28.10.04
T&T Office
On 25th of August I along with Palash bhai(my relative) went to Chittagong Telephone Board at Bayezid Bostami. When he heard my story of chronic failures in convincing those officials to fix our telephone line, he told me that he would go to the T&T office and talk about it entering every room of the office and tell everyone there about it. I now became confident that the phone would at last get fixed. For the last one month I have tried my best to get the phone re-connected. I complained about it to the T&T office several times but to no avail. So today I took him with me.
Now let me tell you something about the T&T office of Bayezid Bostami. Not to mention, like most of the government offices in Bangladesh it is huge in size with shabby out look, dirty staircases, doors with broken lockers, windows with broken glass, walls with bad plaster and inside there are age-old documents piled up in giant sized shelves.
We went inside the building. I told you before that the building is huge and certainly lot bigger than it was necessary. In the first floor’s corridor there are enough doors to baffle you easily. You will have to wonder which door to enter first. And it gets harder to find the right room when you find that there is no one around there to help you. But it was easy for us on that Tuesday because out of those 13 doors only one was open. It is named, “Test Room”. And surprisingly there was only a woman inside that room. Her name is Rabeya.
Palash Bhai asked her to show the complaint book to see if there was any complaint from our part. He discovered that there were complaints on 23rd, 18th, 13th, 10th and 3rd of August. I made these complaints coming to the office. I don’t know if they bother to notice the complaints made by over the phone. Palash Bhai then asked the woman to tell him who the head of the office is, so that we could go to him. But she didn’t have any idea about that. She is a mere complaint writer (Yes, there is such a post in T&T office. Then there are other posts as complaint reader, complaint book carrier…etc. etc.). It is not surprising if she doesn’t know her boss’s name.
Then a man came into the room who seemed to have a good position in the office. Palash Bhai asked him the same question to know the head official’s name. And surprise, surprise… He doesn’t know either. He was asking Rabeya to help him. Then he said, “You know he is a new officer. So….”
Hmm….that indeed was a good answer, similar answers I often hear in different government offices.
We then went to the 3rd floor where the officers sit. And on this floor there are 16 doors on the corridor and most of them were closed that day. We went in the second room. The first room was locked with a big locker. But on the second room there was neither Mr. Molla nor Mr. Bhuiya. There was only a man who seemed to me to be a minor employee. And he told us that they have gone home.
Gone Home??? At 3pm? I know that the working hour is till 5pm. It means they are reluctant of working after noon. But couple of days ago when I went to the office to have my complaint written at 9:30am, I couldn’t find them then either. I was told to come again at 10am because 9:30 was too early. My relative said, “Isn’t it funny Zahir!!! But when you will find them at the office they will be on lunch break.”
We found only one room that was not locked but it was closed. To my embarrassment Palash bhai pushed the door open and went inside. After entering the air-conditioned room we peeped through a curtain and found a fat man with a very loose pants sat in front of a computer smoking. Next to him was another man who was standing and helping the fat man to do his work on the computer. They didn’t notice us. He was checking the e-mails slowly smoking the cigarette and the other man was helping him to do that. At one time the standing man said, “Sir, to open the letter you will have to double click on the mail ad. Like me, quickly” We understood that this fat man is the head of the office.
You cannot blame the other employees when the boss is like this.
Then we talked with him about the problems with our phone connection.
He said, “Why have you bothered so much? You could have simply written a complaint to Mr. Molla’s room. The problem would have been solved soon after”. “Is it the first room on the left of this floor?” I asked. He said, “No, it’s on the 3rd floor.”. That’s amazing because we were on the 3rd floor then. After getting out of the boss’s room Palash bhai told me “ How ridiculous! The employees don’t know their boss’s name and the boss doesn’t know where his employees sit. Hahahaha…..”
On the 30th August workers from T&T office came to fix our telephone line. I hearing their arrival news went to them to see what the problem was. I found that there were four men working there. One with a spade had dug the soil; another (Nuru) was fixing the cable problem, and their supervisor (Nabi), sitting on a chair was watching them do the work. And the fourth man who is a guard at the T&T office was wondering what had happened.
When Nabi saw me he said, “There was problem in the cable. But there was no spare cable at the office. I have reconnected your telephone line to a different connection coming from that area. It is illegal according to government law. But as you are my known person and your uncle is my friend, I’ve done this work on my own accord and with my own expense. For the digging and changing of the cable it took us 700tk., tell your mom to give us 1000taka for the repairmen. In other places we would have taken at least 3000tk for this…”
Really, every government employee works for the people with their own pocket money. Unfortunately they don’t get any material from the government.
I didn’t say anything to them then. After this they came to our house and we gave them tea and snacks. When they had finished and demanded the money, I bargained for some time with them. It was necessary to pay them as little as possible because if we had paid them a big amount they would have made that the required amount. And not only that they would disconnect our phone line willingly every few months later to get more money.
At first I gave Nuru 300Taka but he wasn’t satisfied. Then after bargaining for a while he wanted to have at least 600Taka. I told him with disgust, “Ok, take this 600Taka.” “Are you hurt?” he said. “If giving me this money hurts you then I won’t take it.” Bringing a big phony smile on my face I said, “Oh no. I’m not hurt at all. I’m rather very glad to be able to give you this money.” He then said, “Ok, I will take it then.” They then departed taking 600Taka.
I think my conversations with the government employees have some literary value that’s why I’ve put them here. Sometimes when I talk with them I can hardly help laughing.
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Now let me tell you something about the T&T office of Bayezid Bostami. Not to mention, like most of the government offices in Bangladesh it is huge in size with shabby out look, dirty staircases, doors with broken lockers, windows with broken glass, walls with bad plaster and inside there are age-old documents piled up in giant sized shelves.
We went inside the building. I told you before that the building is huge and certainly lot bigger than it was necessary. In the first floor’s corridor there are enough doors to baffle you easily. You will have to wonder which door to enter first. And it gets harder to find the right room when you find that there is no one around there to help you. But it was easy for us on that Tuesday because out of those 13 doors only one was open. It is named, “Test Room”. And surprisingly there was only a woman inside that room. Her name is Rabeya.
Palash Bhai asked her to show the complaint book to see if there was any complaint from our part. He discovered that there were complaints on 23rd, 18th, 13th, 10th and 3rd of August. I made these complaints coming to the office. I don’t know if they bother to notice the complaints made by over the phone. Palash Bhai then asked the woman to tell him who the head of the office is, so that we could go to him. But she didn’t have any idea about that. She is a mere complaint writer (Yes, there is such a post in T&T office. Then there are other posts as complaint reader, complaint book carrier…etc. etc.). It is not surprising if she doesn’t know her boss’s name.
Then a man came into the room who seemed to have a good position in the office. Palash Bhai asked him the same question to know the head official’s name. And surprise, surprise… He doesn’t know either. He was asking Rabeya to help him. Then he said, “You know he is a new officer. So….”
Hmm….that indeed was a good answer, similar answers I often hear in different government offices.
We then went to the 3rd floor where the officers sit. And on this floor there are 16 doors on the corridor and most of them were closed that day. We went in the second room. The first room was locked with a big locker. But on the second room there was neither Mr. Molla nor Mr. Bhuiya. There was only a man who seemed to me to be a minor employee. And he told us that they have gone home.
Gone Home??? At 3pm? I know that the working hour is till 5pm. It means they are reluctant of working after noon. But couple of days ago when I went to the office to have my complaint written at 9:30am, I couldn’t find them then either. I was told to come again at 10am because 9:30 was too early. My relative said, “Isn’t it funny Zahir!!! But when you will find them at the office they will be on lunch break.”
We found only one room that was not locked but it was closed. To my embarrassment Palash bhai pushed the door open and went inside. After entering the air-conditioned room we peeped through a curtain and found a fat man with a very loose pants sat in front of a computer smoking. Next to him was another man who was standing and helping the fat man to do his work on the computer. They didn’t notice us. He was checking the e-mails slowly smoking the cigarette and the other man was helping him to do that. At one time the standing man said, “Sir, to open the letter you will have to double click on the mail ad. Like me, quickly” We understood that this fat man is the head of the office.
You cannot blame the other employees when the boss is like this.
Then we talked with him about the problems with our phone connection.
He said, “Why have you bothered so much? You could have simply written a complaint to Mr. Molla’s room. The problem would have been solved soon after”. “Is it the first room on the left of this floor?” I asked. He said, “No, it’s on the 3rd floor.”. That’s amazing because we were on the 3rd floor then. After getting out of the boss’s room Palash bhai told me “ How ridiculous! The employees don’t know their boss’s name and the boss doesn’t know where his employees sit. Hahahaha…..”
On the 30th August workers from T&T office came to fix our telephone line. I hearing their arrival news went to them to see what the problem was. I found that there were four men working there. One with a spade had dug the soil; another (Nuru) was fixing the cable problem, and their supervisor (Nabi), sitting on a chair was watching them do the work. And the fourth man who is a guard at the T&T office was wondering what had happened.
When Nabi saw me he said, “There was problem in the cable. But there was no spare cable at the office. I have reconnected your telephone line to a different connection coming from that area. It is illegal according to government law. But as you are my known person and your uncle is my friend, I’ve done this work on my own accord and with my own expense. For the digging and changing of the cable it took us 700tk., tell your mom to give us 1000taka for the repairmen. In other places we would have taken at least 3000tk for this…”
Really, every government employee works for the people with their own pocket money. Unfortunately they don’t get any material from the government.
I didn’t say anything to them then. After this they came to our house and we gave them tea and snacks. When they had finished and demanded the money, I bargained for some time with them. It was necessary to pay them as little as possible because if we had paid them a big amount they would have made that the required amount. And not only that they would disconnect our phone line willingly every few months later to get more money.
At first I gave Nuru 300Taka but he wasn’t satisfied. Then after bargaining for a while he wanted to have at least 600Taka. I told him with disgust, “Ok, take this 600Taka.” “Are you hurt?” he said. “If giving me this money hurts you then I won’t take it.” Bringing a big phony smile on my face I said, “Oh no. I’m not hurt at all. I’m rather very glad to be able to give you this money.” He then said, “Ok, I will take it then.” They then departed taking 600Taka.
I think my conversations with the government employees have some literary value that’s why I’ve put them here. Sometimes when I talk with them I can hardly help laughing.
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Gas Office:
Now lets talk about the gas connection. Just listen to the conversation I had with a employee of Bakhrabad Gas office.
I: We want to convert out 5 single gas burners into double burners. Can you tell me the procedure?
He: Okay, it’s easy. You will have to fill up this form. Pay 2000TK to the government for the approval to being this change and pay additional 2,500TK as ‘service charge’.
I: Why do I have to pay the 2000TK for?
He: Well. That’s the government law. For 5 burners 2000 taka.
I: And what this ‘service charge’ is for? Is it for to change the burners for us?
He: Yes. Quite like so.
I: But, I think we ourselves can change the burners. I myself have done it some times and it’s very easy. We don’t need government’s help for it.
He: Actually we don’t work for less than 2,500TK but I liked you much. You are like my younger brother. So just for you I will take 2000TK.
I: But… 2000TK is still too much. Besides we don’t need any servicing.
He: Okay... Okay…. kid. Don’t argue any more. I will take just 1,800TK from you. We never take so little as ‘service charge’. This is especially for you.
After this I gave him the money and he just signed in couple of pages and handed me a sheet and said, “It’s done. Now you can change your burners.”
Water Board
We weren’t getting water from the Government water pipe line for many months. So the other day I went to the WASA office to have it disconnected. There, on the ground floor I informed my problem at the ‘enquiry’. I was then told to go to the 5th floor and get the ‘due list’, if we have any bill unpaid. I went there and took the due list. There I was told to go to the 4th floor with the ‘due list’. After going there I was told to go to the first floor again because they don’t work for our area. Now after looking in several rooms I finally found the guy who works for our area. He told me to have a photocopy of the ‘due list’, go to his boss, have it signed and after paying the due bills go to the forth floor.
And like many government offices the lift of this building also doesn’t work properly to give the ordinary people proper exercise, I had a bit too much that day.
I did it as he said. But then found that it’s over 1pm. The office won’t work on any sort of things like this one. They have other better things to do. So I went to the office on the next day. I gave the application to an official on the 4th floor. Now listen to the conversation I had with the peon of that room.
Peon: Hello brother. Why are you here?
I: Ahh… to have our water line disconnected.
Peon: What have you done for it?
I: I’ve paid all the due bills, had its photocopy signed by the officer and then with an application I’m now submitting it here.
Peon: I see… But you will have to do one more thing. You will have to talk to our sir about it and satisfy him. I can help you in it. Otherwise your application won’t go to the next table. It will take you years to have the work done…
We didn’t pay the bribe. My mom said, “ Let them do it late. If we pay the bribe, they will get encouraged….”
Well, my mom was right. We had our work done but it took six more months and after these six months we received a due bill of 764TK. So I had to go through the same process in paying the due bill again.
Internet
We use dial-up connection. In our area there is no broadband connection. Per minute we have to pay 50paisa (1/2 Taka) from 8am to 11pm and the other time it is 30paisa per minute. So you see it takes me a lot to keep blogging. If our monthly Internet bill comes over 1,500TK it may get disconnected at any time without any notice and to have it re-connected is not so easy. I will have to go to Nanda Kanan Telephone office and on the 4th floor is the ‘Internet Section’. But for the sake of brevity I’m not talking about the process in which to get the Internet connection re-connected. But it’s quite the same as what I said about the water connection.
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Now lets talk about the gas connection. Just listen to the conversation I had with a employee of Bakhrabad Gas office.
I: We want to convert out 5 single gas burners into double burners. Can you tell me the procedure?
He: Okay, it’s easy. You will have to fill up this form. Pay 2000TK to the government for the approval to being this change and pay additional 2,500TK as ‘service charge’.
I: Why do I have to pay the 2000TK for?
He: Well. That’s the government law. For 5 burners 2000 taka.
I: And what this ‘service charge’ is for? Is it for to change the burners for us?
He: Yes. Quite like so.
I: But, I think we ourselves can change the burners. I myself have done it some times and it’s very easy. We don’t need government’s help for it.
He: Actually we don’t work for less than 2,500TK but I liked you much. You are like my younger brother. So just for you I will take 2000TK.
I: But… 2000TK is still too much. Besides we don’t need any servicing.
He: Okay... Okay…. kid. Don’t argue any more. I will take just 1,800TK from you. We never take so little as ‘service charge’. This is especially for you.
After this I gave him the money and he just signed in couple of pages and handed me a sheet and said, “It’s done. Now you can change your burners.”
Water Board
We weren’t getting water from the Government water pipe line for many months. So the other day I went to the WASA office to have it disconnected. There, on the ground floor I informed my problem at the ‘enquiry’. I was then told to go to the 5th floor and get the ‘due list’, if we have any bill unpaid. I went there and took the due list. There I was told to go to the 4th floor with the ‘due list’. After going there I was told to go to the first floor again because they don’t work for our area. Now after looking in several rooms I finally found the guy who works for our area. He told me to have a photocopy of the ‘due list’, go to his boss, have it signed and after paying the due bills go to the forth floor.
And like many government offices the lift of this building also doesn’t work properly to give the ordinary people proper exercise, I had a bit too much that day.
I did it as he said. But then found that it’s over 1pm. The office won’t work on any sort of things like this one. They have other better things to do. So I went to the office on the next day. I gave the application to an official on the 4th floor. Now listen to the conversation I had with the peon of that room.
Peon: Hello brother. Why are you here?
I: Ahh… to have our water line disconnected.
Peon: What have you done for it?
I: I’ve paid all the due bills, had its photocopy signed by the officer and then with an application I’m now submitting it here.
Peon: I see… But you will have to do one more thing. You will have to talk to our sir about it and satisfy him. I can help you in it. Otherwise your application won’t go to the next table. It will take you years to have the work done…
We didn’t pay the bribe. My mom said, “ Let them do it late. If we pay the bribe, they will get encouraged….”
Well, my mom was right. We had our work done but it took six more months and after these six months we received a due bill of 764TK. So I had to go through the same process in paying the due bill again.
Internet
We use dial-up connection. In our area there is no broadband connection. Per minute we have to pay 50paisa (1/2 Taka) from 8am to 11pm and the other time it is 30paisa per minute. So you see it takes me a lot to keep blogging. If our monthly Internet bill comes over 1,500TK it may get disconnected at any time without any notice and to have it re-connected is not so easy. I will have to go to Nanda Kanan Telephone office and on the 4th floor is the ‘Internet Section’. But for the sake of brevity I’m not talking about the process in which to get the Internet connection re-connected. But it’s quite the same as what I said about the water connection.
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26.10.04
Bangladesh Power Development Board...
(PDB): Revelation of its Corrupt Nature
Last month when we received the electricity bill we were totally baffled. For the 7 meters that we have in our building, on an average we usually get less than 400TK per month. 3 meters are for our use and the others are for the renters. But for the last 4 months the bills began to increase steadily. Last month it became 800taka per month. I talked about this sudden increase in the bill with the PDB officials but couldn’t get any satisfactory answer. They told me that the government has increased the price. They have nothing to do with it. But when one of our renters went to the PDB office he learnt a different story from his friend who is the executive engineer there. Here is what he said:
There is a slum in our locality. The slum dwellers take illegal connections from the electricity pillar from which electricity is distributed to every house (some factories and shops also use illegal connections). This illegal usage of electricity of the slum dwellers doesn’t bring a penny to the government. It is said to be ‘system loss’, although it doesn’t fit for to be called ‘system loss’. In this way at times ‘system loss’ is shown over 50%. Now to avoid this so called ‘system loss’ if the government create pressure upon the PDB officials, the chief executive engineer instructs his staffs to bring more money to government at any cost to cover-up this system loss. The PDB officials don’t disconnect the illegal connections because of the bribe they receive from them. So they increase the bill of the legal users. On papers the users will then receive bills lot higher than the actual bills that their meters indicate. You may not have even consumed at all but you will have to pay a big bill. Actually you are in this case paying someone else’s bill. Suppose your meter’s reading is 2000 Unit, you may find that in official paper it is stated that you have consumed over 3000 Unit. When the official amount goes too high they will simply say that your meter is not functional and will give you bills as they please. Now if you question farther they will say, “Okay, as you are saying your meter runs correctly… we will have to investigate.” They may then send your meter to Dhaka for inspection. And if you don’t bribe those Dhakait employees, your meter will be said to have fault. They will say. “Your meter moves slower than usual. Now, you have been using this meter for 2 years. For these 2 years because of your faulty meter you escaped paying the government in total 8,000TK. You will have to pay this money to the government.”
They will not finish here. For a new meter and getting it installed you will have to pay another 4,000TK that is in total 12,000TK. And one more thing, at the same time you will have to give the PDB employees tips for being so kind to you to take so much trouble to get you a nice new faultless meter. And behave well with them with patience (it is better if you can smile a bit while you talk with them) unless you want to go through the same process half a year later. Have a nice…. (ERROR!!! The writer’s electricity is gone).
.
.
..
…
I’m back…
Look at the marked area. In this month the bill came much higher than the actual amount. Our one renter went to his friend who is the executive engineer in PBD office of Chittagong and got his bill corrected. Here is that copy of his bill.
In this bill you can see that the Present Reading is 5330 units and the Previous Reading is also 5330 units but consumed unit is 200. When I asked about it to the PDB officials they said our meter is not functional. They made 4 of our meters nonfunctional although these meters were bought only 3 years ago. Out of the 3 other meters that they left as to be functional, one is 25 years old.
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Last month when we received the electricity bill we were totally baffled. For the 7 meters that we have in our building, on an average we usually get less than 400TK per month. 3 meters are for our use and the others are for the renters. But for the last 4 months the bills began to increase steadily. Last month it became 800taka per month. I talked about this sudden increase in the bill with the PDB officials but couldn’t get any satisfactory answer. They told me that the government has increased the price. They have nothing to do with it. But when one of our renters went to the PDB office he learnt a different story from his friend who is the executive engineer there. Here is what he said:
There is a slum in our locality. The slum dwellers take illegal connections from the electricity pillar from which electricity is distributed to every house (some factories and shops also use illegal connections). This illegal usage of electricity of the slum dwellers doesn’t bring a penny to the government. It is said to be ‘system loss’, although it doesn’t fit for to be called ‘system loss’. In this way at times ‘system loss’ is shown over 50%. Now to avoid this so called ‘system loss’ if the government create pressure upon the PDB officials, the chief executive engineer instructs his staffs to bring more money to government at any cost to cover-up this system loss. The PDB officials don’t disconnect the illegal connections because of the bribe they receive from them. So they increase the bill of the legal users. On papers the users will then receive bills lot higher than the actual bills that their meters indicate. You may not have even consumed at all but you will have to pay a big bill. Actually you are in this case paying someone else’s bill. Suppose your meter’s reading is 2000 Unit, you may find that in official paper it is stated that you have consumed over 3000 Unit. When the official amount goes too high they will simply say that your meter is not functional and will give you bills as they please. Now if you question farther they will say, “Okay, as you are saying your meter runs correctly… we will have to investigate.” They may then send your meter to Dhaka for inspection. And if you don’t bribe those Dhakait employees, your meter will be said to have fault. They will say. “Your meter moves slower than usual. Now, you have been using this meter for 2 years. For these 2 years because of your faulty meter you escaped paying the government in total 8,000TK. You will have to pay this money to the government.”
They will not finish here. For a new meter and getting it installed you will have to pay another 4,000TK that is in total 12,000TK. And one more thing, at the same time you will have to give the PDB employees tips for being so kind to you to take so much trouble to get you a nice new faultless meter. And behave well with them with patience (it is better if you can smile a bit while you talk with them) unless you want to go through the same process half a year later. Have a nice…. (ERROR!!! The writer’s electricity is gone).
.
.
..
…
I’m back…
Look at the marked area. In this month the bill came much higher than the actual amount. Our one renter went to his friend who is the executive engineer in PBD office of Chittagong and got his bill corrected. Here is that copy of his bill.
In this bill you can see that the Present Reading is 5330 units and the Previous Reading is also 5330 units but consumed unit is 200. When I asked about it to the PDB officials they said our meter is not functional. They made 4 of our meters nonfunctional although these meters were bought only 3 years ago. Out of the 3 other meters that they left as to be functional, one is 25 years old.
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22.10.04
Today is My Birthday
Today is my birthday. We don’t actually celebrate it. But we talk about it at home a little and I get some nice presents from my siblings. It goes nice. My elder sister will make cakes or cookies and at afternoon we everyone (only our family members) will gather at the dining room and pass some time talking about it. My mom may say, “Make good prayers to Allah so that he may grant your wishes and thank him for all that he Has given you.” My sister will get busy cooking something special and I will get e-card from her, my younger brother will say or do something to sound philosophical (like presenting the application which I talked about on my last post), my younger sister will get some flowers from the garden to give me as gift or she will just take some candies from her possession and give me with a big smile saying ‘Happy birthday’ real loud. And if my father phones us on this day he will tell me, “My son, my son you are no longer a kid now. What have you have to offer to Allah? On this day you came to earth and on a day like this you will leave this earth. The days in between these two days are exam days for you. How have you performed in it? My son, I want you to go to Jamaat this week for three days and learn deen. You may take it as my command or my advice that’s up to you….” And if my elder brother phones and knows about it he will say, “Today is your birthday… really? How old are you now???”
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21.10.04
A Unique Birthday Present
On my 19th birthday, my younger brother gave me a present, which I believe no one has ever received on his/her birthday. I was totally astonished by this unusual present and perhaps no other present from him could be more astonishing and also pleasing to me at that time. Hmm… Can you guess what that present was? It was an application. Hahaha… isn’t it funny. How can someone present an application to his brother on his birthday! But my brother did, because like the present he is also unique. He was clever enough to realize that this application could make me happier than any other type of present that he could have offered. Because this application is not a mere page, there is a long story behind it that reminds me of many things of my school life…
When I was in class nine, our class teacher was Dulal Babu Sir. And like most of the government schoolteachers he was very lazy. He used to come to the class at least 20 minutes late and rest of the time he would spend calling the roll numbers of the students. We were much accustomed to this routine. That’s why many of us used to enter the school late.
But in a day at the middle of the year when I went to enter the class 10 minutes late, I found Dulal Sir is already in the class. “Amazing… there must be something wrong. Otherwise why would he come to the class so early!” I thought. And more amazingly he didn’t allow me to enter the class instead started to rebuke me. And then he started lecturing on punctuality. “You have come 10 minutes late. Do you know in 10 seconds time one can win an Olympic gold medal? The new headmaster told me not to let anyone enter the class if he is late so that you may have a good lesson. So get out of here. And if you want to come to the class you will have to bring permission from the headmaster.” He said in a strong voice. Oh, now I understand as the headmaster changed, so changed the age-old rules. I was still glad that I wouldn’t have to be in his class. Because passing 45 minutes listening to his family talk would not be that easy. But I couldn’t understand how the new headmaster brought this sudden change in attitude in Dulal Sir; even my pleas are coming to no use. When I was returning from the class thinking of how to pass these 30 minutes, I saw my other 8 classmates who also received the same treatment were observing me from a distant place. But when I came close to them, they began to insult me for not making it to the classroom. They laughed at me because I got scolded. Now, I got adamant. I told them that I would enter the classroom and show them all.
The only way in which I could enter the class was to write an application to the headmaster requesting him to grant me to enter the classroom. But getting an application signed by the headmaster is not so easy. The previous headmaster was so tough at the students that everyone used to fear him so much that we even used to change our direction if we found him coming our way. Who knows how tough this person will be. His toughness changed the rules of the school in a day. Allah knows how tough he would be towards the students when he is so tough to the teachers. Thinking all these facts I kind of feared him. But to show my friends that I’m smarter than them I went in the headmaster’s room with this application. To my great surprise I found him very simple and understanding. He told me politely never to be late again. Then he signed the application quickly and told me that I was getting late for the class. I then said to myself, “We really needed a headmaster like you.”
This sort of application was totally new to everyone. So when I went to the class and showed it to my class teacher, he didn’t have any answer to it. And to my friends… I was a brave boy. The class captain of my class, Jewel was so convinced of my heroic that he collected that application from Dulal Sir and kept it with him. It was in his possession for 2 years. And later my younger brother came to know about this application from his younger brother who happened to be the student of the same class. Learning the story behind this application, my brother collected it from Jewel and presented it to me on my birthday.
Isn’t it a brilliant present?
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When I was in class nine, our class teacher was Dulal Babu Sir. And like most of the government schoolteachers he was very lazy. He used to come to the class at least 20 minutes late and rest of the time he would spend calling the roll numbers of the students. We were much accustomed to this routine. That’s why many of us used to enter the school late.
But in a day at the middle of the year when I went to enter the class 10 minutes late, I found Dulal Sir is already in the class. “Amazing… there must be something wrong. Otherwise why would he come to the class so early!” I thought. And more amazingly he didn’t allow me to enter the class instead started to rebuke me. And then he started lecturing on punctuality. “You have come 10 minutes late. Do you know in 10 seconds time one can win an Olympic gold medal? The new headmaster told me not to let anyone enter the class if he is late so that you may have a good lesson. So get out of here. And if you want to come to the class you will have to bring permission from the headmaster.” He said in a strong voice. Oh, now I understand as the headmaster changed, so changed the age-old rules. I was still glad that I wouldn’t have to be in his class. Because passing 45 minutes listening to his family talk would not be that easy. But I couldn’t understand how the new headmaster brought this sudden change in attitude in Dulal Sir; even my pleas are coming to no use. When I was returning from the class thinking of how to pass these 30 minutes, I saw my other 8 classmates who also received the same treatment were observing me from a distant place. But when I came close to them, they began to insult me for not making it to the classroom. They laughed at me because I got scolded. Now, I got adamant. I told them that I would enter the classroom and show them all.
The only way in which I could enter the class was to write an application to the headmaster requesting him to grant me to enter the classroom. But getting an application signed by the headmaster is not so easy. The previous headmaster was so tough at the students that everyone used to fear him so much that we even used to change our direction if we found him coming our way. Who knows how tough this person will be. His toughness changed the rules of the school in a day. Allah knows how tough he would be towards the students when he is so tough to the teachers. Thinking all these facts I kind of feared him. But to show my friends that I’m smarter than them I went in the headmaster’s room with this application. To my great surprise I found him very simple and understanding. He told me politely never to be late again. Then he signed the application quickly and told me that I was getting late for the class. I then said to myself, “We really needed a headmaster like you.”
This sort of application was totally new to everyone. So when I went to the class and showed it to my class teacher, he didn’t have any answer to it. And to my friends… I was a brave boy. The class captain of my class, Jewel was so convinced of my heroic that he collected that application from Dulal Sir and kept it with him. It was in his possession for 2 years. And later my younger brother came to know about this application from his younger brother who happened to be the student of the same class. Learning the story behind this application, my brother collected it from Jewel and presented it to me on my birthday.
Isn’t it a brilliant present?
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14.10.04
In Bangladesh bus, taxi and truck usually have different kind messages written behind them. Like “Say your prayers regularly”, “God is great”, “Keep safe distance from me” and so on. Recently behind many taxis a sign is seen that made me burst out laughing when I first saw it. It read, “Ei Gari ti Pratham shrenir Bema krita. (This car is licensed)” By this I understood that the owner is saying, “Hit me I won’t mind”.
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“Bangladesh in not the most corrupted country in the world. It can not even match a single big corruption of America with all of its corruptions put together.”
--M. Saifur Rahman, Bangladesh’s present Finance Minister said to the journalists in defense of Bangladesh when the news broke out that Bangladesh has been awarded the first place for the consecutive 3rd time as the most corrupted country in the world.
I really didn’t like it when I read it on the newspaper. Did he mean that since there are other countries whose corruptions have lot worse effects in the world than ours, it is ok with our corruption? I think he could have replied to the journalists in this way…
“Yes, Bangladesh in the most corrupted country in the world. But still I feel no shame for that. For our corruptions not a single country in this world suffers. For our corruption thousands of innocent people of another country do not die. We do attack another country in the name of ‘liberating them’. Our country in its thousands of years history never attacked any country. Isn’t it a matter to be proud of? It is true that we need to improve the law and order of our country and we are working hard on that matter. And when we have done so, I hope you won’t find any reason to criticize Bangladesh. I wish you’d also come forward with a helping hand rather than criticizing only.”
Now if someone tells you “Your country is the most corrupted in the world”, tell him “Isn’t it better to be a citizen of a corrupted county than being a citizen of a terrorist country?”
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--M. Saifur Rahman, Bangladesh’s present Finance Minister said to the journalists in defense of Bangladesh when the news broke out that Bangladesh has been awarded the first place for the consecutive 3rd time as the most corrupted country in the world.
I really didn’t like it when I read it on the newspaper. Did he mean that since there are other countries whose corruptions have lot worse effects in the world than ours, it is ok with our corruption? I think he could have replied to the journalists in this way…
“Yes, Bangladesh in the most corrupted country in the world. But still I feel no shame for that. For our corruptions not a single country in this world suffers. For our corruption thousands of innocent people of another country do not die. We do attack another country in the name of ‘liberating them’. Our country in its thousands of years history never attacked any country. Isn’t it a matter to be proud of? It is true that we need to improve the law and order of our country and we are working hard on that matter. And when we have done so, I hope you won’t find any reason to criticize Bangladesh. I wish you’d also come forward with a helping hand rather than criticizing only.”
Now if someone tells you “Your country is the most corrupted in the world”, tell him “Isn’t it better to be a citizen of a corrupted county than being a citizen of a terrorist country?”
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13.10.04
Rajkapal
After taking the ticket I sat on my seat, which was beside the window and kept my window full open. Then I was waiting for the bus driver to come and start the bus. I will have to go to Chittagong very quick. So I was in desperation for the bus to start.
Oh these bus-drivers… It seems they would never understand the importance of time. I was fuming inside. Then to get some relief I looked at the sky and tried not to think about the driver. Suddenly I heard someone saying “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal” (“Hey, you are Rajkapal. I, this mad man am telling you that you are Rajkapal”). As I looked down I saw an elderly man wearing ragged loincloth coming close to our bus. And to my great amazement when he came next to our bus he pointed at me with his index finger and repeatedly said, “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal”. Oh my Allah he is meaning me.
What does Rajkapal mean anyway? I read on storybooks that if someone is said to have Rajkapal he will become a very powerful man in future, a mighty king or things of that sort. And such a person can be distinguished even at the very young age, however only the ascetics can understand that. But literally Rajkapal means one who is very lucky.
There are many stories of mad men prophesising and although everyone neglected their prophecies as to be barren of any utility, later found them to be true. And those who misbehaved with them later had many misfortunes.
I heard many stories about a mad man of our village from my mother whose many predictions became true. She told me never to provoke any mad man. I heard it from many that a curse of some mad men can cause havoc in life. Even dervishes sometimes take the guise of a mad man. So I better watch out.
To be honest, even after listening to all those stories, I never really cared about it. I never even wanted to verify its authenticity. I simply wanted to ignore every mad man I encounter, so that I may not get myself into any kind of mess. But there are some things in this guy that I simply couldn’t ignore.
At first I thought he might be a beggar. But I never give alms to any beggar while I’m in a bus to avoid embarrassment. If you give alms to one, there will always be another beggar coming to you for more alms. It happens specially when you are in a bus terminal. So I changed my seat and moved to the next one which was vacant then. But this man is still saying the same thing but even in a louder voice. Well, there are some beggars who would praise before begging alms and if you don’t give them anything they will become aggressive. But this man is not of that kind. He didn’t demand anything from me. Moreover he didn’t even go to other passengers to beg either. After saying all those things addressing me, he just disappeared. I could see him nowhere.
It was really amazing… I haven’t seen anyone like him before. I began to think… Was he a true dervish then? Am I really a very lucky person? Raaaajkapal… Hmmm….What does it mean anyway?
Few minutes later I stopped thinking about him. Whether he is a dervish or not I tried to think of it optimistically. I wanted to bring some positive effect in me from this event. So I thought ‘Yes, maybe I really am going to shine in life. And why won’t I? I’m not weaker than any other boy of my age in any aspect. It’s just that I haven’t done anything special yet and neither have I been able to convince anyone with my talents, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to do something special in future. You can never say what you may become. So I tried to believe that mad man. Now, I felt more confidence in me as I am now more convinced of my future successes and hence less vulnerable to hardship because I know luck will be on my side at the end. In my mind I began to thank that mad man.
But my fancies didn’t last long as I saw that same mad man to say the same thing to another person in another bus. I now said to myself, “Oh Allah, why I’m so stupid!” I wish I hadn’t seen him on the second time.
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Oh these bus-drivers… It seems they would never understand the importance of time. I was fuming inside. Then to get some relief I looked at the sky and tried not to think about the driver. Suddenly I heard someone saying “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal” (“Hey, you are Rajkapal. I, this mad man am telling you that you are Rajkapal”). As I looked down I saw an elderly man wearing ragged loincloth coming close to our bus. And to my great amazement when he came next to our bus he pointed at me with his index finger and repeatedly said, “Ei tor Raj kapal; Ame ei pagol bollam tor raj kapal”. Oh my Allah he is meaning me.
What does Rajkapal mean anyway? I read on storybooks that if someone is said to have Rajkapal he will become a very powerful man in future, a mighty king or things of that sort. And such a person can be distinguished even at the very young age, however only the ascetics can understand that. But literally Rajkapal means one who is very lucky.
There are many stories of mad men prophesising and although everyone neglected their prophecies as to be barren of any utility, later found them to be true. And those who misbehaved with them later had many misfortunes.
I heard many stories about a mad man of our village from my mother whose many predictions became true. She told me never to provoke any mad man. I heard it from many that a curse of some mad men can cause havoc in life. Even dervishes sometimes take the guise of a mad man. So I better watch out.
To be honest, even after listening to all those stories, I never really cared about it. I never even wanted to verify its authenticity. I simply wanted to ignore every mad man I encounter, so that I may not get myself into any kind of mess. But there are some things in this guy that I simply couldn’t ignore.
At first I thought he might be a beggar. But I never give alms to any beggar while I’m in a bus to avoid embarrassment. If you give alms to one, there will always be another beggar coming to you for more alms. It happens specially when you are in a bus terminal. So I changed my seat and moved to the next one which was vacant then. But this man is still saying the same thing but even in a louder voice. Well, there are some beggars who would praise before begging alms and if you don’t give them anything they will become aggressive. But this man is not of that kind. He didn’t demand anything from me. Moreover he didn’t even go to other passengers to beg either. After saying all those things addressing me, he just disappeared. I could see him nowhere.
It was really amazing… I haven’t seen anyone like him before. I began to think… Was he a true dervish then? Am I really a very lucky person? Raaaajkapal… Hmmm….What does it mean anyway?
Few minutes later I stopped thinking about him. Whether he is a dervish or not I tried to think of it optimistically. I wanted to bring some positive effect in me from this event. So I thought ‘Yes, maybe I really am going to shine in life. And why won’t I? I’m not weaker than any other boy of my age in any aspect. It’s just that I haven’t done anything special yet and neither have I been able to convince anyone with my talents, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to do something special in future. You can never say what you may become. So I tried to believe that mad man. Now, I felt more confidence in me as I am now more convinced of my future successes and hence less vulnerable to hardship because I know luck will be on my side at the end. In my mind I began to thank that mad man.
But my fancies didn’t last long as I saw that same mad man to say the same thing to another person in another bus. I now said to myself, “Oh Allah, why I’m so stupid!” I wish I hadn’t seen him on the second time.
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10.10.04
Stories of Converted Muslims
From here you will be able to know more stories about converted Muslims.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/newmuslims/
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http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/newmuslims/
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The Miracles of Quran
From here you will be able to know some of the miracles of Quran. And this one is easy to comprehend and very interesting.
REASON FOR THE MIRACLE OF QURAN
Verse 74:31 gives five reasons for the miracle of the Quran with number 19 as the common denominator.
1. To disturb the disbelievers.
2. To convince the Christians and the Jews (that this is divine scripture).
3. To strengthen the faith of the faithful.
4. To remove all traces of doubt from the hearts of Christians, Jews, as well as the believers; and
5. To expose those who harbor doubt in their hearts, and the disbelievers; who will say, "What did God mean by this allegory?" (or "So What?").
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REASON FOR THE MIRACLE OF QURAN
Verse 74:31 gives five reasons for the miracle of the Quran with number 19 as the common denominator.
1. To disturb the disbelievers.
2. To convince the Christians and the Jews (that this is divine scripture).
3. To strengthen the faith of the faithful.
4. To remove all traces of doubt from the hearts of Christians, Jews, as well as the believers; and
5. To expose those who harbor doubt in their hearts, and the disbelievers; who will say, "What did God mean by this allegory?" (or "So What?").
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9.10.04
Fahrenheit 9/11 with the unnoticed things
“We have come here to help them and they are trying in everyway to kill us… I hate this place.”—An American soldier (taken from Fahrenheit 9/11)
I have read many articles about the movie, Fahrenheit 9/11 but nobody talked about this thing. Everyone was just busy criticizing Bush.
Many of the US soldiers went to Iraq because they thought they are going there to help the Iraqis. Seeing what happened at Abu Gharib and learning stories of US and British soldiers’ torturing the Iraqi civilians make us think that all the US soldiers are cruel, heartless and they only understand killing. But the real fact is not like that. Bush totally deceived some facts from them. Most of them don’t know that they are there only because of a numbered men’s greed. They don’t have any idea of the lies that instigated the war. They had total faith in their president and might have thought that he would never send them to an unjust war. But surely it was a stupid thing for them to go to Iraq without knowing the right condition of that place. They should have known why they are going there, what is their target there and what good their killing the Iraqi insurgents would bring to their country and the whole world. But quite stupidly they risked their life without getting proper knowledge of the situation. And now they are dying there.
I used to cheer whenever I heard of any US soldier getting killed. But now I rather feel pity for them. Maybe the US soldier who died today might have gone to Iraq hoping to help the Iraqis. Maybe he never meant any harm to any one. But now he is dead. And all this is happening because of a lie.
There isn’t anything in this movie that is new to us. We have been hearing these sorts of things for years. These things might be new to the Americans but are totally old to us and for this reason this movie couldn’t appeal much to me. But I liked that such a movie is created. I’m sure that this movie will help the Americans to think differently. But there are things that I don’t agree with Michael Moore. He missed some blatant facts.
Ok. Now think for a while. Who do we pay money to stay safe? In our country we have to give money to the local Mastans (terrorists under political support) before building a building or things of that sort and they give the assurance that they will not disturb us in anyway. Have you even heard of any terrorist offering money to an innocent person???
It is very much true that Saudi Arabia gives money to USA. But this money is not given because KSA wants of launch attacks on US soil but because it wants to keep its kingship intact. So long the Saudi princes keep good relationship with the American government, there will not be any big threat to their kingship. Saud family is flooding petrodollar to Bush family for this reason only. The kingship of KSA would have been long gone if not USA helped the Saud family with military power and political support. And no Saudi was linked to the 9/11 attack. I repeat Saudis were not liked to the 9/11 attack. 15 citizens who were found Saudis entered America with fake passport. It is logical that they can be anybody but not Saudi. If we carefully think about all the incidents that took place before and after 9/11 it is very much clear that it was the Israelis who launched the attack. And Bush wanted this attack to take place. But in Moore’s movie he didn’t mention it anywhere. Maybe it was too hot for him to disclose those facts in his movie. Watching this movie one will think that it was the Saudis who were behind the attack. But actually it was not they.
Over all, I would say that it was a brilliant movie and I want every American to watch it. At least they will know that their loving Bush tells lies.
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I have read many articles about the movie, Fahrenheit 9/11 but nobody talked about this thing. Everyone was just busy criticizing Bush.
Many of the US soldiers went to Iraq because they thought they are going there to help the Iraqis. Seeing what happened at Abu Gharib and learning stories of US and British soldiers’ torturing the Iraqi civilians make us think that all the US soldiers are cruel, heartless and they only understand killing. But the real fact is not like that. Bush totally deceived some facts from them. Most of them don’t know that they are there only because of a numbered men’s greed. They don’t have any idea of the lies that instigated the war. They had total faith in their president and might have thought that he would never send them to an unjust war. But surely it was a stupid thing for them to go to Iraq without knowing the right condition of that place. They should have known why they are going there, what is their target there and what good their killing the Iraqi insurgents would bring to their country and the whole world. But quite stupidly they risked their life without getting proper knowledge of the situation. And now they are dying there.
I used to cheer whenever I heard of any US soldier getting killed. But now I rather feel pity for them. Maybe the US soldier who died today might have gone to Iraq hoping to help the Iraqis. Maybe he never meant any harm to any one. But now he is dead. And all this is happening because of a lie.
There isn’t anything in this movie that is new to us. We have been hearing these sorts of things for years. These things might be new to the Americans but are totally old to us and for this reason this movie couldn’t appeal much to me. But I liked that such a movie is created. I’m sure that this movie will help the Americans to think differently. But there are things that I don’t agree with Michael Moore. He missed some blatant facts.
Ok. Now think for a while. Who do we pay money to stay safe? In our country we have to give money to the local Mastans (terrorists under political support) before building a building or things of that sort and they give the assurance that they will not disturb us in anyway. Have you even heard of any terrorist offering money to an innocent person???
It is very much true that Saudi Arabia gives money to USA. But this money is not given because KSA wants of launch attacks on US soil but because it wants to keep its kingship intact. So long the Saudi princes keep good relationship with the American government, there will not be any big threat to their kingship. Saud family is flooding petrodollar to Bush family for this reason only. The kingship of KSA would have been long gone if not USA helped the Saud family with military power and political support. And no Saudi was linked to the 9/11 attack. I repeat Saudis were not liked to the 9/11 attack. 15 citizens who were found Saudis entered America with fake passport. It is logical that they can be anybody but not Saudi. If we carefully think about all the incidents that took place before and after 9/11 it is very much clear that it was the Israelis who launched the attack. And Bush wanted this attack to take place. But in Moore’s movie he didn’t mention it anywhere. Maybe it was too hot for him to disclose those facts in his movie. Watching this movie one will think that it was the Saudis who were behind the attack. But actually it was not they.
Over all, I would say that it was a brilliant movie and I want every American to watch it. At least they will know that their loving Bush tells lies.
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8.10.04
Better Service
The other day I went to Sardar hotel at Kamalapur. After I’ve taken a seat, a hotel boy came to me to serve. Before serving food he said, “You will get everything special. You will be served better and everything that I give you will be special. Few minutes ago a man took just a cup of tea I gave him special service so he gave me a tip of thirty-taka. You will also receive such special service but you will have to look at me specially at the end of your meal.”
I couldn’t understand what he meant by his ‘special service’. Maybe he meant that he would serve me beautifully and for that reason he would want to have some tips. I told him that I’m prepared to please him if his ‘better service’ pleases me.
I then took Chicken and vegetable with rice. While eating I couldn’t find anything special in his service. The only good side of his service was that he brought the dishes very quick to me. To my calculation the bill should come about 55taka. But when I went to pay the bill, the boy came to the manager and said, “Boss, his bill is 35taka”. Oh, so this is what his better service is… I paid the bill and while leaving I handed a ten-taka-note to the boy. This is how that day he pleased me and I also pleased him.
On the next day I went there again and the same hotel boy came to me. This time he didn’t say anything, as he knows well that I’m aware of his ‘better service’. I’m not a voracious person. I never was. I habitually eat little but today I felt the voracity in me. I ordered for beef and chicken with rice. After the meal I felt pain in my tummy. Hey, have I eaten too much… Why does it matter? The bill won’t come big.
I felt relaxed as I went to the manager to pay the bill. I asked the boy, “How much is the bill?” “It’s 32” he said.
Wow! This is called true ‘better service’. I ate more today but the bill came lesser than yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I better eat even more. But there has to be an end of this trend of ‘better service’. So I decided not to give him any tip today. Instead I asked the hotel boy for a tissue paper and after having it I said, “Your service was really good.”
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I couldn’t understand what he meant by his ‘special service’. Maybe he meant that he would serve me beautifully and for that reason he would want to have some tips. I told him that I’m prepared to please him if his ‘better service’ pleases me.
I then took Chicken and vegetable with rice. While eating I couldn’t find anything special in his service. The only good side of his service was that he brought the dishes very quick to me. To my calculation the bill should come about 55taka. But when I went to pay the bill, the boy came to the manager and said, “Boss, his bill is 35taka”. Oh, so this is what his better service is… I paid the bill and while leaving I handed a ten-taka-note to the boy. This is how that day he pleased me and I also pleased him.
On the next day I went there again and the same hotel boy came to me. This time he didn’t say anything, as he knows well that I’m aware of his ‘better service’. I’m not a voracious person. I never was. I habitually eat little but today I felt the voracity in me. I ordered for beef and chicken with rice. After the meal I felt pain in my tummy. Hey, have I eaten too much… Why does it matter? The bill won’t come big.
I felt relaxed as I went to the manager to pay the bill. I asked the boy, “How much is the bill?” “It’s 32” he said.
Wow! This is called true ‘better service’. I ate more today but the bill came lesser than yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I better eat even more. But there has to be an end of this trend of ‘better service’. So I decided not to give him any tip today. Instead I asked the hotel boy for a tissue paper and after having it I said, “Your service was really good.”
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6.10.04
Gandhi's speech in South Africa
Few days ago I saw a Hollywood movie entitled “Gandhi”. I liked many of the Gandhi’s speeches there. But out of them the following speech which he gave in front of a gathering in South Africa I liked most…
Gandhi: “I want to welcome you all…everyone of you (facing at the English guards). We have no secrets. Let us begin by being clear about General Smart’s new law. All Indians must now be fingerprinted, like criminals: men and women. No marriage other than a Christian Marriage in considered valid. Under this act our wives and mothers are whores and every man here is a bastard. And a policeman passing an Indian dwelling… Ha, I will not call them homes, may enter and demand the card of any Indian woman whose dwelling it is. He does not have to stand at the door…he may enter.”
A man: “I swear to Allah I will kill that man who offers that insult to my home and my wife. And let them hang me.”
Another man: “I say those mean nothing. Kill all the officials before they disgrace one Indian woman. Then they may think twice about such laws.”
….
“…I will be willing to die”.
Gandhi: “I praise such courage. I need such courage. Because in this cause I too am prepared to die but my friend, there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill. Whatever they do to us, we will attack no one…kill no one… But we will not give our fingerprints. Not one of us.
They will imprison us… they will fine us… they will seize our possessions but they cannot take our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”
A listener: “Have you ever been to prison? They beat us… they torture us….”
Gandhi: “I am asking you to fight… to fight against their anger not to provoke it. We will not strike a blow. But we will receive them. And through our pains we will make them see their injustice and it will hurt as all fighting hurts. But we cannot lose… we cannot.
They may torture my body…break my bones. Even kill me. Then they will have my dead body. Not my obedience.”
Do you know what the British government used to call Mahatma Gandhi????
A terrorist.
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Gandhi: “I want to welcome you all…everyone of you (facing at the English guards). We have no secrets. Let us begin by being clear about General Smart’s new law. All Indians must now be fingerprinted, like criminals: men and women. No marriage other than a Christian Marriage in considered valid. Under this act our wives and mothers are whores and every man here is a bastard. And a policeman passing an Indian dwelling… Ha, I will not call them homes, may enter and demand the card of any Indian woman whose dwelling it is. He does not have to stand at the door…he may enter.”
A man: “I swear to Allah I will kill that man who offers that insult to my home and my wife. And let them hang me.”
Another man: “I say those mean nothing. Kill all the officials before they disgrace one Indian woman. Then they may think twice about such laws.”
….
“…I will be willing to die”.
Gandhi: “I praise such courage. I need such courage. Because in this cause I too am prepared to die but my friend, there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill. Whatever they do to us, we will attack no one…kill no one… But we will not give our fingerprints. Not one of us.
They will imprison us… they will fine us… they will seize our possessions but they cannot take our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”
A listener: “Have you ever been to prison? They beat us… they torture us….”
Gandhi: “I am asking you to fight… to fight against their anger not to provoke it. We will not strike a blow. But we will receive them. And through our pains we will make them see their injustice and it will hurt as all fighting hurts. But we cannot lose… we cannot.
They may torture my body…break my bones. Even kill me. Then they will have my dead body. Not my obedience.”
Do you know what the British government used to call Mahatma Gandhi????
A terrorist.
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