Khaleda Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and former prime minister. Her gesture and condemnation should be appreciated but with a pinch of salt because, like all previous governments, her government also sought to secure individual interests at the cost of the country’s natural resources. In fact, it was during the Khaleda Zia government that these new generation production sharing contracts were drawn up and it was also during her tenure that the law enforcers also swooped on the national committee for protesting against the proposed open-pit coalmine at Phulbari. One would expect that Khaleda’s newfound concern in this regard would go beyond political mileage-taking into actual commitment to the cause the national committee espouses.
However, it should not be left up to the opposition political parties alone to protest against and effectively resist such an anti-national move by the government. Patriotic individuals and social forces must also rally around the national committee and the cause it stands for.

Comment: Sarkozy’s Values & the Honour of Women

2009-08-20T13:56:00.003+07:00

Comment: Sarkozy’s Values & the Honour of Women

On the 22nd June 2009 French President Sarkozy announced that the Burqa is incongruous with French values. He said "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," Sarkozy continued "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience."[1]

Despite Sarkozy’s political opportunism, his ideological contradictions expose his conscious ignorance, and some may say, out right hatred for the Islamic way of life. Sarkozy who advocates and propagates liberal secularism has forgotten his intellectual heritage. Liberal secularism rests upon the premise of individualism, in other words, viewing the self – the human being – as an abstract entity divorced from social attachments. Two key values are built from this premise, individual freedom and individual rights. According to individual freedom, also explained as freedom of choice, the Burqa shouldn’t be a problem and should be tolerated under French liberal values. So why the contradiction?

Sarkozy is a liberal secular ideologue who doesn’t want to understand or discuss the Islamic way of life. The Islamic way of life is not based upon the false premise of individualism, rather it views the human being as an entity with social links and obligations. This correct view on mankind develops and builds sublime values, which include honouring and protecting women.

In the Sarkozy paradigm these values do not exist hence he wants to fight against their emergence, even if it means contradicting his own ideological beliefs. For example in a liberal secular context, individual freedom allows and, in the case of Sarkozy (his wife is an ex-nudist model), promotes pornography. However pornography has been shown to facilitate rape. According to academic research by Diana E. Russell in her publication ‘Pornography & Rape: A causal model’ she states,

“ My theory about how pornography – violent and non-violent – can cause rape…drawn on the findings of recent research….I believe there are many factors that play a causal role in this crime. I have not attempted here to evaluate the relative importance of these different causal factors, but merely to show the overwhelming evidence that pornography is a major one of them”[2]

In this study journals and academic research were cited which concluded that 56% of rapists implicated pornography in the commission of their offences, 66% of rapists claimed they were incited by pornography and 30 % of college students would rape if they could get away with it.[3]

Sarkozy’s world view would not ban or criminalise pornography. This is because society itself is not considered or taken into account due to the core value of ‘individual freedom’. As a result Sarkozy’s values have contributed to the increase in sexual crimes in France. There are more than 25,000 rapes a year in France alone, and before Sarkozy points the finger at the Muslims or immigrants, 91% of those convicted are of French nationality.[4]

France is not alone in failing to protect and honour women either, in the UK 167 women are raped everyday[5] and in the US a woman is raped every 6 minutes and battered every 15 seconds. [6]

However in Islam, pornography is banned and is viewed as a dishonor to women. Islam protects women by honoring and providing mechanisms in its social model to protect them. The noble Qur'an highlights the immense responsibility men have towards women. The Qur'an says "Men are qawwamoona over women"[7]. The key word here is qawwamoona which comes from words such as qiwaamun meaning means of support, qaama almarata meaning he undertook the support of the woman, qaama alaiha meaning he looked after her, and qaama bihi he supported it. Therefore the Qur'an tells society to look after, protect and honour women.

But Sarkozy would rather flaunt that his wife was an ex-nudist model.

References

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8112821.stm
[2] Diana Russell. Pornography and Rape: A Causal Model, in Feminism and Pornography. Oxford Readings in Feminism. 2000.
[3] Ibid.
[4] http://www.sosfemmes.com/english_rape/rape_statistics.htm
[5] http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10309
[6] Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds: Torture and Ill Treatment of Women, Amnesty International, 2001
[7] Qur'an 4:34

The Debate on Religion & the Logic of Submission

2009-08-20T13:49:00.002+07:00

The Debate on Religion & the Logic of Submission
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis

Last month I participated in a ‘Dialogue With Islam’ debate with the well known author and philosopher Dr Nigel Warburton. The subject of the debate was “Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil?” and overall I thought it was a positive experience.

My remit was to present religion, and more specifically Islam, as a force for 'good'. So I started by presenting religion as a social phenomenon, in order that the majority of the humanist/atheist audience, who did not believe in the intellectual foundations of any religion, could appreciate my research. I started by speaking about religion in general and due to the question itself, I steered away from inquiring about God’s existence or the attempt to demonstrate the intellectual compatibility with religion and reason. I focused on understanding religious belief itself and how it relates to world views and their implications on individual and social action. After all this was the topic of discussion.

I assumed that this debate would fuel emotions, so I deliberately focused on academic well researched material rather than relying on my own subjective experiences. Hence I went straight to journals of psychology, sociology and philosophy on the study of religion and religiosity. To my amazement, it was very hard to find current research indicating that religion and its followers were a force for ‘evil’.

As a matter of fact contemporary research has opposite conclusions. According to the research, religion increases happiness, mental health and physical well being. It doesn’t stop there, the research also shows that religion prevents crime, increases rates of philanthropy and altruism. There is so much research out there, so it will have to suffice to give you a few examples.

• In 2001 Schnittker in the “Journal for the scientific study of religion” examined a data set of 2,836 adults from the general population and he found religious involvement had no significant relationship with depression. He also found that religiousness was a buffer against mental distress.

• In 2002 Smith, McCullough and Poll, in their journal “A meta analytic review of the religiousness-depression association: evidence for main effects and stress buffering effects” carried out an analysis of over 200 social studies and found that high religiousness predicts a rather lower risk of depression, drug abuse and fewer suicide attempts

• In 2002 Bryan Johnson and colleagues of the University of Pennsylvania Centre for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society reviewed 498 studies that had been published in peer reviewed journals. They concluded that a large majority of studies showed a positive correlation between religious commitment and higher levels of perceived well-being and self esteem, and lower levels of hypertension, depression and criminal delinquency.

• In the Handbook of Religion and Health, edited by Harold Koenig, Michael McCullough and David Larson. The authors reviewed 2,000 published experiments designed to test the relationship between religion and various medical conditions such as heart disease, cancer and depression. The overall results were that religious people tend to live longer and have physically healthier lives. Young people have significantly lower levels of drug and alcohol abuse, criminal delinquency and attempted suicide.

• Even in China an officially non-religious state. A recent study by Paul Badham and Xinzhong Yao for the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford University, reported that a majority of those felt religious experiences had a positive effect on their lives.

• In 2000, Political Scientist and Professor Robert Putnam surveyed 200 volunteer organisations and it showed that there was a positive correlation between religiosity and membership of volunteer organisations.

• The Index of Global Philanthropy, 2007 states: “Religious people are more charitable than non-religious not only in giving to their own congregations, but also – regardless of income, region, social class, and other demographic variables – significantly more charitable in their secular donations and informal giving.”

I ended my presentation by saying how Islam, using verses from the Qur’an and statements from the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), achieves the above, but most importantly how it achieves a cohesive society (I have written about this at length on this blog, so I will not expand any further).

The disappointing thing for me was the level of argumentation from the Humanist side. It was mainly personal experience with no objective research used as evidence or justification for the claims that were being made. Dr Warburton responded to my disappointment by saying that research doesn’t mean anything, and someone in the audience claimed that there is research to counter my claims. Interestingly, I was waiting for the research and the reason why my effort had been discarded as irrelevant. But I didn’t receive or hear anything, during or after the debate.

Is it not the humanist and atheist traditions that claim people of religion are not objective and do not use reason? Acording to this experience I wouldn't be wrong to find it difficult to appreciate why they can make such a claim.

But I did say it was a positive experience. The reason for this is because I learnt a lot about the mentality of some people who reject religion from a statement that was made by a member of the audience. It went something like this “We do not want to submit, submission is dangerous and backward”. I thought about this for a while and I gave the following response. Since then, I have called it the ‘logic of submission’.

The word logic comes from the Greek word ‘λογική’, and in philosophy, it concerns study of the principles of valid inference and sound reasoning. Logic is very important because its use allows us to effectively present and refute an argument. Now in the context of arguing that submission to God is the way forward, I used the following:

1. Submission to a higher being is more rational than submission to human being
2. Islam requires humans to submit to a higher being
3. Therefore Islam is more rational

I pointed out that the above is almost irrefutable with regards to what it is trying to present. The only way to refute the argument is by dealing with some of the presuppositions. In this case the presuppositions are,

1. A higher being (i.e. God) exists
2. This higher being requires us to submit to it

I continued by saying that we would have to shift the debate to the existence of God and the miracle of the Qur’an, because if it can be proven that God does exist and that the Qur’an is a miracle, in other words, it has come from God, then the humanist should also submit (since the Qur'an tells us to submit to God). However the chair, Dr Mark Vernon, interrupted and reminded me it was not the topic of the debate.

I agreed, but it left me thinking that we Muslims do not have to answer all the questions anymore. Questions such as “Why do you not eat pork?”, “Why do you fast?”, “Why do you pray five times a day?” All that we have to do is just tell people ‘because God said so’ and if people frown or suggest that we are crazy, then we tell them about submission. Because it’s more rational to submit.

If they question us further and scratch the intellectual surface by highlighting our presuppositions, in other words our belief that God exists and that the Qur’an is a miracle, then all we have to do is show them.

And if you need some help, please see the links below:

Does God Exist?
The Miracle of the Qur’an

The So-called Emergency

2009-08-20T11:42:00.003+07:00

The So-called Emergency

Saad Hammadi reveals the horrendous stories of torture in custody by law enforcing agencies and finds out the steps and preparations to try the perpetrators of custodial torture and extrajudicial killing
It was at his nephew’s wedding where Ritchil would last be seen sporting a smile on his face to complement his relaxed demeanour. For on his way back from the event on that fateful afternoon of March 18, 2007,

he was abducted by joint forces from Kalibari in Mymensingh. What followed was a brutal and unprecedented instance of torture on Ritchil, a prominent ethnic minority leader, for his staunch opposition to the government’s inconsiderate decision to develop Eco Park at Madhupur, Tangail – a decision which would evict some 25,000 people belonging to the Garo ethnic community.

At the Kakraidh Army Camp, Ritchil was laid down with his eyes blindfolded and his hands and legs tied. His body soon bore innumerable marks of pricking while his limbs were fractured by the beating he was subjected to. The nails from his fingers and toes were pulled out and pliers were used to press his testicles while hot water was poured into his nostrils. Ritchil’s by then disjointed figure was then hung upside down as the merciless beating continued. He vomited a massive amount of blood and fainted several times until his last breath of life in the custody of the joint forces.

These are just some accounts of the horrific pain inflicted upon Ritchil, his wife, Sandha Rani Simsang testifies to the human rights coalition Odhikar. She had learnt of her husband’s tragic fate from a relative who had also been picked up by the joint forces along with Ritchil but was released afterwards.

When Ritchil’s dead body was handed to his family a day later on March 19, 2007, his eyes were taken out, his testicles removed, anus mutilated, the palms of both hands smashed and nails of three fingers of his right hand removed.

Sandha wanted to file a case but the officer in charge of the Madhupur Police Station only allowed her to file a general diary on March 20, 2007. NOT even the family members of Din Islam, a fourth year student at Dhaka University, were spared the gut-wrenching torture or humiliation, until his capture. Islam was among the listed suspects of instigating the student protests and the violence that had ensued, following the army-student brawl during a football match at the DU on August 20, 2007, that also resulted in an army vehicle being torched.

Two days after the unfortunate events at the University, Islam had left for his village home Munshiganj as the government imposed a curfew and declared that all colleges and universities were to be closed.

A hunt for Islam, orchestrated by the joint forces, began from September 7 as his sister’s residence was first raided before his sister along with her husband were physically assaulted. Their mobile phones were seized and the two were then dragged along to Ratanpur, where Islam’s parents resided.

‘They beat my parents up and also tortured my sister-in-law,’ says Islam in his testimony to Odhikar.

‘Another military team raided my maternal aunt’s house at the Sadar Upazila in Munshiganj. They beat her with a stick, so severely that till date, she cannot move properly.’

The joint forces eventually picked Islam up from Puradisi village, where he went to visit his relative. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to Dhaka after short stay at a make-shift army camp at Munshiganj. And then began the brutalities on Islam which saw him helplessly lying on the floor for several days with his hand and feet tied while the soles of his feet would swell up after the constant beatings.

‘The military men made me memorise the court confessions they had devised for me and threatened to have me killed in crossfire if I did not act accordingly.’

And then there is another day, Islam remembers, when some members of Rapid Action Battalion told him to perform his ablution because he was being prepared for ‘crossfire’.

‘I was blindfolded and taken into a car. As it started moving, I was told that if I made my confession according to their will at the court, I would be spared from the crossfire.

‘Although I was detained on September 8, 2007, the official record shows my arrest as being made on September 11, 2007,’ he says.

‘I had served five months in jail and am yet to receive any justice,’ says Islam.

IT WAS 5:00pm in the evening, on June 6, 2007, when SM Akhtar Faruk Mintu, while at a funeral, was told to report to the Shankarpur joint forces camp within 20 minutes of his receiving the message. Mintu, the chairman of Manaharpur Union Prishad in Jessore was soon picked up by the joint forces and interrogated for incidents he claims he wasn’t involved.

At around 12 midnight, an army official came to his room with a stick and beat him so badly that he was bruised and bleeding from his knees down to his soles. After beating him for about five to six minutes, the army person left only for another official to come in and kick him in his groin. Hot water was poured up his nostrils. His legs were broken, his toe nails ripped while boiled eggs were being forced into his anus and his finger nails were cracked with pliers.

When asking about his offence, an answer was not forthcoming as Mintu was left under a tree in a bazaar. He was able to notify a friend who took him to the hospital for treatment. His family have been on the receiving end of constant threats ever since then and are too afraid to file a case against the perpetrators.

ASSOCIATE Professor Selim Reza Newton was among the teachers who participated at the peaceful procession on August 21, 2007 protesting the military camp inside the Dhaka University.

‘Along with the journalism students of Dhaka University, I also participated at the meeting and procession protesting repression on February 14, 2007 violating the state of emergency rules,’ says the associate professor of mass communication and journalism with the Rajshahi University.

His apparent indiscretion saw Professor Newton, along with his three other co-workers, being sentenced to a two-year jail term. The four teachers had to serve the sentence behind bars until the government was compelled to pardon the teachers in the face of massive student protests and public criticism.

'HOW dare you make comments about the navy? Who would protect you if you were to be killed now?’ ASM Nasiruddin Elan, director of human rights coalition Odhikar quotes the director of naval intelligence in Dhaka as saying to him.

Two of the worst cases of violations during that time were the killings of Dulal in Char Fashion and Farid in Tajimuddin upazila, both in Bhola and in custody of the Navy.

Odhikar initiated a fact-finding investigation on the incidents and other human rights violations during the state of emergency in 2007 and Elan played an active role in it. As a result of the reports of the findings, Elan was taken to the naval headquarters on May 3, 2007.

After the navy intelligence director burst out at him, two other persons in plainclothes introduced as men from the DGFI began swearing at Elan.

‘They showed me some of Odhikar’s fact-finding reports and accused the organisation for anti-state activities and labelled me a traitor,’ Elan writes in his testimony.

‘I was warned about working in the middle of a state of emergency. I was asked to stop my human rights duties and advised to focus on agriculture. I was forced to sign on a written statement, having been threatened with death otherwise.’

He was then said to be taken to the DGFI custody but a navy staff came and locked him inside a room until 2:00pm. He was later asked to leave.

Before the scar fades

A university professor, a human rights activist, a student, an ethnic minority leader and a local government representative are among just a few of the cross section of the population to have been unlawfully detained, tortured and even killed in some cases during the state of emergency.

Odhikar, on June 27, organised an unprecedented event titled, ‘Tribunal against Torture’ where five victims and the wife of deceased Choles Ritchil testified to these incidents of torture. The event witnessed by some 120 guests discussed the legal opportunities to try the cases.

Ample opportunities for all the victims to file cases against the perpetrators, under the Penal Code, the Evidence Act and the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh were also identified with the aid of legal experts. The Penal Code, for instance, has provisions for ‘Grievous Hurt’ and provides punishment for anyone who commits such physical abuse in order to extract a statement or confession.

‘Many senior politicians including the present Prime Minister have suffered mental or physical torture while in custody,’ says Barrister Moudud Ahmed, member of parliament and a standing committee member of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who was detained for 18 months without trial.

‘Those who were responsible should be brought to the books and they should be tried under the law. The present government should immediately take steps to identify those at whose command, the torture had taken place.

‘In this regard, the role of former chief of army staff and the former chief adviser should be investigated and proceedings should also be brought out against them.’

The veteran lawyer, who is willing to fight the cases of torture by the law enforcement agencies during the state of emergency however, says he will not file a case on the torture inflicted upon him during his detention. ‘Who will be the lawyer?’ he replies when asked about his decision.

‘A review committee should be formed under the leadership of a retired justice of the Supreme Court with a secretary or joint secretary of the government and an eminent lawyer to review the torture,’ says Dr Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, member of parliament and presidium member of the Bangladesh Awami League.

He has already announced that he will file cases against all those people involved in imprisoning him for 20 months on defamatory charges.

‘The people who have used state power to serve their own interests should be brought to books so that no one in future dares to usurp the democratic rights of people,’ he says.

According to legal experts, the first step to trying the perpetrators of torture has to come through filing independent cases.

‘The people will be encouraged to file complaints,’ says Alamgir.

‘The infringement of human rights through torture, detention and extrajudicial killings should be treated as a criminal offence and those responsible should be tried in accordance to the law,’ says advocate Sultana Kamal, former adviser to caretaker government and executive director of human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra.

‘A government which is there to bring the perpetrators of war crime to justice should also ensure that those who are perpetrators of torture at different times are brought to books,’ says CR Abrar, president of human rights coalition Odhikar, ‘otherwise, the culture of impunity will continue and the perpetrators will go scot-free.’

Human rights activists believe it is the ideal time for the government to prepare for investigating the tortures. They believe that with the state of emergency ceasing to exist, now that the people are speaking up and the incidents of torture and coercion are being documented, the government should be able to investigate the cases better.

‘The allegations of torture have come from different sections of people including the highest level of the government. We have heard of horrendous stories of torture that have taken place in the last couple of years,’ says Abrar.

He laments the fact that no rules have been framed as yet regarding the conduct of RAB. He also opines that interference of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence on civil matters should be closed.

A High Court directive in 2003, issued after a petition filed by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) against the government of Bangladesh, required the law enforcing agencies to inform a detainee’s relatives in the urban area within four hours of his arrest or within eight hours for those in the rural areas.

In addition the court ordered that someone close to the detainee be present to monitor his interrogation. A medical examination was also required prior to the detainee’s interrogation and after his arrest.

‘It is a landmark directive but it has not been implemented,’ regrets Abrar.

To pursue the investigation and trials, it is necessary that those who have been tortured bring in the complaints and that the police accept them, believe legal experts.

However, the limitations, Sultana observes, is the lack of clarity and partiality over the police investigations that involve tortures by the police itself and other law enforcing agencies. In this regard, Sultana believes an independent body to investigate the matter would have been most effective.

Though the government on July 9 passed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) bill, Abrar is doubtful of its credibility and power.

‘It has not been given the jurisdiction to take action on its own. It can act as a moral force, provided it publicises its recommendations but there isn’t an explicit authority given to the commission to publish reports,’ he explains. ‘Thus the power of the commission has been weakened.’

The appointment of chairman and commissioners of the NHRC is not transparent, Abrar fears. ‘It could have been made through nomination from different sections like eminent citizens of the society.’

Presently a committee has been formed to recommend the names to the president but constitutionally, the president can only act on recommendations from the prime minister, he explains.

The government, however, has not yet taken a step to investigate the perpetrators of torture on civilians during the state of emergency.

‘I have not been asked to take any step,’ says Barrister Shafique Ahmed, the law minister when asked if his ministry is looking into the legal provision to try the tortures by the state agencies during the emergency.

When asked about the opportunities to try the perpetrators of torture, Shafique says, ‘I have not given any thought to it.’

‘The government has announced its intention to find out the authenticity of torture cases and take action against the perpetrators involved in the criminal activities but it has not formed a committee to review the matter yet,’ says Alamgir.

Justice denied
* Filing of independent torture cases inevitable to try the perpetrators: legal experts
* No rules framed on RAB’s conduct: CR Abrar
* DGFI’s interference on civil matters should be prohibited: CR Abrar
* High Court’s landmark directive on torture related issue unimplemented
* Power of National Human Rights Commission constrained
* Gov’t yet to take step to try perpetrators of custodial torture

History Of Hadith

2009-08-20T11:31:00.003+07:00

History of Hadith

Muslims are taught that the Prophet Mohammed brought the Quran with him as well as his sayings "Hadith" and actions "Sunna". The Muslims believe that these pillars are inseparable and that Islam cannot stand at all if any of these pillars are taken out.

"Do not accept anything that you have no knowledge of. Surely the hearing, the sight and the mind you are responsible for." (Quran, 17:36)

The above verse does wonders for the students of GOD's religion, it always reminds them what the "criteria" is for accepting and upholding what is peddled to them as "law" from above.

We, as human beings, are commanded by the Lord to use our senses (sight, hearing and mind) so that we may ascertain the truth from the falsehood…Blind following is NOT allowed in the Quran and it is given as a sign of disbelief:

"And the example of those who reject is that who REPEATS 'Yan3iq' only what he hears of calls and sounds. Deaf, dumb, and blind; they do not understand" (Quran 2:171)

In fact, the Quran preaches the opposite to BLIND following and emphasizes on "Thought" and "Contemplation" since that is the only road to true appreciation of the message the Quran has brought.

"If we revealed this Quran to a mountain, you would see it trembling, crumbling, out of reverence for GOD. We cite these examples for the people, that they may THINK." (Quran, 59:21)

History of Hadith:

The word "Hadith" is inseparable from today's Islam and can best be translated as "Sayings" of the Prophet or his companions.

Hadith is accepted as the 2nd source of Islam (the Quran being 1st) and has been well established into an entire science where people spend a lifetime merely studying the "Hadith" and its compilations.

What may come as a surprise to most, is that "Hadith" was not actually compiled and reviewed until over two hundred years after Mohammed's death, first by Imam Bukhari (d. 256/870), then Muslim (d. 261/875), Abu Daud (d. 275/888), Tirmidhi (d. 270/883), Ibn Maja (d. 273/886), and al-Nasa'i (d. 303/915).

In his opening statement, Bukhari (considered to be the #1 source of authentic Hadith) states that out of nearly 600,000 Hadith's which were known to him at the time, he could only record 7,397 as being authentic from the prophet. This is a recognition by the upholders of Hadith that at least 98.76%, of what people are led to believe is the 2nd revelation to the Quran and a major source of Islamic law, is pure lies!.

What people also fail to realize is that the history of Hadith itself has been overlooked and is treated as if the revelations were written down at the time of the Prophet for record keeping. In fact, the record books indicate that there was a BAN on the writing of Hadith ordered by the Prophet himself and upheld for nearly 100 years thereafter.

"The prophet said:'Do not write anything from me EXCEPT QURAN. Whoever wrote, must destroy it" (Muslim, Zuhd 72; Hanbel3/12,21,39)

The above "Hadith" is recognized and accepted by Hadith scholars the world over, however, their justification for the ban is that the prophet feared that the "Hadith" and Quran would be intermingled into one book and this ban was simply a safeguard.

What these same scholars fail to explain is WHY the same ban was still in-place nearly 30 years after the prophet's death and AFTER the Quran was supposedly compiled!

Zayd Ibn Thabit visited the Khalifa Mu'aawiya (more than 30 years after the Prophet's death), and told him a story about the Prophet. Mu'aawiya liked the story and ordered someone to write it down. But Zayd said, "The messenger of God ordered us never to write anything of his Hadith." (Reported by Ibn Hanbal)

According to the history books of Islam, the ban on writing "Hadith" was only lifted some 80 years after the Prophet had passed away by Omar Bin Abdulaziz (the grandson of Omar Bin Al-Khatab). In fact, the irony of the matter is that Omar Bin al-Khatab himself was vehemently opposed to the writing of any religion revelations EXCEPT the Quran:

Omar Bin Al-Khatab is recorded as saying: 'I wanted to write the traditions (Sun'an), and I remembered a people who were before you, they wrote other books to follow and abandoned the book of GOD. And I will never, I swear, replace GOD's book with anything' (Reported by Jami' Al-Bayan 1/67)

As we mentioned before, within a short span of 200 years from the Prophet's death (only 130 years from the lifting of the ban) there were over 600,000 Hadith's floating around at the time of Bukhari which were all attributed to the Prophet. Bukhari himself admitted to spending nearly 40 years studying the Hadith's and could only verify the chain of transmission from 1.24% of the total!.

Problems with Hadith:

Bukhari and those who came after him spent years and years in the research and filtration of Hadith's until it became its own science. Bukhari was quickly followed by Muslim (d. 261/875), Abu Daud (d. 275/888), Tirmidhi (d. 270/883), Ibn Maja (d. 273/886), and Al-Nasa'I (d. 303/915) as the most recognized compilers in this field.

Although it may be a comfort to Muslims reading this to know that a filtration process was undertaken by the above mentioned scholars, it must be clarified as to exactly WHAT this filtration process was:

San'ad (Chain of Transmission)

Bukhari relied upon the self-invented art of "Transmission" for which he states that a "Hadith" may be accepted as authentic or rejected based on WHOM the Hadith is coming from.

Bukhari made a study of the Prophet's companions and established that they were all trustworthy. He then asked about people who came after them, and if the public "hearsay" was that this or that person was reputable, then Bukhari had no problem accepting a "Hadith" transmitted from that source.

To get over the obstacle of "objectivity" and the fact that Hadith was based mainly on "hearsay", Bukhari found a very convenient Hadith (which Islamic scholars still quote) that gives the companions of the prophet and all Hadith narrators super-human abilities which enabled them to memorize word for word the sayings of the prophet without loss or distortion.

Although the above may not sound scientific or even objective to many, it is a factual method which was used to obtain the 2nd source of Islamic law.

-------------------------

While very few outsiders have been able to question the authenticity of the Quran, the Hadith has not been so lucky!.

Many opposing groups and other religions have made it a practice to embarrass Muslims by quoting "dubious" Hadith's which compare a Woman to a Donkey (the Hadith on what stops Prayer) or that the Majority of Women will go to Hell! (Hadith about Isra & Mi'raj).

Muslims typically react to the above accusations by becoming angry and evasive, saying that these people want only to "Slander" the Prophet. What these same Muslims fail to realize is that the "TRUTH" can withstand any amount of questioning and cross-examination.

More Problems with Hadith:

If it were only embarrassment that the Hadith causes, we would not have a problem. The effects of this subjective "hearsay" are far far greater.

Human beings are born with the natural tendency to be inquisitive. Anyone who has children will know that no matter how many times you tell them "no", they will still try to touch a hot pan or play with the dirt to understand WHY they should not. This is a GOD given mechanism that our Lord has bestowed on the human species to let us expand our knowledge and only accept what we understand and know.

When Muslims were ruling an living by the Quran, there was no problem with this natural human tendency for curiosity since the Quran had an answer to every question…Muslims at that time witnessed an intellectual growth unparalleled in the history of Arabia or even the world at that time…

The tendency to question and inquire led Muslim children to grow-up in an atmosphere where NOTHING was off-limits and nothing was taboo. Their questioning simply developed an unlimited appetite for knowledge, which was only fed by discoveries and advancements in just about every field.

Then, a few hundred years after the Quran had fueled an "intellectual" revolution in the Muslim minds…Something began to change…

The widespread introduction of "Hadith" and its popularity with the masses began to slowly create problems with the education of Muslims. Hadith was not even to be compared on the same plain as the Quran due to its inferior language and its basis on "hearsay" and "conjecture".

Propagators of Hadith were nearly always cornered by sincere Muslim students who wanted explanations for obvious contradictions and illogical contents.

We can only assume that the establishment of Hadith as a source of Islamic law was only achieved many centuries after its initial gathering by Bukhari and others ONLY by having it forced on the Muslim masses with a rejection for scrutiny or questioning.

Muslim school children today are taught from a very early age not to question or over analyze their sources for religion as they might be incurring the wrath of GOD and walking the path of Hell.

Student's questions are typically answered with statements like: 'Are you BETTER that the previous generations who fought with the Prophet?', or 'Do you hate the Prophet that you QUESTION his Sunnah?'.

With such a barrage of accusations, young Muslim students learn for early on to simply accept what they are given without thought or questions…And when they are older, they simply repeat to the younger generation what was told to them about going to Hell and disrespecting the Prophet…The cycle goes on!.

The REAL Story:

Although the historical data in itself leaves much to be desired…The real story is far more dangerous than may be expected.

"When our verses are recited for them, those who do not expect to meet us would say, 'Bring a Quran other than this, or change it.' Say (O Muhammad), 'I cannot change it on my own initiative. I simply follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the retribution of a terrible day.' ...Who is more wicked than one who invents lies about God, or rejects His revelations? The guilty never succeed. Yet, they idolize beside God those who possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and say, 'These are our intercessors with God.' ...such is idol-worship." (Quran, 10:15-18)

The above verse clearly states that the people who's hearts did not believe the message from GOD asked the Prophet to bring a "different" Quran, or even "change" it.

And Mohammed's response was: 'I CANNOT change it, I simply FOLLOW what is revealed to me!'.

The Prophet could not "make-up" his own religion to suite the desires of all those around him….He was COMMANDED to adhere to the Quran and nothing but the Quran.

Yet, it seems that after Mohammed's death, those who's hearts did not really accept the message that he brought started to in-fact "change" the Quran by adding to it.

It seems these people who were spreading false teachings and attributing them to GOD did not heed the Prophet's warning:

"Shall I seek OTHER THAN THE GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed THIS BOOK FULLY DETAILED? ....The word of your Lord is COMPLETE, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His words; He is the hearer, the omniscient. Yet, if you obey the majority of people, they will take you away from the path of The God. That is because they follow CONJECTURE, and they fail to think." (Quran, 6:114-116)

The Prophet taught people NOT to seek other than GOD as their source of law since He had revealed a FULLY DETAILED book!.

The Prophet also warned people not to listen to what the MAJORITY have to say, because he knew that they only follow CONJECTURE!.

Yet, despite all these clear warnings, the people after Mohammed could not resist to make false claims that the Quran was NOT detailed, and that it needed a mish-mash of hearsay to interpret.

They claimed that although the Quran was complete (as per GOD's statement), it still did not cover all the areas of jurisprudence that needed covering.

Perhaps they did not reflect upon the following verse:

"And We have sent down the Book to you as a CLARITY FOR EVERYTHING, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who Submit." (Quran 16:89)

In light of such evidence, it is extremely difficult for any sincere followers of GOD to simply turn their backs to what the Quran has to say and hand their destinies over to people for whom GOD was not enough.

The BEST 'Hadith':

For those who still have a desire to hold onto 'Hadith' after all the evidence presented...there is just ONE Hadith that we deem to be authentic and also encourage all people to goto:

"The GOD has revealed herein the best Hadith; a book that is consistent, and points out both ways. The skins of those who reverence their Lord cringe therefrom, then their skins and their hearts soften up for The GOD's message. Such is The GOD's guidance; He bestows it upon whoever wills. As for those sent astray by The GOD, nothing can guide them." (39:23)

Conclusion:

Idol worship, or associating partners with GOD, is the only unforgivable sin that is mentioned in the Quran. Yet, it seems that for the majority of us, our minds cannot accept GOD Alone!.

"The God DOES NOT FORGIVE that partners be established with Him, but He forgives other than that to whom He wishes" (4/48)

And the ultimate litmus test can only be:

When The God ALONE is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter shrink with aversion. But when idols are mentioned besides Him, they rejoice (39:45).

Did talking about upholding the Quran Alone bother you?. Or does your heart really believe?.

"They are the ones who examine all words, then follow the best. These are the ones whom GOD has guided; these are the ones who possess intelligence." (39:18)

ঘুম পাড়ানী গান

2009-08-19T22:40:00.000+07:00

ঘুম পাড়ানী গান

আবদুল ওয়াহিদ

১৬ ই আগস্ট, ২০০৯ রাত ১০:১১

এক.
আমার মা ...
মা গানে গানে ঘুম পাড়াতেন। ক্লান্তি আর মায়াতে মাখামাখি। এই বেলায়, আমি অনেকবার চেষ্ট করেছি, ঘুম পাড়ানী গানটা মনে করার। অবাক লাগে, আমি কখনো সেই গানটি মনে করতে পারিনি। এটাও মনে করতে পারি না সত্যিই কি মা কখনো গান গাইতেন । আমার মা আমার কাছে দু'ভাবে ধরা দেন । এক মা, ঘুম পাড়ানী গান গাইতেন । আরেক মা, যাকে কখনো কোন গান গাইতে শুনি নাই ।

মা গল্প শুনাতেন তা মনে আছে । সব সময় সেই একই গল্প জনম দুঃখী রানী ও তার পুত্র । রানীর দুঃখের কাল শেষ হয়, তবে তা হয় জীবনের শেষবেলায় আর রাজপুত্র হলো বীর ভোগ্য বসুন্ধরা, তার দুঃখ দীঘস্থায়ী হয়না । সেই রাজপুত্তরটি আমি ছিলাম তো, তাই মন না চাইলেইও মেনে নিতেন কিছু না কিছু দুঃখ তার ছেলেকে ভোগ করতে হবে। তবে তা অন্যদের' চে বেশী কিছু না।

আমার মা...চোখ বন্ধ করলে দেখি সংসারের কালি ঝুলি লেগে থাকা হাত দুটি বাড়িয়ে বলছেন, 'খোকা আয়'। সহজে কি আর ধরা দিই, সারা বাড়িময় ছুটোছুটি। তারপর যখন মা ক্লান্ত হয়ে পড়েন, পেছন থেকে গলা জড়িয়ে বলি, ‌'মা'। তিনি কপট রাগ দেখান।

দুই.
বিশাল মাঠটায় শুয়ে আছি। আমি এবঙ বৃষ্টি। অঝোর ধারা। আধ অন্ধ
মানুষটা চশমা খুলে দেখি জগতটা অস্পষ্ট হয়ে গেছে। বৃষ্টির ফোঁটা আর ফোঁটা থাকে না, বিশাল জলরাশি যেন আমাকে ডুবায় আবার ভাসায়। বৃষ্টি আমার হাত ধরে , চুল ছুয়ে দেয়, কপালে হাত বুলিয়ে দেয়, চুমু দেয়।

শরীরের নীচে ঘাসে'রা জীবন্ত হয়ে উঠে। নতুন জলের স্পর্শে প্রান ফিরে পেয়ে এদিক ওদিক ছুটছে যেন । মেয়ে ব্যাঙ গুলো উৎসবে মত্ত হলো, মা এসে বলে, 'খোকা বেশী ভিজিস না অসুখ করবে'। আমি বলি, 'তুমি তো আছো'। মা আর বৃষ্টি একাকার যেন হয়ে যায় । অশুভ কিছু আমায় ছুঁতে পারে না ।

টিনের চালে ঝম ঝম ঝম । একঘেয়ে শব্দ । কিন্তু সংগীত মনে হয় । আরামে চোখ মুঁদে আসে । বাতাসে জানালার পর্দা পালের মতো ফুলে ফুলে উঠে । খোলা জানালা দিয়ে আসে জলের ঝাপটা । আহা আমি সিনবাদ। আমি মনি মানিক্য কুড়াতে যাচ্ছি সেই জাদুর দেশে। এই তুফানে আমার জাহাজ টল মল টল মল । 'বদর বদর'।

মেঘের আড়ালে সূর্য্য হাসে।
না । আমি স্বপ্ন দেখছি । রাত গভীর হয় । বৃষ্টি বাড়ে। অধো ঘুম অধো জাগরনে আমি গান পাড়ানী গান শুনি । থেমে থেমে আমিও যেন গেয়ে উঠি । তারপর সুন্দর স্বপ্নের রাত ।

আধো ঘুম আধো জাগরণে বুঝতে পারি, বৃষ্টির সুরে গান গাইতেন মা। জগতকে এমন প্রাণবান, ফলবান করে আর কেবা আসে নতুন জীবনের কাঙ্খা নিয়ে।

মা.. তোমার গান আমায় ঘুম পাড়ায়। তারপর নতুন দিনে জেগে উঠি নতুনরূপে। " আমারে তুমি অশেষ করেছ এমনই লীলা তব..........।

নক্ষত্রের সাথে জেগে থাকা

2009-08-07T00:39:00.001+07:00

নক্ষত্রের সাথে জেগে থাকা

সিদ্ধার্থ আনন্দ

আকাশ দেখতে ভালো লাগে।

চাঁন সুরুজ ছাড়া কিছুই চিনি না। তারপরও অচিন আকাশের' চে সুন্দর কিছু আছে বলে মনে হয় না। যা দেখি তা তো আছে, আর যা দেখি না তা রহস্যময় কিন্তু অর্থপূর্ণতা হয়েই যেন ধরা পড়ে। আকাশ দেখার সময় কোনটা? সময় অসময় বলে কিছু নাই। তুমি যখন চাও মেঘের ভেলায় ভাসতে পারো। রঙতুলি দিয়ে ইচ্ছে মতো ছবি আকঁতে পারো, শক্তি কুলালে দু'একটা কবিতা গান আসতে পারে।

ছোট্ট বেলায় কোন কোন রাতে ঘুম ভেঙ্গে কি যে কান্না পেতো। জানালায় দিয়ে আসা চাঁদের আলোয় ঘর ভেসে যাচ্ছে, কিন্তু কখনো ঐ চাঁদে যেতে পারব না। মনি মনিক্য ভরা আকাশ কি সুন্দর ঝিকমিক করে। কেন জানি তখনই মনে হতো জাগতিক কোন সামর্থ্য লাভ করব না। তাই অলৌকিক সমাধানের চিন্তা করতাম। আমাকে যদি ফেরেশতা এসে বলে তুমি কি চাও? বিলকুল বলতাম, আমি অসীম মহাশূণ্যে অসীম সময় ধরে পরিভ্রমন করতে চাই। আর এখন চাওয়া-পাওয়ার দ্বন্ধে সে ইচ্ছে বলবধ আছে কিনা সে প্রশ্নে যেতে পারি না। এই তো জীবন।

আমি আর মুর্শেদ অনেক গভীর রাত পয্যন্ত ঘুরতাম। চুপচাপ। কেউ কোন কথা বলতাম না। পাছে আকাশে বাতাসে কি বিশৃঙ্খলা তৈরী হয়। মুর্শেদ একদিন বলল, আমি চলে যাচ্ছি। জানি সবাই কে চলে যেতে হয়। তাই বলেছি, ঐ নক্ষত্রটা আমাদের। যেখানে যাস নক্ষত্রটা দেখলে মনে করবি আমি আছি। আর আমিও তাই করি।

এখন কঠিন ভাবলেশহীন শহরে থাকি। দিন-রাত এখানে জীবন্মৃত। কোন সৌন্দর্য নেই যেন। হঠাৎ করে একটুকরো আকাশ চোখে পড়ে। কত যে ভালো লাগে। আবার যেন থমকে দাড়াঁয়। এই তো জীবন। তবুও স্বপ্ন দেখি তারা ভরা রাতে ঘাসের বনে শুয়ে আছি। জীবনানন্দের নায়কের মতো। ব্যতিক্রম হলো, আমি ঠিকই একদিন জেগে উঠব। এই শহরে অনেকদিন ঘুমোয় না। তারপর নক্ষত্রের দিন, নক্ষত্রের সাথে জেগে থাকা।

টিপাইমুখ বনাম গণশক্তি

2009-07-27T23:08:00.002+07:00

টিপাইমুখ বনাম গণশক্তি
- মাসউদুর রহমান

একাত্তরের ষোলোই ডিসেম্বরের পর ২০০১ সালের ১৮ এপ্রিল বাংলাদেশীদের জন্য সবচে’ গৌরবোজ্জ্বল দিন বলে আমি মনে করি। এদিন বাংলাদেশের সৈনিক জনতা কুড়িগ্রামের রৌমারি সীমান্তে ভারতীয় হানাদার বাহিনীর বিরুদ্ধে শক্ত প্রতিরোধ সৃষ্টি করে তাদের অন্যায় দখল প্রচেষ্টা প্রতিহত করে বিজয় ছিনিয়ে আনে। ভারতীয় বিএসএফ, ব্ল্যাকক্যাট এবং সর্বোপরি সে দেশের সেনাবাহিনী টের পায় আমাদের জনগণের রাম দা আর লাঠির জোর কতখানি। ব্ল্যাকক্যাট এবং সেনাবাহিনীর কথা বলছি এজন্য যে, সেদিনের সেই অপারেশনে বিএসএফের সাথে তারাও অংশ নেয় বলে যথেষ্ট প্রমাণ পাওয়া গিয়েছিল। এরপরের সবকিছুই তো আমাদের জানা। ভারত অন্যায়ভাবে অতর্কিত হামলা চালালেও বাংলাদেশের তৎকালীন মেরুদন্ডহীন সরকার ভারতের কাছে ক্ষমা চেয়েছিল। তিরিশ বছর ধরে বেদখলে থাকা আমাদের মাটি নিজেদের দখলে এনেও ফের ভারতকে ফিরিয়ে দিতে হয়েছিল সরকারী নির্দেশে।

টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ নিয়েও সংকটটা একই দিকে মোড় নিচ্ছে মনে হয়। বর্তমান শাসকগোষ্ঠির কথাবার্তায় আচরণে মনে হচ্ছে, টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ হলে যেন তাদের লাভ। দেশের বিশাল একটি অংশ এই বাঁধের ফলে স্বাভাবিকভাবেই মরুভুমিতে পরিণত হবে। এমন অবস্থায় সরকারের মিউ মিউ স্বরে মার্জারিয় অবস্থান আমাদের মনে প্রশ্নের সৃষ্টি করে, এর বিরুদ্ধে কথা বলতে সরকার ভয় পাচ্ছে কেন? সরকার নির্বাচিত হয়েছেন জনগণের ভোটে, ভারতের টাকায় বা ভারতের সহযোগিতায় নয়। সরকার কি জনগণের জন্য না ভারতের স্বার্থে কাজ করবে, আমরা তা জানতে চাই। আন্তর্জাতিক নদী আইন লঙ্ঘন করে ভারত কখনোই এটা করতে পারবে না, যদি না সেখানে সরকারের সমর্থন থাকে।

১৯৭০ সালে পূর্ব পাকিস্তান আওয়ামী লীগের নির্বাচনী প্রচারণার অন্যতম অস্ত্র ছিলো ফারাক্কা বাঁধ। প্রচারণায় এভাবেই বলা হতো ফারাক্কা বাঁধ নির্মাণের ব্যাপারে পশ্চিম পাকিস্তানের উদাসীনতাই দায়ী। নির্বাচনে অত্র অঞ্চলে আওয়ামী লীগ নিরঙ্কুশ বিজয় লাভ করে আর মুসলিম লীগ সেই যে ডুবেছে আর ভেসে ওঠেনি। আমাদের স্বাধীনতার প শক্তি বলে দাবীদার বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ যদি কঠোরভাবে টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ প্রতিরোধ করতে না পারে তবে আগামী প্রজন্ম জামাতে ইসলামী নয়, রাজাকার দালাল বলে চিহ্নিত করবে আওয়ামী লীগকে। স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশে এই অপরাধ আরো গুরুতর। বৃক্ষ তোমার নাম কি, ফলে পরিচয়। বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবকে আমরা দেখিনি। তাই তাঁর ব্যাপারে আমাদের কোন অনুভূতি কাজ করে না। কিন্তু আমরা শেখ হাসিনাকে দেখেছি। আগামী প্রজন্ম শেখ মুজিবকে জাতির পিতা বলে মন থেকে গ্রহণ করবে, নাকি শেখ হাসিনার পিতা বলে ঘৃণা করবে, সে সিদ্ধান্ত শেখ হাসিনাকেই নিতে হবে।

আমাদের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রীর উপস্থিতিতে ভারতের দুর্বিনীত হাই কমিশনারের এদেশের রাজনীতিবিদ এবং পানি বিশেষজ্ঞদের বিরুদ্ধে অশোভন উক্তিতে মিসেস মনির নির্লিপ্ততা প্রমাণ করে যে, তার কোন মেরুদন্ড নেই এবং বাংলাদেশী হিসেবে তার কোন আত্মমর্যাদাবোধও নেই। অন্যদিকে বানিজ্যমন্ত্রীর হাস্যকর একটি উক্তি, “টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ বাংলাদেশের জন্য কল্যাণকর হলেই তারা এই বাঁধ নির্মাণে সমর্থন জানাবেন।” একথা তো একটি শিশুও বুঝতে পারে যে, নদীর উজানে বাঁধ নির্মাণ করলে ভাটির জন্য তা কখনোই কল্যাণ বয়ে আনে না। সর্বোপরি যেখানে ফারাক্কার অভিজ্ঞতা আমাদের আছে। একটি শিশুর বোধ-বুদ্ধি যখন একজন পরিণত বয়ষ্কের মধ্যে পাওয়া যায় না, তখন আমরা তাকে কথ্য ভাষায় বেকুব বলি। যে দেশের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী মেরুদন্ডহীন এবং বানিজ্যমন্ত্রী বেকুব, সে দেশের মন্ত্রীপরিষদের দেশ পরিচালনা নিয়ে আমাদের বড়ই দুশ্চিন্তা হয়।

আরেকটি বিষয় আমাকে অবাক, হতবাক, আশ্চর্যান্বিত এবং বিস্ময়বিমূঢ় করে দিয়েছে টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ ইস্যুতে সেক্টর কমান্ডারদের নির্লিপ্ততা। নির্বাচনের ঠিক আগে আগে যুদ্ধাপরাধের বিরুদ্ধে বিনা মেঘে বজ্রপাতের মতো তাদের গর্জে ওঠার ব্যাপারে কোন একটি স্বার্থান্বেষী মহল গুজব ছড়িয়েছিল যে, তারা যুদ্ধাপরাধ বিষয়ক প্রচারণার জন্য ভারতীয় গোয়েন্দা সংস্থা ‘র’ এর কাছ থেকে বিপুল অংক উৎকোচ হিসেবে নিয়েছিলেন। আমরা সেটা বিশ্বাস করি না। কিন্তু টিপাইমুখ একটি জাতীয় গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ইস্যু। এর সাথে অবশ্যই আমাদের স্বাধীনতা-সার্বভৌমত্বের প্রশ্ন জড়িত। এ ধরণের রাষ্ট্রীয় সঙ্কটময় ইস্যুতে সেক্টর কমান্ডারদের অস্বাভাবিক নিরবতা আমাদের মনে সন্দেহের সৃষ্টি করে। তাদের উচিৎ ছিল এই ইস্যুতে জাতিকে ঐক্যবদ্ধ করে গর্জে ওঠা। জাতি আবার তাদের ডাকে তাদের পেছনে ঐক্যবদ্ধ হবে। কে জানে, এ জন্য তারা হয়তো পাকিস্তানের আইএসআই এর কাছ থেকে উৎকোচের অপো করছেন। যদিও আমরা এটাও বিশ্বাস করি না। সেক্টর কমান্ডারদের বলি, সরকারকেও বলি, শ্রদ্ধাভাজন কবি-সাহিত্যিক হুমায়ুন আজাদের ভাষায়, যারা একবার দেশের সাথে বেঈমানী করে তারা চিরজীবনের জন্য রাজাকার, আর একবার যুদ্ধ করেই সারা জীবন মুক্তিযোদ্ধা শব্দটি ব্যবহার করা যায় না।

পরিশেষে নিবেদন, সরকারের কাছে এবং দেশবাসীদের কাছে, ২০০১ সালে যদি ৩০ জন সৈনিক আর নিরস্ত্র গ্রামবাসীরা মিলে ভারতের অতর্কিত আক্রমণ, ৩০০ সুসজ্জিত সৈন্যের আধুনিক অস্ত্রশস্ত্রের পাশাপাশি মর্টার শেল দিয়ে আক্রমণ, প্রতিহত করতে পারে, তাহলে সরকারের ভয় পাওয়ার কোন কারণ নেই। ভারতের সামরিক সৈন্য সংখ্যা সব মিলিয়ে একত্রিশ লক্ষ যার ১৩ লক্ষ সক্রিয় আর বাকীরা রিজার্ভ বেঞ্চে, কিন্তু সরকারের মনে রাখতে হবে আমাদের জনসংখ্যা ১৭ কোটি। তাই সরকারকে হুজুর হুজুর মার্কা পররাষ্ট্রনীতি পরিহার করে দৃঢ় সিদ্ধান্ত নেয়ার জন্য অনুরোধ করছি। একই সাথে বিরোধী দলকে অনুরোধ জানাচ্ছি, ইস্যুটিকে ব্যবহার করে সরকার পতনের প্রচেষ্টায় না নেমে বরং রাষ্ট্রের স্বার্থকে রাষ্ট্র ও জনগণের জায়গা থেকে দেখে টিপাইমুখ বাঁধ প্রতিহত করার নিখাদ এবং সক্রিয় আন্দোলনের ডাক দিতে। নতুবা ভারতীয় আগ্রাসনের বিরুদ্ধে নিজেরাই রুখে দাঁড়ানোর সাথে সাথে জনগণ সরকারী, বিরোধী দল উভয়ের বিরুদ্ধেই রুখে দাঁড়াবে। টিপাইমুখ অভিমুখে অভিযান শুরু করার আগে জনগণ অবশ্যই গণভবন, বঙ্গভবন এবং সংসদভবন পাক পবিত্র করেই রওনা দেবে। কেননা কোন নপুংসক সরকার কিংবা সুযোগসন্ধানী নিষ্ক্রীয় বিরোধী দলের বাংলাদেশী জনগণের কোন প্রয়োজন নেই।

আমি নীলু এবঙ শূন্যতা

2009-07-16T00:03:00.003+07:00

আমি নীলু এবঙ শূন্যতা

আবদুল ওয়াহিদ

আমি আর নীলু নদী তীর ধরে হাটঁছিলাম।

নীলুর ইচ্ছে হলো নদীর জলে পা ভিজাবে। নদী তো না মরুভূমির মাঝে ছোট্ট নালা যেন। বললাম, 'যাও।'

তার এক কথা আমার হাত ধরে জলে পা ছুয়াঁবে।আমার যেতে ইচ্ছে করছিলো না। দূর থেকে নীলুকে কি যে সৌন্দর্য ও রহস্যময়ী মনে হয়! পারতঃ পক্ষে এই সুযোগ আমি হারাতে চাই না।

কিন্তু কে শুনে কার কথা, আমাকে যেতো হলো। নীলু এতো আলতোভাবে হাত ধরে আছে, মনে হচ্ছে একটুকরো মেঘ হাতে নিয়ে উড়ে যাচ্ছি। নিজের অজান্তে বলে উঠলাম, 'অচীন মেঘ তুমি কি স্বর্গ থেকে এলে!'

নীলু বলে, 'কি বললে?'

'দেখ কি ঝকঝকে আকাশ, আকাশে তোমার ছায়া।'

'পাগল!'

ভাবি, 'হু! পাগলই তো।'

ছোট্ট সেই স্রোতসিনী, মনে হচ্ছিল স্বর্গের পবিত্র নহর।

আমরা দু'জনে হাতে হাত রেখে পা ডুবিয়ে বসে আছি। নীলু আমার কাঁধে মাথা রাখল। সে অদ্ভুত ভালো লাগা। পাখিরা যেন গান গেয়ে উঠল, আর ফুলেরা, কোন অচীন দেশ থেকে সুবাস নিয়ে এলে। জানি না!

শীর্ণ জলের ধারাটি সমুদ্দুরের মতো ফুঁসে উঠল যেন।

নীলু কেঁদে উঠল। আমি চুপচাপ। সে অচীন পাখিটা বুকের ভেতর ডানা ঝাপটাতে থাকে। দিগন্তে ঝড় উঠে। সবকিছু ঝড়ে এলোমেলো হয়ে যায়। শুধু স্থির হয়ে আছি আমরা দু'জনে।

আমি আর নীলু! নীলু আর আমি!

আমরা !

নীলু তার ভেজা হাত আমার গালে রাখল। গেয়ে উঠলাম, পদ্মার ঢেউরে মোর শূন্য হৃদয় পদ্ম নিয়ে যা, যারে....

তারপর থেমে গেলাম। সামনে অপার শূন্যতা।

শূন্যতাকেই মনে হয় পরম অনুভূতি। এই এমন এক অনুভূতি, এর মাঝে দুনিয়া অদ্ভুত এবঙ বর্ণনাতীত প্রজ্ঞার আকারে হাজির হয়। আমরা দু'জনে প্রকৃতির বিশালতায় নিজেদের ক্ষুদ্রতায় শূন্যতায় আলোরিত হয়ে নিখাদ মৌনতায় সপেঁ দিই। এই আমাদের পরম ধ্যান। এই মৌনতায় নীলু কেঁদে উঠে। আর আমি আমার হৃদয় সপেঁ সেই এই কান্নার মাঝে। নিজেকে সমর্পন করি সেই অলৌকিক জগতে। তার আলোতে আমরা পথ চিনে নিই।

বুদ্ধ এবঙ আমি চেতনার ব্যাপারী

2009-07-12T11:40:00.002+07:00

বুদ্ধ এবঙ আমি চেতনার ব্যাপারী

সিদ্ধার্থ আনন্দ

সে অনুভূতিটা কেমন? একে অনুভূতি বলব না অন্যকিছু। বুদ্ধই জানেন। তিনি বোধি লাভ করার পর তার চিত্ত প্রশান্তি লাভ করিল কিনা?
জানি না। সম্ভবত: না। তিনি সকল চাহিদা হতে মুক্ত হইলেন। কিন্তু সাধারন মানুষ সেই মুক্তি কিরূপে লাভ করিবে? সকলই কি সেই নিরপেক্ষক মোক্ষ লাভ করিবে? না, তোমার আমার মতো মোক্ষজ্ঞানহীন মানুষ ছাড়া এই বিশ্ব কি করে টিকিবে। বুদ্ধ ছাড়াও কি টিকিত?

তিনি অষ্টমার্গের জীবন দেখালেনই।

দেখিলাম, এই জগতে যাহা প্রকৃত যাহা মৌলিক, তাহা হইল দুঃখ। বুদ্ধ যখন নির্বাণ লাভ করিলেন তখন কি তিনি সমস্ত রোগ ব্যাধি জরা সর্বাপরি দুঃখ মুক্ত হলেন। তাহলে তিনি কিভাবে অপরের দুঃখ কষ্ট বুঝতেন। বুদ্ধ কি জাতিস্মর ছিলেন? যদি ধরি, বোধি প্রাপ্ত হওয়ার পূর্ব ও পরের জীবন আলাদা আলাদা। তাহলে বেয়াদবী হয় এই ভেবে যে, আমরা তো পূর্ব সিদ্ধান্তকে ভুল ধরে সঠিকটা নিয়ে নতুন জীবন শুরু করার কথা অহরহ ভাবি। মানুষ তারপরও ভুল করে আবার শুধরাই অর্থ্যাৎ একের ভেতর অনেক জনম।

এটা ঠিক যে, গৌতমের উপর এই ধরনের কিছু আরোপ করা অনুচিত। কিন্তু মানুষের যুক্তি বুদ্ধি বড়ই সীমা ছাড়াইতে চায়। আমরা যেহেতু বুদ্ধ হইতে পারিব না, অতৃপ্ত আত্নায় এই বাসনা জাগে বুদ্ধ কিরূপে বুদ্ধ হইলেন, ইহা জানিতে।

বুদ্ধ কিরূপে কি বুঝিতেন তাহা জানিবার উপায় নাই। তাহা যদি নিতান্ত ঐতিহাসিক বিষয়রূপে ঘটে থাকে তবে সেই বোধিত্ব বুদ্ধতে শেষ। আর যদি ইহা সত্যই অধি জগতের বিষয় হয়, তাহলে বুদ্ধ আমার ভেতরও খেলা করে। হয়তো এটাই বোধি লাভের মর্ম্। তুমি এই মর্ম অনুধাবনের পথে এগুতে থাকো। মনে প্রশান্তির ভাব জাগিল।

আমাদের জীর্ন বস্ত্র ত্যাগ করতে হইবে। যে বস্ত্রখানি ত্যাগ করিতে মানুষ বেশী বেশী ভুল করে, তা হলো চেতনা। তাহারা চেতনার বেদিতে এতই অর্ঘ্য দান করে যে, চেতনা কাহার নিমিত্তে আসিয়াছে তাহাই ভুলিয়া যায়। তাহারা বুঝে না চেতনা পশুর স্বভাব, মনুষ্য স্বভাব না। মনুষ্য স্বভাব হলো সে বিবেকের তাড়না সত্য অন্বেষণে জীবনপাত করে। বোধিজ্ঞান ছাড়া সকল সত্যই অপেক্ষিক, তাই বিবেকের তাড়নায় সদা দৌড়ের উপর থাকিতে হয়।
যে মানুষ আত্নার অনুসন্ধান করে, সে দেখিতে পাইবে চেতনা কিরূপে অন্ধ করিয়া তোমাদের ভুলের পথে বন্দী করে রাখে। যে মোক্ষ লাভ করিতে চায় সে যেন আত্নার অনুসন্ধান করে।

বনসাই

2009-06-27T12:00:00.001+07:00

বনসাই
আব্দুল ওয়াহেদ

বনসাই যুগপৎ হতাশা, ক্রোধ ও ঘৃনা নিয়ে আসে।

ছোট্ট একটা কুঠুরীতে বন্দী প্রাণ ভোমরা। শিল্পের নামে সৌন্দর্যের নামে বাণিজ্যের নামে এই আজব লীলা। ...৩৭ বছর বয়সী বনসাইয়ের দাম ৫৫ লাখ টাকা। একটা বৃক্ষ শিশুকে বছরের পর বছর অগুনিত অত্যাচার করে তার নাম দিই শিল্প। জানি না এই শিল্পের কি মূল্য। শিল্পের মূল্য এতোই টুনকো.... অপর একটি প্রাণের অস্তিত্ব , বিকাশকে ধ্বংস করে দেয়। শিল্পের জন্য শিল্প- এর কোন মূল্যই হতে পারে না। সে অর্থহীন। মানুষের এই বর্বরতার মধ্য সে তার জঘন্য প্রবৃত্তিগুলোকে চরিতার্থ করা ছাড়া আর কিছুই নয়।

আমার মনে পড়ে যায় ছোটবেলায় পড়া 'চীন জাপানের শিশু' লেখাটি। মেয়েদের পায়ের আকার ছোট হলেই নাকি সৌন্দর্য, তাই লোহার জুতো পড়িয়ে রাখা হতো। অনেক আগে রহস্যপত্রিকায় কোন এক উপজাতি গোষ্টির উপর একটা লেখায় পড়েছিলাম, তারা মেয়েদের গলা লোহার পাত দিয়ে মুড়িয়ে দিত। একসময় গলাটা লম্বা হয়ে যেতো। এই হলো সৌন্দর্য। এই সকল সৌন্দর্য কলা না নির্যাতন ! যখন আমাদের দেশের শিশুরা উটের জকি হয়ে বাজারে বিক্রি হয় তখন কেন তা আর শিল্প হয়ে উঠে না।

বিকৃতিতে আমাদের পরিবেশ প্রাণ বৈচিত্র্য থমকে গেছে। ঝরাগ্রস্থ পৃথিবীতে আমরা হাজারো শংকা নিয়ে বসবাস করছি। ধর্মগ্রন্থ অথবা মানবিক জ্ঞান সবাই মানুষকে বসায় শ্রেষ্টত্বের আসনে। এই মানুষ কোন মানুষ আমরা কি খেয়াল রাখি। মনে হয় রাখি না। ব্যক্তি স্বাধীনতা বা আপন বুঝাপড়ার শূন্যতায় জগত ভেসে যায়- তখন মানুষ নিজেও হয়ে অন্য কোন নিয়তির হাতে গড়া পুতুল। সে জানে না আপনাকে চিনতে তার নিজের ভূমিকা কি।

আমাদের কোন আচরনই অনর্থক নয়। তা কোন না কোন ফল উৎপাদন করে এবঙ বিচারযোগ্য। ভালো বা মন্দ সকল কিছু চর্চার বিষয়। আপনি যখন একটা প্রানের উপর অত্যাচার করেন, একই সাথে সে অত্যাচারের চর্চা করছেন, যা মানুষের উপরও করতে পারেন। ভালো বা মন্দ যেকোন আচরন অভ্যাসের ভেতর এমন স্থানে পৌছে, যখন আপনাকে ভালো বা মন্দ কাছের ইচ্ছা প্রকাশ করতে হবে না। আপনার অবচেতনই সে কাজটির দিকে নিয়ে যাবে।

কিছু গল্প শোনা যাক..

হযরত মুসা (আঃ) একটা জলাশয়ের পাশ দিয়ে যেতে খেয়াল করলেন, জলাশয়ের পানি কালো বর্ণ ধারন করেছে। তিনি আল্লাহর কাছে এর কারন জানতে চাইলে আসমান থেকে উত্তর আসল, " এই জলাশয়ের পানি দ্বারা একজন পাপিষ্ট ব্যক্তি নিজেকে ধৌত করেছে।"
মুসা অবাক হয়ে বললেন," একলোকের কারনে সকলের ক্ষতি।"
এটি তার কাছে নায্য মনে হলো না।
মুসা (আঃ) গাছের চায়ায় ঘুমাচ্ছিলেন, হঠাৎ পিপড়ের কামড়ে তার ঘুম ভেঙ্গে গেল। তিনি দেখলেন এক ঝাক পিপড়ে তার সামনে দিয়ে যাচ্ছে। রেগে গিয়ে তিনি পুরো দলটাকে পা দিয়ে পিষে মেরে ফেললেন। তখন আসমান থেকে বলা হলো," হে মুসা, তোমাকে একটা পিপড়ে কামড়িয়েছে আর তুমি সবগুলোকে মেরে ফেললে।"

সম্ভবত হযরত বায়েজিদ বোস্তামী (রাঃ)'র কাহিনী।
তিনি একবার কোথা যেন যাচ্ছিলেন। অনেক পথ চলার পর খেয়াল করলেন তার জামার মধ্যে একটা পিপড়ে আটকে আছে।
তিনি যেদিক হতে এসেছিলেন সেদিকে হাটা শুরু করলেন। কয়েক ক্রোশ আসার পর দেখতে পেলেন পিপড়ের সারি, তখন তিনি পিপড়েটাকে সেই সারিতে রেখে পুনরায় গন্তব্যে রওয়ানা দিলেন।

কোন এক সাধুর গল্প।
তিনি দেখতে পেলেন একটা বৃশ্চিক যেদিকে যাচ্ছে, সেদিকে পানি জলাশয়। অর্থ্যাৎ বৃশ্চিকটার বিপদ। তিনি বৃশ্চিকটাকে হাতে নিয়ে নিরাপদ স্থানে নিয়ে গেলেন। কিন্তু বৃশ্চিকটা তার হাতে কামড় দিলো, আবার আগের পথে রওয়ানা দিলো। তিনি আবার একই কাজ করলেন।
তার শিষ্য বলল," আপনাকে কাপড় দেয়া সত্ত্বেও আপনি আবার একই কাজ করলেন।"
সাধু বললেন," বৃশ্চিকের ধর্ম কামড় দেয়া। সে তার ধর্ম পালন করেছে, আমি আমারটা।"

এবার নিজের কথা বলি।
আমার একটা নদী ছিলো।
পদ্মা, মেঘনা, যমুনা, সুরমা, কুশিয়ারা যেকোন নাম দিতে পারেন।
আপনারা শুধু বৃক্ষের বনসাই দেখেছেন।
আমি নদীকে বনসাই বানাচ্ছি।
চমৎকার শিল্প হবে।

"আমাদের ছোট নদী চলে বাঁকে বাঁকে..."
শিশুটি আমাকে বলল," নদী কি?"
" বাবা তোকে তো আসল নদী দেখাতে পারব না। নদীর বনসাই দেখ।"
শিশুটি বলল," ওয়াও! অনেক বড়ো।"

দো'টানা

2009-06-27T11:57:00.001+07:00

দো'টানা
আব্দুল ওয়াহেদ

"হে প্রভু নিজেরে বুঝার ক্ষমতা দাও!"

এই নিজ আর আমি'র মধ্যে কি যেন এক পার্থক্য আছে। যতবার বলতে চাই আমি, কে যেন টুটি চেপে ধরে বলে, সীমা লঙ্ঘন করিস না। সীমা!! অদ্ভুত লাগে আমিত্বের সীমা লঙ্ঘন কি 'আমি' উচ্চারণের ভেতর দিয়ে ঘটে। এর জবাব পাই না। তাহলে নিজের ভেতর এমন দ্বন্ধের আভাস মেলে যারে আমি বুঝি না। শুধু এইটুকু বুঝলাম এর মীমাংসা চাই।

মীমাংসায় যাওয়ার আগে প্রশ্ন জাগল, কেন নিজেরে বুঝতে হবে?
যেহেতু সত্য জানতে চাই, তার যাত্রাবিন্দু থাকতে হবে। নাহলে হাভাতে ঘুরতে হবে। ধাধাঁর পর ধাধাঁয় পড়ার রিস্ক না নিয়ে কিছু উত্তর পাবার চেষ্টা করি।

নিজেকে দিয়ে শুরু করার জন্য কিছু পূর্বানুমান ছিলো, যেমন- এই জটিল জগতে কোন জিনিসটা বেশী চেনা-জানা ইত্যাদী।
কিন্তু যখন 'আমি কে?' চিরন্তন প্রশ্ন পরলাম ফাপরে। আসলে আমি কে? ডানে বায়ে তাকিয়ে দুই একটা কথা বলার চেষ্টা করলাম। যেমন- জৈবিক সত্ত্বা, বুদ্ধিমত্তা সম্পন্ন ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি। ওমা !! নিজের উত্তরে নিজেরেই সামাল দিতে পারি না। যাই বলি সে হাসে। মোটা দাগে আমার ভেতর এমন কিছু আছে, যা আমি নিজেও ধরতে পারছি না। বুঝলাম সাধে কি সক্রেটিস বলেছেন, নিজেকে জানো। বেদ, কুর'আন আরো এগিয়ে বলে, যে নিজেকে জেনেছে, সে স্বীয় রবকে জেনেছে।

এইখানে এসে বুঝলাম প্রশ্নটা ঠিক আছে। যুগে যুগে মহামানব'রা ( কোন না কোনভাবে সকল মানুষ) নিজেকে বুঝার সংগ্রামটা করে গেছেন। এই প্রশ্নের হয়ে নিজের ভেতর নানান ভরকেন্দ্রের চাপ অনুভব শুরু করি। ভরকেন্দ্রের বর্ণনা পুরোপুরি দেয়ার ভাষা নাই, কারণ তারা একে অপরের সারাক্ষন কুস্তি খেলে। যে যখন জয়ী হয় আমি বলি তুমি সহী। যেমন যখন নিজের দেখা, বর্ণনা, ভাব, ভাষার কথা বলি বাহ! বাহ! তুমি ঠিক। কিন্তু পর সচেতন বলে এতো নিশ্চিত হচ্ছো কেমনে? তখন সবকিছুকে সাপেক্ষ হিসেবে ছাড় দিয়ে আমার নিজের বলে কিছুই থাকে না। এর ওর মধ্যে দিয়ে যেতে যেতে আপনাকেই হারিয়ে ফেলেছি। তখন দো'টানাই পড়ি।

আচ্ছা এই দো'টানাই কি আমি নিজে! হতে পারে। জগতে আর কেউ কি আছে যে মানুষের মতো দ্বৈত জীবন যাপনকারী !

জোছনা আমার বোন

2009-06-27T11:53:00.001+07:00

জোছনা আমার বোন
আব্দুল ওয়াহেদ

আমার জম্ম আষাঢ়ী পূর্ণিমায়।

আমার মা স্বপ্নে দেখেছিলেন, তার এক কোলে সূর্য, অন্য কোলটা খালি। চাঁদ ঝুলে আছে ঠিক তার মাথার উপর । তিনি বললেন, বাছা তুইও আমার কোলে আয়। সাথে সাথে চাঁদ নেমে আসল তার কোলে।

এই স্বপ্নের ব্যাখ্যা দিলেন আমার দাদীমা। তিনি বললেন, বউ
তোর যমজ বাচ্চা হবে। সূর্য হলো ছেলে আর চাঁদ হলো মেয়ে। আমার মা এমন ভাব করলেন, এ আর কি ? আমিও বুঝেছি। নামও ঠিক হলো, ছেলের নাম সুরুজ আর মেয়ের নাম জোছনা। আমার বাড়ী পালানো স্বভাবের বাবা বাড়ী ছাড়ার ধারে না দিয়ে, বউয়ের যত্ন আত্তি মনোযোগ দিলেন। তিনি সুরুজ আর জোছনা নিয়ে নতুন গান বাঁধলেন। সময়ে অসময়ে মাকে গান শুনাতেন। মা বড়ই লজ্জা পেতেন। মা ভালো গান জানতেন।

একটানা তিনদিনের বৃষ্টি। চারদিকে কাদা পানি। বৃষ্টি ঠেলে বাবা গেলেন দাই ডাকতে। ঘরের দাওয়ায় উঠার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে বৃষ্টি থেমে গেলো। তিনি আমার কান্না শুনতে পেলেন। বাইরে চাঁদের আলোয় ঝলমল করে উঠল পৃথিবী। তিনি কান পেতে রইলেন অন্য শিশুটির কান্না শোনার আশায়।

আমার নাম সুরুজ।
আমার আর কোন ভাই-বোন নেই। আমার বাবা কোন দূরদেশে চলে গেছে কেউ জানে না। হঠাৎ হঠাৎ খবর আসত তাকে এই হাটে ও ঘাটে দেখা গেছে। আর আমার মা অদ্ভুত ঘোরের ভেতর জীবনপাত করে গেলেন। তার অদৃশ্য মেয়েটা ছিলো তার চোখের মনি।

তিনি সারাক্ষন জোছনাকে নিয়ে ব্যস্ত থাকতেন। হয়তো আমাকে ডেকে বলতেন, 'তুই জোছনার সাথে খেলা কর, আমি তরকারীটা দেখে আসি।'
একসময় আমার দাদার বাড়ীর লোকেরা মাকে তার বাপের বাড়ীতে রেখে আসল। শুনেছি তিনি মারার সময় শুধু এই বলতে লাগলেন, 'আমি মারা গেলে জোছনাকে কে দেখবে?'
আমার নানী কাদঁতে কাদঁতে বললেন, 'আমি আছি না? তুই শান্ত হ।'
মা মুখে হাসি নিয়ে মারা গেলেন।

আমার জীবনের আট দশটা সাধারন ঘটনার মতোই বাড়ি ছাড়ি। বাড়ি নামের শব্দটি আমার অনুভূতিতে কোন আবেগীয় প্রকরন হিসেবে হাজির হয়নি। বরঙ, জাগতিক অর্থহীনতারুপেই তাকে দেখেছি।

নানান দেশের নানা পথ ঘুরে কোন এক স্বপ্নকে তাড়া করেছি যেন।

আমার মা বা বাবা কারো কোন ছবি আমার মাথায় আসে না। এক বর্ষার রাতে মন কেমন যেন আকুলি বিকুলি করছিল। কোন ধরনের বৈপরীতে ঘুরপাক খাচ্ছিলাম। আমি স্পষ্ট দেখতে পেলাম সেই ছোট্ট মেয়েটিকে। তখন বুঝতে পারলাম আমার ছোট বোনটি আমার ভেতরই রয়ে গেছে।

আমার মা ক্রমাগত সেই বোধটি আমার ভেতর ঢুকিয়ে গেছেন, তাকে আমি কখনো অতিক্রম করে আসতে পারেনি। কিন্তু পরক্ষনে সবকিছুকে নিস্ফল মনে হয়, যেন অবচেতনে কোন সংস্কারকে নিজের সাথে বেঁধে রাখছি। আবার ভাবি জীবন মানে কি? যুক্তি সর্বস্বতা, নৈব্যক্তিকতা এসব কি? যুক্তি নিজে দাড়িয়ে থাকে অনুমানের উপর আর নৈব্যক্তিকতা তো অলীক কল্পনা।

আমার সকল নির্মোহ চেতনা ধ্বসে যায় যেন। ধাবমান পৃথিবীতে কিছু একটা আকঁড়ে ধরতে ইচ্ছে করে। হঠাৎ অনেকদিন পর মায়ের মুখটা ভেসে উঠে। বাবার বৈরাগ্যের অর্থহীনতা তাকে অলীক সন্তানের ভেতর ঠেলে দেয়। মা তার বাস্তব জগতকে এমনভাবে দলিত করেছেন, যেখানে আমি যেন বিচ্ছিন্ন দ্বীপের মতো।

জানি না জোছনা নামের মেয়েটি আমার ভেতর কেমন করে বসত করে। সে আমার সহদোরা। আমার আমিত্বের প্লাবনটাতে ক্রমশ সে স্থান করে নেয়। আমার মায়ের মতো কি? আমার ভেতর স্নেহের যে আকুলতা আছে তা টের পেতে থাকি। জোছনা আমার সাথে বলে। গান শুনায়। তার গলা অবিকল মায়ের মতো। জানি না এটা কেমন করে বললাম। জীবনের কাঙ্খাগুলো স্পষ্ট উঠে। হাঁ জীবন মানে মায়া, আর কি!

এক সময় বাবাও যেন আমার ভেতর গেড়ে বসে। অদ্ভুতভাবে ঘটনা চক্রে তার সাথে আমার দেখা হয়। তাকে জিজ্ঞেস করি সংসারে আপনার কে কে আছে? তিনি বলেন, 'জোছনা নামের একটা মেয়ে আছে।' আমি বিস্ময় নিয়ে তার দিকে তাকাই। তিনি কিছুই টের পান না। তার হাতের বাদ্য যন্ত্রটা বাজাতে থাকেন।

তখন আমিও পুরোপুরি নিমজ্জিত হই জোছনা নামক বিভ্রান্তিতে। যার থেকে আমার মা, বাবা কেউ মুক্তি পাননি। বুঝলাম, সংসার নামক অদ্ভুত জিনিসটি কিছু না কিছুতে ভর দিয়ে টিকে থাকে। জোছনা নামক অলীক মেয়েটি আমাদের অদৃশ্য সংসারকে টিকিয়ে রেখেছে।

আমি জোছনার হাতটা ধরে বলি, চল এই আজব দুনিয়াটা ঘুরে দেখি।
জোছনা শুধু মাথা নাড়ায়।

The Myth of NGO Superiority

2009-06-12T19:16:00.001+06:00

The Myth of NGO Superiority
Peter Nunnenkamp

It is easy to lament the stinginess and selfishness of official donors, as Kishore Mahbubani did in 2008. Those donors provide critics with the data needed to expose the flaws of official development assistance (ODA). It is different with NGOs. Their aid is certainly relevant, but its allocation has hardly been mapped, let alone explained. The main reason is that sufficiently detailed data are hard to come by. After all, NGOs probably do not want critical analysis to tarnish their image of being superior donors.

NGOs are often believed to provide well-targeted aid. They are said to be particularly close to the poor, as many of them directly cooperate with local target groups, circumventing recipient governments with a reputation of corruption. Accordingly, the argument goes, they are better aligned to poor people’s needs, and suffer from less leakage. Moreover, it is said that NGO aid is less distorted by donor governments’ commercial and political interests, such as export promotion or political alliances.

Donor governments seem to share that favourable view. To a large extent, they channel ODA through NGOs. In some donor countries, the share of such ODA is as high as 20 %. The total of aid granted by NGOs from OECD nations amounted to almost $ 15 billion per annum in 2005 and 2006. That sum exceeded bilateral ODA from every individual donor country except for the USA.

Some critics, however, suspect that the case for NGO aid largely rests on ideological grounds. The view that NGOs have a clear focus on the poor first came under attack in the 1990s. Critics believe that NGOs probably prefer the quiet life of implementing their national governments’ agendas to risking failure in attempts to outperform state agencies. This seems all the more likely as some NGOs financially depend on official “backdonors”.

The cases of Sweden and Switzerland

uch criticism is hardly supported by empirical research so far; and that is something it has in common with the wide-spread faith in high NGO performance. NGOs only rarely support scholars who collect data. Doing research on German NGOs, for instance, therefore tends to be frustrating. By contrast, two relatively small donors – Sweden and Switzerland – offer reasonable data to compare NGOs and state agencies by analysing the following three questions:

· Do NGOs focus more strongly than ODA on those countries where need is most pressing?
· Do NGOs engage in particular where the policy environment is difficult, so government-to-government transfers are unlikely to work?
· Do NGOs behave more altruistically than state aid agencies, which may be pursuing hidden agendas?

Research done at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in cooperation with the KOF Swiss Economic Institute in Zurich and the Radboud University in ¬Nijmegen has led to only preliminary results so far, but they do reinforce the sceptics’ view on NGO aid. The answer to the first question is clearly “no” if one judges recipients’ need for aid by average per-capita incomes. The increase in Swiss NGO aid for countries with lower average income, for instance, was slightly less pronounced than the increase in Swiss ODA. In striking contrast to Swedish ODA, Swedish NGOs completely ignored the income position of recipients, spreading their aid almost equally over low and middle-income countries. The poorest 25 % only received 27 % of Swedish NGO funds, whereas the wealthiest 25 % received 22 %. The picture is more favourable for Swiss NGOs if need is measured in terms of absolute poverty (share of the population living on less than one or two dollars per day). Swedish NGOs hardly differ from state agencies in this respect.

As for institutional environments, we found interesting differences between Sweden and Switzerland, but they did not follow the NGO-government divide. Both Swedish and Swiss NGOs tended to mirror their governments. This is in conflict with advice by the World Bank which is echoed in many policy documents both at UN and national levels. Accordingly, official donors should focus on better governed countries in order to render ODA more effective, whereas NGOs should become active predominantly where governance is bad. Just like the state-run agencies, Swedish NGOs were not particularly active in challenging settings. Swiss NGOs did allocate more funds to countries with weak institutions – but so did the Swiss government. It thus seems that Swiss NGOs were accommodating government policy rather than trying to excel in places where governance was particularly troubled.

As for donor countries’ own interests, neither Swedish nor Swiss NGOs seemed to be pursuing any hidden agenda. The notable exception was that Swiss NGOs resembled their government in providing more aid to countries that voted in line with Switzerland at the UN. Switzerland’s neutrality may be at the root of this finding; both the government and NGOs may feel that developing countries that take a similar stance deserve support. On the other hand, countries with commercial relevance to both Sweden and Switzerland, for instance as export markets, did not get significantly more NGO aid. Once again, however, NGO performance did not differ much from their governments’. Comparisons among OECD countries typically show that Sweden and Switzerland belong in the “altruistic” camp of countries that do not use ODA to promote exports.

NGOs based in various OECD countries

NGOs may have better chances to excel in less altruistic donor countries. OECD nations that are known for more self-searching development policies include big donors like France, the USA and Japan. To assess NGO aid tentatively for a broader donor sample, our Dutch co-author, Dirk-Jan Koch, collected data on some 60 OECD-based NGOs. Together, these NGOs spent $ 5.7 billion on aid to almost all recipient countries in 2005. That was nearly as much as the four Scandinavian countries spent on ODA that year.

One may, of course, doubt the representativeness of the sample. Moreover, the data only refer to one year. Nonetheless, it is striking that the aid allocation of the seven German NGOs included in the sample was actually biased against poorer countries. Brazil and South Africa were among the top-10 recipients of German NGO aid in absolute terms, even though the per-capita income of both countries ranged in the highest quartile. The top-10 with respect to aid per capita included four countries in the upper income half (Botswana, Cape Verde, Namibia and Swaziland). The whole group of 60 NGOs granted more aid to needier countries, however.

The impact of local institutions on NGO aid from all OECD countries together remained inconclusive. It seems that many NGOs were torn between favouring better governed countries and allocating aid in accordance with the comparative advantage NGOs might have in working under difficult local conditions. NGOs from all donor countries taken together have a strong tendency to replicate the aid allocation of official backdonors. This indicates the limits to autonomous decision-making of NGOs that depend on government funds. Moreover, NGOs tend to follow their peers, probably in order to control risks by hiding in the crowd. In any case, NGO aid is clustered, and NGOs are deepening the divide between so-called donor darlings and aid orphans.

Conclusion

All in all, our findings point to NGO aid not being a panacea for providing better-targeted aid and boosting aid effectiveness. In contrast to what one might expect, NGOs seem to prefer to keep a low profile. They did not try to distinguish themselves from state aid agencies by outperforming the latter in terms of focus on the neediest, or by entering uncharted waters where ODA is likely to fail.
The preliminary nature of the findings reported in this short account of ongoing research must be stressed. Future research will have to look into what exactly is driving NGOs to replicate both official donors and peers. It must also be understood to what extent NGOs that rely strongly on official backdonors behave differently from those that are truly independent. To assess these matters, it would certainly help if NGOs became more transparent and opened their books to research.

Sources:

Dreher, Axel, Florian Mölders, Peter Nunnenkamp, 2007: Are NGOs the better donors? A case study of aid allocation for Sweden. Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Working Paper 1383, October.

Koch, Dirk-Jan, Axel Dreher, Peter Nunnenkamp, Rainer Thiele, 2008: Keeping a low profile: What determines the allocation of aid by nongovernmental organizations? Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Working Paper 1406, March.

Nunnenkamp, Peter, Janina Weingarth, Johannes Weisser, 2008: Is NGO aid not so different after all? Comparing the allocation of Swiss aid by private and official donors. Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Working Paper 1405, March.

Peter Nunnenkamp heads the research area “Global division of labour” at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The research that lead to this essay was done in cooperation with the KOF Swiss Economic Institute in Zurich and the Radboud University in Nijmegen.

Monga, Micro credit And The Nobel Prize

2009-06-12T18:44:00.003+06:00

Monga, Micro credit And The Nobel Prize

By Anu Muhammad
04 December, 2006

www.Countercurrents.org

'We link the poor to the market...'

NGO official in Bangladesh

"When I feed the poor they called me a saint but when I asked, 'why are they poor?' they called me a communist."

Archbishop Helder Camara in Brazil

Every year we have monga in Bangladesh. Monga is a local Bangla word that means a famine like situation, which appears specially in September through November or in Bangla months Aswin and Kartic. People usually call the period as mora Kartic, meaning the months of death and disaster. These two months give rural people more hard time than usual because of extremely shrinking job opportunities. A large number of rural poor try to survive by migrating into towns, in addition to those who migrate for good. Not everyone can do it. There are many who are pushed to worse situation, compelled to eat not-eatable things and get sick, if not worse.

This year is not an exception. However, one thing is very special in this year. Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank have achieved the highest award, the Nobel Peace Prize, for their contribution in poverty alleviation. According to the Nobel Committee, the model of 'Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force' meaning instrumental in poverty alleviation. Despite whole Bangladesh, specially the urban middle class and upper income people, overwhelmed with joy and pride, the reports on monga found its way, got comparatively shorter space this year, to create an embarrassment to the mood. In fact, it is not only in the monga period that people suffer from hunger. Despite self-sufficiency in food production in the country, majority people, over the year, suffer from food intake that goes below the poverty line calorie level, half of them live in hardcore poverty meaning they live with regular hunger. A monga situation is a permanent experience for them.

What macro data speak about poverty in Bangladesh after decades of innovative and successful poverty alleviation programmes in Bangladesh? The latest figure on poverty delivered by research organization Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies showed in recent overview (October 2006) that nearly 40 million people in Bangladesh are living in extreme income poverty and about 30 million are in chronic poverty. According to the government document, nearly 70 million people are still living below the income poverty line.

In this poverty friendly scenario, the two months become so severe that it is difficult to hide the wound as well as the vulgarity of never ending poverty alleviation programmes, studies and festivity. Monga sustains and are renewed every year. Therefore, it is necessary to look at coexistence of sustained monga situation and huge success of micro credit in perspective.

The mobility of Global Capital

Dr. Muhammad Yunus became world famous personality along with the Grameen Bank much before the Nobel recognition. The world gurus have been talking about the Bank as a model to alleviate poverty for years, and its success is also measured by its spread in many more countries. Establishment of an institution like Grameen Bank with own initiative and develop it into a global level is really a great achievement of Muhammad Yunus and others in the Bank. Moreover, Yunus and his colleagues have helped micro credit to integrate into mainstream banking operations. That is obviously a brilliant achievement for him and this is also very crucial contribution of him to the 'late capitalism' of the present world.

In the present phase of global capitalism financial sector has become dominant over production sectors. Investment in speculation multiplied much faster than investment in other sectors. Banks, Insurances, share markets, all have become much more crucial. Financial capital, as a whole, has taken the lead of global capitalism. The unprecedented growth of 'money for money' activities helped many rich to become richer at a rate that is unprecedented in history. These may not bring good moment for the majority. Because, these activities have fraudulent elements and often create disastrous affects for many. Some of it became visible in the recent past in many countries including Argentina and many countries in East Asia. Other countries including the US had the heat of it. The force of uncertainty and collapsing experiences prompted James Tobin, leading economist of the US, to ask for imposing taxes on this speculative investments and transfer of money. George Soros, the guru of speculation and financial investments cautioned global leadership to take actions, extend state control over uncontrolled money movement, to save capitalism.

Capitalism in its stunning horizontal and vertical growth, borrowing Marx's words, revolutionized everything, touched everything, moulded everything and spread fast to become a global system. Now we are witnessing a real global capitalism. Nevertheless, despite its success in revolutionizing many things and radically opening up global opportunities for capital, capitalism could not resolve its inherent dynamics that creates contradictions in itself. Therefore, development and destruction go hand in hand, with growing resources and increased deprivation, with increasing potential and increased vulnerability of the people, increasing command over knowledge and horrible level of mass destruction. Therefore, the world with unprecedented growth of resources witnesses high level of poverty and insecurity. Uneven development in global scale as well as within country is an integral part of that. Bangladesh, located in the periphery, has been a victim of both.

In the last few decades, finance and banking operations around the world have grown in an unmatched proportion in both size and area of network. There are two reasons behind this. One, this gives high return to capital, therefore flow of capital gets the direction to have that. Two, production of consumer items in the world economy has been piled up at a much faster rate than the increase of aggregate income of the people as a whole. Therefore, rapid credit expansion has been a response to both demand and supply needs.

Nevertheless, size of credit market amongst urban high and middle-income group becomes too little with respect to the high rate of accumulation of Bank capital. In this context Grameen Bank model has in fact opened up a vast market for finance capital. The poor, until today, the majority of world population, are being kept outside banking net by collateral conditions. Although there have been many initiatives around the world to build for collateral free credit net, BRAC in Bangladesh or SEWA in India have started similar programmes around same time, Grameen Bank has been probably the first one that could attract world attention.

While Muhammad Yunus must be credited highly for his contribution in innovation in banking and opening up vast sea of market for the huge accumulated finance capital, linking of poverty alleviation with this corporate success is ridiculous and may not very innocent one.

Poverty 'alleviation' agencies and the old ideology Poverty 'alleviation' became an agenda of 'development' in the early 70s after poverty-friendly growth exercises reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s. After finishing the job of Defense Secretary of the US Robert McNamara, the war manager in Vietnam, took the charge of global development as President of the World Bank! During his tenure in the World Bank, he initiated new file, the poverty. His speech in 1973 reflected the new inclusion in policy package of the World Bank. It was followed by increasing flow of fund 'targeting' poor for carrying out research in measuring poverty and establishing poverty 'alleviating' programmes.

The growth of new breed of Non Government Organizations (NGO) s in the peripheral countries, wholly depended on western fund, had a link of this policy emphasis in capitalist centre. It should be noted here that the development NGOs were not the first organizations assigned to address rural poverty in Bangladesh. The rural development efforts, since 1960s, e.g.Comilla model, IRDP or Swanirvar can be safely mentioned as the predecessor of NGO experiment. The failure of these attempts to alleviate poverty and to attain other goals is well documented in Akhter Hamid Khan's memoirs, who was one of the pioneers. In the 70s, after non-sustainable performances of earlier models, the viability of the dominant models faced challenges. Growth of NGOs in global scale as well as in Bangladesh is an outcome of searching of improvised version or an alternative.

The growth of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh has been spectacular since mid 70s. NGO model of development in Bangladesh, which includes group formation, the target group approach, participatory development, and micro credit, has added a new dimension to development thinking. The model is treated by global institutions (wrongly called donors) as a safety net for the people (actually for themselves?), who are the victims of other development measures prescribed by the same institutions. Horizontal expansion as well as qualitative changes in its composition characterized the last thirty years of their activities. Initially, NGOs appeared with a promise to work on social issues, struggle against exploitation and discrimination, work outside the domain or influence of local or national power structure. Since early 1980s, micro credit operations started getting priority among some NGOs and by early 90s, it became main focus of most of the sectors. Moreover, NGOs with polarization in itself gradually have found their proper place as part of corporate world.

In the process over two decades, NGOs became polarized between few very big NGOs and many small, where the small ones were reduced to subcontractors of the big. The big NGOs have become corporate groups as well. Big NGOs are also in the process of forming alliances with multinational corporations. To give a few examples: BRAC work with UNOCAL and Monsanto; the Grameen Bank, the Bank in NGO model, initially intended to work with Monsanto but failed due to resistance, has now been intensely working with multinational telecommunication company. Recently it has started a project with Denom, the French food company. All in the name of 'poverty alleviation'! It is therefore not surprising to find Muhammad Yunus always advocating for

privatization of public institution or services and liberalization of the economy in favour of global corporates.

One of the major promises of the NGOs was also to initiate a new development paradigm in contrast to poverty- friendly dominant development paradigm. Soon NGOs became largely concentrated in credit operation and export-oriented activities. It is correct to observe that, "The potential irony is that NGOs originally challenged the concept of 'trickle down' to help create the target group based approach. But in so doing, they have unwittingly contributed toward its reinstatement, as credit delivery has increased in importance as a key rural development input."

NGO model has been successfully captured development ideology. Its hegemony has become so absolute that media, research and academic world take the model as an obvious choice in a country like Bangladesh. Poverty alleviation became buzzword of this model. Micro credit is considered as the most important means of that. The World Bank as well as USAID in different official documents expressed high opinion about these NGOs and gave much more emphasis on the role of NGOs as delivering agencies of the International bodies. It is now also clear that, increasingly they are preferring NGOs to the Government. One can also have valid reasons to believe that the "stress on NGOs can be seen as part of the privatization strategy of the World Bank and most donors". It may be also argued that, "The role of donors in bringing NGOs and government together under their own agendas of privatization is clearly an important one in Bangladesh in shaping NGO activities."

It seems that during mid 90s the World Bank realised long run significance of micro credit in finance capital's global operation. In 1995, the Bank opened new window on micro credit. In 1996 World Bank's recommendations regarding NGO and micro credit in Bangladesh are noteworthy here. Recommendations categorically stated: "Integrate NGOs with commercial finance markets by: a) developing an appropriate regulatory framework for the financial operations of the NGO sector; (b) encouraging large NGOs to establish themselves as banks; (c) encouraging 'wholesaling' of credit to established NGOs; and (d) using smaller NGOs as brokers to mobilize self-help savings groups." In 1997 first international micro credit summit was held in Washington. In the conference, World Bank, USAID, UNDP and Citibank among others declared about their special fund for micro credit. In the last decade, not only Grameen Bank model started spreading in other countries, mainstream Banks also have started introducing micro credit in its operation. The second micro credit summit held this year assembled many big corporates together. Monsanto, Citigroup were among the sponsors.

Some findings on Micro credit at micro level

In the last few years, I had the opportunities to be involved in field studies on micro credit in fifteen villages in different parts of the country. Let me summarize some very important features of micro credit revealed in these studies. These are as follows: (a) its tiny amount keeps its use in limited areas mostly in retail trade or reinvest in credit market with higher interest. (b) The borrower of micro credit does not have to show any collateral but s/he has to be accountable to the group s/he belongs. (c) The borrower receives the amount minus some savings, about 10 per cent, and has to repay the loan in weekly installments with interest of around 20 per cent of the total. (d) Since more than 20 per cent return on the loan amount is essential to keep repayment regularly for every week, every month and every year without any break, if anything happens to break the payment or if the borrower cannot earn more or at least equal to the repayment amount, she /he becomes defaulter, which has chain effect. (e) It is assumed that, cateris paribus, as standard practice in economics, other things remain same, meaning everything will be favourable for weeks, months and years. No natural disaster, no accident, no sickness. Reality does not follow this. If anything much less than above happens, the repayment gets stuck. That happens for the majority. (f) Further hidden assumption is that the property relations, power structure, market process all favour the poor, which is proved completely wrong. (g) For every breakdown of the wrong assumptions the borrower faces helpless uncertain and burdened situation. Defaulters therefore are on the rise among the poor who are compelled to take new loans from other sources at higher interest rates.

Studies reveal that only 5 per cent of the borrowers showed improvement of their situation with the help of micro credit, those have other sources of income as well. The best investment area is found to further engaged in credit business with higher interest rate. The second best is the service sector, like small shops, rickshaw-van or retailing. I found 50 per cent of the borrower who could not improve but could retain the position but by taking loans from multiple sources. About 45 per cent could not do it at all, their position deteriorated. Many of them could not bear the burden and fled or on the way to leave the village with many liabilities on the head. If anybody looks for micro credit defaulters it is possible to find many of them amongst urban poor migrated from villages.

Other studies also have found similar scenario. In the findings of a resurvey of 17 villages under Poverty study of 62 villages a decade ago, Hossain Zillur reported that, only 19 per cent respondents informed that their conditions had improved, out of which only 5 per cent gave credit for this improvement to NGO intervention, 24 per cent informed that their situation has deteriorated while no change was observed in 58 per cent cases.

Women empowerment is an area that deserves special attention in discussing NGO process in Bangladesh. Bringing 'target group' women into credit market is specifically a success for credit-giving NGOs and Grameen Bank. This was also proved to be much more profitable as women borrowers seem more serious and consistent about repayment. The Grameen Bank and other NGOs also developed an alternative to collateral that is group responsibility; this is also an innovative success in expanding banking into rural poor. Expanding the credit net into rural areas, specially into women has also significant impact into those women's 'private' and 'public' life.

Women's overwhelming majority in micro credit receivers is considered as one of the biggest achievement of the endeavour. However, due to patriarchal setting the net user of micro credit has been male in most of cases, as high about 80 per cent in our study areas. In many areas, Grameen Bank and other micro credit institutions deal unofficially with real users, the male. Rate of defaulting among borrowers also have been increased. According to a study, rate of repayment will come down to 40 percent, against 98 per cent as claimed, if rescheduling considered. This may be the reason that makes Grameen to gradually shift its attention to other investments and other income groups including better off amongst poor.

Bringing credit to the poor as a major, sometime lone, determinant of development and poverty alleviation echoes the dominant development strategy of the 50s, which singled out capital scarcity as the major determinant of underdevelopment of the post-colonial countries. It emphasized that capital was the "missing component" of those countries. Needless to say, that theory has been used to rationalize export of capital and flow of foreign 'aid' from the centre capitalist countries to the peripheries.

The new myth

Even with contradictions within the system and limits to a great extent, one cannot deny substantial role that micro credit has played in some areas in the last two decades. That has developed alternative credit institution, brought women as worthy borrower, that has weakened the assertive power of traditional mohajons (money lenders) in some places.

However, one could be skeptical to equate 'access to credit' with 'empowerment'. Despite credit's role in giving women member more space into private life and her relative mobility into social life, one could raise questions about its limit. Credit programme offers women the jobs that she is already accustomed to, in that sense it cannot create that mobility of women to go beyond that limit. Secondly, many male members of the family take the opportunity to use female member to get access to the money. The credit here becomes another dowry. Shamim Hamid rightly pointed out that, "amongst the NGOs, Grameen Bank, BRAC and Proshika have gained international reputation for involving large numbers of women. However, none have achieved significant breakthrough in helping women to move to higher productivity or to activities with higher economic returns."

One NGO official has told rightly that the main objective of micro credit has been to 'link poor to the market'. The more marketization of rural economy today certainly has got momentum from micro credit. But the questions remain, why this link fails to make any significant impact on poverty at macro level? Why despite huge success of micro credit people in distress keep migrating to urban centres? Why monga type situation persists? Moreover why number of people under poverty line keep rising with rising micro credit and allocation in poverty alleviation programmes? One must look at potential of micro credit keeping these facts in mind.

Poverty has its roots and causes, expanding credit net without addressing the causes may satisfy Pareto optimality but not affect poverty situation. Experiences show that if countries like Bangladesh rely on micro credit for alleviating poverty, poverty will certainly remain to keep the programmes alive.

Along with scenario of sustained poverty, these success and failure, achievements and limits of micro credit also proved that, poverty, deprivation, illiteracy, environment, malnutrition, insecurity, gender subordination, unexplored productive potentials need much more than mere money flow in various forms. Intervention into present condition and change it significantly demand structural change, national initiative and social mobilization. These certainly call for a radically different development paradigm.

Grameen Bank or micro credit is no more a Bangladesh phenomenon, it has gone global. Inspired by neo liberal ideology World Bank literatures and Economics textbooks now refer micro credit experience as a success story of market fundamentalism. A new myth has been created in this regard. For people really want to address poverty, it is naive to feel happy about Nobel Peace Prize for micro credit by seeing it as a victory for alternative. This is not alternative but supplementary to the dominant development paradigm. With awarding Muhammad Yunus with Nobel Prize, the whole neo-liberal regime has now got a new impetus to push for more corporate grabbing, a machine for poverty reproduction, by showing the victims micro credit as their Aladdin's lamp.

Not a question of quality alone, a question of need as well

2009-06-12T18:29:00.003+06:00

Not a question of quality alone, a question of need as well Tanim Ahmed

Feeding capsules and tablets would not preclude the need for them in the future but deepen one’s dependence on them, furthering the possibility of profit for the manufacturers. And by running the vitamin A campaign, the government may actually becoming a tool of corporate profit while reneging from its more serious responsibility

THERE have been three reported deaths till Wednesday. Thousands of children reportedly fell sick after taking vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets. A government appointed committee began its investigations on Tuesday. According to reports, samples of the two drugs have been sent to laboratories for testing. But the health minister knows better. He reassured the parliament, and thereby the entire country, that those capsules and tablets had nothing to do with the deaths. And by making the statement he has also compromised the outcome of the investigation of the government committee.
This committee, headed by the director of the government’s primary healthcare directorate is expected to submit a report within three days. But now that the health minister has committed himself, it would be unlikely that the investigation would find something contradictory to what the minister stated and in turn make him look like a fool. One might still point out that the laboratory tests abroad would surely be neutral. Not necessarily. According to a New Age report published on Wednesday, the samples have been sent for tests to laboratories of the manufacturers of those medicines through the agencies that supplied them.
The report states, quoting sources in the health directorate, ‘initiatives had been taken to send the samples of the vitamin A capsules to Copenhagen in Denmark for laboratory tests through the UNICEF, which supplied the medicine produced by a company in Copenhagen’. Regarding the chewable de-worming tablets it states, ‘The samples of Albendazole have already been sent to Incepta Pharmaceuticals Limited, which produced and supplied the drug, asking the company to report the directorate after laboratory tests.’ The conflict of interest is obvious. The tests reports would hardly find anything amiss, as far as the quality of those medicines is concerned.
One must accept, until it is established that the drugs were of poor quality, that the deaths might have resulted due to other reasons. The World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, have both issued statements that suggest their conviction in the good quality of these medicines. There have been instances before when companies have shipped batches of products, including medicine and baby food, to poor countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa despite good knowledge of the poor quality of those products. One cannot but recall the instance of Norplant distribution in Bangladesh under USAID project for birth control even after they were discontinued in the United States and the manufacturer was facing thousands of class action suits.
More recently, there was the melamine scare in children’s milk powder. Although melamine is not a naturally occurring substance in milk, none of the brands that were initially found to have been adulterated with melamine were punished. The companies got away on a technicality, on the one hand dismissing tests that found significant traces of melamine while on the other accepting reports that could not find melamine over the ‘detectable limit’. All parties involved in the vitamin A capsule and the de-worming tablets can be expected to vouch for the quality of the medicines with all certainty. After all, these are commercial products. Even the government, as it already has, is likely to defend the quality of those drugs since the prime minister herself inaugurated the programme on Friday.
But amid all the hype over whether the drugs were indeed responsible for the three deaths and thousands taken ill, it is not being questioned whether administering vitamin A and de-worming tablets to almost all the children below 5 years of age is at all necessary. Vitamin A deficiency causes the death of some 670,000 children, according to reports quoting the statement of international agencies. Night blindness is said to be one of the first symptoms of vitamin A deficiency and the health secretary reportedly told the media on Thursday that child blindness was not a serious problem in Bangladesh. According to estimates that he cited to the press on June 4, only about 0.04 per cent of the children currently suffer from night blindness.
According to the report in New Age, the vitamin A campaign covering 20 million children would cost the government about Tk 14 crore, including the cost of medicine. The argument would be the same in case of the de-worming tablets. It is not the entire population of Bangladesh’s children that have worms and those with a higher risk of having worms could easily be screened for de-worming. In this case the state is undertaking a large-scale intervention targeting the entire population of children although the real requirement is only a fraction of that.
Identification of children suffering from night-blindness or those with a higher risk of having worms would substantially reduce the costs, not to mention the logistical problem of proper storage and administration. But such screening and identification would drastically reduce the amount of medicine required in turn reducing the prospect of business for the manufacturers. It appears that one of the driving forces behind conducting this programme across the country is commercial profit for these companies.
One gets the impression that this programme is being lauded by international quarters. At least it is not being criticised in any way. But similar programmes where the state targets the entire population through some intervention is always frowned upon by international quarters who then urge that the state must ‘target’ the more deserving groups — fuel subsidies being one of those instances in recent memory.
The ‘necessity’ of such supplements of nutrients that are generally available in balanced diet is often extolled through concerted efforts of the vested quarters. A seminar jointly organised on July 23, 2008, by the health ministry, Micronutrient Initiative, Johns Hopkins University, USAID, Brac and Helen Keller International, said as many as 20,000 lives of infants could be saved every year in Bangladesh if all newborns are provided with a dose of oral vitamin A each shortly after their birth. According to a report published in the Daily Star a day later, experts there claimed that a certain ‘safe’ dosage of vitamin A for newborns, costing only Tk 2, could save thousands of lives. Never was it mentioned there, that infant up to six months should not require anything, not even water, besides breast-milk.
It is the contention of experts that such interventions as the vitamin A campaign could become necessary in certain regions and only in such extreme cases as famine or natural disasters. This campaign is only an ad hoc measure. Feeding capsules and tablets would not preclude the need for them in the future but deepen one’s dependence on them, furthering the possibility of profit for the manufacturers. And by running the vitamin A campaign, the government may actually becoming a tool of corporate profit while reneging from its more serious responsibility.
Even a brief perusal of the natural sources of vitamin A – which include sweet potato, spinach, leafy vegetables, pumpkins, papayas and mangos – should suffice to demonstrate the commercial motive behind the campaign. Instead of fulfilling its obligation to ensure balanced diet for pregnant and breast-feeding mothers as well as children, or ensuring proper hygiene for the children, the government opted for a band-aid measure which would also ensure visibility in the media. An awareness programme regarding balanced diet and hygiene or the gradual improvement of diet and hygiene could hardly provide for such populist mileage.

Secularization of Science and its Islamic Answer

2009-06-05T06:13:00.003+06:00

SECULARIZATION OF SCIENCE AND

ITS ISLAMIC ANSWER

Prof. Dr. Mulyadhi Kartanegara

ABSTRACT

In order to understand the significance of The Islamization of Science and its relevance to the contemporary world, it would be better for us to look at it from a wider context. It is for this reason, I would like to present, in this conference, three interconnected concepts: naturalization, secularization and Islamization of science. By naturalization of science, I mean a process of adaptation, or acculturation of science coming from outside to certain culture in a new country or area so that it will suit the cultural or religious values. Here I will present a number of cases in which this naturalization of science took place in the history–Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Islamic worlds. The purpose of this section is on the Secularization of science, which means “the process of putting aside all spiritual dimensions from science.” In this section I will address the secularization of science as took place in the western world, especially from the post Renaissance era to the present day. The purpose in this section is to show that the secularization of science did happen in the contemporary world–both in theory and methodology–and became an imminent threat to the Islamic system of epistemology. The third section is on the Islamization of science. By this I mean the process of assimilation of western science – including its adaptation and acculturation–into Islamic worldviews and civilization. The purpose of this section is to reconstruct a science suitable fully to the Islamic values and principle.

I. The Naturalization of Science: Introduction

The term naturalization of science has been used by Professor Sabra to refer to the process of acculturation of foreign sciences to a culture prevalent in a new area or country. It is through this process that this science “became fully assimilated to the requirements of its culture, including its religion.” ¹ Therefore, the naturalization refers to “the domestication of foreign sciences, thereby incorporating them into an indigenous cultural and philosophical system…” ² From my preliminary readings, I can see that the naturalization of science (or culture) did happen everywhere throughout the history of science development. For example, when Mesopotamian people absorbed various forms of sciences from the surrounding areas or countries, they adapted and assimilated them to their cultural and religious values thereof, thus created a special form of Mesopotamian culture or civilization. ³

The similar process of naturalization of science also happened, when the early Greek philosophers took various scientific philosophical information, from neighboring countries–especially Egypt and Syria. Later, they cultivated these foreign sciences and gradually adapted and assimilated them to their specifically Greek rationalistic form of thought. Abu al-Hasan al-‘Amiri, a tenth century Muslim philosopher, in his Kitab al-amad ‘ala al-Abad tells us that Pythagoras had learned geometry and other mathematical sciences from Egyptians, and metaphysics (al ‘ilm al-ilahi) from the companions of Solomon (ashab al-Sulayman). Likewise, Empedocles, according to him, learned philosophy (al-hikmah) for quite a long time with Luqman al-Hakim, a famous philosopher (hakim) mentioned in the Qur’an and lived in Syria during the life time of David a.s. However, it was reported that when Empedocles returned to his country, he developed the information taken from his teacher into his own peculiar ideas. ⁴ No wonder, then, if some of his ideas were different from, or even contradictory with, his teacher’s doctrines. From this observation, we can safely say that the great Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras, Empedocles and so also I believe Plato and Aristotle did adapt or “naturalize,” in different style and intensity, all scientific information and theories obtained from earlier sources, usually mixed with mythical elements, into their “more rationalistic” frameworks. This naturalization of science by Greek thinkers and scientists has resulted in what we call “the Hellenized sciences.”

Again, when the Roman “Christian” emperors took control over the post Alexandrian Greek areas, they gradually adapted and assimilated the Greek sciences and cultures into Christian belief and values. In the introduction to al Ansari’s Adab al-falasifa, ‘Abd al-Rahman Badawi, wonders why the wise sayings of Greek philosophers, preserved in Christian scholarship in the pre-Islamic period, were so “Oriental” in tone, that they suited well the cultural and religious values prevalent in there? The answer is, according to him, because these wise sayings had been adapted, assimilated or naturalized by Christian scholars, who lived in the Middle Eastern areas, to their culture and religion. ⁵ Of course, in here we can see clearly the process of Christianization of these sayings. In other words, these philosophers had been “baptized,” to use Van de Bergh’s terminology⁶, by Christian Scholars who studied Greek material (including sciences and philosophy) to support their theology. Therefore, it is understandable, according to Mehdi Golshani, that the sciences Muslims encountered in their new territories had already been made “sacred,” that they found no difficulty in adapting them into Islamic values. ⁷

The process of naturalization of science continued far after Greco-Roman times, and especially became more “prominent” when Islam rose as a great political and civilizational force. Professor Sabra describes three stages of “naturalization” (or “Islamization”) of Greek sciences by Muslim scholars. He says “in the first stage we witness the acquisition of ancient, particularly Greek, science and philosophy through the effortof translation from Greek and Syriac into Arabic. Greek science entered the world of Islam, not as invading force setting off from a powerful stronghold in Alexandria, Antioch or Harran, but rather as an invited guest. The Individuals who brought him in kept their reserve and aloofness with regard to the important matter of religion.

However during the second phase, this reserve and aloofness was replaced with heightened curiosity and intellectual experimentation. About this, Sabra states:

The guest quickly proved to hold an attraction for his hosts far beyond the promise of his practical abilities. His powers of persuasion can be seen in the unexpected but almost immediate and almost unreserved adoption of Hellenism by Muslim members of the household, like al-Kindi. But the real measure of his spectacular success is shown in the mergence, during the second phase, of a large number of powerful Muslim thinkers whose allegiance to a comprehensive Hellenistic view of the world matter and thought and values can be described only as a thoroughgoing commitment. Those were the Farabis, the Avicennas, the Ibn al-Haythams, the Birunis, and the Averroeses. I describe them as Muslim because they thought of themselves as such, and because they were attentive to problems generated by the collision between their religious belief and Hellenistic doctrines. ⁹

After this, we entered the third phase. In this phase we find the assimilation of philosophical inquiry within the bounds of religious prescription: the practice of falasifa, “the type of thought and discourse found in the writings of philosophers like Farabi and Avicenna, began to be practiced in the context of kalam; and in which the philosopher physician (represented by Razi) was replaced by the jurist-physician (represented by Ibn al-Nafis), the mathematician (ta’lim) by the faradi, and the astronomer-astrologer by the muwaqqit.”

In the last phase:

The carriers of scientific and medical knowledge and techniques now largely consisted of men who were not only Muslims by birth and faith, but who were imbued with Muslim learning and tradition, and whose conceptual framework had been produced in the process of forgoing a consciously Muslim outlook. No longer was scientific scholar committed to the presuppositions of earlier philosophers. Sometimes a scholar of this later breed distinguished themselves equally in the religious and the rational sciences – such as Kamal al-Din ibn Yunus of Mawsil, and sometimes he held an office in a religious institution (like Ibn Shatir). In many cases he was an expert on fiqh, or grammar, or Qur’anic sciences, or all of these. In almost every case he had undergone a thorough Muslim education. ¹¹

These are the three phrases of naturalization of Greek (Hellenistic) philosophy and science by Muslim scholars. Afterward, the naturalization of science took place in the Western world, where Islamic philosophies and sciences were “Westernized,” after their translation into Latin and Hebrew in the twelfth century, in the so called

“secularization” of science.

II. The Secularization of Science: A Challenging Problem

By word secular from which the word secularization derives, I mean a worldview that concerns only with worldly life, and consequently neglects the hereafter. From the ontological point of view, it emphasizes the material and neglects the spiritual. Therefore, by the secularization of science, I mean the process of putting aside all the spiritual aspects from the objects of science, scientific theories and activities, which, in the classical periods, became the integral parts of scientific view.

The secularization of science, as a form of naturalization of science, as far as I can see, took place in the West after the age of renaissance, when Western society became secular as the consequence of thought development there. Few centuries before this (around the twelfth and thirteenth centuries), Western scholarship was very much influenced by Islamic scholarship, especially after the translation of Islamic scientific and philosophical works into Latin and Hebrew. Therefore, the science developed in there was still pretty much religious in nature, or at least highly motivated by religion. However, after the renaissance era (from the fourteenth century onward), there happened the so-called “revolution in scientific fields” in a peculiar way, so that it tended increasingly towards secular view, and gradually put religious view aside. In the end, this new scientific view did not get along with religion, and even, in certain cases, contradicted religious dogma.

In the scientific and philosophical fields, there happened what Prof. Nasr called a philosophical doubt, that is, a doubt toward the validity and authority of philosophy as the conveyer of truth. Philosophy was suspected and metaphysics was gradually discearded, just to be replaced by William Ockham and his followers with the so-called nominalist theology. ¹² Secularization of science, thus, took place in traditional cosmology especially Ibn Sina’s. “Cosmology,” for Ibn Sina, “was closely connected to angelology. The Universe was populated by angelic forces, a view which accorded perfectly well with the religious conception of the world. The spiritual agent in the form of angel was an integral and real aspect of cosmic reality.” ¹³ As it spread in the west, however, Ibn Sina’s cosmology, although accepted in outline, was criticized by men like William of Auverge who wanted to banish the angels from the universe. By neglecting the souls of heavenly bodies (spheres), firmly believed by Ibn Sina, these scholars had, to some significant extent, participated in secularizing the universe and in paving the way for the Copernican revolution. This revolution, according to Nasr, “could, in fact, only had occurred in a cosmos from which the symbolic and spiritual meaning had been removed; a cosmos which had become sheer fact drawn away from the bosom of metaphysics and made the subject of a purely physical science.” ¹⁴

Generally speaking, the Copernican Revolution had a very great impact on secularization, or more accurately on the profanation of the previous world view. The idea that the sun was in the center of the universe (or more accurately the center of solar system), was not actually very new idea, for it had been known by certain Greek, Muslim and Hindu thinkers. But the proposal of this idea in the Renaissance era, without being followed by a spiritual world view, will only mean the dislocation of human position in the cosmos since this new astronomical system had removed human position as “the Divine image” from the center of the universe. It is, by removing human position from the center of everything, that this new astronomy removed from man his transcendent nature. Instead, it affirmed the lost of his theomorphic qualities, for the sake of which he was put in the center of the universe. As a result, with the Renaissance, Europeans had lost what Nasr called the heaven of the faith era to get, as its replacement, the newly shaped earth and the natural forms. But this is a nature which becomes less as a reflection of a celestial Reality. The people of Renaissance became a fully human, not half-human and half-angel, but completely bound up to the earth. ¹⁵

This is the general picture of what had taken place, as result of naturalization of science by European people in the form of secularization. This of course went along with their current world view which increasingly tended towards secularism. With this general picture, I would like to describe more specifically the process of secularization, both from methodological and theoretical perspectives. Let us begin with the first: the secularization of scientific methods. Since the Hellenistic or post-Aristotelian times up to the Golden Age of Islam and Christian scholasticism, the scientific explanation had always included the four Aristotelian causes. For Aristotle, as G.B. Kerford puts it, “to know is to know by means of causes, and it is clear that the four Aristotelian causes are necessary elements in things, which must be known or understood if full understanding is to be reached.” ¹⁶

This paradigm seemed to be fully accepted and practiced by the Muslim philosophers and scientists from al-Kindi in the ninth century to Ibn Khaldun in the fifteenth century. The four causes are material cause, connected with matter, formal cause, related with the forms, efficient cause, related with the initiative of movement process, and final cause related to the purpose to for the sake of which something is formed. I firmly believe that this model of scientific explanations, that is, the four Aristotelian causes, had been accepted and practiced since Hellenistic times, the Golden Age of Islam and Christian scholastics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, just few centuries before Renaissance. This model started to shake and shiver only in the modern times, when Western scientists and philosophers discarded the formal and final causes and focused only on the efficient and material causes in their scientific explanation.

To show the process of the methodological change, first, I would like to discuss how the Aristotelian method of explanation–including the four causes–had been studied and practiced by Muslim philosophers and scientists. Here two great Muslim philosophers-scientists–al-Kindi and Ibn Khaldun (d. 1405) – will present it. After this, I will discuss what Holmes Rolston calls “A revolution in explanations” by Western Scientists, wherein Aristotelian method (with its four causes) had undergone a radical change.

How important is the understanding of these (Aristotelian) causes for knowing an object of inquiry, it can be seen in al-Kindi’s statement in his The First Philosophy: “We have complete knowledge of every knowable only when we have obtained full knowledge of its causes.” ¹⁷ Every cause, according to al-Kindi, will be either matter or form or agent, i.e., that from which motion begins, or final i.e., that for the sake of which the thing is. ¹⁸ Therefore, when we acquire full knowledge on matter, form, agent and final causes, we will acquire full knowledge on its definition, while the nature of every definable object lies in its definition.

The Kindian tradition which then became the pattern or criteria of scientific investigation was followed almost universally by great Muslim philosophers-scientists, such as al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd etc. So also it was followed and applied consistently by Ibn Khaldun, the father of Muslim sociology, in what was called ‘ulum al-umran’ or the science of culture. Ibn Khaldun once says: In order to know the nature of culture… we should know its formative causes or principles of it. By knowing its causes, our reason can know culture and its characteristics demonstratively, for knowledge of anything new, derives only from the knowledge of is causes: efficient, material, formal and final.

This paradigm and method of scientific explanation were continually preserved and developed by Muslim philosophers-scientists, even until the modern times, like Mulla Sadra (d. 1641) and conemporary one, such as Tabataba’i. Meanwhile, in the West, this Aristotelian paradigm had been fundamentally transformed. Holmes Rolston III calls this fundamental transformation in method of scientific explanation as a revolution in explanations when the fourfold Aristotelian scientific explanations were confined by the Western philosophers-scientists, including Newton, Hume and Jacques Loeb only to two causes: material and efficient causes.

Meanwhile the formal and final causes were rejected, since according to them, these two last causes more incline to the “meaning”, than “facts,” thus they are more suitable to religion than science. This scientific revolution, according to Rolston, programmatically repudiated the formal and final categories for understanding and expanded material and efficient categories to do the whole work of explanation.” ¹⁹

I call the change in this methodological field a fundamental reform, or even revolution, as Rolston calls it, for its impacts on further development of theoretical field-especially on the process of secularization of science were very significant. This can be clearly seen in the secularization of theoretical sciences, such as astrophysics, biology, psychology and even sociology. Here I will discuss only briefly this secularization that had taken place in these sciences.

The influence of mechanical theory of Newton on the development of modern sciences was very great not only on physics, which became his paramount expertise, but also on other fields such as biology, psychology as well as sociology. The great success of Newtonian mechanical theory or law, had caused a French astronomer, Pierre de Laplace, feel unnecessary to mention God’s name in his great work on astrophysics, Celestial Mechanics, for, according to Him, in the theory of creation, God was nothing but a hypothesis that was no longer needed by the theory of modern astronomy. ²⁰ Of course, this was the consequence of restricting scientific explanation only to efficient cause, understood here as movement and material cause, which are nothing but matter. The revolution in scientific explanation has resulted in putting aside God from any scientific explanation.

The same case holds true in the field of biology, especially as developed in the hands of Darwin. Like Laplace, who had discarded God from the theory of astrophysics, where God’s role of governing and sustaining the universe was replaced by mechanical law, so also the origin of species was no longer referred to as God’s creation, the external agent, but considered as mechanical products of the “natural selection.” ²¹ Like the mechanical law in the physical phenomena, this natural selection was an exact and unchangeable law in the level of organic world. Here too, God was removed, as in Laplace’s astronomy, far away from scientific scene and his role as the creator of species (plants or animals) was replaced by a firm unchangeable natural law, called natural selection.

Beside these two disciplines (astronomy and biology), the impact of this revolution in explanations, can also be found in psychology. Like Laplace and Darwin, Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, had removed God from scientific explanation in the field of psychology. Not only that, he also said that the belief in God was an illusion, for it did not come from reality but from unconscious human wishes. ²² The belief in God, as many other human activities and thoughts, was not a conscious and profound act, but it derived from unconscious motives or derives which very dominantly influenced human actions.

Actually the similar impact can be found in other fields such as sociology, as developed for example by August Comte and Emile Durkheim, or in the field of economics, as demonstrated in Marxist theory of economy. But it may be too long to discuss here as the purpose of its description here was only an illustration of how great the impacts of this paradigmatic change had been in the theoretical and methodological fields.

It is enough for me to say in conclusion that the revolution in scientific explanation from the paradigm of Aristotelian causality to the Newtonian paradigm had caused great significant impacts, not only on the development of modern science, but, in our context, on the acceleration of the process of the secularization and the profanation of science. For, when science chooses only two sorts of causes in the scientific explanation, that is, efficient and material causes (or even its later development, it chose only the efficient cause), it did not any more confer it to religion, but tried to abolish two other causes-formal and final. Consequently, science became more secular and profane and finally contradicted religion sharply.

III. The Islamization of Science: An Answer

The term “Islamization of science” has been a confusing, or to certain extent, even “unpopular” term. It is confusing, since its proponents have different versions, understanding and methods about it, and unpopular, since it implies the relativity of science which so long has been considered universal and neutral, although this assumption is not fully right. According to Steve Fuller, this assumption is wrong, since it derives from a confusion to differentiate between media and message. “The message is still universal, but its media requires a more personal appeal.” ²³

In this paper, I will use the term “Islamization of science” with certain qualifications. Firstly, the word Islam in “Islamization” should not necessarily be understood strictly as a doctrine whose references should be found literally in the Qur’an and the Hadith. It should rather be considered more broadly from its spirit that should not contradict the fundamental beliefs of Islam, like belief in God, angel, the hereafter, as well as revelation (wahy). As for its sources, after the main sources – The Qur’an and Hadith – they can com from different fountains – classical Greek, Persia, India in the past, or even the West itself in the present. According to me, Islam (or any religion) today cannot anymore confine itself exclusively to its original sources, but it should be open to other “external” sources of the truth and wisdom as long as they do not contradict its fundamental doctrines.

Secondly, the Islamization of science I offer here, is not merely “labelization” of science with the Qur’anic verses or Hadith to justify a scientific discovery or theory, but more importantly it should operate on epistemological reconstruct will include the ontological status of science objects, the classification of knowledge and scientific methods, which will answer the fundamental questions of any epistemology–what can we, as human beings, know and how do we know it.

Lastly, this Islamization of science bases itself on the assumption that science is, and will never be neutral and value-free.

Our discussion on the naturalization of science has shown us that science has never been neutral. When a science developed in certain area, it was always formed in accordance with the cultural, ideological or religious values professed by local thinkers or scientists, hence the Hellenization of science, Christianization, and Islamization of science by Western society. Therefore, it is neutral, for me, that when from the western countries were transformed to the Islamic countries, they have undergone “the naturalization”, that is, the process of adaptation and acculturation of science to the religious and cultural values thereof. It is this process of naturalization of science by Muslims in their own particular places that I mean by the “Islamization of science.” At least, that is what I understand by it. For even when the geographical barriers can be easily transcended in the so-called “era of globalization”, the spiritual geography, however, cannot be traversed just like that, since there is a sacred area that cannot be transgressed forcefully from outside.

Now, the question is what is the form of Islamization of science that I offer? Before I answer directly this question it is better to put forwards the background for the rise of the attempt of Islamization of science. Probably, this attempt will never be necessary if there were no secularization of science in the modern world. Again, the Islamization of science would not be so urgent, if this secularization of science did not create dangerous threats or even quite destructive attacks on the pillars of faith in God and the hereafter, in the hands of great modern scientists. But all these things did actually happen, and we as the believers feel threatened theologically by these secular scientific theories, whose influences have been so global. As a Muslim and religious intellectual and scholar, I have been called to answer these challenges brought about by the modern science to religion. Therefore, the Islamization of science as a form of naturalization of science should be done to minimize the negative impacts of secular science on–religious system and thus protect it from ruin.

As a religion, Islam actually encourages and supports very much the seeking and development of science. Many Qur’anic verses and prophetic hadiths that praise those who have knowledge to anywhere they can and for as long as they are alive. Beside, these religious supports and admonitions to seek and cultivate science had been greeted enthusiastically by Muslim scholars almost in every field known in their times. Almost all the fields were touched and explored except untouchable God’s essence which lies beyond human’s capacity to comprehend. In Islamic view, all God’s creations are none but His own signs. Studies on it, will mean study on God’s creative work, so it is hoped that a Muslim scientist who studies and explores the creation, will increase his faith and piety to Him. Even so, this boundless and timeless searching for knowledge should not be motivated for merely the sake of curiosity, but for another higher purpose. Prof. Nasr says not one of Muslim scientists who seek knowledge only for the sake of curiosity, but they do this to observe the trace of God (vesligia Det). ²⁴

In addition to this, Islam did permit the differences of opinions/views in scientific matters, leading to the rise of various scientific theories in Islamic world. Even, a theory, which in the west had created so many reactions or criticisms from among Christian people, such as that of evolution, had been actually discovered and developed among the outstanding Muslim scientists such as al-Jahiz, Ikhwan al-Safa’ with Miskawayh, and especially Jalal al-Din Rumi, ²⁵ along side the creationist theories, provided that it does not contradict the fundamental principle of religion. However, if these theories contradict outright the principles of religion, such as their denial of God’s existence, angel, hereafter and wahy (prophecy), Islam as a religion cannot and will not tolerate them, since they had deviated from the true scientific principle and ethos. Therefore, it is no wonder, if the Muslims, especially its intellectuals have given their various reactions to the western secular scientific theories, once they knew these theories well. These will include the attempts of the great Contemporary Muslim thinkers, such as Naquib Al-Attas, Isma’il R. Faruqi and S. H. Nasr to Islamize modern sciences. Recently, we can also see the similar attempts, such as done by Mehdi Golshani and Osman Bakar, in what they promoted as the sacred science. ²⁶

Let us now turn to the original question what kind or form of Islamization of science that I offer? Actually I offer a simple form of Islamization, but it works on epistemological levels: (1) On the system of classification of science, and (2) on scientific methods. On the classification of science, in principle, Islam allows the studies on any objects in various fields, from physics, mathematics to metaphysics, which only possible after we establish the ontological status of the objects. In the natural science, all branches of modern science become the valid and legitimate fields to include in Islamic sciences. There is no “taboo” in Islam to explore and investigate any physical objects, for only God’s essence should not be investigated. The results of the modern science researches can be well accepted as a useful means to better know God’s existence and greatness. But, a scientific theory that assumes that the physical world is an independent-ultimate reality, having no relation whatsoever with any higher realities, will never be accepted, for in Islamic perspective, all physical entities are but God’s creation wholly dependent on, and closely related to, the divine powers and they act basically the signs for God’s existence and greatness.

Newtonian law of gravity, for example, is very well accepted; provided that it does not assume that this law can independently from God’s intervention (in any form) thus replacing God’s role in governing the world, and consequently God was so easily put aside or removed from it as the unneeded hypothesis.

Actually, the law of gravity had been discovered by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (d. 1041), a Muslim polymath of the eleventh century. His criticism of Aristotle’s theory that the source of gravity as dual: heavens for fire and air, and the center of the earth for soil and water, had made the theory very similar to that of Newton. ²⁷ This discovery was substantiated by what al-Biruni calls “the gravity specific of elements” (al-arkan), which surely cannot be understood except by assuming (or more accurately affirming) the existence of gravity. However, while Newton and other modern physicists considered “gravity” as just one of independent natural forces, together with electromagnetic, weak force and strong force, Muslim thinkers, such as al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, considered these natural forces to have as their sources the supernal entities, such as the active intellect – as God’s subordinate to govern or manage sub-lunar world – or souls of spheres or other heavenly bodies ²⁸ that emanated ultimately from God.

So also with the theory of evolution, both geological or biological, is basically acceptable, as long as it does not assume that the moving force behind the evolution was independent or autonomous of the divine, like that of the natural selection thought of as an independent law by Darwin and has been responsible for an organic evolution, including the origin of species. Otherwise, as in Darwin’s case, people can easily remove God as the creator of species (vegetable and animal). For, according to them, God’s role as sustainer of the world has been replaced by mechanical law. In the Islamic world, the struggles of alchemists to transform a base metal to a noble one was based on the belief that the mineral substances have transmuted gradually or evolutionary. Here Muslim alchemists tried to “revolutionize” the process of gradual transmutation through a chemical engineering.

In the bigger scale the movement of this geological movement was justified and developed by the greatest Muslim Shi’ite philosopher, Mulla Sadra, in his doctrine of the “trans-substantial movement” (al-baraka al-jawhariya). According to this theory the universe has moved not horizontally but vertically towards a higher level withour leaving its previous elements. In Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, however, we know that these vertical movements will come to an end when they have reached the level of their archetypal realities in the spiritual plane to finally return to the Divine presence. ²⁹ Therefore the Sadran theory of evolution in the form of trans-substantial movement does not discard its transcendent principle. This is of course different from the theory of evolution proposed by Henry Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin. So also the theory of evolution in biological level has been found and developed even supported by Muslim thinkers, such as al-Jahiz, Miskawayh, Ikhwan al-Safa’ and Jalal al-Din Rumi. Like his European friend Darwin, Rumi also believed in evolution. Again, like Darwin who had discovered “the fundamental force” responsible for the biological evolution in the law of natural selection, Rumi also discovered the similar force in what he called ‘ishq (love).

However, unlike Darwin who believed that this natural selection was an autonomous natural law (in the sense of having no connection whatsoever with any supernatural force), Rumi, conversely required the existence of this supernatural force as the central part of his theory, for, if love (‘ishq) was the fundamental force responsible for evolutionary movement, is it possible that love exist without the beloved. Therefore it is obvious; according to Rumi that there will be no evolution without love, but similarly clear there will be no love without the beloved. ³⁰ Therefore God as the beloved (al-ma’shuq) is the condition for the existence of love (‘ishq), while love, in turn, becomes the condition for the existence of evolution. Therefore, so important is the role of God plays, that without Him, there will never be any evolution.

Actually the same cases hold good in other fields, such as psychology and sociology. But it will be too long in Islam, immaterial entities are never be separated from science, more than that, it is even considered as an integral part of it. These immaterial entities are put in hierarchical order culminating in the first in the first cause, God. Therefore, the studies outside of physical fields, such as cosmology and other metaphysical fields become extremely important since without them, theories in physical sciences will not be understood properly, and will not be complete. For instance, psychology, which in Ibn Sina’s system of classification of science belongs to physical sciences, will not be complete and well understood without metaphysics of emanation. ³¹ According to him, human reason (‘aql) will not reach its actuality until it has contact (ittisal) with the active or agent intellect (al-‘aql al-fa’al). This active intellect in Ibn Sina’s cosmology is considered as the tenth or the last immaterial intellect in the series of immaterial intellects emanate from God. Likewise, human souls and their mental faculties, cannot be considered as ultimately physical forces as believed by modern neurologists as merely neurological function of the brain, but an immaterial substance in itself and therefore immortal.

However, it is studied as a part of physical science so far as the soul is in the physical body during its worldly career. ³² Since the soul itself is immaterial (mujarrad) to survive the physical death, and will continue its spiritual journey until reaching its goal: be in God’s presence. To describe the fate of the soul after its physical death, there had been a scientific branch, specifically designed for it, called “eschatology” (al-ma’ad) which belongs to the metaphysical sciences.

This is more or less the form of Islamization of science that I can envisage in the theoretical level. Now, let us turn to the Islamization of science in the methodological level. When the study of Islamic science is not limited to he physical entities, such as happening in the modern science, but extends to the non-physical entities too, like mathematical an metaphysical, the Muslim thinkers an scientists were under constrains. To create not only scientific methods suitable to physical entities, such as observation and experimental methods (tajribi), but also methods usable for non-physical entities/objects, both rational, like demonstrative method (burhani) or intuitive method (‘irfani). We cannot for example, accept observation or calculation, that is mathematical method, but reject the other, such as done by Laplace when he said, “I mistrust anything but the direct result of observation and calculation.” Of course we know that observation and calculation are very important and had been practiced by great Muslim scientists, especially al-Biruni and Ibn Haytham, who said that suitable scientific method for astronomical and optical researches, was the combination of experimental and mathematical methods. However, we should not stop up here, since scientific areas are not limited physical and mathematical fields only, but also metaphysical. Of course, this metaphysical field will necessarily need another method whose function cannot be fulfilled by either observation or calculation (mathematical) methods.

Therefore, scientific methods used in the Islamic sciences, should also recognize burhani (logical) and ‘irfani (intuitive) method. Burhani (demonstrative) method had been developed so intensively and complexly that Muslim philosophers and scientists like Ibn Sina needed nine volumes in his greatest work al-Shifa’ to discuss this burhani method. In connection with metaphysical investigations, this burhani method is very much needed not only to prove the existence of spiritual entities and their ontological status – as done bu al-Kindi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd in their attempt to prove the existence of God, but also to demonstrate rationally extraordinary occurrences such as mi’raj (ascension), ³³ mystical experience, especially prophetic revelation (wahy).

Therefore, ths method is extremely important to support rationally our faith usually accepted dogmatically.

The ‘irfani (intuitive) method is also very much needed in metaphysical and religious fields, for through this method we are introduced not only to immaterial entities, such as done by demonstrative method, but more than that we are also we are also ushered to “witness” by our own heart (intuition) of those things that so far we know by means of discursive knowledge. Through ‘irfani method, we are guided to experience and witness ourselves (mushahadah) metaphysical worlds so far hidden until through this method these hidden secrets, by God’s permit, are revealed. In his work, Risalat al-Anwar fima yumna Sahib al-Halwa al-Asrar, Ibn ‘Arabi reveals his mystical extraordinary through ‘irfani method in the form of dhikr. Here, Ibn ‘Arabi describes his “spiritual journey” from the material world (‘alam al-muluk), the imaginal world (‘alam al-mithal) and spiritual world (‘alam al-jabarut). How he enters the mineral world with its various stones and metals introducing themselves to him with the medical and nutritive benefits that they have. He enters also into vegetable, animal and even imaginal and worlds and witnesses many unbelievable things such as paradise, hellfire, ‘arash etc. ³⁴

Finally, ‘irfani method is also very crucial in the frame of Islamic science, for it is through ‘irfani method we can understand and thus justify the reality of prophecy in the form of revelation (wahy), as one of our four pillars of the faith (arkan al-iman). Revelation is nothing but the peak or the highest level of mystical or ‘irfani experience. For according to Farid al-Din ‘Attar, the highest mystical experience is only the beginning of prophetic experience (mubuwwah). ³⁵

In conclusion, we come to realize that in the Islamized scientific view, both in the theoretical and methodological fields, Muslim scientists do not just study scientifically the physical entities of the universe, but also metaphysical realities, so that science can go hand in hand with religion. It will not, therefore, contradict the fundamental doctrines of religion, such as happening in the West. It will, conversely, justify and support wholeheartedly its sacred doctrines.

References:

Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science (Canbridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 64.
Ibid.
Isma’il R. Farouki, Atlas Budaya Islam, (Bandung: Mizan, 2001), pp. 82-83.
See Ererrett Rowston, A Muslim Philosopher on the Soul and its Fate: Al-‘Amiri’s Kitab al-Abad (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1988), p. 71.
See Badawi’s Introduction to Adab al-Falasifah of al-al-Ansari (Kuwait: Al-munazzana al-‘Arabiyya li-Tarbiyya wa al-thaqafah wa al-‘ulum, 1985), p. 26.
See Simon Van den Burgh’s Introduction to Averroes’ Tahful al-Tahafut (London: Luzac & Co., 1954), p. ix.
See Golshani’s paper “Science and the Sacred,” presented in the international conference on Religion and Science in the Post-Colonial Era, in Yogyakarta 2003.
Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science, p. 63.
Ibid., p. 85.
Ibid., p. 86.
Ibid., p. 86.
Nasr, Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man (London: Mandala Book, 1976), p. 63.
Ibid., 62.
Ibid.
Ibid., 64.
See G.B. Kerferd, “Aristotle” in Paul Edwards, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. & The Free Press, vol I, 1972), h. 157.
Ibid.
Alfred L. Ivry, Al-Kindi’s Metaphysics: A Translation of Ya’qub Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi’s Tretise “On First Philosophy,” (Fi al-Falasifa al-Ula) (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1974), p. 56.
Holmes Rolston III, Science and Religion: A Critical Survey (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987), p. 34.
Bertrand Russell, Science and Religion (London: Oxford University Press, 1982), p. 58.
For further discussion on theory of natural selection and its role in the origin of species, see Jonathan Howard, Darwin (New York: Hill and Wang, 1982), pp. 22-30.
Erich Fromm, Psychoanalysis and Religion (New Haven & London: Yale University Press), p. 13.
See Steve Fuller, “Humanity as An Species in Science and Religion” as presented in the International conference on Religion and Science in the Post-Colonial Era, in Yogyakarta 2003.
See Nasr, Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines (Boulder, Colorado: Shambala Publication Inc., 1964), p. 74.
See my paper on Rumi’s theory of evolution, as presented in the International Symposium of Jalal al-Din Rumi, in Istanbul Mei 9, 2007.
See Golshani’s paper on Science and the Sacred and its commentary by Osman Bakar as represented in the International Conference on Science and Religion, in Yogyakarta, January 3, 2003.
Hakim Mohammad Said & Dr. A.Z. Khan, al-Biruni: His Time, Life and Works (Karachi: Hamdard Academy, 1981), p.145.
Herbert A. Davidson, Alfarabi, Avicenna & Averroes (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 76-77.
Nasr, “Mulla Sadra: His Teachings” in Nasr and Leaman. History of Islamic Philosophy, vol. I, p. 649.
Further discussion on Rumi’s theory of evolution, see Mulyadhi Kartenegara, Menembus Batas Waktu (Bandung: Mizan, 2002), p. 26-27.
Davidson, Alfarabi, Avicenna & Averroes, p. 82.
See Fazlur Rahman, Avicenna’s Psychology, pp. 5863.
Ibn Sina wrote on Mi’raj, which he interpreted philosophically. See Henry Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital (Irving, Texas: Spring Publication, 1980), pp. 165-177.
See Ibn ‘Arabi, The Journey to the Lord of Power, translated by Rabia Terri Harris (New York: Inner Traditions International, 1981), pp. 36-38.

35. Farid al-Din ‘Attar, Muslim Saints and Mystics, Translatede by A.J. Arberry (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966), p. 58.

UBINIG

2009-05-29T02:22:00.002+06:00

UBINIG

UBINIG is the abbreviation of its Bengali name Unnayan Bikalper Nitinirdharoni Gobeshona. In English it means Policy Research for Development Alternatives. We are essentially a policy advocacy and research organisation. At the same time, we do implement the ideas which come out of our research works in the form of various programmes and projects. The implementations are elements of our living interaction with the community. As a result they strengthen the empirical foundation of our investigation and analysis.

The approach of UBINIG toward social processes of change is based on interrelated practices at two different level of operation: activities at the grass root level as a part and parcel of the community and the activities at the policy level to change the paradigm, agenda, content and direction of the mainstream policy that affects the lives of the people. We create our visions and determine direction of our work from the wealth of grassroots experience. On the other hand, the activities at the policy level open up opportunities for dialogue and positive change. The latter activities also help us to map the gaps in information and analysis and we can identify the areas where we can meaningfully engage the States as well as national and international agencies including multilateral bodies for meaningful dialogues for immediate gains.

HISTORY
UBINIG was originated in the form of a series of study circles started in 1981. The study circles were held on issues concerning development and social change. We started to critically look at the development issues from class and gender perspective. In 1984 we constituted ourselves into an organisation. Legally registered as a research organisation, we perform social development works. Therefore, we work collectively, share our thoughts collectively and therefore the accomplishments are also shared in a collective manner.

We primarily work on the policy issues related to development, development policies and their applications in our country that have far reaching consequences on the lives of our people.
Our work aims to resolve the debates of development from class and gender perspective. We work persistently to improve the democratic content of our society. Our objective is to formulate strategies for development and social change that can ensure the democratic participation of the people; equitable distribution of social wealth and productive resources is our guiding paradigm.

Centers and Offices
UBINIG started with its Dhaka office in 1984. At that time we were working in different districts for research works. We opened our Tangail office in 1986m, the year we started working with local weavers. Now the center is coordinates both Handloom weavers and Nayakrishi Andolon (The new agricultural movement of Bangladeshi farmers in an effort to produce healthy, environmentally conscious foods)
In 1987 we started working on a research project on shrimp fry collectors. We worked in the coastal area of Cox's Bazar. In 1991, we got more involved after the cyclone devistated the region. Since then, we have opened a center in the Badarkhaliunion of Chakaria thana. The center mainly deals with farmer mobilization, coastal ecology and management.
In 1995, we got involved in the Noakhali area. This is a saline zone. Our main focus is to mobilize farmers under the experiences of saline ecology.

Contacts in other area:
Though we do not have formal set-ups in all the areas, we have connections throughout Bangladesh. Nayakrishi Andolon and Handloom weavers already extend to a number of districts in Bangladesh including: Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali, Tangail, Sherpur, Narachingdi, Netrokona, Mymenshing, Sirajganj, Pabna, Kushita, Nator, Thakurgaon, Rajshahi, Chapai, Nawabganj, Pirojpur and Habiganj.

Dissemination & Publications

We have been publishing our research findings in Bengali and in English to share with the development workers, women's groups and concerned individuals, national and international development agencies. We have published research reports, booklets and newsletters which have been widely distributed among the relevant people.

Narigrantha Prabartana
the first and only feminist bookstore and publishing house in Bangladesh has gained a lot of popularity over the years in terms of its activities related to collection and publication of books and periodicals supporting the ongoing women's movement in Bangladesh. Narigrantha Prabartana, is also actively involved in raising the most crucial issues related to women's movement such as violence against women, women's participation in politics, health and reproductive rights, literary exercises of women and action oriented works with a cross section of women in Bangladesh.

Narigrantha Prabartana as a bookstore and publishing house has been participating in all the book fairs organised at the international, national and local levels. The experiences gained through such participation gave us the opportunity to meet writers and readers and also various other publishers within and outside the country. We have observed that the mainstream publishers do still not consider the books written by women as a "business". But this has not stopped women from publishing their own books. Women writers save money to publish the books and know that there is a place where they can keep it for sale. Narigrantha Prabartana also provides them the opportunity to have discussions on the published books to promote them to the readers who are coming to the bookstore. We have also noticed collective efforts of women to publish books, magazines, bulletins etc.

Chinta
UBINIG publishes a Bengali fortnightly magazine known as Chinta which includes social, economic, political, environmental and women's issues etc. This magazine is subscribed by students, political activists, social activists and NGO workers.

Campaign & Advocacy Works
UBINIG campaign works are done in the form of Press conferences, distribution of leaflets, holding meetings and demonstrations, when necessary along with other groups etc. By holding/organizing national and international seminars, workshops and conferences to share with the like-minded individuals, organisations and groups. Besides sharing the works we have done, we find it as an important task to network with other organisations. To make contacts with other people and to take up collective actions networking is necessary. We also provide venue for other networks to hold their meetings. This linkage with different activist groups helps us to strengthen the social networking on important social and political issues

Handloom Weaving

History
UBINIG weaving project has been running in Tangail since 1986. Though it is primarily working with pit-loom weavers in Paffirail union of Tangail it has extended its activities in the areas of health, education, agriculture, etc. Besides, a strong women's program has been established with the women from the weaving and non-weaving families. Broadly, this is a program which has reached most of the section of the population. HEKS Switzerland has been supporting the project since the beginning of the project. In the initial period of research, the other partners were INTER PARES and CUSO in Canada.

Our involvement in Handloom weaving is within the context of revitalizing economic activity which has immense potentiality to be a base for rural industrialization. The potentiality of the rural indusrialisation and positive transformation of the rural economy manifested through the Handloom activity of villages immensely attracted our interest. We did a thorough study of the sector in 1986 to identify the potentialities in more concrete terms and started to organize weavers. Soon we realized that the Handloom sector can play an alternative route to development instead of the export oriented industrial model persued by the government and the international donor communities. The yarn policy of the government was detrimental to the Handloom sector and virtually wiped out many efficient pockets of Handloom weavers accelerating the processes of pauperization and social discontent. The industrial activity of the villages has been systematically disarticulated from the agricultural activity having far reaching development implication. The economic processes set into motion by the government policy and supported by the donor community have been eroding the basis for village based communities who could profitably remain engaged in agriculture and industry at the same time.

The concern we felt was also intensely linked with ecology and environment. The Handloom sector is based on renewable energy. The industrialization process based on large scale textile and spinning industries uses fossil fuel. A phase we could have avoided for a time with positive gains. UBINIG's involvement in the weaving areas of Tangail had already aroused our interest in ecology and environment in general.

We are engaged in a programme that intends to develop women entrepreneurs. We would like to see the constraint and possibility of such objective which will offer us wealth of information to formulate a policy of rural industrialization from feminist perspective. At present, there are over 500 weavers who are working with UBINIG.

As a result of this project with the weavers, we started Prabartana -- an initiative to generate awareness among the consumers about the products produced by the local industries. Prabartana, started in 1989, is the sales outlet for the Handloom products as well as a place for education on the issues of local industries.

Working with the weavers
As a background, it may be mentioned here that in 1986, UBINIG first came to Tangail to do a research to find out problems and aspects of promoting rural industrialization and community development. We were aware from the beginning about the potentialities of home-based handloom weaving, and that the weavers as a community must be supported so that they retain their occupation and can survive with dignity and respect in the society. Moreover, from women's point of view we wanted to build up recognition to women 5 contribution in this industry. We also wanted to show small factory operation as an example of economic activities that is not dependent on fossil fuel. From the beginning, the weaving project was grounded on ecological consideration. The main thrust of the project was to develop new mode of production organization and management at the village level to make handloom activities profitable and economically viable.

The weaving project in Tangail has been able to create an impact in terms of improvement of designs, quality control and marketing of products etc. At one level, the poor weavers involved in the project have been able to consolidate their positions and to bring themselves out of the grips of the exploitative forces and in creating linkages with different levels of weavers. The weavers, who are involved in the project for sometime, become self-sufficient and do not need the project help for working capital. The support is then shifted to providing designs, quality control and marketing of their products. That means, the project goes through a process of phasing out from the weavers who are involved for sometime and moves on to the others. So we could phase out from the old weavers, most of them are working as independent entrepreneurs and could move on to newer weavers who need our support to become entrepreneurs.

Social Support
Poor weavers were very much vulnerable to economic and social exploitation. But the project has created an option to them which they think they can obtain. The Mohajans who used to exploit the labour weavers are now questioned because the project offers an alternative wage which is higher than the wage offered by the Mahajans. The options for Marketing also strengthens their positions. Socially, being able to send their children to school without interrupting the productive activities also raises the status.
The social changes are much more significant in the case of women weavers. We can see that more women are coming to the project to join. They learn to operate the loom. They struggle hard at home and in the society to get recognition for their work. The project encourages women who want to join. Men are also coming forward in cases where their wives are interested in setting up looms.

It may be noted that at the beginning of the project, there were taboos against women operating the looms. Women used to do all the pre-weaving jobs but they were not allowed to operate the loom. But now, many women weavers are found to run the weaving enterprise. These looms are the traditional looms, which were light and easy to operate. Gradually women learnt the skill to operate the Jacquard loom.

Education
The children of the weaving families could not go to schools, because the school timing of the general schools are set according to the need of the children from the middle class families of the villages, where the children are not helping in the family occupation. The children in the weaving families are helping in the pre-weaving works, the young boys become apprentice learner with their parent. No school was there to adjust to their needs. Moreover, what is being taught in the schools has little relevance to their real situation. But every weaver family wants their children to have education. So UBINIG had to start an alternative - a school called "Shikhipori Biddayaloy" for the children and an adult education program for women in 1987.
This school is for the children of the weaving and the farming families. The school is up to class five. It can accommodate only 200 students at a time. It includes equal number of boys and girls. Children who started in the early period have passed primary level. The school is well known for its good quality of teaching. Beside the regular school curriculum, we have special courses on farming, weaving, environment, the information and history of the area and other social issues. Children coming from the weaving families get the training to make the BUTI ( a skill for craft weaving ) every Thursday. The students also learn about ecological ecological agriculture which they practice in their own households. The students are very environment and human rights conscious. They do challenge people on the issues of environments and human rights questions. About the rights of women the students are very vocal.

The students run a savings program and have developed a common fund for themselves. The students work for the nursery in the ecological agricultural farm and get remuneration for this work. It may be noted that the school timing is adjusted for the children of the weaving families who have to help their parents in pre-weaving works.

The program for adult education for women started in 1987. Women who are involved in pre-weaving work face problems, because they do not have minimum education to do counting. And due to this lacking the Mohajans and other people were taking advantage. Besides, women needed basic literacy training. Adult education classes included all those young girls who are over-aged for a primary school but are unmarried and working at home. Men are interested to educate their wives. Through the education program different social issues relevant for women are discussed

Health Services
The primary health services started after the flood of 1988 .The program created good impact among the people. They demanded to continue the services. health program has been kept limited with the focus on women and children's health needs. But this was not a family planning based program. women's general health is being taken care of. The center provides health services in 68 villages in Tangail. The most important function of the center is to provide referral services in the existing government health centers located in the area. In cases of emergencies, our health workers accompany the patient to government hospitals.
The health worker and the medical doctor take regular classes in the schools on primary health care. The female health worker goes to the villages and hold discussions on primary and women's general health care issues. We also discuss about preventive measures and alternative medicines.

Weavers' Service Center
A Weaver Service Center is there to provide direct services required by the weavers in the productions of fabric and clothes. The services include, design, supply of good quality yarn, dyeing facilities, punching cards for jacquard design, storage of finished products, training of Nakshi bootis by skilled weavers, and the marketing Support. The Weavers Service Center plays the role of a Clearing House when they cannot sell their products directly in the local market. The weavers taken the service of the clearing house specially during the lean season of weaving.

Marketing of products
The most crucial of all support to the weavers is that of marketing. If they cannot sell the products they produce they have to remain hungry. In 1988, UBINIG started the Consumer's Club among the buyers in Dhaka City, who became members to purchase clothes made by the weavers. In exchange they were given the benefit of 10% discount and a bonus at the end of the year.

In 1989, Prabartana, the sales outlet of UBINIG weaving project, was set up in Dhaka City to provide market support to the project and non-project weavers in Tangail. It is not only a shop to sell the handloom products but also a center where the consumers and producers have a chance to interact. This helps the producers to get a feed back about the quality and design of their products. Soon Prabartana started making links with weavers of other weaving pockets of Bangladesh. This also included weavers from the Hill Tracts and other ethnic communities of the country. The weavers in the ethnic communities specially could not make enough relations with the mainstream market forces of the big cities. But most interestingly NGOs working with weavers also contacted Prabartana to market and promote their products.
Experience Through Research works

Biomedical Research
As we told earlier Countries like Bangladesh are 'excellent' places for the West to conduct biomedical research on human subjects, especially on women and children. Historically, research on Tropical diseases like cholera and malaria were linked with military research. In Bangladesh research on cholera was first initiated during the pre-liberation Pakistan period under the Pakistan-SEATO agreement. SEATO stands for South East Asia Treaty Organisation; it was a military alliance to maintain the domination of the western power. One of our main focus of research is to delineate the continuity of this kind of research. Violation of the international ethics of informed consent and the principles of Declaration of Helsinki are other common features of biomedical research in Bangladesh. Research of unsafe contraceptive methods is being done on women without letting them know that they are subjects of biomedical research. UBINIG uncovers unethical research practices and undertake campaign works to stop this practice if necessary.
Norplant, a long-acting implant contraceptive is being experimented in Bangladesh. Norplant is a case of unethical research based on scientific lies, phony research and distortion of research findings. The safety aspect of the new contraceptive method has not been determined, yet it is allowed for use on a large scale. UBINIG has been raising the issue of Norplant since its inception. We have also raised alarm about the dumping of the harmful contraceptives such as Dalkon Shield and Depo-Provera which were banned for use in its country of origin, while allowed for use in developing countries.

Dumping of hazardous & toxic waste products

Dumping of hazardous products from the developed countries is nothing new. It may be noted here that the harmful products have been dumped on Bangladesh in the name of drugs, pesticides, contraceptives and as food items such as powdered milk after Chernobyl. Since inception we have been involved in the protests against the dumping of various kinds of hazardous and toxic products from the developed countries. We have actively resisted the Orion-Hatch Bill of United States which was allowing the export of Hazardous products from US to the developing countries. This was a classic example of legalized export of products from the United states of America that are known to be harmful for humans and therefore not allowed to be marketed in the USA.

The toxic waste mixed fertilizer, which was imported in Bangladesh was challenged. The campaign on return to the sender is going on.
One can clearly see that dumping has various forms. The dumping of toxic wastes is easy for us to identify because they are explicitly classified as "wastes". But hazardous products that are being dumped in the name of drugs, pesticides, contraceptives and so on are not easy for the people to identify and resist. One of the important UBINIG activities in the area of environment is to make people conscious of such "legalized" dumping, dumping through scientific lie and factual distortion, etc.

The increasingly unmanageable situation with the toxic wastes reveals an inner crisis of late capitalism. A crisis that is impossible for this system to solve. In the coming years the situation will be more and more acute and destructive for the world environment.
Environmental awareness is therefore a reflective stage in the history of the popular movements that has far reaching consequences for the future. Sooner or later, it will have to radically challenge the structure of the global capitalism and will be forced to decide how our earth is going to be appropriated for the benefit of all, for the human species in general. In this context, the environmental movement is a progressive movement that has an inner need to go beyond capitalism.

Violence Against Women and Women's Movement in Bangladesh

UBINIG plays an active role in women's development in Bangladesh. Emancipation of women by ensuring their social, economic, political and legal rights is our aim. Our research shows that women were never made a goal of a policy to receive the benefits of development; rather they were used as means to achieve other goals, such as population control and marketing of unsafe contraceptives. Women are only objects of social welfare and their contributions are ignored and denied.

Bangladesh has a glorious history of women's movement. UBINIG plays an active role through Narigrantha Prabartana. We are also active memebrs of different women's networks.
Narigrantha plays an active role in Sammilito Nari Samaj. In August 24, 1995 a 14 year girl, Yasmeen, was raped and killed by 3 police men in Dinajpur. Women organizations and women activists got together and formed Sammilito Nari Samaj (SNS), a common platform, to protest this incident and took up different programs to aware people of Bangladesh about the State Violence Against Women. We organized street meetings, protest processions, women's gathering, press conferences in Dhaka and in 13 districts in Bangladesh. A big gathering was organized in October, 1995 were Sammilito Nari Samaj declared that every year August 24th will be observed as Nari Nirjaton Protorodh Diosh (Day to Resist Violence Against Women).

Trade union and Worker's Right
Sramabikash Kendra is the trade union and development education wing of UBINIG. In English the name translates into "center for the development of labour". It aims to bridge the gap between research and worker's initiatives to develop healthy environment in trade union activities of Bangladesh. Apart from trade union and development education Sramabikash Kendra plays strong advocacy role with regard to policies that affect the lives of workers. It also plays crucial catalytic role in generating discussions and debates among the general workers and the trade union leaders on the issues of industrialisation and trade union issues from several perspectives; such as, industrialization and the distribution of national income, sectoral articulation of agriculture and industry, urbanization, worker's management of industries, occupational health hazards, technology and skill training, technology transfer, export led growth and national market, etc.

Since 1986, UBINIG has been working with workers with special attention to women. The emergence of female labours in garment sector has been noticed since 1975 but the major inflow occurred during the decade of eighties and continuing until to day. For a long time women workers remained unnoticed by the development organisations. The workers were not aware of the legal rights to form unions and improve working conditions. There were particular gaps existed in the works of the trade unions to address the question of female workers. The policy of export oriented industrialisation relaxed factory regulations and labour laws. Therefore it was necessary to understand the situation of the workers in garment industries, shrimp processing industries and informal sector thoroughly to undertake policy measures for improved working condition and factory management as well as to ensure the right of the workers.
The effects of Structural Adjustment and policy lending of multilateral agencies, especially privatization, deregulation and de-unionization on the workers of Bangladesh is the key research concern of Sramabikash. The Center also monitors the GATT negotiation and informs the workers about the possible consequences of liberalized international trade and agreements.

Education Programme
The existing system of education excludes the poor and the children in the farming and weaving families. The white-collar based education alienates the poor children and therefore, they cannot adopt to the system. On the other had, poor people are blamed for being "unconscious" by not sending their children to receive the so-called free primary.

UBINIG's research with poor families in the urban slums and with the poor farming and weaving families revealed that they are very much eager to receive education. Therefore, UBINIG got involved in the education Programme for the poor children in the urban areas and rural poor children. One of the main characteristics of UBINIG school is to provide education on social issues, environmental issues and issues related to the productive activities of their families. The children also follow the primary education curriculum. At present, three schools run by UBINIG in Tangail, Cox's Bazar, and Dhaka city.
Nabapran Andolon: Cultural activities

We are working at the cultural level to communicate with the common people and to understand the inherent philosophical content of the society. The songs composed by the poets, saints etc. are collected for analysis. Musical programmes are organized in the rural and urban areas on various occasions

Population Control and Women's Reproductive Health
Through our works at national and international level UBINIG is known as an organization which have created a movement against population control policies as a coercive and anti-poor policy. We fight against the ideological notion by which depopulating strategies equate population control with family planning. We also fight against the violence done against women in promoting unsafe, modern but harmful contraceptive methods that benefit the multinational corporations and other vested interested groups.

For the countries in the West, countries like Bangladesh is an "excellent" place to conduct biomedical research on human subjects, especially on women and children. Research of unsafe contraceptive method is being done on women without letting them know that they are subjects of biomedical research. UBINIG uncovered the unethical research practice of NORPLANT, a long-acting implant contraceptive, in Bangladesh. We undertook campaign works to resist this practice and are working to aware people about the "Violence against Women by Harmful, Coercive Contraceptive Methods".

We want to make people aware about "Violation of Informed Consent" as described in the Helsinki Declaration and are carrying out a campaign to ensure the informed decision of the couples about family planning. Rights of women to take decision in this respect is important and we want to protect her from patriarchal oppression.

We have published books, booklets, posters and write articles in the national and international journal, magazines regularly. We have produced a video documentary on issues related to violence against women by unsafe contraceptives. We also organize and actively participate in seminars, workshops, conferences at national, regional and international level to share and disseminate information. We keep contacts with different national and international networks working on this issue.

Bangladesh always knew that the one and only problem is POPULATION. And each and every body took up action to prevent the growth and a lot of development organization had family planning program. Through these organizations government was implementing the population control policies and the malti-national companies were selling their products and our women were the victims. UBINIG felt that a this idea should be changed and we held an international conference in Bangladesh on issues related to Reproductive Health, Abuse of Reproductive Technologies, Genetic Engineering etc.. After the conference we did find out like minded persons and formed a network, "Network to Resist Abuse of Contraceptives on Women's Health", widely known as "Resistance Network". At national level we actively work Resistance Network. This network has 24 members and are working to aware general people about the effects of harmful, unsafe contraceptives are used on women's bodies with out any information.

Land grabbers continue to encroach on Buriganga

2009-05-29T02:06:00.003+06:00

Land grabbers continue to encroach on Buriganga
Shawkat Ali Khan

Land grabbers continue to encroach upon the River Buriganga, a lifeline of the Dhaka city, despite the ongoing movement by environmentalists to protect the river.
Encroachment upon the bank of the river continues unabated due to lack of proper implementation of the existing laws by the government agencies concerned.
Government land on the two sides of the Rayerbazar embankment along the Buriganga have already been grabbed by influential quarters including different real estate groups.
After earth filling work, the encroachers have built houses, hospitals and CNG station, saw mills, brick kilns, business establishments and auto-mobile workshops.
At least 20 feet free space was supposed to be left on both sides of the embankment along the river, said an official at the Water Development Board.
The government acquired 19.83 acres of land at Ramchandrapur mouja, 8.30 acres at Barabo and 0.52 acres at Katashore mouja in 1988-89 to build Rayerbazar embankment.
Later in 1992-93, the government acquired 14.50 acres of land at Ramchandrapur and 2.55 acres at Barabo for the embankment.
‘We have acquired 100 feet to 300 feet land in the areas for building the dam,’ a senior official of the Land Acquisition Department, said.
Meanwhile, influential people in connivance with corrupt officials are engaged in grabbing different water bodies in and around the city, posing serious threat to environment, said sources at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.
Some environmentalists said a number of housing companies have recently mushroomed on both sides of the under-construction 3rd Buriganga-Basila Bridge.
The bridge project manager Zahurul Islam told New Age that the government had acquired 100 feet to 300 feet of land for a road connecting Basila with the embankment.
During a spot visit, our correspondent found that most of the land had been grabbed by some influential quarters.
Local residents said most of the grabbed land had remained under water a few months back and the construction work of the bridge prompted the land grabbers to fill the water bodies.
‘We are trying our best to protect the water bodies of the city,’ said Abu Naser Khan of Bangladesh Paribesh Banchao Andolan.
The BIWTA authorities during the regime of the immediate past interim government demolished about 3,200 illegal structures along the bank of Buriganga and 800 structures on the bank of Shitalakya.
The interim government also reclaimed four city canals — Shubhatta, Rampura, Gazaria and Gobindapur canals.

Green new deal must remain green

2009-05-29T01:48:00.001+06:00

Green new deal must remain green
Farida Akhter

THE most recent (March 2009) policy brief of the United Nations Environment Programme on Global Green New Deal is about the ‘worst financial and economic crisis’ and raises the question whether the response of financial stimulus of $3 trillion globally is sustainable. UNEP recommends a green stimulus of 1 per cent of global GDP (approximately $750 billion) – one-fourth of the total proposed fiscal stimulus could provide a critical mass of green infrastructure ‘needed to seed a significant greening of the global economy. The focus of the green stimulus is on growth, jobs and tackling poverty. Also, the policy document says, the objective is to reduce carbon dependency and ecosystem degradation.
The present global financial crisis began in the developed countries, particularly in the United States and spilled over to most parts of the world encompassing the banking sector, securities and currency market, and institutional and individual investors. From 2008, it has been the breaking news in the international media and also helped to bring down the Bush era in the US. This financial crisis is similar to that of the Great Depression in the 1929-30 and many researches show a strong conviction of the leaders of the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 that the World War II in one way or the other was the result of the Depression. That means the Great Depression caused the war and the war led to the creation of the Bretton Woods Institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc with the guarantee for future world peace. There was also the conviction that the Depression was the product of the frenzied speculative activities by the big financial institutions in a climate of easy money and the absence of strong regulations and capital controls. There was thus a strong determination to re-establish a new financial architecture which would regulate financial markets to avoid such crises and prevent another war in the future.
In the New Deal legislation of President Roosevelt, it was made clear that there must be strict supervision of all banking, credits and investments. The New Deal was a deal among rich and industrialised countries competing with each other to dominate the world market and dividing the world between themselves. Interestingly, ‘war’ among the industrialised countries is known as ‘world war’ while war against non-western weak countries is marginalised and considered as having no ‘world’ significance despite the fact that the war in the Middle East is fundamental to the survival of the fossil-fuel based industrial societies. War, militarization and violence have always been the part of us since the establishment of Bretton Woods institutions. War against Afghanistan and Iraq removed the veil of un-sustainability of the industrial fossil-fuel based societies and there is hardly any option left to ensure energy security for their survival through military means and, therefore, construction of new kind of ‘enemies’ to perpetuate war and violence to keep up with the over-consumption and oil-based lifestyle of the rich in the western countries. The example of fossil fuels indicates clearly that the issue is no more economy as such, creation of wealth in the form of money, commodity and technology, but the way we relate to nature in generating our life, lifestyles and the future. It implies that we can no more talk about any ‘deal’ without fundamentally reviewing our conception of economy, ecology and lifestyle and putting our efforts to construct a vision and science that starts to link these already obsolete sciences that claim independence from each other, while they indeed are integral to the very activity of human beings that build civilisation. The new deal must be the deal for post-industrial, post-capitalist green civilisation.
Since nature, or the natural value of commodities, remains outside the consideration of the economic science; in other words, ecology and biodiversity are considered de-linked and lifestyles and value of local cultures and knowledge has never been the part of the paradigm of ‘development’, so the Bretton Woods Institutions have been active in financing projects that are destructive to environment and people’s livelihood.
In the early sixties of the 20th century, the World Bank made conditional loans to the developing countries to adopt ‘modern agriculture’ – a package of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation system with diesel or power in the name of achieving higher yields and thereby attaining food self-sufficiency. By ‘food’ the World Bank meant cereals and the focus was on the staples. As a result, while cereal production increased in some cases in countries like Bangladesh, oil seeds, lentils, forest products and in general the biomass – a major source of energy in the rural areas – have decreased. Misconception of ‘agriculture’ is scandalously obvious here. Agriculture does not only produce food, but also fuel woods, fibres, medicines, construction materials, etc. By polluting environment, both terrestrial and aquatic, the modern agriculture destroyed food sources that people could easily collect without cultivating. In Bangladesh, the fish and aquatic resources have been destroyed by chemicals, pesticides and unsustainable urbanisation dumping waste into rivers and agricultural lands. This has proved a disaster for Bangladesh. Food insufficiency still remains an acute problem, while the rural environment is destroyed due to excessive use of chemicals. Problem now is not only insufficiency of food but the deterioration of basis of food production – the environmental and ecological erosion of the land, rivers and water bodies. And now, the biotechnology industry is promoting and facilitating the proliferation of genetically modified organisms in food and agriculture. A step that will simply accelerate the biological pollution in countries that is still rich in biodiversity and genetic resources.
In the seventies and eighties, the World Bank supported shrimp aquaculture as part of export-led growth to repay external debts. The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation provided funds to private investors for the expansion of shrimp farming. International environment activists have pointed out that aquaculture already posed severe problems at conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources. The rapid and unregulated expansion of the shrimp aquaculture industry in Asia, Latin America and Africa has led to severe environmental degradation and loss of livelihood of millions of people.
The World Bank and its institutions are best known for their financing of large infrastructure projects, such as big dams power plants, highways, etc. The natural resource-based mega-projects like big dams and coal mining in developing countries cause displacement of communities, harm to indigenous peoples, release of greenhouse gases, and other serious negative impacts.
Deforestation accounts for some 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the bank continues to promote industrial logging and agro-fuels. Throughout tropical rainforest areas, the International Finance Corporation – the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group – finances soy and oil palm plantations and cattle ranching, as well as financing shrimp farming in mangrove forests.
Fossil fuel projects extract a heavy toll on people and the planet, leaving toxic legacies of social injustice, degraded water, land and air, and global warming pollution. Yet the World Bank Group funded over $3 billion in fossil fuels between 2007 and 2008. Despite professed concern regarding climate change, the World Bank Group increased its fossil fuel lending by 94 per cent. Lending for coal – the dirtiest of the fossil fuels – increased 256 per cent.

From New Deal to Green New Deal
THE New Deal, even if it is ‘Green’ cannot succeed unless we are ready to look at the basis of the problems. At the economic level a ‘new deal’ is not easy to make in 2009. True that in the 1930s and 40s it was possible to push through regulatory moves against finance capital because it was not yet the dominant economic and political force in the US. In the 1950s the financial service sector constituted only 10 per cent, while in the 1980s it rose to 20 per cent of US GDP. In contrast, the manufacturing sector was 30 per cent in the 1950s, shrunk to 12 per cent in the 1980s. In terms of profits, the financial sector generated 44 per cent of all corporate profits and manufacturing sector generated 10 per cent of the profit. But ample liquidity and low interest rates, together with regulatory shortcomings, resulted in a rapid growth of speculative lending, sowing the seeds of the global financial turmoil (Third World Resurgence, 2009). In Washington, on November 15, 2008 the G-20 summit failed to realise the promise of a fundamental change in the global financial architecture, particularly in bringing about concrete measures to effectively regulate the reckless financial market practices. A second Bretton Woods could not be created.
Before the G-20 summit top economists and United Nations leaders worked on a ‘Green New Deal’ to create millions of jobs, revive the world economy, slash poverty and avert environmental disaster, as the financial markets plunge into their deepest crisis since the Great Depression. It aims to establish the fact that far from restricting growth, healing the global environment will be a desperately-needed driving force behind it. The Green Economy Initiative – spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme – draws its inspiration from Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Nicknamed Green New Deal, it envisages basing recovery on providing work for the poor, as well as reform of financial practices.
The ‘Green New Deal’ is a new multimillion dollar initiative – which is being already funded by the German and Norwegian Governments and the European Commission – and arises out of a study commissioned by world leaders at the 2006 G8 summit into the economic value of ecosystems. It argues that the world is caught up in not one, but three interlinked crises, with the food and fuel crunches accompanying and intensifying the financial one.
Soaring prices of grain and oil, it stresses, have stemmed from outdated economic priorities that have concentrated on short-term exploitation of the world’s resources, without considering how they can be used to sustain prosperity in the longer term. According to UNEP, over the last quarter of a century, world growth has doubled, but 60 per cent of the natural resources that provide food, water, energy and clean air have been seriously degraded.
Putting economic tags on the ‘services’ we receive from the ecosystems function may be a useful way to convince the policymakers on the value of natural and biological world that does not enter into strictly economic relations. Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director, pointed out that new research shows that every year, for example, the felling of forests deprives the world of over $2.5 trillion worth of such services in supplying water, generating rainfall, stopping soil erosion, cleaning the air and reducing global warming. By comparison, the global financial crisis is so far estimated to have cost the world the smaller one-off sum of $1.5 trillion. The world market for environmental goods and service already stands at $1.3 trillion and is expected to double over the next 12 years even on present trends.
The new, green economy would provide a new engine of growth, putting the world on the road to prosperity again. This is about growing the world economy in a more intelligent, sustainable way. The 20th-century economy, now in such crisis, was driven by financial capital. The 21st-century one is going to have to be based on developing the world’s natural capital to provide the lasting jobs and wealth that are needed, particularly for the poorest people on the planet.
Pragmatically, the ‘Green New Deal’ would like to take advantage of the unique opportunity presented by the multiple crises and the ensuing global recession with multilateral and national efforts, simultaneously addressing the interconnected global climate, food, fuel and water challenges that threaten society over the medium term.
There is a widespread acceptance that neo-liberal model has collapsed and the so-called ‘free market’ cannot work any more. The unregulated market can not resurrect itself on its own from the historic collapse and without significant and co-ordinated government interventions.
Nevertheless, the premise of profit-based competitive capitalist global architecture is not under question, although there is more willingness to listen to new solution. It is assumed that the enormous fiscal resources being released can potentially be used to achieve ‘critical mass’ of investment and employment in order to kick-start the new sustainable paradigm. In a way this is again ‘development’ from the top and essentially a proposition to improve the quality of the development financing to achieve the millennium goals. It is also assumed that the initiatives for global financial restructuring may be corrected in a way to address global emission governance as well.
The global financial crisis has global consequences. It will exacerbate poverty and will accentuate social risks and costs. This is where countries like Bangladesh may hope to get some benefits from the Global Green New Deal since the suggestion is to invest in securing freshwater, providing sanitation, and optimising agricultural productivity through sustainable methods. The determination to ensure that ‘post-crisis’ economy follows a sustainable model and does not continue to add to the two most significant risks faced by society: ecological scarcity and climate instability is obviously directly related to the concerns of the people of Bangladesh.
The misconception what the Global Green New Deal would like to dispel is that there is a trade-off between economic development and environmental stewardship. This view is exacerbated at times of economic difficulty. Environment, ecology and biological foundation of life can not be eroded in the name of development, since these are also economic assets. Consequently, a responsible framework is necessary for using environmental assets. This is particularly true about the poorest populations as they depend disproportionately on the ecological commons both for livelihoods and for consumption.
The Global Green New Deal is an approach to revive global economy, saving and creating jobs and protecting vulnerable groups. It aims to reduce carbon dependency and ecosystem degradation and a wish to put the global capitalist economy on a path to clean and stable development. However, this is not a shift from the ‘growth’ paradigm and does not fundamentally question the main drive of the capitalist economy — profit and greed. The deal is within the economic paradigm and creation of implementing agencies that are mainly global. Although the necessity of the national efforts is recognised, the initiative is coming from industrial societies as response to solve their own national crisis.
Our solutions must come from ecological and livelihood perspective for the majority of the people of Bangladesh.
Abridged version of a paper presented at the April 24-26 McPlanet.com congress in Berlin. Farida Akhter is executive director of UBINIG.

সঙ্গী

2009-05-23T23:55:00.001+06:00

সঙ্গী
আব্দুল ওয়াহেদ

নিরবতায় বসে থাকি। চোখ মুদে সুখ খুঁজে পাই। ভাঙ্গা আয়নাটা খুঁজি, নিজের চেহারাটা দেখতে ইচ্ছে করে। খুঁজে পাই না।

বাতাসের ফিসফিসানিতে জেগে উঠি। ধাতস্থ হতে সময় লাগে। সেকেন্ডের কাঁটা খসে যাওয়া রেডিয়াম ডায়ালের ঘড়িটা জানান দেয় রাত দুই পয়ঁত্রিশ মিনিট।

কুকুরটা আমার পাশে পাশে চলছে। কেন? জানি না। এমন গভীর রাতে একবার তাবলীগের একটা দলের সাথে দেখা হয়েছিলো। একজন বলেছিলো, এতরাতে একা চলবেন না। যদি চলতেই হয় হাত একটা লাটি অথবা ম্যাচ রাখবেন। হুম, আমি একা না।

আমি কুকুরটিকে বললাম, কিরে কি খবর?
ফিরে তাকালো যেন। তারপর চাদেঁর দিকে তাকিয়ে হাঁক ছাড়ল। কেন? কে জানে? প্রকৃতির সাথে কথপোকথনে হয়ত জীব জন্তু'র নিজস্ব ভাষা আছে। চাঁদেরও কি প্রতিউত্তর দেয়ার ক্ষমতা আছে? হয়ত আছে। মানুষেরও হয়ত কোন এককালে ছিলো, আজ তা হারিয়ে গেছে। আমি তো প্রকৃতির ভাষা জানি না। তবে কুকুর'টা আমার পাশাপাশি চলছে কেন? সে কি ভাবছে আমার মতো অবোধকে বিজন প্রকৃতি একা ছেড়ে দেয়া ঠিক না।

আকাঁ বাকাঁ পাহাড়ী পথ হওয়ায় চাদেঁর রহস্যময়তা সমতল প্রকৃতিতে যেমন ধরা পড়ে তেমন না, অন্যরকম কিছু। পাহাড়ী ঢালুতে থাকা গাছের ছায়ায় হাটছি। জোসনা ধরা যায় আবার যায না, লুকোচুরি খেলছে। হাত বাড়িয়ে জোসনা ধরলাম। নরম নরম একটা ভাব। কি বলছি! আলো ধরা যায় আবার নরমও হয়! আবার ধরতে গেলাম আর তখনি মেঘের আড়ালে চাঁদ হারিয়ে গেলো।

কুকুরটা যেন বিভ্রান্ত হয়ে হাঁক ছাড়ল।
বললাম, ব্যাটা চুপ যা! রাত এখনো অনেক বাকী।

বাতাসের ফিসফিসানি যেন বেড়ে চলে। ভয় পেয়ে উঠি।
এতোক্ষন পাশাপাশি থাকলেও কুকুর'টা এখন সামনে সামনে চলছে। পথ দেখিয়ে নিয়ে যাচ্ছে। আগে ভেবেছিলাম আমার সঙ্গই তাকে টেনে এনেছিল, এখন দেখছি তার সঙ্গই আমাকে টেনে এনেছে।

Pet flakes export thrives on slum boys’ collection

2009-05-23T23:19:00.002+06:00

Pet flakes export thrives on slum boys’ collection

Abandoned and thrown away pet bottles collection has become a good earning source for thousands of slum boys in the capital owing to thriving shipment of the pet flakes by local recycling entrepreneurs to China and Thailand.
The boys collect pet (polyethylene tube) bottles from every nook and cranny of the capital and dumping grounds and sell them to earn some bucks to assist their families.
In and around Dhaka, there are around 200 recycling factories which collect the waste pet bottles from these primary collectors (slum boys) directly or indirectly, said Bangladesh PET Flakes Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury.
‘Although these recycling units were not seen even a half-decade ago, they are now shipping out over 20,000 tonnes of pet flakes to Thailand and China every year,’ he said.
The international market price of the exported pet flakes will be not less than US$10 million. More people are setting up recycling plants in Bangladesh as the export business is growing by at least 15 per cent annually.
The exported flakes are in high demand in China and Thailand where many industrial units use them as raw materials for clothing, pillows, carpets and polyester sheets, he added.
Naser, who operates a junk shop in the city’s outskirts at Matuail, said they purchase per kilogram of pet bottle at Tk 20-25 from the street urchins and sell them to the recycling entrepreneurs for Tk 35-40. The price of caps of the pet bottles is high. Every single cap is selling at Tk 1.
Nowadays, the street urchins and slum boys have become main providers of pet bottles as it gives them good return at the end of the day, he added.
Raju, who was waiting to sell his collection in front of Naser’s junk shop, said he lives in a slum near the Kamalapur railway station.
‘I give the money to my father who is a day labourer,’ said Raju, adding that the income meant much for his family.
Raju said there are at least 100 slum boys who collect pet bottles and waste plastic bottles from the nearby areas of the railway station.

Rumi’s Theory of Evolution

2009-05-16T04:22:00.005+06:00

Rumi’s Theory of Evolution

Prof. Dr. Mulyadhi Kartanegara

Introduction

Whenever we hear the word evolution, almost immediately our mind rushes to a very outstanding British naturalist, Charles Darwin (d. 1882), as though this name, Darwin, is identical with word evolution. However, the theory of evolution has been initiated – at least according to Sir Muhammad Iqbal – in the ninth century by a Muslim scholar, al-Jahiz (d. 890). ¹ This theory was substantiated in the following century by a Muslim philosopher and historian, Miskawayh (d. 1010), who in his Fawz al-Asghar, discusses in a very significant way the theory of evolution. In this work, he points out that in the vegetable world it is date tree which has reached the highest level of evolution, for it has the capability of self-procreation.

Even so, the most outstanding theorist of evolution in the Muslim world was, beyond any doubt, a famous Persian mystic and poet, Muhammad Jalal al-Din Rumi, whose birthday we are celebrating today. In this precious moment, I would like to present to you, Mawlana’s mystical and philosophical views on evolution as follows:

Biographical Sketch of Rumi:

Muhammad Jalal al-Din Rumi, known to his followers as “Mawlana” (Our Master), was born in 1207 C.E. at Balkh, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Balkh at that time was under the reign of Khwarizmshah. After having heard some information on the Mongol invasion into the Muslim world, Rumi’s father, Baha’ al-Din Walad, a great ‘alim, known as “Sultan al-‘Ulama’,” left Balkh secretly for several safer cities, such as Nishapur, in which he was supported to have met with Farid al-Din ‘Attar.² It was said that in 1219 Rumi’s family had reached Baghdad, whereupon they heard about the destruction of Balkh. Of course we knew that in turn Baghdad was destroyed by Hulagu Khan in 1258. But at that time Rumi’s family was already in Konya, Turkey, and lived in the palace of Seljuk Sultan Kayqubad. It is from here that Rumi obtained the name of Rumi, which means “of Turkey.”

From Baghdad the family went to Mecca for pilgrimage (hajj). Afterward, Baha’ al-Din, with his family traveled to Damascus, the Malatya and Zaranda, where Rumi married with Jawhar Khatun, a daughter of one of great local scholars, Lala Syaraf al-Din al-Samarqandi. Only after that, Rumi’s family went to Konya and lived there on the invitation of Sultan Kayqubad.

In the milieu of the royal palace of Western Sejukid dynasty, the Sultan built a college for Rumi’s father called madrasa Khudavangar, wherein he became a professor. So the story tells us that young Rumi lived in the royal palace and received the best education and instruction from the best teachers and scholars. Soon Rumi became a very outstanding religious scholar mastering various scientific disciplines, both religious and rational, such as religious law (shari’a), theology, philosophy and mysticism. After his father’s demise, Rumi replaced his father’s position, both as the head of the madrasa and as a professor and advisor for the students. When he reached the age of thirty, Rumi was at the peak of his intellectual career as the most respected religious scholar, having thousands of students from different parts of Islamic world, 400 among them were religious scholars (‘ulama) of the Middle East. However, the fame and the peak of his intellectual career that he had enjoyed did not satisfy him. He did not find in these scientific disciplines that he mastered one that could transform himself into a perfect man (al-insan al-kamil). According to him both fiqh (jurisprudence) and kalam (theology) failed to transform oneself for their tendency towards formalism. Fortunately, in this very critical moment, Rumi met a very mysterious figure, who was then known as Shams al-Din al-Tabrizi. As a matter of fact, Shams al-Din al-Tabrizi had a profound and formative influence on Rumi’s life, for it was him who had transformed the Mawlana from a theologian into a mystic and from a systemic rationalist into a spirited poet.

The disappearance of this very mysterious figure had really made Rumi the greatest Muslim mystical poet at all times. Rumi passed away in 1273 C.E. leaving some extremely beautiful and profound works, such as Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz and of course his masterpiece the Mathnavi which had been named by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Jami’ as the Qur’an in Persian language. ³

The Universe’s Ability to Love

Before we deal directly with his theory of evolution, it is probably important for us to understand Mawlana’s world view, is his statement that “the universe is alive, not dead. It is able to love and to be loved.” The statement “even the universe can love,” reveals to us the essence of his world-view. Different from what we usually think, the universe, according to Rumi, is an organic creature endowed with life and even intelligence. God, for the Sufis, is the most fascinating object, the most lovable and beautiful. According to them, based on a sacred (Qudsi) Hadith, God’s motive to create the universe is love. The universe was created through divine love, or more correctly the breath of the merciful (nafs al-rahman), that penetrates all the parts of the universe, and moved it afterwards. Therefore, love (‘ishq, as he calls it), that penetrates all the parts of the universe, and moved it afterwards. It is love, according to him, that has enlivened and activated the universe, and endowed it with life and intelligence. In one of his poem, Rumi says,

In (the view of) the intellect, heaven is man and earth woman

Whatever (that) heaven casts forth, this (earth) fosters.

When it (earth) hath no heat remaining, it (heaven) sends it;

When no freshness and moisture remains, it bestows it.

Heaven is turning giddily (in the world) of time, like man (prowling) around (in the search of) gain for the wife’s sake.

And this earth practices housewiferies: it attends to births and suckling that (which it bears).

Therefore, regard earth and heaven as endowed with intelligence, since they do the works of intelligent being’

Unless this two sweethearts are tasting (delight) from one another, then why are they creeping together like a mate? ⁴

Not only these verses beautiful but also makes us realize of a world view different from ours. The lifeless universe has made alive and intelligent by love: God’s love for it. Rumi says, “Know that wheeling heavens are turned by the waves of love. Were not for love, the world would be frozen.” ⁵ Therefore, love is considered as the most fundamental force of the universe, and was responsible for its dynamic movement.

The Relation of Love to Evolution

When he calls this fundamental force love (‘ishq), of course Rumi does it by purpose. By calling this force love, he wants to give it a certain direction (orientation), and not render it blind. Rumi says, “whether love be from this (earthly) side or from that (heavenly) side, in the end it leads us yonder.” ⁶ Therefore, the power of love is not random or blind, but purposeful and leading the lover towards its goal, the Beloved God.

The universe, thus, fell in love with God, he Beloved. Rumi says, “Thou didst show the delightness (beauty) of Being thou hads caused not-being to fall in love with thee.” ⁷ After since, the universe has always tried to get closer and closer to God. “Each on of them would be (as) stiff and immovable like ice, (if it is not for love), how should they be flying and seeking like locusts?” ⁸

Why does the universe want to be close with God, the Beloved? It has been natural for any lovers to want to be close to their beloved. The farther a lover is from his beloved, the more intense his longing for union and the more ardent his love for the Beloved. Rumi has deliberately chosen the term ‘ishq to describe this love, and not mahabbah, which also means love, for while mahabbah indicates the close relation between the lover and his Beloved, ‘ishq indicates a sad and long separation with them. ⁹ Therefore, it is probably more appropriate to translate word ‘ishq, with “ardent love” than simply “love”.

It was the desire of the universe, the lover (‘ashiq), to be close and unite with God, the beloved (ma’shuq), that first brought about the evolutionary movement in the universe in its different levels: cosmic, geological, and biological, even mental and spiritual. Why does the universe long for God? This is because there was a desire or love in everything to be perfect. Mawlana says, “Everything is in love with the Perfection and hastens upwards like a sapling.” Since this Perfection is but God himself, then everything in this world struggles to approach Him, the perfect One. Therefore, it was the desire to be perfect (like God) that was responsible for the evolutionary movement in the universe.

The above verse “Everything is in love with the Perfection and hastens upwards like a sapling” probably has already alluded to a creative-vertical movement of evolution, and not horizontal-linear one. This vertical movement of the universe is beautifully described by Rumi as that of ‘flying and searching locusts’ for lights. “If it is for love, how should they be flying and seeking like locusts?” Rumi describes the wonder work of love in the following verses:

Love is infinite ocean, on which heavens are but a flake of foam: (they are distraught) like Zulaykha in desire of a Joseph.

Know that the wheeling heavens are turned by waves of love: were it not for love, the world would be frozen (in animate).

How would an organic thing disappear (by change) into a plant? How would vegetative things sacrifice themselves to become (endowed with) spirit?

How would the spirit sacrifice itself for the sake of the Breath by he waft whereof a Mary was made pregnant?

Each one (of them) would be as stiff and immovable as ice; how should they be flying and seeking like locusts? ¹⁰

How did the universe evolve from lower level to the higher level one can be clearly seen from these following verses:

First he (man) came into the clime of inorganic things, and from the state of inorganic things he passed into vegetable state.

(Many) years he lived in the vegetable state to the animal state, the vegetable state was not remembered by him at all.

Save only for the inclination which he has towards that (state) especially in the season of spring and sweet herb-

Like the inclination of babes towards their mother; it (the babe) does not know the secret of its desire for being suckled;

Again the Creator, whom thou knowest, was leading him (man) from the animal (state) towards humanity.

Thus did he advance from clime to clime (from one world of being to another), till he has now become intelligent, wise and mighty. ¹¹

Rumi and Mulla Sadra

The above verse reveal to us an unusual world-view of Mawlana. Does not he say that when mineral beings died, it will gradually transform into vegetable, and vegetable into animal, and animal into human beings and so on. But Rumi did not elaborate it philosophically as to how this transformation really taken place. It seems that we have to wait several centuries later to find its philosophical explanation in Mulla Sadra’s teaching of trans-substantial motion (al-haraka al-jawhariyya). According to this teaching any change or motion requires substantial motion. When Ibn Sina says that change can only take place at accidental categories (quality, quantity, situation and place) and allows no change at substantial category, Mulla Sadra says, “any change in the accidents of an object requires in fact a change in its substance, since accidents have no existence independent of substance.” ¹²

This trans-substantial change or movement, according to Sadra, is universal phenomenon and permeates every thing here is. The whole of the physical and even psychic or imaginal universes which extend up to the Immutable or luminous Archetypes are in constant motion or existence: cosmic, geological and biological levels, and even at psychic and imaginal. There is no doubt that this view is in accordance with Mawlana’s theory that the universe has undergone a long evolutionary process and does not cease after man dies. Like Rumi, Mulla Sadra also believes that this evolutionary movement does not end at human level, but will continue at psychic, imaginal, and even archetypal levels until it reaches Divine Presence. Describing this evolution, Sadra says, “All beings in this world are moving vertically as result of trans-substantial motion until they reach the plenum of their archetypal reality. The sperm becomes a foetus and grows to the form of a baby who is then born and continues to grow from one form to another until he or she reaches full maturity and the body becomes weaker as the soul grows stronger until one dies and reaches the “imaginal world” and finally the Divine Presence.” ¹³

With this trans-substantial motion theory, Mulla Sadra actually tells us that when this movement takes place in certain object, the previous elements or qualities were not left behind. Instead, this movement adds to it new elements or qualities, so that it will bring about the accumulation of qualities. In turn this accumulation of qualities will cause the transmutation of genus and species and tells us why and how a mineral being can transmute itself into vegetable and vegetable into animal and so on. But this massive movement in the universe, according to both Rumi and Sadra, has been brought bout by a fundamental and creative force, which Mawlana calls love (‘ishq) but no name for it is offered by Sadra.

Rumi and Darwin

After comparing Rumi with Mulla Sadra, it would not be complete if we do no compare him with Charles Darwin (d. 1882). Darwin was of course well-known to the world for his theory of evolution. He was often mistakenly considered as the pioneer of the theory, in spite of the fact that Lamarck and surely Rumi had anteceded him. Darwin, to my mind, has substantially supplied it with empirical evidence, supporting greatly Rumi’s theory which was based only on mystical perception. Rumi says,

“And when he passed from the vegetable state to the animal state, the vegetable state was not remember by him at all.

Save only for the inclination which he has towards that (state) especially in the season of spring and sweet herb-

Like the inclination of babes towards their mother; it (the babe) does not know the secret of its desire for being suckled;” ¹⁴

With these empirical evidences supplied by Darwin, the truth of evolution as envisaged by Rumi became more evident, and what was in the past based only on mystical perception, now it can be proven empirically and scientifically. Therefore, both Rumi and Darwin have revealed to us the reality of evolution.

In spite of this positive correlation between Rumi and Darwin, their views on certain aspects of this evolution are fundamentally different. There are at least 4 points where we can find these differences. First, Darwin discusses the evolution only in biological levels. Therefore, the range of Rumi’s evolution is wider than Darwin’s, since it talks about this evolution not only in physical level but also in non-physical level.

Second, Darwin believes that it is the law of “natural selection” that was responsible for the biological evolution. This natural selection, considered as a dominant mechanical law, has brought about gradual changes in the biological world, and was especially responsible for the creation or origin of the species. It is, however, not really clear to me, whether this natural selection is actually “the power” that brought about this biological evolution or it is simply a “mechanism” through which evolution took place, while the power behind this evolution is something else, for example, the will of the organic entities to survive, or in other word “the struggle for survival.” As for Rumi, the fundamental power that was responsible for the evolution in the world is love (‘ishq). It is love, according to him, that has caused the universe evolve in its various levels (cosmic, geological, biological, mental and even spiritual). Rumi says, “Love is the cause of he movement in the world of matter, earth and heavens revolve by virtue of love. It is growth in vegetable and motion in sentient beings. It is also love that gives union to the particles of matter. Love makes vegetation grow, and also love that makes animal move and multiply.” ¹⁵

Third, in Darwin’s theory, this fundamental power is blind and random. In his view, all organic beings, including man—who surely has higher fors of life,-- are the prodct of a blind chance. In Rumi’s theory, however, evolution has a clear destination and will not cease to evolve in human level, for if it so it will mean “stop” on the way. No, this universal evolution, according to Rumi, will continue to move, far beyond human kingdom, until its goal – that is to unite with the Beloved God, is reached.

The last (fourth), according to Darwin, the evolution takes place only in physical level. He even deliberately cuts off from any relation with transcendent powers or realities (such as God and angels). For him it is not God, who has caused the organic things to transmute from lower forms into higher and better ones, but the natural selection. In other words, it is not God who has created the species but natural forces. But according to Rumi this evolution requires the existence of God, as the main condition for evolution in this world, without whom, no evolution can be conceived. For if evolution was caused by love, love needs the beloved one, that is, God, without whom love would never have existed. God is, according to him, the efficient and also the final cause of it, He is the origin and also the returning place for everything exists in the universe. Therefore, compared to Darwin’s theory, Rumi’s theory of evolution is more suitable to religious doctrines or principles.

Rumi and Bergson

Other figure who could appropriately be compared to Rumi was Henri Bergson (d. 1939), the philosopher of life from French. Compared to Darwin, Bergson’s theory of evolution has many similarities with Rumi’s. Both Rumi and Bergson firmly believe in the existence of this fundamental force in the universe. Rumi names it love (‘ishq), while Bergson calls it “élan vital” (vital impetus). This impetus is described by Bergson as “a current consciousness that had penetrated matter, given rise to living bodies and determined the course of their evolution.” ¹⁶It is this impetus, according to Bergson, that was responsible for the evolution in the universe.

This evolution, according to Bergson, works creatively, and not mechanistically, as thought of by Darwin. There are many things in the biological world–such as reproductive phenomenon—which cannot be explained mechanical way. The emergence of many truly new things in this world strongly indicates that the evolution has been controlled or directed by a creative force, which cannot be explained mechanically. The evolution, must have been creative in nature, in the sense producing truly new things, and therefore cannot be explained by both mechanics and teleology for they allow no novelty whatsoever in this universe.

Bergson in one of his work criticizes Darwin’s doctrine on the purpose of evolution. According to him Darwin failed to explain why living things were simple and well adapted to their environment. He then asks Darwin, “Why did the evolutionary process not stop at this stage? Why did life continue to complicate itself more and more dangerously?” This reveals to us that the purpose of evolution is not simply to adapt to the environment, but, as mentioned above, to penetrate the matter creatively. However, in order for the evolution to be creative, Bergson rejects mechanistic and teleological explanation. Both mechanism and teleology will never allow any notions of novelty in the biological world, hence their failure to explain biological phenomena.

But if there is no “law” to determine the course of evolution, I am afraid that this élan vital will become a blind force as conceptualized once by Schopenhaur. It is, in this context, that I see Rumi’s theory better than that of Bergson. As a religious thinker, Rumi believes that evolution is not random, but moves towards a clear purpose or destination. Describing this universal evolution, Rumi says:

I died to the inorganic state and became endowed with growth, and (then) I died to (vegetable) growth and attained to the animal.

I died from animality and became Adam (man), why then should I fear, when have I become less by dying?

At next remove I shall die to man, that I may soar and lift up my head amongst the angels;

And I must escape even from (the state of) the angels: “Everything is perishing except His face.”

Once more I shall be sacrificed and died to angel: I shall become that which enter not to imagination.

Then I shall become non-existence: non-existent saith to me, (in tone loud) as an organ:

“Verily unto Him shall we return.” ¹⁸

Rumi’s evolution is not random or blind, but it is directed to God, the absolute Perfection. Does Rumi not say, that ‘everything is in love with that Perfection, and hasting upward like a sapling.’ Thank you. God bless you all.

References:

Sir Muhammad Iqbal, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (London: Lozac & Co. Ltd., 19080, H. 112)
Attar was a great mystic, famous for his great work, The Conference of the Birds, who influenced Rumi quite substantially.
J.S. Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (London: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 61.
Jalal al-Din Rumi, The Mathnawi of Jalal al-Din Rumi, translated by R.A. Nicholson (London: Luzac & Co. Ltd. 1977), vol. III, pp. 245-246.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. V., p. 231.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. I, p. 10.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. I, p. 35.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. V, p. 231.
See Carl Ernst, Words of Extacy in Sufism (Albany, State University of New York Press, 1986), p. 98.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. V., p. 231.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. IV, p. 472.
See Nasr “Mulla Sadra: His Teachings” in Nasr & Leaman, History of Islamic Philosophy, vol. I (New York & London: Routledge, 19960, p. 649.)
Ibid.
Lihat Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. IV, h. 472.
Khalifah ‘Abd al-Hakim, “Rumi, Nietsche and Iqbal,” in Iqbal as the Thinker, (Lahore: S.M Sharif, 1952), p. 144.
See Goudge, “Bergson,” Paul Edwards (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co.. Inc., 1974), p. 293.
Ibid., p. 292.
Rumi, The Mathnawi, vol. III, p. 219.

Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?

2009-05-11T11:42:00.003+06:00

Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?
(Released April 2000)
Deborah B. Whitman

Overview
Genetically-modified foods (GM foods) have made a big splash in the news lately. European environmental organizations and public interest groups have been actively protesting against GM foods for months, and recent controversial studies about the effects of genetically-modified corn pollen on monarch butterfly caterpillars1, 2 have brought the issue of genetic engineering to the forefront of the public consciousness in the U.S. In response to the upswelling of public concern, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held three open meetings in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California to solicit public opinions and begin the process of establishing a new regulatory procedure for government approval of GM foods3. I attended the FDA meeting held in November 1999 in Washington, D.C., and here I will attempt to summarize the issues involved and explain the U.S. government's present role in regulating GM food.
What are genetically-modified foods?
The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically-modified plant will gain drought tolerance as well. Not only can genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant organisms also can be used. The best known example of this is the use of B.t. genes in corn and other crops. B.t., or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae. B.t. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn, enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the European corn borer. For two informative overviews of some of the techniques involved in creating GM foods, visit Biotech Basics (sponsored by Monsanto) http://www.biotechknowledge.monsanto.com/biotech/bbasics.nsf/index or Techniques of Plant Biotechnology from the National Center for Biotechnology Education http://www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/GMFOOD/techniques.
What are some of the advantages of GM foods?
The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways:
· Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market4, 5.
· Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product Roundup ®6. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off7.
· Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases8, 9.
· Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would kill unmodified seedlings10. (Note: I have not been able to find any journal articles or patents that involve fish antifreeze proteins in strawberries, although I have seen such reports in newspapers. I can only conclude that nothing on this application has yet been published or patented.)
· Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance As the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places11, 12.
· Nutrition Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due to vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in third world countries. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of "golden" rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A)13. Since this rice was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation14, a non-profit organization, the Institute hopes to offer the golden rice seed free to any third world country that requests it. Plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content. However, the grant that funded the creation of these two rice strains was not renewed, perhaps because of the vigorous anti-GM food protesting in Europe, and so this nutritionally-enhanced rice may not come to market at all15.
· Pharmaceuticals Medicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries. Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes16, 17. These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional injectable vaccines.
· Phytoremediation Not all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil18.
How prevalent are GM crops?
What plants are involved?
According to the FDA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are over 40 plant varieties that have completed all of the federal requirements for commercialization (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Elrd/biocon). Some examples of these plants include tomatoes and cantalopes that have modified ripening characteristics, soybeans and sugarbeets that are resistant to herbicides, and corn and cotton plants with increased resistance to insect pests. Not all these products are available in supermarkets yet; however, the prevalence of GM foods in U.S. grocery stores is more widespread than is commonly thought. While there are very, very few genetically-modified whole fruits and vegetables available on produce stands, highly processed foods, such as vegetable oils or breakfast cereals, most likely contain some tiny percentage of genetically-modified ingredients because the raw ingredients have been pooled into one processing stream from many different sources. Also, the ubiquity of soybean derivatives as food additives in the modern American diet virtually ensures that all U.S. consumers have been exposed to GM food products.
The U.S. statistics that follow are derived from data presented on the USDA web site at http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/biotechnology/. The global statistics are derived from a brief published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) at http://www.isaaa.org/publications/briefs/Brief_21.htm and from the Biotechnology Industry Organization at http://www.bio.org/food&ag/1999Acreage.
Thirteen countries grew genetically-engineered crops commercially in 2000, and of these, the U.S. produced the majority. In 2000, 68% of all GM crops were grown by U.S. farmers. In comparison, Argentina, Canada and China produced only 23%, 7% and 1%, respectively. Other countries that grew commercial GM crops in 2000 are Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Mexico, Romania, South Africa, Spain, and Uruguay.
Soybeans and corn are the top two most widely grown crops (82% of all GM crops harvested in 2000), with cotton, rapeseed (or canola) and potatoes trailing behind. 74% of these GM crops were modified for herbicide tolerance, 19% were modified for insect pest resistance, and 7% were modified for both herbicide tolerance and pest tolerance. Globally, acreage of GM crops has increased 25-fold in just 5 years, from approximately 4.3 million acres in 1996 to 109 million acres in 2000 - almost twice the area of the United Kingdom. Approximately 99 million acres were devoted to GM crops in the U.S. and Argentina alone.
In the U.S., approximately 54% of all soybeans cultivated in 2000 were genetically-modified, up from 42% in 1998 and only 7% in 1996. In 2000, genetically-modified cotton varieties accounted for 61% of the total cotton crop, up from 42% in 1998, and 15% in 1996. GM corn and also experienced a similar but less dramatic increase. Corn production increased to 25% of all corn grown in 2000, about the same as 1998 (26%), but up from 1.5% in 1996. As anticipated, pesticide and herbicide use on these GM varieties was slashed and, for the most part, yields were increased (for details, see the UDSA publication at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer786/).
What are some of the criticisms against GM foods?
Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups, professional associations and other scientists and government officials have all raised concerns about GM foods, and criticized agribusiness for pursuing profit without concern for potential hazards, and the government for failing to exercise adequate regulatory oversight. It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about GM foods. Even the Vatican19 and the Prince of Wales20 have expressed their opinions. Most concerns about GM foods fall into three categories: environmental hazards, human health risks, and economic concerns.
Environmental hazards
· Unintended harm to other organisms Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature21 showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. Although the Nature study was not conducted under natural field conditions, the results seemed to support this viewpoint. Unfortunately, B.t. toxins kill many species of insect larvae indiscriminately; it is not possible to design a B.t. toxin that would only kill crop-damaging pests and remain harmless to all other insects. This study is being reexamined by the USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups, and preliminary data from new studies suggests that the original study may have been flawed22, 23. This topic is the subject of acrimonious debate, and both sides of the argument are defending their data vigorously. Currently, there is no agreement about the results of these studies, and the potential risk of harm to non-target organisms will need to be evaluated further.
· Reduced effectiveness of pesticides Just as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides.
· Gene transfer to non-target species Another concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These "superweeds" would then be herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into non-modified crops planted next to GM crops. The possibility of interbreeding is shown by the defense of farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto. The company has filed patent infringement lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested GM crops. Monsanto claims that the farmers obtained Monsanto-licensed GM seeds from an unknown source and did not pay royalties to Monsanto. The farmers claim that their unmodified crops were cross-pollinated from someone else's GM crops planted a field or two away. More investigation is needed to resolve this issue.
There are several possible solutions to the three problems mentioned above. Genes are exchanged between plants via pollen. Two ways to ensure that non-target species will not receive introduced genes from GM plants are to create GM plants that are male sterile (do not produce pollen) or to modify the GM plant so that the pollen does not contain the introduced gene24, 25, 26. Cross-pollination would not occur, and if harmless insects such as monarch caterpillars were to eat pollen from GM plants, the caterpillars would survive.
Another possible solution is to create buffer zones around fields of GM crops27, 28, 29. For example, non-GM corn would be planted to surround a field of B.t. GM corn, and the non-GM corn would not be harvested. Beneficial or harmless insects would have a refuge in the non-GM corn, and insect pests could be allowed to destroy the non-GM corn and would not develop resistance to B.t. pesticides. Gene transfer to weeds and other crops would not occur because the wind-blown pollen would not travel beyond the buffer zone. Estimates of the necessary width of buffer zones range from 6 meters to 30 meters or more30. This planting method may not be feasible if too much acreage is required for the buffer zones.
Human health risks
· Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans was abandoned because of the fear of causing unexpected allergic reactions31. Extensive testing of GM foods may be required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies. Labeling of GM foods and food products will acquire new importance, which I shall discuss later.
· Unknown effects on human health There is a growing concern that introducing foreign genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health. A recent article published in Lancet examined the effects of GM potatoes on the digestive tract in rats32, 33. This study claimed that there were appreciable differences in the intestines of rats fed GM potatoes and rats fed unmodified potatoes. Yet critics say that this paper, like the monarch butterfly data, is flawed and does not hold up to scientific scrutiny34. Moreover, the gene introduced into the potatoes was a snowdrop flower lectin, a substance known to be toxic to mammals. The scientists who created this variety of potato chose to use the lectin gene simply to test the methodology, and these potatoes were never intended for human or animal consumption.
On the whole, with the exception of possible allergenicity, scientists believe that GM foods do not present a risk to human health.
Economic concerns
Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor. It is hoped that in a humanitarian gesture, more companies and non-profits will follow the lead of the Rockefeller Foundation and offer their products at reduced cost to impoverished nations.
Patent enforcement may also be difficult, as the contention of the farmers that they involuntarily grew Monsanto-engineered strains when their crops were cross-pollinated shows. One way to combat possible patent infringement is to introduce a "suicide gene" into GM plants. These plants would be viable for only one growing season and would produce sterile seeds that do not germinate. Farmers would need to buy a fresh supply of seeds each year. However, this would be financially disastrous for farmers in third world countries who cannot afford to buy seed each year and traditionally set aside a portion of their harvest to plant in the next growing season. In an open letter to the public, Monsanto has pledged to abandon all research using this suicide gene technology35.
How are GM foods regulated and what is the government's role in this process?
Governments around the world are hard at work to establish a regulatory process to monitor the effects of and approve new varieties of GM plants. Yet depending on the political, social and economic climate within a region or country, different governments are responding in different ways.
In Japan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced that health testing of GM foods will be mandatory as of April 200136, 37. Currently, testing of GM foods is voluntary. Japanese supermarkets are offering both GM foods and unmodified foods, and customers are beginning to show a strong preference for unmodified fruits and vegetables.
India's government has not yet announced a policy on GM foods because no GM crops are grown in India and no products are commercially available in supermarkets yet38. India is, however, very supportive of transgenic plant research. It is highly likely that India will decide that the benefits of GM foods outweigh the risks because Indian agriculture will need to adopt drastic new measures to counteract the country's endemic poverty and feed its exploding population.
Some states in Brazil have banned GM crops entirely, and the Brazilian Institute for the Defense of Consumers, in collaboration with Greenpeace, has filed suit to prevent the importation of GM crops39,. Brazilian farmers, however, have resorted to smuggling GM soybean seeds into the country because they fear economic harm if they are unable to compete in the global marketplace with other grain-exporting countries.
In Europe, anti-GM food protestors have been especially active. In the last few years Europe has experienced two major foods scares: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in Great Britain and dioxin-tainted foods originating from Belgium. These food scares have undermined consumer confidence about the European food supply, and citizens are disinclined to trust government information about GM foods. In response to the public outcry, Europe now requires mandatory food labeling of GM foods in stores, and the European Commission (EC) has established a 1% threshold for contamination of unmodified foods with GM food products40.
In the United States, the regulatory process is confused because there are three different government agencies that have jurisdiction over GM foods. To put it very simply, the EPA evaluates GM plants for environmental safety, the USDA evaluates whether the plant is safe to grow, and the FDA evaluates whether the plant is safe to eat. The EPA is responsible for regulating substances such as pesticides or toxins that may cause harm to the environment. GM crops such as B.t. pesticide-laced corn or herbicide-tolerant crops but not foods modified for their nutritional value fall under the purview of the EPA. The USDA is responsible for GM crops that do not fall under the umbrella of the EPA such as drought-tolerant or disease-tolerant crops, crops grown for animal feeds, or whole fruits, vegetables and grains for human consumption. The FDA historically has been concerned with pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food products and additives, not whole foods. Under current guidelines, a genetically-modified ear of corn sold at a produce stand is not regulated by the FDA because it is a whole food, but a box of cornflakes is regulated because it is a food product. The FDA's stance is that GM foods are substantially equivalent to unmodified, "natural" foods, and therefore not subject to FDA regulation.
The EPA conducts risk assessment studies on pesticides that could potentially cause harm to human health and the environment, and establishes tolerance and residue levels for pesticides. There are strict limits on the amount of pesticides that may be applied to crops during growth and production, as well as the amount that remains in the food after processing. Growers using pesticides must have a license for each pesticide and must follow the directions on the label to accord with the EPA's safety standards. Government inspectors may periodically visit farms and conduct investigations to ensure compliance. Violation of government regulations may result in steep fines, loss of license and even jail sentences.
As an example the EPA regulatory approach, consider B.t. corn. The EPA has not established limits on residue levels in B.t corn because the B.t. in the corn is not sprayed as a chemical pesticide but is a gene that is integrated into the genetic material of the corn itself. Growers must have a license from the EPA for B.t corn, and the EPA has issued a letter for the 2000 growing season requiring farmers to plant 20% unmodified corn, and up to 50% unmodified corn in regions where cotton is also cultivated41. This planting strategy may help prevent insects from developing resistance to the B.t. pesticides as well as provide a refuge for non-target insects such as Monarch butterflies.
The USDA has many internal divisions that share responsibility for assessing GM foods. Among these divisions are APHIS, the Animal Health and Plant Inspection Service, which conducts field tests and issues permits to grow GM crops, the Agricultural Research Service which performs in-house GM food research, and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service which oversees the USDA risk assessment program. The USDA is concerned with potential hazards of the plant itself. Does it harbor insect pests? Is it a noxious weed? Will it cause harm to indigenous species if it escapes from farmer's fields? The USDA has the power to impose quarantines on problem regions to prevent movement of suspected plants, restrict import or export of suspected plants, and can even destroy plants cultivated in violation of USDA regulations. Many GM plants do not require USDA permits from APHIS. A GM plant does not require a permit if it meets these 6 criteria: 1) the plant is not a noxious weed; 2) the genetic material introduced into the GM plant is stably integrated into the plant's own genome; 3) the function of the introduced gene is known and does not cause plant disease; 4) the GM plant is not toxic to non-target organisms; 5) the introduced gene will not cause the creation of new plant viruses; and 6) the GM plant cannot contain genetic material from animal or human pathogens (see http://www.aphis.usda.gov:80/bbep/bp/7cfr340 ).
The current FDA policy was developed in 1992 (Federal Register Docket No. 92N-0139) and states that agri-biotech companies may voluntarily ask the FDA for a consultation. Companies working to create new GM foods are not required to consult the FDA, nor are they required to follow the FDA's recommendations after the consultation. Consumer interest groups wish this process to be mandatory, so that all GM food products, whole foods or otherwise, must be approved by the FDA before being released for commercialization. The FDA counters that the agency currently does not have the time, money, or resources to carry out exhaustive health and safety studies of every proposed GM food product. Moreover, the FDA policy as it exists today does not allow for this type of intervention.
How are GM foods labeled?
Labeling of GM foods and food products is also a contentious issue. On the whole, agribusiness industries believe that labeling should be voluntary and influenced by the demands of the free market. If consumers show preference for labeled foods over non-labeled foods, then industry will have the incentive to regulate itself or risk alienating the customer. Consumer interest groups, on the other hand, are demanding mandatory labeling. People have the right to know what they are eating, argue the interest groups, and historically industry has proven itself to be unreliable at self-compliance with existing safety regulations. The FDA's current position on food labeling is governed by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which is only concerned with food additives, not whole foods or food products that are considered "GRAS" - generally recognized as safe. The FDA contends that GM foods are substantially equivalent to non-GM foods, and therefore not subject to more stringent labeling. If all GM foods and food products are to be labeled, Congress must enact sweeping changes in the existing food labeling policy.
There are many questions that must be answered if labeling of GM foods becomes mandatory. First, are consumers willing to absorb the cost of such an initiative? If the food production industry is required to label GM foods, factories will need to construct two separate processing streams and monitor the production lines accordingly. Farmers must be able to keep GM crops and non-GM crops from mixing during planting, harvesting and shipping. It is almost assured that industry will pass along these additional costs to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Secondly, what are the acceptable limits of GM contamination in non-GM products? The EC has determined that 1% is an acceptable limit of cross-contamination, yet many consumer interest groups argue that only 0% is acceptable. Some companies such as Gerber baby foods42 and Frito-Lay43 have pledged to avoid use of GM foods in any of their products. But who is going to monitor these companies for compliance and what is the penalty if they fail? Once again, the FDA does not have the resources to carry out testing to ensure compliance.
What is the level of detectability of GM food cross-contamination? Scientists agree that current technology is unable to detect minute quantities of contamination, so ensuring 0% contamination using existing methodologies is not guaranteed. Yet researchers disagree on what level of contamination really is detectable, especially in highly processed food products such as vegetable oils or breakfast cereals where the vegetables used to make these products have been pooled from many different sources. A 1% threshold may already be below current levels of detectability.
Finally, who is to be responsible for educating the public about GM food labels and how costly will that education be? Food labels must be designed to clearly convey accurate information about the product in simple language that everyone can understand. This may be the greatest challenge faced be a new food labeling policy: how to educate and inform the public without damaging the public trust and causing alarm or fear of GM food products.
In January 2000, an international trade agreement for labeling GM foods was established44, 45. More than 130 countries, including the US, the world's largest producer of GM foods, signed the agreement. The policy states that exporters must be required to label all GM foods and that importing countries have the right to judge for themselves the potential risks and reject GM foods, if they so choose. This new agreement may spur the U.S. government to resolve the domestic food labeling dilemma more rapidly.
Conclusion
Genetically-modified foods have the potential to solve many of the world's hunger and malnutrition problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment by increasing yield and reducing reliance upon chemical pesticides and herbicides. Yet there are many challenges ahead for governments, especially in the areas of safety testing, regulation, international policy and food labeling. Many people feel that genetic engineering is the inevitable wave of the future and that we cannot afford to ignore a technology that has such enormous potential benefits. However, we must proceed with caution to avoid causing unintended harm to human health and the environment as a result of our enthusiasm for this powerful technology.
© Copyright 2000, All Rights Reserved, CSA
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Assessing the impact of Cry1Ab-expressing corn pollen on monarch butterfly larvae in field studies (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol 98, No 21, p11931-11936, Oct 2001)
Bioengineered Foods transcripts from the public meetings are available to download (http://www.fda.gov/oc/biotech/default.htm)
Insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis protect corn from corn rootworms (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 19, No 7, pp 668-672, Jul 2001)
Lepidopteran-resistant transgenic plants (US Patent 6313378, Nov 2001, Monsanto)
The use of cytochrome P450 genes to introduce herbicide tolerance in crops: a review (Pesticide Science, Vol 55, No 9, pp 867-874, Sep 1999)
Transgenic Approaches to Combat Fusarium Head Blight in Wheat and Barley (Crop Science, Vol 41, No 3, pp 628-627, Jun 2001)
Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plum pox virus resistant transgenic European plum containing the plum pox potyvirus coat protein gene (Transgenic Research, Vol 10, No 3, pp 201-209, Jun 2001)
Type II fish antifreeze protein accumulation in transgenic tobacco does not confer frost resistance (Transgenic Research, Vol 8, No 2, pp 105-117, Apr 1999)
Transgenic salt-tolerant tomato plants accumulate salt in foliage but not in fruit (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 19, No 8, pp 765-768, Aug 2001)
Peroxidase activity of desiccation-tolerant loblolly pine somatic embryos (In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology Plant, Vol 36, No 6, pp. 488-491, Dec 2000)
Genetic engineering towards carotene biosynthesis in endosperm (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences
New rices may help address vitamin A- and iron deficiency, major causes of death in the developing world (Rockefeller Foundation)
RICE BIOTECHNOLOGY: Rockefeller to End Network After 15 Years of Success (Science, Vol 286, No 5444, pp 1468-1469, Nov 1999)
Medical molecular farming: production of antibodies, biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines in plants (Trends in Plant Science, Vol 6, No 5, pp 219-226, May 2001)
Oral immunization with hepatitis B surface antigen expressed in transgenic plants (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Vol 98, No 20, pp. 11539-11544, Sep 2001)
Phytodetoxification of hazardous organomercurials by genetically engineered plants (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 18, No 2, pp. 213-217, Feb 2000)
GMO Roundup (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 18, p 7, Jan 2000)
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back to article
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GM corn poses little threat to monarch (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 17, p 1154, Dec 1999)
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New tools for chloroplast genetic engineering (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 17, No 9, pp 855-856, Sep 1999)
Tandem constructs: preventing the rise of superweeds (Trends in Biotechnology, Vol 17, No 9, pp 361-366, Sep 1999)
Containment of herbicide resistance through genetic engineering of the chloroplast genome (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 16, No 4, pp 345-348, Apr 1998)
Efforts to bioengineer intrinsic resistance to insect pests into crop plants have made use of a natural bacterial toxin, Bt, from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Science, Vol 284, No 5416, p 873, May 1999)
Inheritance of Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin (Dipel ES) in the European Corn Borer (Science, Vol 284, No 5416, pp 965-967, May 1999)
Buffers urged around Bt corn fields (Environmental News Network http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/1999/07/071499/btbuffer_4342.asp)
GM crops: public perception and scientific solutions (Trends in Plant Science, Vol 4, No 12, pp 467-469, Dec 1999)
Identification of a Brazil-nut allergen in transgenic soybeans (New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 334, No 11, pp 688-692, 1996)
Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine (Lancet, Vol 354, No 9187, pp 1353-1354, Oct 1999)
Safety of genetically modified food questioned: Interview with gene scientist, Dr Arpad Pusztai(http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/gmo-j03.shtml )
The Lancet scolded over Pusztai paper (Science, Vol 286, p 656, Oct 1999)
In an open letter from Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro to Rockefeller Foundation President Gordon Conway, Monsanto announced it will not pursue technologies that render seed sterile (http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/gurt/default.htm)
Japan to bring in mandatory tests for GM food (Nature, Vol 402, p 846, Dec 1999)
Japan steps up GMO tests (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 18, p 131, Feb 2000)
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EC says 1% is acceptable GMO contamination (Nature Biotechnology, Vol 17, pp 1155-1156, Dec 1999)
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Frito-Lay's Halfway Measures Banning GE Corn Freak Out Their Competitors: New Seed Planted in Genetic Flap (Washington Post http://www.purefood.org/ge/fritolayhalf.cfm)
Biotechnology: Both sides claim victory (Science, Vol 287, p 782-783, Feb 2000)
Rules agreed over GM food exports (Nature, Vol 402, p 473, Feb 2000)

source:
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

How the second successor of the prophet Muhammad embraced Islam

2009-05-06T08:26:00.005+06:00

How the second successor of the prophet Muhammad embraced Islam
(Collection)

When the enemies of Islam heard the name of Omar, their knees would tremble. When Satan saw Omar walking down the street, he would turn the other way. Even Omar’s friends would sometimes find his presence intimidating, and they too feared his anger. However, this man of strength and power, cried easily, and had a soft and compassionate heart. Omar was humble without being weak. Omar combined two opposing character traits and that made him unique amongst the men around Prophet Muhammad. Omar’s path to the truth began with a vehement hatred of Muhammad and the religion of Islam but that hatred soon turned into a fierce love. Omar ibn Al Khattab strengthened Islam.

Omar belonged to a middle class family, neither rich nor poor, of the Adi clan, part of the tribe of Quraish. He had a tough upbringing, his father was known to be a harsh man who worked his son to exhaustion and beat him when he considered it necessary. Despite this Omar is believed to have been literate, which was an uncommon skill in pre Islamic Arabia. Born approximately 11 years after Prophet Muhammad, Omar was a relatively fair-skinned boy who grew into a tall, well-built, muscular man known for his fierce demeanour and wrestling skills.

Omar began his working life as a shepherd for his father and aunts, and he was paid a very small stipend, often only a handful of dates for a full days work. He supplemented his income by engaging in wrestling competitions but as he grew into manhood, he became a successful trader and respected businessman. Omar was known as a man of strength. His posture and bearing denoted strength and his voice was loud and commanding. When Mohammad’s teachings became a problem for the men of Mecca, Omar pronounced his hatred for Islam openly and took part in the abuse and torture of many of the weaker converts to Islam.

The Two Omars

Although not known by his given name of Omar, there was another strong, determined man opposed to Islam. This was the man originally known as Abu Hakim, (the father of wisdom), but history remembers him as Abu Jahl, (the father of ignorance), the avowed enemy of Islam. Prophet Muhammad gave him the name Abu Jahl to denote his total ignorance in not recognizing the truth of Islam. Traditional accounts reveal that Prophet Muhammad on one occasion raised his hands in supplication and begged God to strengthen Islam by whomever of the two Omar’s he loved most. To the enemies of Islam and to the companions of Prophet Muhammad Omar ibn al Khattab embracing Islam was an unthinkable notion.

Omar’s hatred of Islam was so strong that he volunteered to kill Prophet Muhammad. Without a second’s hesitation, he strode down the streets of Mecca intent on drawing his sword and ending the life of the prophet of God. One of the men of Mecca, who was secretly a Muslim saw the look on Omar’s face and immediately knew that his beloved Prophet was in danger. Without fear for himself, he approached Omar and asked him where he was going so quickly. Omar replied that he was going, “to the man who has disunited our people, cursed our gods and made fools of us”, and he said, “I am going to kill him”.

The young Muslim man named Nu’aim felt terror rush into his heart and tried to engage Omar in a discussion to divert him, but Omar was intent on his mission and continued to stride along the street. Nu’aim reluctantly spoke the words that lead Omar to Islam. He said, “why don’t you take care of your own house first’. Omar stopped short and asked him what he meant by those words. Omar’s beloved sister and her husband had secretly embraced Islam and Nu’aim revealed their secret in order to save the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Omar turned around immediately and walked with determination towards his sister’s house. As he approached, he could hear the sound of Quran being recited. Omar knocked on the door. Inside the inhabitants scrambled to hide, their copies of Quran but Omar entered and demanded to know what the “humming” sound he had heard was. Omar’s sister replied that it was nothing, just the sound of them talking, but Omar knew the sound of Quran and asked menacingly, “Have you become Muslim?” Omar’s brother in law answered in the affirmative, whereupon Omar fell upon him, wrestling him to the ground. Omar’s sister tried to defend her husband and in the scuffle, Omar hit her face, drawing blood.

Quran Enters His Heart

Omar’s sister seemed to have the strength her brother was so famous for, she stood up and faced her angry brother saying, “You enemy of God! You would hit me just because I believe in God. Whether you like it or not, I testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is his slave and messenger. Do whatever you will!” Omar saw the blood running down his sister’s face, her words echoed in his ears, and he stood up. Omar demanded that the words of Quran he had heard as he approached the house be recited for him.

“We have not sent down the Quran unto you (O Muhammad) to cause you distress, But only as a Reminder to those who fear (God).A revelation from Him Who has created the earth and high heavens. The Most Beneficent rose over the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty).To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and all that is between them, and all that is under the soil. And if you (O Muhammad) speak aloud, then verily, He knows the secret and that which is yet more hidden. None has the right to be worshiped but He! To Him belong the Best Names.” (Quran 20:2-8)

Omar’s eyes filled with hot tears. “Is this what we were against”, he asked. “The One who has spoken these words needs to be worshiped.” Omar left his sisters house and rushed to Muhammad. Those with Prophet Muhammad were afraid, but they admitted Omar and restrained him until he was in Muhammad’s presence. Although Prophet Muhammad was smaller than Omar he grabbed him and said, “Why did you come here, son of Khattab?”

Omar faced Prophet Muhammad with humility and joy and said, “O Messenger of God, I have come for no reason except to say I believe in God and his Messenger. Prophet Muhammad was overcome with joy and cried out that God was Great! Within days, Omar lead a procession of Muslims to the house of God where they prayed openly. It was on this occasion that Prophet Muhammad gave him the nickname Al Farooq – the criterion [1]. It denotes one who is able to distinguish truth from falsehood. Islam was strengthened with Omar, his fierce hatred melted into a love that knew no bounds. His life and his death were now for the sake of God and his Messenger.

Footnotes:

[1] Taken from the historical works of At Tabari, & The Life and times of Omar Ibn Al Khattab by Sheikh Ali Muhammad Salladi.