The Western media and Bangladesh

Over the past year, I have sent several rejoinders to the Economist, but I’ve never seen them appear in any of their issues. It is indeed sad that a magazine of such stature would continuously choose to publish write-ups that negatively portray Bangladesh and ignore ones that are positive, especially when some of the publication’s observations are incorrect. In one of their latest issues, it talks about the killing of USAID official Xulhaz Mannan and bloggers. It says: “Bangladesh has become one of the most dangerous places on Earth to suggest in public that gay people might have rights or that Islam might not have all the answers.” How strange. Which Muslim or a Muslim-majority country would not react to maligning Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)? The Hindu-Muslim riots in neighbouring India are an example that even the slaughter of the “holy cow” for Muslim sacrifice can trigger riots with Hindu neighbours. Still, the Economist finds Bangladesh as such. On the issue of gay rights, I must admit that Xulhaz Mannan never showed any disrespect towards Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or anyone else in the government. The killing was strongly condemned. But, it has been a taboo subject in our Muslim-majority secular country, and only after his murder did the issue come to the public platform. Homosexuality has existed in every society for ages, and it is there in Bangladesh too, but gays, lesbians, or bisexuals tend to live closeted lives, unlike Xulhaz, who was open. The government has not gone after the LGBT community. In fact, the police have identified the killers and published their photographs. The situation in most countries of the world, despite open societies and legislations which approve gay marriage, is that the LGBT community tends to lie low in most of the cases. Some people are still rather intolerant of the LGBT community, even in the Western world. Sheikh Hasina recognised hijras as a third gender, which was a huge step for our society. The hijras now live with dignity and in a free society which looks at them differently from before. But the Economist still wrote: “Bangladesh’s supposedly secular government seems keener to denounce the dead than to catch their killers.” How wrong they are. The magazine then went on to say: “The government accuses opposition parties of being behind the campaign of terror, but offers little evidence to support this charge.” What a blatant lie. The government has proven many times that all those who were arrested, and were convicted, mostly belonged to the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami or its partner BNP of Khaleda Zia. The Economist looks at Khaleda Zia’s corruption cases as if it was Sheikh Hasina’s twisted plot at revenge. What an utterly non-journalistic observation. It should know that, despite the opposition’s campaign, the judiciary is independent, and if you have committed a crime, you must face the music. If the BNP is at a loss these days, it is mainly due to Tarique Rahman and his immature political decisions, and because of Khaleda Zia listening to everything her son wants her to do. It is only natural in a democracy that you make the best use of your opponent’s mistakes. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has done that very wisely as a statesman. She is among the top 10 world leaders after all, a feat not easy to achieve. The Economist also failed to recognise Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as Bangladesh’s founder, and instead identifies him as Bangladesh’s founding president, a staple of many BNP leaders’ rhetoric. The Western media is basically in a state of confusion about the situation in Bangladesh. It talks of democracy under threat in Bangladesh as Sheikh Hasina becomes increasingly popular and tougher in delivering on the values that the nation had fought for. A weak, crumbling BNP is not anybody’s fault but its leaders. The Western media fails to appreciate a stronger Sheikh Hasina, who has the guts to construct the Padma Bridge and hang war criminals like SQ Chowdhury, forgetting that a strong Mahathir Mohamad made Malaysia what it is today, and a strong Lee Kuan Yew made Singapore what it is now. Bangladesh is at a crossroads, with 2019 being a crucial year. The progessive, secular forces under Sheikh Hasina wins, or radical Islamist forces aligned with Khaleda Zia take charge. The Western media should thus think twice before they write such reports.