Bangladesh

Kissinger on Bangladesh

"Basketcase of the World"

The Rohingya

- 82'- Burma removed citizenship of 2 million people o Rohingya- Bengali-Speaking Muslim minority in Burma o Say if you are speaking Bengali then you are from bangaldesh - Bangladesh refugees - Buddhist attacks on Rohingya in Burma (starts in June 2012) - Muslim reprisals against Buddhists in Bangladesh (Oct. 2012) o People from Burma said they IS militants

The Rana Plaza Collapse

- April 2013 - Garment Factories - Death Toll: 1,130 - Corruption as Cause o Contractor cuts corners and pockets money o Bribe zoning officials so that a building is a taller that is should be - Supply chain complicity and corporate responsibility - Consumer responsibility

The 1990s

- Begum Khaleda Zia (widow of Ziaur Rahmen): Bangladesh National Party (BNP) - Sheikh Hasina Wajed (daughter of Mujibur Rahmen): Awani League (AL) - Power is transferred to PM- presidents were becoming too corrupt and they needed to hold them accountable

Islam: From Unity to Division

- Change in the 90s: Militancy and "purification" o Purified form of Islam- lets get rid of all alternative practices o Militancy- those that justify their militancy - Bombings Begin

Natural Disasters

- Cyclone (70'): 500,000 killed - Severe floods and food shortages (74' - Floods hit nearly 2/3 of the country (88'): 40 million are homeless - Cyclone and the tidal wave (91'): 140,000 are killed - Worst Flood in Nation's history (98') - Country is prone to natural disasters- bc country is very flat

Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)

- Economically attractive (hill crops and hydroelectric power) o Located in place where a vulnerable population lives - Politically attractive" non-Bengalis affected - "Tumma": invented ethnicity o Adivasi invented a category called Jumma to unify themselves. There's a trend to identify as Jumma instead of Adivasi.

Concert

- GEORGE HARRISON- CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH - Bano

Next Ten Years (80s'-90s')

- Gen. H.M. Ershad assumes presidency o Constitution is suspended o Holds elections • Rigged election (86') o State of emergency (87')- when people protest rigged elections o Islam declared state religion (83') - Ershad steps down (90')- thinks his work is done - Ershad is arrested (91')- for corruption

Islam in Bangladesh

- Islam, 88% majority - Shia Minority (2%) - Unique and 'unorthodox' o Interesting and rich mix, different religions celebrate each other's holidays o Very peaceful sense of co-existence - Islam and the constitution (77): Ziaur Rahman - Islam as state religion (88'): Ershad o This is what really brings the question, is how are we going to talk about the type of Islam

Islam in Politics

- Jamaat-e-Islami - Leader change in 2012 w/ crimes against humanity o Goes back to 71' o Due to rise in Islamic militancy- exercise by the gov to suppress the growing amount of Islam in politics o Claims this group tried to work with west Pakistan- Genocide - Death sentences after trials - Shekn Hasina vetoes bill that would make criticism of Islam a crime (April 2015)

New Religious Violence

- Jamaat-e-Islami supporters radicalize o Instead of government stopping problem initially, they made it worse - Sectarian violence (anti-Shia) o Shia community found themselves under attack by those that think that there should only be one type of Islam - Communal Violence (anti-christian;anti-hindu) - Pro-secular activists targeted o Think that the country should be a secular gov o Excessively brutal- send a message

The Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

- July 1, 2016, Khaka (7/16) - 29 people killed- including Tarushi Jain - Government blames Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh - ISIL claims responsibility

Troubles in Chittagong

- Land grabs - Bengali settlers were offered incentives to settle there - "anti-terrorist" operations - (political) Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS)- United People's Party of the Chittagong Hilltracks)- fd. 1972 o Political Organization that collectively represents the interests of the hill tribes - (military) Shanti Bahini (Peace Force)- Fd. 1972 o The Force that takes up arms against the government when the political sphere doesn't work

First Ten Years (70s'-80s')

- Mujibur Rahmen Becomes the PM (1972)- leader of Awami Party o Become president (75') - changed to presidential system (gives more power) o Assassinated (75') - General Ziaur Rahman becomes President (77')- military stepped in o Assassinated (81')

Arsenic

- Naturally-Occuring - Infant Mortality - Sono Arsenic Filter: Build at low cost - Vast Majority of well are tainted with arsenic - A problem that compounds itself over time

Biharis

- Non-Bengali muslims who settled in E. Pakistan (from partition) - Urdu speakers mostly o Urdu is "national language" of Pakistan - 1970—71 War: Biharis supported W. Pakistan o Chose wrong side so Bengalis didn't recognize them as citizens - Stranded Pakistanis - Stateless People - 2008: Bihari children born after 1971 have citizenship rights (but not their parents)

Economic Inequality

- Rampant in the 90s - 28% lives below the poverty line (but declining) o highest levels in S. Asia - Economic insecurity vs poverty- just bc you are above poverty doesn't make you secure - State can be "unresponsive" to its constituents - Corruption usually just kind of eats away at any improvement - Actually undercutting social intervention through charity o Teach skills don't just give o Flooding places with free stuff can be detrimental bc you can't help them develop an economy

Present Bangladesh

- Sheikh Hasina (AL) wins 2008 elections - BNP boycotts elections in 2014: Sheikh Hasina wins election - Feb. 2018: Khaleda Zie sentenced to five-year jail term for corruption o Won't be able to run for next elections

2000'-10' Bangladesh

- Sheikh Hasina steps down in July, 2001 o first leader to complete terms of office - Rise of religious violence o People think that democracy doesn't work and something else has to unify it (Islam) - Political instability and violence - Caretaker Gov. currently runs Bangladesh - 2001-Present- Back and forth b/w Hasina and Zia o 2007- Sheikh Hasina is charged with murder while Begun Khaleda Zia is under house arrest

- Ansarullah Bangla Team (Ansar Banglo)

- Terrorist Group - Anti-Secular - Inspired by Islamic State and Al-Quaeda - Banned May 2015 - Affiliated to ISIS

Emergence of Bangladesh

- The First Partition (1947)- emergence of India and Pakistan - Tension b/w E and W Pakistan o Majority of population in Pakistan was originally in E. Pakistan (more people spoke Pakistan) o But W. Pakistan felt like its possession of the capital gave it the ability to culturally define what Pakistan was o Question of Identity- E. Pakistan, why don't we have a larger voice - The elections of 1970- where E. Pakistan was going to control the government (bc of larger population) o W. Pakistan never perceived this would happen - Sheikh Mujibar Rahmen and the Awami League (E. Pakistani winners) o Where W. Pakistan would try to nullify election o Started essentially civil war

Independence of Pakistan

- The Second Partition (1971) o E. Pakistan wants to leave bc of elections o Pakistan- sees it as keeping Pakistan together o Bengali- sees Pakistan as always having bias against them o The Question of Genocide • Pakistan began to kill Bengalis - India Intervenes o Bangladesh sees this as necessary to save lives

Ethnicity: Bengali and non-Bengali

- The problem of small numbers: what it means - Not a large amount of diversity - Non-Bengali population is about 2% - Being apart of the 2% means you are more vulnerable - Adivasi: indigenous mountain people o Located: in the Chittagong Hill Tracks (CHT)

Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh

- Translates: Awakened Muslim people of Bangladesh - Terrorist Group - Modeled on Taliban (Afghanistan) - Goal: Create an Islamic State ruled by Sharia

Jamaat-ul-Mujanideen Bangladesh

- Translates: society of Mujanialeen Bangladesh - terrorist group - Engaged in what they think is Jihad - Anti-Secularist, anti-democracy o Bengladesh was create as a Muslim majority secular country • Want to bring government back to secular state o Democracy is a western form of governancy - Modeled on Taliban (Afghanistan) - Goal: Create an Islamic State ruled by Sharia o They see corrupt politicians you use corrupt form of governance, replace government with theocracy

Peace Agreement 1997

- between the government and the JSS that were not implemented - Not implemented - Resurgent violence - Ongoing intermittent violence

Women in Bangladesh

- leadership by women does not translate to women's rights - Child marriage: still a problem, education - Dowry: Payment of brides family for engagement: financially ruined o Dowry deaths: grooms family kills bride if they don't pay - Trafficking: high levels of corruption - Legacy Votes of women is by of their connection to male political leaders

Acid Attacks

- rapid rise since the 1990s - Acid survivors foundation (1999) - Acid Crime Control Act: death penalty but a lot of corruption o only powerful if enforced - Acid control act (2002) o need to register if you are going to buy acid - Usually occurs when a male approaches a female romantically and the woman - The whole point of an acid attack is to destroy someones image and beauty so no one will ever want to be with them

Grameen Bank (Bank of the Village)

o Fd. By Mohammad Yos (1970) - Nobel Peace Prize (2006) o first to pioneer idea of microfinance/microcredit o Started in Chittagong - "Not a charity but a bank" o not trying to increase dependency - Social Collateral: get 2 other people to vouch for you socially and morally - The 16 decisions- have to sign this when you are getting a loan o i.e. growing vegetable