Massacre in Mumbai

We all must strongly condemn the terror attacks that have left Mumbai reeling.

This attack, vicious in its nature and with wide-ranging ramifications, has brought home to all of us in the lesson that a serious, purposeful and united effort toward combating the terrorist menace is now necessary. Indeed, the series of attacks that have occurred in India in recent months, together with the violent attack on the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's Islamabad, were broad hints of how wide the network of terror was getting to be. With the Taj and Oberoi hotels in Mumbai (as well as other spots) now coming under attack, it is clear that terrorism is now no more a national but a broad regional menace.

It is now anyone's guess as to where terrorism will strike next. But what is clear is that no one is safe and at this point it is for all South Asian nations to come together to combat the threat. At the same time, people everywhere must condemn the atrocity perpetrated in Mumbai. After having been claimed responsibility by the so-called Deccan Mujahideen, it is especially for Muslims everywhere, seeing that such atrocities are being perpetrated in their names, to condemn the killings loudly and make it clear that their faith abjures violence of all kinds.

The ramifications of the attacks, carried out in military precision by men coming in from the sea, and literally too, can easily be imagined. Those who perpetrated the attacks have clearly gone much farther than those who have in recent times been targeting people across the country. The fact that the attacks have been so coordinated and so easily carried out clearly raises the fear that not only India and Pakistan but the region as a whole is now in a state of severe vulnerability.

In fact, the attacks have now introduced a strong feeling that unless drastic measures are taken to handle such terrorist acts on a regional basis, instability could become a real factor in South Asia and so leave societies open to depredations of the kind that have left Mumbai reeling.

It has been a sad day not only for the Indians but for people across the world. At this moment of trial what is important is the need to identify and apprehend the culprits.

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Yes he can!

ALMOST 370 years after the first African slaves reached the American shores, an African-American has been elected the 44th president of the United States.

It comes as the culmination of history set in motion after the English captured the Pequot Indians and shipped them to Bermuda in exchange for the African bondsmen who were sent to Massachusetts.

In that context, the victory of Barack H. Obama is more significant than the victory of one man or a single political party. It turns a new page in American history. It marks a new beginning for the human race.

It may sound hyperbolic, but the newly elected US president is a one-man melting pot, a convergence of cultures, a confluence of races and religions. Son of a Kenyan Muslim father and a white Christian mother, one who was registered as a Muslim and studied the Koran as a boy in a madrasa in Indonesia, where his mother was married a second time to another Muslim man. Obama embraced Christianity when he returned to the United States with his mother after her divorce.

Thus, the Harvard-educated Obama was born and raised on critical junctures and grew up to shine with many splendours. He is an African to the Africans, a one-time Muslim to the Muslims, a Christian to the devout Christians, a beacon of hope to the minorities in America, and a man-of-the-hour to the rest of the country.

But Barrack Obama is more than a mandate for political change. He is a mandate of destiny, the instrument of force larger than politics, shaped by the events of the last few years. The terrorist attack of 9/11, heightened security in the United States and rest of the world, escalating extremism in Islamic countries, invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear tension with North Korea and Iran, and, last of all, the massive financial upheavals which have lately shaken the world.

Obama is expected to be more than a US president. He is expected to be a human face to unbridled capitalism, a sobering effect on the American bullyism, and a symbol of deliverance from the dread of terrorism and economic mess.

Will Obama be able to deliver what is expected of him? When the euphoria of victory subsides, he is going to face this reality check. No doubt he has already earned his place in history, taking the struggle of African Americans to a respectable height.

No doubt he has elevated the African-American cause in the long and overbearing tradition of such luminaries as Benjamin Banneker, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King. No doubt he has brought that cause from the sideline to the midfield of American idealism.

But how is he going to take it to the next level? How is he going to transform himself from a successful African- American politician into a responsible leader of whole of the United States, and, for that matter, the free world? It's likely that Obama is going to be guided by a worldview from a wider angle.

The blend of two races and two religions, his experience of growing up without a father, then living in another country early in life in the house of a stepfather, his Ivy League education, all of which broadened his horizon to become tolerant, liberal and enlightened compared to other US presidents.

This unique position could break or make Obama's presidency in the coming days. His stay in power could be marred by the uphill struggle of being a black president in a white majority country. He will remain under the hawkish eyes of conservative Americans, who will spare no chance to undermine his presidency every step of the way.

He is likely to face challenges from the military-industrial complex in his decision to withdraw the US soldiers from Iraq. The handling of the economy, needless to say, is going to be a daunting task. He will remain a suspect for being lenient towards the Muslims because of his middle name. Obama might overkill to quell that suspicion, and prove his intransigence by launching an attack on Pakistan, for example. Not to say, he will have to brave the threat of assassination hanging over him like the sword of Damocles.

It's also likely, and that has been the wellspring of support for Obama around the world, that he could be a breath of fresh air in the post-9/11 world. He could bring a new perspective to the world order and redefine the American leadership in a new context, rescuing it from the clutches of the neoconservatives who entered the White House eight years ago. Obama should be able to build bridges between religions and races, review US intervention in foreign countries, and restore the trust in the American leadership.

Which way his presidency will go remains to be seen. But, no matter what, Obama's victory is a welcome change. It has the hope of building the confidence that was frittered away under George Bush's two-term presidency. It has the hope of putting the lid back on the Pandora's box, giving peace a real chance in the strife-torn countries.

Above all, Obama's win is the sign of healing. It shows that America has finally overcome the hurdle of racial bitterness. From slavery to segregation to affirmative action and, finally, election to the highest office of the country; it's a positive signal that the present generation of Americans may have buried the racial hatchet. In the humdrum of political wins and losses, that one thing is the real hero of this election.

One triumphant step for Obama has been a transformational leap for mankind. It's a victory of history, shaped by many centuries. Once, the blacks weren't allowed to eat with the whites in the same restaurant. Once, they weren't allowed to drink water from the same fountain. Twist of irony, a black man is going to occupy the "White" House. History has made Obama. It's his chance to make history. DS

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US08 - The Final Hurdle

Whoever - Barack Obama or John McCain - gets elected as the next US President, history will be made either way.

If Obama with his roots in Kenya makes it to the White House, the most powerful office in the world, the United States of America will have its first black President. If McCain wins the race, Sarah Palin will become the first woman Vice President in US history. In fact, with Obama clinching Democratic Party nomination and Sarah Palin becoming McCain's running mate from the Republican Party, both have become part of the history-making process.

Earlier, Hillary Rodham Clinton's gruelling contest with Obama for the party nomination initiated the process of rewriting history. So whatever may be the result of the US presidential polls, the US citizens as also the world are poised to witness the unfolding of a chapter not recorded in US history.This exactly makes the US presidential election-2008 different from all the previous ones. Barack Obama was leading his rival McCain, according to all the opinion polls.

If nothing dramatic happens at the last moment, the man from Kenyan descent should win the race. But with only a day left, McCain was gaining some momentum and if the undecided voters are taken into account, there is no guarantee for a clear-cut Obama victory. Yet Obama's forays in the traditional Republican bastions this time gave the indication that he was a favourite and might win over quite a few of them on his side. He has been able to argue convincingly in favour of his slogan, "Change we need." The Bush administration with its not so enviable performance on the financial and war-on-terror fronts has definitely helped his cause, whereas McCain has sounded less convincing on both these issues.

Nevertheless, if McCain proves Gallup polls wrong and emerges a winner despite the mess created by President Bush, it will confirm the doubt, as many people across the world are used to harbouring, about the racial integration the Americans claim they have achieved. Obama has conjured up a vision of a better USA as also a better world by putting forward his proposals for engaging those opposed to US interests and leadership into dialogues. McCain wants to follow in Bush's footsteps and overcome opposition by force. Obama's economic agenda - much as McCain may complain that he will redistribute wealth by taking it from the rich by way of higher taxation - seems to have won over the Americans.

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The Greater Depression of 2008

What has happened over a span of just two weeks is that the engine of American economic growth has derailed and is slowly dragging the rest of the global financial markets and economies along.

The culprit is the American model of less government intrusion in the private sector in particular, less regulation of the financial sector while turning a blind eye to unbridled growth of greed and deception of the CEO's of large corporations and the Wall Street manipulators.

The demise is essentially a reflection of the absence of ethics and morality in Wall Street. People's sense of responsibility for their own actions - paying their bills or keeping their promises has plummeted. Greed and deception of executives of financial institutions have skyrocketed, because the Bush administration and the politicians in the Congress unleashed deregulations while partying with Wall Street millionaire CEO's.

To survive this crisis, the already debt-ridden America would need more borrowing from the rest of the world. This will indubitably hamstring the next president's ability to act unilaterally on anything other than critical national security issues. Foreign aid to developing economies is also bound to be tight-fisted. To slow the bleeding, a bailout package of $700 billion was proposed by the US Treasury, and a modified version of it was passed by the Congress on October 3 amid opposition from many lawmakers and public outcries. The ultimate cost will be less than $700 billion since the bailout is an asset swap government bonds for banks assets. The concern, though, is about burgeoning budget deficits resulting from financing the bailout by issuing government bonds to be held by investors, which will crowd out other, more productive, investments. One may plausibly argue that as long as the government buys banks assets such as mortgage-backed securities (MBS) with new issues of government bonds there is no crowding out effect.

The loss is inevitable, given that Wall Street bankers leveraged $1 trillion worth of MBS, which are valued at approximately 40 cents or less on the dollar. The potentially crippling problem now is the short-term credit markets, where banks are hoarding whatever cash they have in an effort to ride out the crisis and, thus, loans are few and far between. This hoarding is creating a larger credit crisis that could begin to squeeze every business that needs cash flow from department stores financing inventory to credit card companies juggling millions of purchases every day.

The concerns in the US are the migration of the crisis from Wall Street to Main Street, where the pain is only beginning to be felt. The government and the Federal Reserve are focusing on keeping money flowing in the credit system and thereby limiting layoffs, shutdowns and bankruptcies. Today's automatic macroeconomic stabilisers, such as unemployment insurance, Social Security blankets, the government backed insurance of bank deposits (by FDIC: Federal Depository Insurance Corporations), and circuit breakers to keep stocks from falling too fast, stand as safeguards.

The Great Depression can still revisit us but it is highly unlikely. A recession is inevitable if not already underway and the policy makers are striving to make it less painful and short lived, if that is at all possible.

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Why Obama must be more white than black

Up until last week, the Republican Party had been successful in defining the 2008 presidential election as a contest not of the past versus the future, the Democrats versus the Republicans, but between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Their logic was that as long as the Americans were asked to choose between a white "war hero" and a black of questionable heritage, people would choose wisely.It is common knowledge that as long as the election is a referendum on Obama, he is going to lose; if it is about issues then the republicans will struggle. Republicans boast that this is not going to be an election about issues but more about personalities.

The Republicans attempted to separate Obama from his own party. Their strategy has been to single out Obama and present him not as the Democratic Party nominee but a dubious black man.Unfortunately for the Republicans, the events in Wall Street this week has forced John McCain to talk about something he dreads, the economy. He is on record as saying that he does not understand the economy.

The polls have shown that the net result of the "Palin effect" is that more white women now support Obama than did before, and that 75% of Americans believe that McCain picked Palin not for her competence but to help him win. Polls show that only 36% of white males will vote for Obama. Republicans use the fact that over 90% of the blacks will vote for Obama only as a rallying cry. But the fact is blacks have voted for whites all their lives including Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry picks holes in that argument.Obama cannot be complacent.

Only now is he beginning to feel the full venom of the McCain sting. He has to keep attacking McCain and remember the Bradley effect - many whites say they will vote for a black candidate - but in the privacy of the voting booth do not.

Unless Obama is ahead by at least 7 points, he is not going to win.The Obama campaign sometimes forgets that he is not like any other Democratic nominee. He is black, and to win must minimise his blackness. To reassure whites he must surround himself with whites at all times.

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Time for a new doctrine

Washington had confessed that there was nothing like al Qaeda or WMD in Iraq during Saddam's time: occupation has invited Al Qaeda for a killing feast.

Seven years of pounding on possible and suspected Al Qaeda connections has led to nowhere. The elusive Bin Laden and his terror outfit are still expanding from their hideouts. 'Either with us or against us' had forced Pakistan to be a reluctant partner and anti-American feeling is intense. Frequent bombing from North Africa to the Philippines, in Europe and elsewhere tell us the Bush doctrine is neither working nor taking the people along. There should be a search for a new strategy that will keep people engaged not by force or threat but by shared values and gains. The new doctrine must make nations partners, not the collaborators of the strategy.

From the Red Mosque siege to the latest attempt on the Prime Minister Yousuf Jilani, the capital of Islamabad is incrementally becoming a battlefront. Al Qaeda may be the brain but it is mostly Taliban - the of-spring of Pakistan that is sucking it dry. Events suggest the boundary between Taliban and Al Qaeda is losing its identity more and more like the Durand line between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was overplay by Pakistan beyond her capability in the Afghan inferno that is turning back on Pakistan now. When Pakistan is failing to save her own capital and the leaders, her handle on the Taliban does not appear to be convincingly anyone including her neighbour India who alleged Pakistan’s’ complicity in the recent bombing of her embassy in Kabul. Unfortunately pointing finger at the neighbours is the cheapest ballgame of the lazy brains. The latest bombing in New Delhi suggests terror management is an international concern and needs proactive regional strategy and cooperation.

In the global context the first realization is that Muslims must be the part of the civilization, not the opposing force. It is time for Prof Huntington to write against his own antithesis to save the world from the curse of 'The Clash of Civilization'. The new strategy needs to inject pride and honour among the players to eliminate conflict. Religions do not fight; religionists may, on perceptions of their own. Like blaming the neighbour in the subcontinent, blaming the religion or color of the opponent has become the cheapest way to hide the failure. Terrorism is the wrong means and methodology of job orientation. Hindu Tamils of northern Sri Lanka are jihadist of their kind, more dreaded than many terrorist groups of international acclaim.

Obama and McCain are fighting a war of words for the White House that is metaphorically putting lipstick on the pig. We are watching the effects of these personalized, philosophized and tactical attacks to gain mileage on their voters. Where words fail guns take hold. Modern civilization does not allow guns as a means of conflict resolution. Let Muslims be a positive social force of change; not collaborators or opponents in the gun-barrel strategy. It is time to tell how much Muslims have lost since 9/11 and with compassion and how much they can gain through parlays and accommodation.

Muslims have taken a century of bashing since World War I. The more they suffer; more they miss their heritage and desperately look towards religion for salvation. Unlike vigorous attempts by Japan and Germany following the devastations of World War II, Muslim society was paralyzed by the defeat in the First World War. A new strategy must encourage them to walk out of the melancholia. Democracy is the fulfillment of desires and aspirations; it must be the strategy of those who want to see poor societies move forward on the highway of civilization. Let the benefits of democracy slowly but surely percolate through the barriers and prejudices.

The ground reality of the Arab- Israeli conflict is very far from where it started. Israel is as much a reality today as an independent Palestine. The long struggle and suffering has crystallized the realities for all sides. The boundaries in disputed areas can wait, duly managed by the UN forces; Palestinians must be immediately offered sovereignty over the undisputed land. A sovereign Palestine will have higher stake in going into clash with stronger Israel for fear of the loss. At the same time Israel will have difficulty in crossing international boundary on one pretext or the other. Palestinians might have lost everything during the last sixty years Israel is also tired of winning without an end in sight.

It is too late for President Bush for a strategic shift. The Wall Street collapse will take its toll on the economy and bad news from subprime meltdown will continue. In a free market greed and competition are the twin track of occasional bubble burst. It does not matter whether Obama or McCain becomes the next president, they will have to get the economy in shape and bring the world closer.

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9/11 - War on Terror

The ghastly 9/11 is a dark day in history that witnessed the most inhuman attacks on the humanity at large that led to the destruction of the American Twin-Towers.

The worst attack on humanity after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the global picture outright as it killed thousands of innocent civilians, and it also shattered the myth of American invincibility. However, it was unfortunate that the bunch of terrorists, being misguided, caused such monumental destruction in the name of Islam. Islam, on the other hand, is a religion of peace, tolerance and harmonious co-existence. Since 9/11, however, the world has completely changed as George W. Bush launched a Global War on terror. And his invasion of Iraq paved the way for a genocide. Moreover, that war on terror extended to Afghanistan. Pakistan, being the most trustworthy ally of the US, let the Americans to enter its territory and bomb suspected areas and kill innocent civilians. This has raised questions regarding America's intent. The whole world, since 9/11, has witnessed a kind of Muslim-hatred infused in the war on terror enterprise. Intricate issues between Palestine and Israel are still lying uncared for, unresolved; rather, as it is found, Israel is playing a role of American interest holder in the Middle East from its illegal outpost.

Today, after many years of intimidation of several kinds against the Muslims, discerning people with an unbiased wisdom tend to believe that the whole war on terror scenario has finally and brazenly turned out to be a war on the Muslims in general. Now it has become imperative that the war on terror be redefined so that we all can reach a peaceful state of living.At this point, however, it is to be made clear that we Muslims do not support any kind of terrorism on earth.

Thus no Muslim can afford to do harm to others, let alone human slaughtering; those few gone awry or misguided are enemies of Islam and the Muslims in all respects this is where lies the importance of the redefinition of the War on Terror.

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Things can only get worse

With 158 year old Lehman Brothers, one of the world's biggest investment banks, filing for bankruptcy, Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch, another giant of investment banking and American International Group (AIG), the world's largest insurance company, panting to be shored up, a student of commerce will now hesitate to knock at the door of a finance house for a job.

These three events centering on Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG are, without exaggeration, the biggest Wall Street headlines in a decade.Bank of America, the second-largest US bank, with Merrill in its possession will now turn out to be the top US bank and will likely put 24,000 of Merrill's 60,000 non-broker employees worldwide out of work. That, combined with Lehman's approximately 26,000 workers out of jobs, will send major shockwaves through the job markets. Just the other day Hurricane Ike pounded Texas, leaving behind floods, power outage and large-scale damage to lives, homes and properties. The hurricane, according to some soothsayers, seems to portend that things are not going to be well in America and the rest of the world. An air of gloom and despondency seems to be haunting the whole financial world.Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy is one of the worst banking collapses in history. Lehman is the latest financial butterfly to flap its wings, and its sudden fall will have ripple effects throughout the entire world of finance. Lehman's bankruptcy is the latest symptom of how sick the financial institutions in America are and illustrates just how intertwined the global economy actually is.Financial commentators are blaming Lehman Brothers CEO with a big dose of bad luck, for the institution's fall from grace. Until June, it had never even reported a quarterly loss as a public company.

The world is face to face with a great turning point in the next few days, as three major brokers of the world have now disappeared from the scene. There will be winners and losers, and only those who are fittest and trustworthy will ultimately survive as the US government can't and won't bail out every sick institution as it did with Bear Stearns.If Hurricane Ike's lashing of the American coast and Lehman Brothers' sad demise in the latest financial tsunami hitting the Wall Street augur that a recession is going to hit the world anytime soon, it is time for all of us to be braced for cataclysmic events like the ones that once hit the world in the 1930s.

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House of Saddam - End of a dictatorship/dynasty

Last night saw the finale of House of Saddam, the four-part HBO-BBC venture that was dubbed the drama series of the summer. It was a bold attempt to capture nearly 30-years of the Saddam dynasty in four 1-hour episodes but it did it and in style too. It sounds a little perverse to take pleasure in a drama about one of the most despicable people ever to have lived but I am talking about the dramatization and the performance of the cast rather than the subject himself.

If Diana was the most photographed person in the world, then Saddam Hussain and his regime was the most talked about, often despised, sometimes ridiculed and inevitably always in the news for the best past of the last 30 years.

We came to know of Saddam exclusively through the media, about how he gained power by terrorising and executing those who dared to oppose. Ironically, he himself went the same way on 1 December 2006 when he was hanged for crimes against humanity.

The 4-part drama begun in the early days of Saddam’s reign following the forced himself into the office of President. What we witnessed in the drama that followed may not have taught us much about the complex character that was Saddam, but it gave us glimpses of his lavish life and which kept the audience eager and curious throughout.

House of Saddam followed a simple story line, a narration of the key events that shaped Iraq and Saddam Hussain during the war with neighbours Iran, the first Gulf war and the most recent American invasion. It ended with the hanging of the man who harboured fantasies of ruling the Arab world, often with the blessings of his makers in the West.

Watching the events unfold gave a feeling of déjà vu. Events in and around Iraq had always dominated the news and some of the events depicted in the drama came straight out of the footage from the BBC and others in the global media. And yet the series gave us a glimpse of some of the background to key events that shaped the Saddam dynasty. We had heard much about the Falluajh atrocities, the killing and murders of his family members, the events leading up the disastrous Gulf war in 1991 and the psyche of a man who even on the 11th hour felt that he had a chance to hold the Americans back and their massive assault in 2003. House of Saddam made a brave attempt to capture the essence of these events.

The key to the success of House of Saddam were the characters and the performances of a truly superb cast. Everyone played their part, often too close to reality. Saddam himself, played by Agil Naor held his own quite brilliantly throughout. Alongside his, his sons Uday and Kusay were just as impressive. They captured the high and lows and captivated the audience with their grasp of the multiple personalities of the people they were trying to play.

We saw examples of how powerful yet lonely, how vulnerable yet fierce and often eccentric and frightening Saddam and his younger son Uday were. Saddam himself was an enigma. A powerful man in the eyes of his people and those around him yet he was also portrayed as being very lonely, insecure, vulnerable and funny. Yes funny. The writers showed us a side to Saddam that few of us were ever told about. And why should we have been told that Saddam had a wicked sense of humour?
In the penultimate hours before being caught in the underground bunker, Saddam jokes with his security men about marriage, cooking and “playing away”. It perfectly characterised a man who was an eternal optimist. I guess you have to be if you run a dictatorship. Believing in your own hype is prerequisite to any power hungry dictator.

We didn’t learn a great deal more about what made Saddam tick or how the House of Saddam was shaped as the drama started at the point at which he took power. We saw glimpses of his family life, torn by his desire for control and discipline at all levels. He, like many people seeking the ultimate political goal, achieved so much at the expense of his family and close circles, the very people he slowly had to “get rid of” for his own safety. Saddam found himself increasingly isolated and removed from the rest of Iraq with his suspicions of anything that moved. He took betrayal badly and dealt his own brand of justice to even his closest kin and kith. At certain moments you could share his pain and anger at being let down by the very people he sough to protect. All around him was chaos, lies, deception and constant haranguing by the US and the UN inspectors and which drove Saddam to take drastic steps to secure his position. We saw him in contemplation at times, clueless as to the way forward and yet he was always defiant. Defiant to the end when pulled out of the bunker, he announced himself as the president of Iraq.

Whilst it no longer matters, the drama left you wanting to know a little more about Saddam Hussain and the things that motivated the actions during his reign. You could simply say that he was a bad man and did wrong but that does not feed the human curiosity to understand more. Saddam was a complex man, confused at times believing in his own hype as the world around him closed in. He became oblivious to the pain and sufferings of his people in his quest to cement his place in the geo-politics of the Middle East.

Saddam’s end in the drama came in the way most of us were told by the world’s news media. As a last, lame attempt to evade capture, he sat in the dark in a hole in the ground as the American’s searched the banks of the River Tigris. As the judge sentenced him to death by hanging, the end of a dynasty a dictatorship was nigh.

In the early hours of the holiest day of the Muslim calendar in 2006, Saddam Hussain. As the news broke, Muslims around the world were getting ready for special prayers to mark Eid-ul-Fitr, the occasion of sacrifice. As hundreds poured out of Mosques and makeshift prayer halls, one subject dominated the conversation. Most people had come to know of Saddam primarily through the news, often fed through a few news agencies in the US and Europe. Most people accepted the fact that Saddam did some terrible things for which he should have been punished. Most people also believed that Saddam was a product of the West and was used and then abused to suit their goals in the Mid-East. Above all, most people resented the fact that he was hanged on the day of Eid, in a sham of a court which was prescribed the punishment to be meted to the biggest liability to the US and its allies. Had Saddam been put on trial away from Iraq, too much may have come out of the mouth of the dictator, once championed by the US in its fight against the Ayatollah. We will never know Saddam but this drama gave us glimpses of a man we had heard so much about and despised to greatly.
Bravo the actors for their portrayal of the House of Saddam. Well done BBC/HBO. Let’s have some imagination and a follow up with the “Trials of Saddam”.

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The black man has to prove himself

With the unpopular Iraq war raging, the economy tanking, and gas and food prices soaring, generic Democrats lead Republicans by about 15% in national polls. The Democrats are salivating at the prospect of adding 30 more seats to their House majority, and reaching the filibuster-proof 60 Senate seats in November's election.

Yet, the Democratic presumptive nominee for president, Barack Obama, is in a statistical dead heat with his Republican counterpart, John McCain. Something is amiss. It is something no one, not even the media, wants to talk about. It is the white elephant in the room no one wants to acknowledge. After all, shining the spotlight on racism will not reveal a pretty sight.

A New York Times/CBS News poll found that 5% of the whites say they will not vote for a black candidate under any circumstance. Let us not mince words: they are racists! The same people said that 19% of their friends would not vote for a black candidate either.

It is safe to assume that about 15% of the whites will not vote for Obama simply because of his colour. This is reminiscent of the later part of the Democratic primary when 20% of the respondents said race was important to them, and of those an overwhelming majority voted for Hillary Clinton.

It is true that 90% of the blacks voted for Obama in the primaries, and will vote for him in November. However, the same percentage of blacks also voted for Kerry in 2004, Gore in 2000, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996.

The silly political commercials John McCain is running may appear silly to the educated; they are not silly to his target audience: working class whites without a high school diploma.

The McCain campaign has done extensive research and has found that making fun of a black candidate resonates well with these voters. Therefore, the McCain ads make fun of Obama's celebrity, his "inexperience," his lack of "leadership qualities," his "foreign" origin, and his "arrogance." (The lightweight uppity N. does not know his place!) McCain is providing bigots with a perfect cover to vote against Obama with a clear conscience!

The current President George W. Bush did not have a real job until his 40s. His dad's cronies got him a job with Halliburton and later bought him the professional baseball team, the Texas Rangers. Mr. Bush did not distinguish himself at either job, and is derided for trading the future superstar Sammy Sosa to the Chicago Cubs.

The only political experience Mr. Bush had was as a manager for his father's 1988 campaign, which aired the infamous, racist Willie Horton ad. When George W. Bush ran for governor of Texas in 1994, many Texans voted for him thinking they were voting for his dad, the former president George H. W. Bush. A "C" student, Mr. Bush was not admitted to Yale on merit, but as a legacy student because his father had also attended Yale.

If it were possible to assemble a panel of experts who had not heard of President George W. Bush or Barack Obama, and were asked to assess their fitness to be the US president by making Bush and Obama appear before them, they would have pointed at Bush and said: "Get this clown out of here!" Yet, America elected George W. Bush president -- twice!

John McCain was not admitted to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis on merit either. He, too, was admitted as a legacy because his father, John Sidney McCain, Jr. was an admiral in the US Navy.

John McCain graduated 894th out of 899 in 1958. (Yet, McCain insinuates that Obama is the dumb one!) McCain became a naval aviator, but the planes he flew crashed twice and once collided with power lines. In October 1967, McCain was shot down over Vietnam, was tortured, and spent the next five years in "Hanoi Hilton."

While both Bush and McCain were children of privilege, Barack Obama grew up poor. His Kenyan father abandoned his white American mother when Obama was two. He was raised on food stamps by his mother and maternal grandparents.

Obama worked his way through Columbia University and Harvard University. (Obama's wife, Michelle, also from a working class family of Chicago, graduated from Princeton University and Harvard law school). Yet, if one were to listen to McCain, Barack Obama ought to be treated as an object of ridicule!

McCain's ads, many of them false, interrupt Americans enjoying the Olympic Games with dire warnings of a catastrophic Obama presidency. If a fraction of what they accuse Obama of were true, and they are not, Barack Obama should not only not be running for the US presidency but, as an "unpatriotic terrorist sympathiser" who would do grievous harm to the American way of life, he should also be hauled off to jail!

McCain's message does resonate among some voters. I have read letters in local newspapers comparing Obama with Hitler! A book, Obama Nation (intended to remind voters of the American Nazi organisation, "Aryan Nation"), written by a rightwing thug who is a regular on Fox News channel, makes unsubstantiated, wild accusations about Obama's past, intending to swift-boat Obama's campaign, has become a best-seller. Obama has also received credible death threats.

Out of a population of 300 million, approximately two-thirds are white, 15% Hispanic, 13% black, 4% Asian Americans and 1% native Americans and others. About 90% of the blacks will vote for Obama, as will over 70% of Hispanics.

A plurality of white women will also vote for Obama. It is the other third of the population, the white males, especially the working class white males, that Obama is having problem with.

Lyndon Johnson in 1964 was the last Democratic candidate to win a majority of white votes. A black candidate, Barack Obama, is not going to do that. But, Obama will need to win about 40% of the white male votes to win the presidency. Educated and young whites will vote for him. Obama is struggling with the blue-collar whites.

Sooner or later, America will elect a black president. It is hard to imagine a better black candidate than Obama. He is smart, young, tall, handsome, articulate, moderate and inspiring. He is even half white. He is not the son of a former slave; his father was a proud Kenyan.

If America rejects a seemingly perfect black candidate in favour of an inferior white one, the world will conclude that the most powerful nation on earth has not yet overcome its legacy of slavery, and America will lose its moral authority to lead the world. For America's sake, let us hope that day does not arrive.

But, the stubborn facts remain: the status of a white man is never questioned. A black man has to prove himself every inch of the way. To be equal to a white, the black man has to be much better.

Sometimes, even that is not enough.

Research: FKA

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Russia up to it's old tricks

The American demand for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia is but the latest in a conflict that threatens to destabilise the region. The determined manner in which Russian forces have pounded away at Georgian positions in and around the breakaway republic of Ossetia have resulted not only in a serious loss of innocent lives but also in huge damage to Georgian infrastructure. Not even the capital Tbilisi has been spared; and despite the brave claims by the Georgian authorities that they have been inflicting blows on the Russians, the bigger truth is that Moscow's superior firepower may now have caused a situation where Georgia could collapse unless a cessation of hostilities comes about soon.

But that possibility even now appears rather remote, despite Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's quick acceptance of European Union proposals for a solution to the conflict. Meanwhile, Moscow has called for the resignation of President Saakashvili. The impediment, till this point, has however been the Russian leadership. US President George Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have already had a testy exchange on the issue in Beijing, where both men happened to be present at the opening of the Olympics. While one can hardly disagree with the thought that it was Saakashvili's attempt to bring Ossetia back into the Georgian fold through military means that led to the crisis, there is little doubt that the Russian response has been unnaturally unnerving. For once one is inclined to agree with the Bush administration, which thinks Moscow's response to Tbilisi's actions has been disproportionate. That said, it is now imperative that a swift resolution to the conflict be arrived at. The French and the Finnish are already at work on behalf of the EU. As for the Americans, Russian charges that they have been sending back Georgian soldiers from Iraq to Tbilisi to resist Moscow only underscore the degree to which Washington may not be in a position to influence events.

It should have been for Moscow to explore every peaceful, diplomatic avenue before deciding on a military response to Georgia's actions. That it opted for a bare-knuckled response is regrettable. Be that as it may, it is now for the global community to have the two sides arrive at a solution at the earliest. Unless the hostilities stop, there is a terrible chance that it might lead to a wider conflagration.

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The causes of "envirogees"

Environmental disasters from climate change and destruction of ecosystems will create a surge of refugees - 'envirogees' - across the planet. Maybe the buzzword will catch on faster and shed some much-needed light on what will become a serious problem, probably by the end of this or the next decade.

That light is important, because so far "envirogees" haven't been fully recognised by those who certify the civil liberties of Earth's various populations, whether it is the United Nations or local and national governments whose people are increasingly on the move for a whole new set of devastating reasons.

In short, immigration is about to enter a new phase, which resembles an old one with a 21st century twist. For thousands of years, humanity has fled across Earth's surface, fearing instability and in search of sustainability. From earthquake to cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh to cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, to water rationing in Los Angeles, societies are shifting like their borders. And the entire outcry over so-called illegal immigration neglects to answer one time-honoured question: If the borders are not standing still, why should the people who live in their outlines do so?

Especially when they're under attack from catastrophic floods, fires, droughts and any number of other environmental dangers?Right now, the 1951 Geneva Convention does not recognise the "envirogee" phenomenon, instead focusing on immigration because of political persecution. Here are some startling "envirogee" numbers to crunch: According to the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Earth's cracking communities will have 150 million "envirogees" by 2050. According to Australian climatologist Dr. Graeme Pearman, coastal flooding resulting from a mere two-degree rise in temperature would kick 100 million people out of their danger-zone homes by 2100.

Here's more scary data. Desertification is claiming land from China to Morocco to Tunisia and beyond at an increasing rate. New Orleans and parts of Alaska are slowly sliding into the sea, while the former, as Hurricane Katrina showed, is becoming a target for intensifying weather events, human corruption and half-baked infrastructure. Aquifers around the world are shrinking, while acidification is claiming cropland in Egypt and beyond. Hypoxia has claimed portions of the ocean itself with alarming speed, as stretches of the Atlantic and Pacific lose oxygen and, by extension, it would claim the marine life that not only feeds millions but also sets up the continuity of the food chain.

"The rate of increase in carbon dioxide concentrations accelerated over recent decades along with fossil fuel emissions," explained a report on methane and CO2 rises by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Organisation for Atmospheric Administration. "Since 2000, annual increases of two ppm or more have been common, compared with 1.5 ppm per year in the 1980s and less than one ppm per year during the 1960s." As for methane, in 2007 it exploded by 27 million tons after a decade with relatively no rise at all. So what's an "envirogee" to do, other than opt out of wasted fantasies like Happy Meals, factory farming, bottled water and Hummers? What else? Move.

This is what "envirogees" worldwide are already doing right now, by choice or at gunpoint, and will do more often than not as situations on the ground and in the air worsen.The conflict raging in Darfur is a sobering example of the complexity. It has so far displaced 2-3 million people, and for all the talk of political or religious persecution, the fact remains that it is at its root an environmental crisis. An arid desert whose water is drying up by the day, Darfur is one of the first flashpoints of our new phase of climate conflict, a conflict that U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon explained in the Washington Post as one "that grew at least in part from desertification, ecological degradation and a scarcity of resources, foremost among them water."

And like Darfur, we are numbly sitting atop our climatological past while it races to catch up with us. Parched by thirst and hungry for fossil fuels which, in turn, only aggravate that thirst and the wars it causes, "envirogees" are streaming out of these hot zones into less murderous ones, whose inhabitants are circling their wagons on the outsiders. Civil wars are breaking out. Outsiders, in turn, are becoming invaders. The irony is rich.It gets richer, or poorer, depending on where you stand on oil.

The planet's shrinking petroleum reserves are now more valuable than ever, and the prices for its capture and capitalisation show zero signs of returning to normal. That expense is also beginning to be measured in lives, as carbon concentration exponentially increases and weather events become more extreme.But one can't, because it is reality. And so are "envirogees," regardless of the outdated assertions of the Geneva Convention or the staid refusal of the insurance industry to wake up and smell the hurricanes.

"If we keep going down this path," French President Nicholas Sarkozy argued to the superpowers gathered at the Major Economics Meeting in Paris, "climate change will encourage the immigration of people with nothing towards areas where the population do have something, and the Darfur crisis will be only one crisis among dozens of others."That is, we won't be worried about Mexicans coming to the U.S. for economic reasons, or Africans doing the same in France and England.

We will be worried about hyper-violent cyclones, floods and droughts destroying what's left of our jobs and the people who want them, as we pack and move to where soothing weather and more bountiful supplies of water, gas and food lie. We will be the ones enduring the hard stares and perhaps bullets fired from locals who are circling their wagons against victims of their own consumption and apathy.Whether we can settle with that solution, time will tell. But according to the continually underperforming science of climatology, we won't settle for long.

Barring any meaningful socio-political or economic engagement, to say nothing of much-needed technological revolution, on the issue, we'll have turned from territorial citizens into climate nomads, all in a cosmological eye-blink.(Research B I Ahmed).

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House of Saddam - Review: part 1

With much anticipation I sat to watch the first part of the four part BBC drama, House of Saddam last night. It was billed as the must-see TV and after the first offering, I am certainly looking forward to next week’s episode even though on many fronts, the writers failed to delve deeper in to the main character that is Saddam.

Over the past 20 years or so, people across the world came to know of the dictator that was Saddam from the regular appearances on TV that showed him to be nothing more than a power hungry, ruthless, misguided and loathsome figure who considered himself indispensable in the geo-politics of the Mid-East. Like him or loathe him (and most people did in the West) there was no denying the complex character and stature of the man who even with the noose round his neck, smirked at his detractors.

The drama unfolded at the setting of the birthday party for Saddam’s daughter where President Bakr was told by Saddam and his henchmen to “resign” his post in no uncertain terms. A strange place to start the drama indeed given that Saddam had spent the best of forty years building up to that moment yet the writers failed to tell us anything about what drove him to be the way he was. One by one, he did away with all those who got in his way including the massacre and desecration of Dujail where an assassination attempt was made on Saddam’s life. All this drama within the first half an hour of the series! One was left feeling rather short changed because we learnt little about the character and what made him think the way he did. Above all, by beginning the drama at the point when Saddam assumed power, the writers had avoided having to search deeper into the early years of Saddam and his life. What they did tell us was peculiarly familiar, possibly because they mirrored the stories and footage we had come to see and hear about during the last two decades.

Covering Saddam Hussein, in any capacity, was not going to be easy. They had to get a universally (well almost) loathed character and humanise him. However, in the opening moments of this programme, with casting that, from the off, looked sublime, it certainly seemed that it was going to do the trick. Right from the outset, the cast and the sets captured the grandeur and depth of the Iraqi desert. In typical tried and tested fashion, the writers captured Saddam, like many biopics of bad people, as a loving, loyal family man and quickly moved to reveal a ruthless, menacing and evil character Like most cold-blooded murderers, it hinted that Saddam was a bit of a mummy's boy as well. In under ten minutes, Saddam was shown as cruel, ambitious, unsettlingly calm and all the things you associate with the truly despicable.
Igal Naor who plays Saddam, managed to portray him warm enough to keep us guessing as to what will be unraveled in the coming episodes. He has grasped the style and demeanor of Saddam to pull off the many graphic murders (point blank, close range, firing squad head shots) and atrocities. He was very ably supported by a whole host of characters who will grow into their roles.
From inciting incredible fear to those that surrounded him (executed with aplomb by the whole cast) to the more familiar guerilla tactics of bombings and attacks on the streets of Baghdad, the sets were spot on, at least from a televisual spectacle, as it lived up to what I'd hoped it would be. In amongst the gore and power struggles where other scenes that were equally powerful, he death of Saddam's mother was intense and the Saddam's wooing of a woman, right in front of her husband.

Production values were as impressive but there was an over reliance on stock footage. This is where the drama lacked authenticity and depth many yearned. There was far too much reference made to over familiar footage from news channels and propaganda clips. Nonetheless, they were accommodated well within the slick editing.

The actors are certainly playing out of their skin and it would interesting to see if they sustain this level of tension and menace. It’s a very good start and although it’s a bit odd to be enjoying the life of someone so terrible, the writer’s have so far managed a mix that may be lacking depth but certainly not entertainment.

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Burma Cyclone Appeal

My appeal for the victims of the Burmese cyclone appeal yielded nearly a thousand pounds. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of members of the Northampton Bangladeshi Association, many of you came forward with your donations and we are grateful.

The cyclone that hit Burma last month was devastating, made all the more worse by the decisions of the military Government not to let Western aid into the country in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Although things are a lot better two months on, the situation remains dire for millions who have lost their homes and possessions and are likely to spend years rebuilding their shattered lives.

Once again, I am delighted that the people of Northampton have shown their generosity and dug deep to help those in need.
We will be forwarding our collection to our established partners Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

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Last chance for Bangladesh

The latest twist in the political impasse in Bangladesh is the temporary release of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for medical treatment in the US. Sheikh Hasina – who is being held for correction charges – has been allowed to leave the country for eight weeks to get treatment for hearing, eyesight and blood problems.

The saga ended months of negotiations between the military backed government and the leaders of the Awami League who maintained that their participation in any reform discussions could only take place if the former PM was allowed to receive medical attention abroad.

It seems that the Government has finally buckled under the pressure and agreed to the demands. It is not clear how serious Sheikh Hasina’s condition is or how long it will take. Having failed in its attempt to send the former PM into exile, the Government may have finally reached a compromise which can bring part one of the saga involving two former PM’s to some sort of an end. It is unclear whether Sheikh Hasina will return to Bangladesh in time for the local elections being planned for December. In April last year, the Government failed in its attempt to block Sheikh Hasina from entering the country after a personal visit abroad. The chances of her returning this time seem slim. This is the first piece in the jigsaw that will see the two former PM’s going into exile. Khaleda Zia, the other former PM, was also encouraged to go abroad for medical treatment last year but refused. She too is currently awaiting trial for corruption charges with her two sons.

It has been a longstanding view of the current caretaker Government that reform of Bangladesh’s political institutions will not work until the two former PM’s remain key players within their respective parties. Although the women have consistently denied the various charges brought against them, the Government is determined to press ahead with their reform agenda. Progress has been slow but Bangladeshis’ need to be patient because a great deal is at stake. The caretaker Government has made significant strides to bring order to the country’s alarming level of lawlessness which brought about the suspension of Parliament and Parliamentary democracy in October 2006. Since then, political activity had been suspended and thousands of arrests made including many MP’s and Ministers on corruption charges.

Bangladeshis’ need to show strength and resolve as the caretaker Government attempts to clean up one of the most corrupt states through some tough measures. Unless they are allowed to see through much needed reforms, the last chance for any meaningful progress will be lost again for a further unspecified period of time. Too much is at stake and Bangladesh cannot afford another 1/11.

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Britain needs to step back

The 3-year tenure of Anwar Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi born British High Commissioner to Bangladesh came to an end last month. Mr Chowdhury’s appointment was fraught with complications right from the outset and some of his statements and activities caused unease for both nations. Mr Chowdhury’s appointment was marred by the bombing of the holy Shahjalal shrine in the northern city of Sylhet in which he survived an attempt to assassinate him.

There is no doubt that during his time, Mr Chowdhury made progress in further strengthening relationships between Britain and Bangladesh. However, at times, his over eagerness to assist in the affairs of the country, particularly during the political unrest in October 2006 which saw the disillusion of Parliament, was seen as trying to exert undue influence on the future direction of the host state.

Undoubtedly, Mr Chowdhury got away with a great deal more than he would have done so had he not been a High Commissioner of Bangladeshi decent. His knowledge and understanding of the country’s socio-political dynamics was both his strength and weakness. On the one hand, he was a convenient appointment for the UK whilst his closeness to the host country was also a reason for much unease for both nations.

So as Mr Chowdhury’s time in Bangladesh comes to an end, a new journey begins for the much travelled Stephen Evans. The new High Commissioner to Dhaka will have an equally challenging role in which he will need to balance his views on the current political impasse in Bangladesh with that of the British interest. He will need to appreciate the steps being taken by the caretaker Government even though it has been much criticised for curtailing Human Rights. Mr Evans will not have failed to note that some tough but effective steps by the military backed Government has brought the alarmingly high level of terrorist attacks under some control.

Stephen Evans has experience in South Asia and more recently in Afghanistan which will help him with his endeavours in Dhaka.

Unlike Mr Chowdhury, Mr Evans will find it easier to steer clear of the internal affairs and there will not be the expectation for him to comment on every small issue. If experience of the past 3 years is anything to go by, he will do well to steer clear of the current reform process and allow the Bangladesh Government to bring about much needed changes to the political landscape even if it at times compromises the basic rights of citizens. The long term benefits will be shared equally by Bangladesh and Britain.

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Battle for the White House 1

Like a lot of people, I have been gripped by the presidential pantomime across the pond. It’s been a fascinating spectacle and promises to entertain even more in the coming weeks and months.

Here, I will offer my weekly take on those jostling for position to become president and making some bold predictions with the aid of my trusted confidante in New York, the irrepressible Gerry Scott. (http://www.gerryscottusa.com/)

The race for the White House is coming to the boil nicely; well it is for the Democrats. The Republican contest has petered out and it seems certain that John McCain will be confirmed in the very near future as he edges ever closer that magic number of 1,019 delegates needed for the nomination.

The real race and drama involves the Democratic battle which is growing ever bitter as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama slog it out state after state. Gerry is of the opinion that by the time the real campaign starts, the Democrat, whoever it my be (Gerry thinks heart will rule over head and Obama will emerge victorious-just), will have run out of steam, leaving quite an easy route to the White House for John McCain. I disagree and I will tell you why.

America has longed for change ever since that dreadful night when it dawned on half the nation that they were going to have George W Bush as their president. They have waited 8 years and endured much. America’s image, reputation, integrity and standing in the eyes of ordinary folk wherever in the world they happen to be has taken a battering and it needs to be put right.

Change has been the buzz word in this presidential campaign. Like a lot things in the States, there has been an air of phoniness about the campaigns of the runners in each party.

For the Republican candidates, it’s been about egos, deep pockets and in the case of Rudi Giuliani, a massive miscalculation of his worth and popularity. The Republican Party is as divided as ever. Whereas it’s taken quite a fierce two-way battle to split the Democrats, McCain has managed to do the same, by himself. His liberal outlook and readiness to join forces with the Democrats ‘for the sake of the country’ has infuriated the conservatives within the party. McCain is seems is the reluctant choice, partly because others offered even less possibility to uniting the views of Republican America.
Its inevitable McCain will get nod and if he succeeds in getting to the White House, the vote split will be as stark as it was back in 2000. No change is not a change America can ill afford at this time.

I am not convinced by McCain. America is a very different place today than it was 8 years ago and the world has moved on. America has become more self-conscious and people have started to care about what the world thinks of them. McCain has used his Vietnam past to his advantage but being Commander and Chief in the current battle (and I’m talking about a country flirting with recession and war), is going to require steely resolve at home and a stiff upper lip abroad. America needs to mend some seriously broken relationships abroad and McCain isn’t the man to that job.

So on to the real battle for the presidency.

Americans have been dealt a really bad hand this time. In the red corner, a weak Republican lacking the leadership the country will need post the Bush era.

In the blue corner, Team Clinton and the great pretender, Barack Obama. The former has to contend with the shadowy figure of former President and husband Bill, forever a thorn in her side. Hillary is caught between a rock and a hard place. She knows that she alone cannot win with the Democrat nomination or the presidency and at the same time, his mere presence in the campaign trail reminds people of the legacy of Bill. He is both her strength and her weakness. In the end, she will prevail and not only will pip Obama to the Democratic post but she will also take the White House.

The reason I feel Hillary will get to the nod is not because she is the best suited for the role of President, far from it. She will have the edge on Obama purely because America is not quite ready to embrace Barack. Much has been made about his background, lack of proven track record, untested at home or abroad and splitting America and they are all true.

Obama is straight out of the Blair school of statesmen, great orator, impeccable presentation, camera friendly, charismatic and lacking any substance. You only have to listen to him speak, state after state, hour after hour, he reiterates the same message. The difference is rather than sounding like a broken record; he carries off the same slogans and sound bites with breathtaking confidence and lures the audience into a false sense of security that a seasoned evangelical preacher would be proud of. Herein lies his attraction.

Like many preachers, Obama captivates and draws attention not to what he is saying but he manner in which he delivers it. Obama has people in a daze and that may last till the home straight in the Democratic race but Democrat America will see through it. They will ignore the promises of the messiah and opt for the devil they know.

It will be fun while it lasts. Obama is giving it his all and has so far proved a worthy rival for Clinton. Much of America has fallen for the boyish charms and charisma of Obama and many are of the opinion that since he will not last the course, they will help him give Hillary bloody nose and a run for her money. In the end, Democrat America will recognise that Barack has peaked too soon and America itself is not ready to be that bold, just yet.

It’s neck and neck and going right to the wire and we are fascinated by the spectacle. The reality is so much hinges on America making the right choice because the consequences for getting it wrong again will be catastrophic for them and the world at large.

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Bangladesh Diary - Natural Born Businessman

I met Arif during my short visit to Bangladesh recently. Arif is 9. That’s all I knew of him such was the nature of our meeting. For my first visit to Bangladesh in 15 years, I expected to see some change, change in the landscape and in the people. I certainly found plenty to mull over on my return.

Bangladesh, my place of birth and the only place I knew for the first 10 years of my life. It’s a beautiful country. So much is wrong with it and yet there is so much to treasure. It’s a country of many contradictions. Whether amongst people, possessions, outlook and attitude, nowhere else on earth is there such a sharp divide and nowhere else are the extremes in such stark contrast.

As I look out of my penthouse suite in the 5 star hotel on the outskirts of Dhaka, I look out onto one of the main highways that link the old city with the new. Across the road, a huge waste tip has built up, most likely, unplanned. Around it are makeshift homes and a bazaar. The bazaar is a bizarre mix of hawkers and semi-permanent stalls, all plying their trade round the clock. Above it is a sign that reads, ‘Welcome to your dream’, the last remaining evidence of what was to be a housing estate that never quite happened.

In the coolness of my air-conditioned room, I looked out onto this melee. Its one o’clock in the afternoon and the sun at its fiercest. Add to it the dust and fumes, the bizarre bazaar looked like to jaws of hell. I readied myself for a trip to the ‘other side’. I was warned by my colleagues not to venture out and especially not in this heat but I couldn’t resist. I caught sight of a little boy, baking in the sun, sat with his legs crossed just in the edge of the train track and behind a vegetable seller. It didn’t seem like he had anything to sell. I couldn’t see enough. I was curious and it drove me out of the hotel.

The heat was unbearable and you feel it instantly. The dirt filled air is as thick as it is harsh. My face and exposed arms took the brunt of it the moment I stepped outside the hotel. I negotiated my way round the cars and rickshaws and on to the over bridge towards my destination. I looked back at the hotel in all its splendour, sparkling neon lights that flickered even at daylight.

Down in the markets its all go. My attention was momentarily disrupted by the sound on an on coming freight train. Suddenly mayhem! All the hawkers and hoards of people just wondered aimlessly. I looked around and saw the gates on the railway crossing slowly stagger down. The train passed as vendors looked on, peering between the slow moving carriages to make sure their goods were still there. As soon as the last carriage passed and the gates drew upwards, the crowds spilled on the tracks. You would never know a train had passed here less than 30 seconds earlier. The hustle and bustle of the busy market during Ramadan was a claustrophobics nightmare. The dust blinded you, the noise deafened you and the forceful nature of some of the people frightened you. No one it seemed cared, no one was bothered, except me. Mindful of drawing attention to myself, I walked, through the middle of the two rows of sellers, pausing every so often and attracting the odd comment. I soon found out they were not directed at me or to anyone in particular. People just said things. Things that were relevant to the goods they sold. One guy selling socks just muttered the words (in Bengali) ‘socks’, great socks! Warm socks! Where else would you find a socks seller in 40 degrees of heat? Welcome to Bangladesh!

As I dodged my way through the human traffic, I was mindful of barging into people stepping sideways like a polite Sunday driver. I soon found that my progress through the market would take a considerable longer if I don’t pick up the local custom. If you get barged, just carry on, you don’t stop to look. If you want a particular stall or seller, you look in that direction and head for it. That is how you make headway here. So I did.

I stood in front of Arif. I was his age when I left Bangladesh. A timid little boy, fair he may have been once upon a time but the sun has seen to that. His tiny frame, veins and bones sharp and visible. Hands on his head he sat, as if to fend off the sun, looking attentively at his goods, day dreaming. My feet were inches from his flattened cardboard he has spread out in front of him. From where he was sat, he saw nothing but my shoes. He didn’t have the courage to look up for fear the sun might blind him. He didn’t feel obstructed by my presence, just assumed I stood there in order to get a view of something else. After all, what would I want from his ‘stall’?

Arif had neatly laid out his goods all carefully lined, parallel and perfect. I scanned it quickly. Three hair brushes, 6 combs, several hair clips, bands, novelty combs and a toothbrush. His grey shirt was once white. You can tell by the fold marks in the sleeves. His trousers had seen many better days but even at knee length, they are far from finished serving him. My feet moved sideways and back to allow others to pass by and then I knelt down and drew Arif’s attention.
‘Sir would you like a comb?’ he asked, half-heartedly, only momentarily looking at me before reorganising his brushes.
He muttered a little more under his breath. With one hand covering his forehead, he looked up again. ‘Sir would you like a comb? I looked at his face, tiny and scorched. His eyes were big and the whites sparkled against his dark face. He has mousy hair and dry chapped lips. He screwed his face to fend off the sun and to look at me properly and when he did, he sat straight, attentive and inquisitive. My presence was both confusing and fascinating him in equal measure. He looked at my shoes and my jeans and then my face, trying not to be too blatant. He had sincerity in his empty face. He seemed likable. So I said ‘how much for the comb?’ he couldn’t move quickly enough. ‘Sir this one is 5 Taka and this one 10 Taka’, he said pointing at each. He sensed that a sale was imminent. I picked it up, to take a closer look. He stared at me, wondering what I could possibly be examining in something so simple. Still he was patient.
‘What is it like to comb your hair with? I said.
A rye smile emerged from the corner of his lips as if to say what do you mean what does it feel like!
‘Try it’, he said with eagerness. I declined the offer. ‘Its ok’, he insisted, ‘your hair doesn’t have dirt like mine sir’. I put the comb back and paused to pick up a brush. His smile disappeared as he suspected my interest in his comb could be over and then it returned again as I picked up a brush. Only this time it wasn’t a smile, more of a mischievous grin. ‘Sir that’s for ladies’, he warned me. I looked at him and we both laughed. ‘I knew that’, I said. He didn’t want to question me, partly for fear and partly because he would potentially count himself out of a sale.

He seemed at ease with me, so I asked his name. ‘Arif’, he said. ‘How are you Arif? ‘I think about 9’ he said. His head swayed side to side as if to confirm it. As I was about to quiz him further, an elderly beggar lost his balance from stepping on a stone, sending a kickful of dust in our direction. I immediately stood up and Arif grabbed his cardboard and goods. The old man composed himself and wondered off aimlessly, attracting the odd glimpse from passers by.
As the dust settled, Arif laid his card back before him and proceeded to clean up some of the dust off his precious items. He had a resigned look in his face as if fate had dealt yet another blow to tarnish his meagre possessions. Now he has a whole lot of dirty combs and brushes and his hair bands have attracted much of the dust. Emptiness surrounded his face as he looked aimlessly round him for something to wipe them with. He took them one by one and tried his sleeve. It wasn’t long enough and did little to remove the dust. I watched him as he attentively went about his cleaning. I was beginning to make him nervous, probably even irritating him. He looked up at me in despair and then his smile broke out again in seeing my handkerchief. He couldn’t believe it. It was so clean and white. He wouldn’t dare. He didn’t even look in my direction as I offered him the handkerchief, just nodded his head and declined in appreciation. He blew into the combs and blew harder still but little changed. I moved the agony on a little by bending down again and picking up his hair bands. ‘How much?
‘Three Taka’, he said with a slight irritation in his voice. He paid little or no attention to me this time. He had suspected me to be nothing more than a passing inquisitor who had no intention of buying anything.
‘How much for all your items?
He looked up blankly and his lack of expression condemned me to madness with one glance.
‘What? He asked.
‘How much for everything?
Perplexed, he looked at me like people do when they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. He composed himself, took a long look at his goods, a deep breath and did some arithmetic’s in his head.
‘Fifty Taka’, he murmured under his breath.
‘Fifty Taka? I’ll take them all’.
Things were begging to sound very confusing for him in the afternoon sun.
‘So let me get things clear here. You want to buy everything in my stall? He twitched his eyes and rubbed his nose.
‘Yes, everything. I will pay you 50 Taka for everything if that is OK with you?
If ever you saw a little boy smile. So much excitement yet he forced himself to contain it all within him. He looked like he couldn’t wait to tell someone the story about the time a ‘madman’ came to his stall and bought everything. I knew what he was thinking. His face told the story of his dreams.
Arif carefully gathered the goods and then neatly folded the sides of his cardboard to create a box.
‘It will be easy to carry’, he said. I agreed.
He held the box towards me and I met him halfway. As it rested under my arm, I took out a crisp 50 taka note.
He took it gladly and folded it neatly several times before placing it in his pocket.
‘Well I have nothing else to sell and if you stand here too long you will go black like me’, he joked.
‘I have some stock you might be interested in’, I said. He looked at me, confused and probably wondering the ‘madman’ is at it again.

‘I have some stock which I am looking to give away. I can’t carry it back to my hotel because it’s too heavy’. He suspected I was talking about the things I had just brought from him. To make it clear, I pointed at his cardboard box. He knew I wasn’t telling the truth and he suspected there was more to my proposal. He was beginning to get a measure of my madness. I was beginning to seriously worry him now and he looked left and right and possibly for a moment thought about doing a runner but his curiosity held him back. I handed him the box and told him that I would like him to have it.

‘I cant, it’s not mine anymore and I don’t really want to buy it back from you because I really need the money’, he said in a pleading manner.
‘It’s ok, I don’t want any money’, I said.
Arif looked at me as if to say that he didn’t want my handout and then he did. ‘Sir, I am not interested in taking your goods. I want to earn my living’. I felt slightly embarrassed and rather taken back by the response.

Here was a 9 year old boy, probably born in abject poverty and a breadwinner for more than himself, yet he was determined to earn his keep. Arif’s response both shocked and worried me in equal measure. It would not have been out of place for him to just take the goods and move on. People his age are aplenty in Bangladesh and all living on the edge of life and death. For many, the break of dawn signals the beginning of another uncertain day in which finding something to line their empty stomachs dominates these tiny minds. A night under the skies in the streets of Dhaka is a living reality for many kids like Arif and yet here he was refusing to take something I had offered him as gift. Right or wrong, I had imagined Arif’s life and how it may have panned out up till now. I imagined Arif would have a fair few siblings. Born to parents uncertain of their present let alone the future with a small patch of the Dhaka slums that they call home.

As presumptuous as I am sounding, this scenario would not be far removed from the reality facing many thousands in Bangladesh yet Arif’s attitude pleasantly surprised me and worried me all the same. With that honest attitude, he would struggle to survive the tortures of street life. Surely fate would not treat such an innocent soul or deprive him of days honest earnings, would it? Truth is it does and it will continue to do so to many thousands each day. I am a mere traveller who has taken a passing interest in the life of a street child…

’Sir, sir, I will take the goods back from you for a Taka, that way you will have sold it to me fair and square’. Arif interrupted me from my thoughts and his proposal almost threw me. Where did you learn to do business like that!

As soon as he gave me the soiled 1 Taka note, Arif was off. He had disappeared into the crowed and I was too hot and bothered to look.

I decided to walk back to the hotel and take stock of what had just happened.

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