Brandon Alexander
Beat Memo– Bangladesh
Background info:
CIA Factbook is a good resource for obtaining large amounts of general info for countries. According to the site, the religious breakdown of Bangladesh’s population is: 89.1% Muslim, 10% Hindu, and the remaining 0.9% is composed of Buddhist and Christian. In terms of language, the majority of Bangladeshis speak Bangla/Bengali (a whopping 98.8%), while the rest of the population speak “other” languages, according to the CIA World Factbook.
A brief history of BD’s Government:
It was in the 10th century that people living in what is now Bangladesh had begun settling and converting to Islam. These people were originally said to be Persian traders and preachers. By the 16th century many trading posts were created in the area and the territory became absorbed into British India. However, as tensions between East and Western Pakistan began growing in 1947, the movement for Bangladesh to acquire its independence became gradually stronger. One of the two major political parties in Bangladesh, the Awami League, led the country’s movement towards independence. With India’s support, Bangladesh’s independence war was won in 1971, though it did not come easily- approximately 300,000 civilians died during the time of the movement.
Not even four years after Bangladesh acquired its independence, the Awami League-led government became overwhelmed with the challenge of running a country and was overthrown by the military in 1975. Several military coups followed this until the government became heavily backed by the military and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was set in place in 1978. However, yet again, the BNP was removed via a coup in 1981 and for a decade Bangladesh was governed with military-backed ruling. It wasn’t until 1991 that the country saw democratic elections and after several years of alternating power between the AL and BNP, BD officially turned over to a democracy in 2008 with the election of the AL and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina still holds the position of Prime Minister to this day, due to a landslide victory in Bangladesh’s national election in 2014 against the BNP. In recent times, Bangladesh boasts that with “international developmental assistance”, the country’s poverty rates decreased from what was previously half the entire population to one third. The government claims that it has reached goals in bettering maternal and child health, as well as food security.
Info on BD’s News Media:
Some of Bangladesh’s most viewed local news outlets are its newspapers and news websites. Of these, the Bangladesh-English daily newspaper, Prothom Alo is a major source of news in the country that is estimated to be read by 4.3 million people every day. Other prominent news outlets are the daily newspaper: Kaler Kantho, the 24-hour news channel: Ekattor TV, The Daily Star, NewAge.net, Daily Sun, and Betar-Radio Bangladesh. According to an article on BBC.com regarding Bangladesh’s media, the country’s media tends to be highly polarized. News agencies align themselves with the different main political groups and in 2014, the government issued a policy “banning all TV and radio shows from broadcasting material deemed to harm the image of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies impede state security” (BBC). This is an interesting find, because it correlates to the main topic I want to cover in this class, as well as what one of my interviewees has been telling me regarding censorship and corruption in Bangladesh.
Some of BD’s current news are clashes the Bangladesh police are having with protesters at an anti-coal protest, as well as the Court of Bangladesh sentencing 26 people (including three senior officers from the country’s elite security force) to death after they were convicted of murdering seven people. Additionally, a top story on several Bangladeshi news sites involves the country’s High Court ordering the government to explain why it “shouldn’t be directed to form an inquiry commission to identify the ‘culprits who made up false stories’ about corruption conspiracies involving the Padma bridge project” (Daily Star).
Demographics and Popular Neighborhoods for Bangladeshi Communities in NY:
My neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens has a healthy amount of Bengali families. Additionally, according to data from the NY Time’s Region map, there has been a growth of Bangladeshi families in the Queens neighborhoods of; Jackson Heights, Woodside, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Sunset Park, and Bensonhurst. I hope to get interviews from families in these various neighborhoods.
Some quotes from interview with Rifat Hasnat, friend from previous college:
“I just feel like pretty much everything in BD works via bribing. I’m sure that happens in a lot of other countries, but it’s just so extreme in BD. You could be the best of the best and at the same time, you could end up getting little to no recognition for it, unless you know someone personally that can give you such a position.”
“It’s very hard to escape the class that you’re born in. And it’s common knowledge that the elites do shady things to maintain their position and wealth. But they don’t get in any trouble or face any consequences because of the law- specifically the police. They obey only those who have money, money truly is power over there.”
Contact Info:
Rifat Hasnat, 21. (646) 659-4325
I also have permission to interview Rifat’s parents who were born and raised in BD. They don’t speak much English, so Rifat will step in as my translator during their interviews. I also plan to get familial references from Rifat’s parents.
Sites used for info gathering:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12650946
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/hc-probe-find-falsifiers-1361980