High Seas Pirates

Although it is plausible to romanticize all pirates as incarnates of swishbuckling pirateer Captain Jack Sparrow, in reality, the escalating encounters of pirates kidnapping, capturing, and confronting international vessels on the high seas is quite troublesome.

Usually, the pirates, (most likely Somalians) tend to focus on American ships. American ships with American crew or materials and supplies destined for the American heartland automatically guarantees immense media attention. The last encounter where the pirates had captured Alabama Mersk and traded the crew for their American captain is a prime example of the massive media attention generated upon the otherwise unknown lives of the crew and their American captain. After a harrowing rescue operation which left several of the pirates dead, the American captain was eventually retrieved unharmed.

However, on that same day, another batch of pirates attempted to attack another vessel in nearby waters.

What is motivating these pirates to venture out and dare to attack and kidnap international vessels? Their motives and factors need to be understood and utilized in deterring future attacks. Furthermore, what form of policing and to what extent is security available for ships on the high seas? These frequent occurrences of pirate attacks can very well lead to many international vessels taking different routes to their destinations, which would lead to more time and fuel wastages. Finally, what if the pirates, motivated by their recent somewhat successful endeavours, focus on cruiseliners as their next targets? On that event, ordinary civilians' lives will be in jeopardy.

Right to Rape II

Brave, mostly young, Afghan women dared to rise and march against the new Shiite law only to be verbally accosted by young Afghan men calling them "whores" and un-Islamic. One of the powerful clerics, Muhammad Hussein Jafaari, stated that they didn't want foreign powers interfering with Afghanistan's domestic policies. Funny, wasn't it foreign powers that saved Afghanistan from the clutches of the Talibans?

Regardless, the law had more clauses such as women aren't allowed to leave the home or attend school without their husband's or father's permissions, and they cannot refuse to adorn themselves if ordained by their husbands. Effectively, this law, renders women rights obsolete. Just as one of the young marchers noted in NY Times, they become mere properties.

Considering Hamid Karzai is so beloved by the US, it is deeply troubling that enough pressure isn't being enforced to efface such a law.

Right to Rape

Lately all the media is abuzz with the new law implemented in Afghanistan making it permissible for husbands to rape their wives. Or so the media and the international community tells us.

I caught a bit of Al-Jazeera's interview with a rep from the Qatar University who was asked to analyze and explain this new law. Unfortunately and almost absurdly the rep trembled and floundered while attempting to define the terms 'male needs' and 'female needs'. Suffice to say, he failed to give a concrete explanation and definition of the said law.

NY Times ran an editorial today disapproving of this new law. According to it, and I paraphrase, a wife unless ill has to give in to her husband's sexual desires. I wonder what symptoms can be regarded as signs of an illness. Does it only have to be a physical ailment, or can it also be emotional and/or mental conditions? Sometimes a wife maybe physically able but mentally and/or emotionally unwilling to engage in sex. Does that then negate the women's right to say no? Or does the law sanction the husband to engage in sex with the unwilling wife and not have it labelled as rape? When does a woman's right to say no end and a man's right to violate begin? Where does those lines merge and deviate?

This new law, whether conceived under political or religious guise, is indeed quite troubling. The law, effectively, silences the wife's voice regarding her own body and her own sexual rights. More international pressure and scorn must be applied to overturn such an abusive and horrific law from further marginalizing and suppressing Afghan women.

WTF? The electricity's gone again...

Let me count the times the electricity's gone in a day...6..7...hours perhaps?!!

How are we supposed to be productive, how is the nation supposed to progress, how are the citizens supposed to work when we cant even keep the lights on for a day???

Unless we install industrial generators, it is quite impossible to get any work accomplished in a stretch of time. Oftentimes, we are stymied by the sheer exhausting heat to complete any productive work.

In a country that sprouts millionaires overnight, raises and loses billions in backhand deals, you would think we would have the lack of sufficient electricity problem already solved? Not just swiped under the expensive Afghan rug.

Right to Walk

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=83627#

I came across a pretty personal and poignant account of the writer's experiences in being personally violated on the public space. Even though I have not personally be groped or harassed in public, yet I too have felt the personal invasion tied to being out on the streets.

Walking in Dhaka can be a nightmare. The amount of eyes peering at you, checking you out, undressing you, following all your gestures etc can be quite daunting. Add to that already unpleasant experience, the coterie of small street urchins latching on to you begging for money and attention. I cannot even imagine walking around my block. Who wants to be gawked at by clusters of men? Whether you are in western or eastern attire, the very sight of a female out on the streets seem to generate an unwelcome instinct in men to invade their personal space.

Will this ever change? I admire how I spot many young females walking on the streets wearing jeans and tshirts in defiance of the lustful staring eyes at them. However, oftentimes, I notice those females are usually accompanied by at least one male figure. Does this imply that it is impossible for females to venture out on the streets alone without being harassed?

Maybe there should be laws against 'eve teasing' as it is named in Bangladesh. Maybe there are already laws in place. But I personally don't think those rules make any difference. Until ordinary male citizens cease regarding females as sexual objects, we wont be feeling much eagerness to be out walking on the streets alone.

What happens when an earthquake strikes?

The devastating earthquake in Italy has so far claimed more than 100 lives. Striking during the night, it surprised and devoured most of the landscape and human lives that could have been otherwise saved one hopes. However, the extensive and efficient search and rescue operations conducted by Italian police and local citizens is a testament of human compassion and solidarity.

But I cannot help but compare the earthquake that struck Italy to any possible earthquakes that strike Dhaka. Italy sits squarely on the map of developed and thriving nations, however, even the most advanced countries cannot survive nature's wrath. The images of rubble, destruction, bodies, and survivors emerging from graves of sand and stone are quite a contrast to the usual impression of Italy that we possess. Yet we see once again that nature is far more potent, destructive, and powerful.

Now imagine if an earthquake of that magnitude or slightly less occured in Dhaka or anywhere else in Bangladesh. What will happen? How will the landscape be altered? And how many innocent lives will be claimed? These are rational fears that must be answered. After watching the fire that consumed Bashundhara Mall while the masses, fire brigade, politicians, ineffectively stood on the sidelines, how will we cope if a devastating quake strikes us? Do we have any policies, plans, and actions in store in cases of quake emergencies? 

I fear how many ordinary citizens on the streets will suffer and perish for our own follies in not protecting ourserlves beforehand. 

Dhaka Divorce

Daily Star carried an online article stating that the rate of divorces in Dhaka city has accelerated and now hovers around the 50-55 percent. The article further expostulates that one of the reasons for such a high percentage is credited to divorces becoming less of a social stigma and more of a expectant result of partners unwilling to compromise and make amends unlike their parents' generations. But the striking aspect of this article is that Dhaka women are initiating divorces in droves!

Hurrah! Finally a positive acknowledgement that women can and are seeking divorces when marriages fall apart. Unlike the older generations, women don't feel compelled to remain in dead unions because of social and economical shortcomings in being a divorcee. Dhaka women, now, are financially secure, mentally prepared, and socially confident to take the lead and end relationships.

According to one friend who had several concrete examples to validate her theory, she stated that divorced women are more likely to get remarried in a swfit cycle than their single counterparts.

However, it must be noted that only Dhaka women from the upper echeleons are more prone to initiate divorces because of their financial stability, familial support, and social acceptance. Their lower socio-economic counterparts are still shackled with typical social taboos regarding marital and divorce statuses. In most cases, these women would rather endure bitter and abusive relationships rather than lose their husbands and thereby their identities and financial securities.
Yet I feel there is hope for all of us.