Slapped and threatened!

UNICEF says physical punishment of children in Bangladeshi schools, homes is widespread

Oct 9, 2009

By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press Writer

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ More than 90 percent of Bangladeshi children have at some point been physically punished in school and nearly three quarters of them face similar treatment at home, according to a report from the United Nations children's agency.
UNICEF representative to Dhaka, Carel de Rooy, said such punishment violates the rights of the children.
"Hitting or smacking children is a type of violence against children that goes against children's rights," Rooy said in a statement that accompanied the report's release Thursday.
But, on Friday, a parent and teacher both defended physically punishing children as an effective way of disciplining children.
Salina Chowdhury, a mother of two in the capital, Dhaka, said using physical punishment helps her teach her children when they misbehave.
Children often do not respond to encouraging words, Chowdhury told The Associated Press via telephone, adding, "in that case, one or two slaps work better."
Siddiqur Rahman, a teacher at a school for girls in the northern district of Mymensingh, said he often hits students with sticks, but only after counseling does not work.
"Punishing them physically often works," he said in a telephone interview.
The UNICEF report states 91 percent of children in Bangladesh's schools are subject to physical punishment, while 74 percent experience corporal punishment at home.
The agency surveyed 3,840 households both in urban and rural areas, interviewing the head of each household and at least one child per house between the ages of 9 and 18, the report said.
Some 87.6 percent of children face beatings with sticks or canes in schools with teachers most often hitting the palm of their hands. Other punishments include twisting ears or skin, pulling hair, slapping them or forcing them to kneel in class.
The survey said 53 percent of students reported that "many to most" of their classmates suffer physical punishment, with 23 percent stating that such punishment in schools takes place daily.
In case of physical punishment at home, more than 69 percent said they are slapped, and 99 percent said they face scolding or are threatened.
Some 60 million of Bangladesh's 150 million people are children, according to UNICEF.

Champion Rat Killer!

Bangladesh awards farmer who killed 83,000 rats, launches culling campaign to save crops


By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press Writer
Sept. 30, 2009

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ Bangladesh on Wednesday awarded a farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats and launched a monthlong campaign nationwide to kill millions more, to protect crops and reduce the need for food imports.
Mokhairul Islam, 40, won a first prize of a color television for killing some 83,450 rats in the past nine months in Gazipur district near the South Asian country's capital, Dhaka. He collected their tails for proof.
"I am so happy to get this honor," Islam told The Associated Press after receiving a 14-inch television and a certificate amid cheers at an official ceremony packed with 500 farmers and officials. "I had no idea that the government gives prizes for this."
"This is an exciting moment. I will continue to kill them," he vowed.
Officials say the impoverished nation imports some 3 million tons of food annually, while the Ministry of Agriculture estimates that rodents annually destroy 1.5 million to 2 million tons of food.
"We can cut the import of food by at least half if we can succeed in this year's campaign," said Wais Kabir, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council.
He asked everyone, especially farmers, to take on the killing mission as a sport. The government has said it will train mainly farmers and students for this year's campaign.
"Killing rats is not that easy, it needs training," Kabir said.
Islam said he mainly used poison to kill the rats at his poultry farm, and that the cull has paid off as the rodents now scavenged less.
"Previously I needed 33 sacks of poultry feed per week, now I need less than 30," he said.
Fakhrul Haque Akanda, a farmer from northern Bangladesh and the second-prize winner, killed some 37,450 rats mostly with traps, some he invented.
"These bloody rats are my enemy, they destroy my gardens," Akanda said.
"Please pray for me so that I can continue my mission, and teach and motivate others to join me," he told the audience before taking his prize, also a television.
Last year, the U.N. World Food Program launched a monthslong food aid project in the country's southeast after a plague of rats devoured rice crops.

INNOCENCE AT RISK

Bangladesh authorities investigate marriage between 13-year-old girl, 75-year-old man

By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press Writer
Sept. 13, 2009

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ Authorities in southern Bangladesh are investigating whether a 13-year-old girl was forced to marry a 75-year-old man as a way to pay off her father's debt, local media reported Sunday.
Lokman Shikder loaned the girl's father, Azhar Bepari, 4,000 takas ($59) several months ago, but Bepari had trouble repaying it, the United News of Bangladesh news agency reported. Shikder recently gave Bepari the choice of immediately paying back the money plus interest or allowing him to marry his daughter in exchange for waiving the loan, it said.
Shikder, who was already married, is the father of four grown children and has a host of grandchildren, the news agency said.
Badrul Huq, a government official in Barisal district, said authorities were investigating and legal action would be taken against the father and husband if the marriage indeed took place, the report said. People under the age of 18 are not legally allowed to marry in Bangladesh.
Shikder's first wife also wants her husband punished because he married the girl without her permission, the report said. Men can marry up to four women in Bangladesh, but their wives must agree in writing to any new marriages.
Human rights groups say child marriage is rampant in rural Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 150 million people where almost half of the population lives on less than $1 a day. They say the punishment for violations of child marriage laws is too mild _ one month in jail or a fine of 1,000 takas ($15), or both.
Rashida Akhter Shirin, a women's rights lawyer, said she would help the girl and her family if they want to file a court case against Shikder, the report said.
Officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Snakebite death

Bangladesh government says snakebites kill 6,000 Bangladeshis each year

By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press Writer

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ Some 700,000 people in Bangladesh are bitten by snakes every year and up to 6,000 of those die, in part because of poor access to medical care, making snakebites the impoverished country's second leading cause of unnatural death, a ministry of health study has found.
Most of the incidents occur during the May to October rainy season when snakes are flushed out of their natural environment, Azizar Rahman, director in charge of the government's department of disease control, said Sunday while explaining the snakebite study's findings.
Drowning is the leading cause of unnatural death in Bangladesh, a delta nation that is crisscrossed by some 350 rivers. The country of 150 million people is also home to some 50 species of snake, including the king cobra and krait.
The study, which was conducted by eight local and international experts with funding from the government and the World Bank, found that 29 percent of snakebite victims are bitten while walking at night, 24 percent while working in the fields and 15 percent while they are sleeping.
It's difficult to spot the snakes in the dark in rural areas where electricity and street lights are rare. Almost half of all Bangladeshis live on less than $1 a day.
The study found only 3 percent of the victims are treated at hospitals or by registered doctors, while 86 percent seek treatment from untrained snake charmers or village healers.
Rahman said the study underlined the problem of snakebites.
"It's good that we have done it finally," he said. "Now it will be possible to work on reducing deaths."
He said the government is planning a massive campaign to train people how to treat snakebites.

Ethnic violence

Bangladesh arrests more than 70 in ethnic violence


By JULHAS ALAM
Associated Press
2010-02-24 04:26 PM


Bangladeshi security officials have arrested more than 70 people as part of a crackdown in a town where ethnic violence has left one person dead, a dozen wounded and several homes burned to the ground, police said Wednesday.

Bangladeshi troops and extra police were called in Tuesday to stop ethnic clashes between Bangalee settlers and an indigenous tribe involved in a decades-old land dispute in southeastern Khagrachhari town. All public gatherings were banned and a curfew was imposed in the area, which was once at the heart of a tribal insurgency.

Police said they had recovered the body of a Bangalee man who was shot in the head. A dozen people were wounded in the violence, and several homes on both sides were torched.

More than 70 people from both groups were arrested in overnight raids, a police official at Khagrachhari police station told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Ethnic tension in the region 110 miles (175 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Dhaka, is not new. Authorities resettled landless Bangalees there in the 1980s in a bid to end the tribal insurgency in the area, which borders Myanmar and India. The area was largely Buddhist before the settlers, who are mainly Muslim, arrived.

Tribal groups say many of their people have lost their land because of the settlement and faced brutal repression during years of military operations meant to quell the insurgency. The insurgents signed a peace treaty with the government in 1997, but tensions have continued.

Tuesday's unrest began when activists from the United People's Democratic Front _ which opposes the peace treaty _ blocked roads and waterways in the area to protest the deaths of two tribal people they say were killed last week by security officials during clashes with settlers.

The government has said it will investigate the deaths as well as a series of arsons that the tribal people blame on the settlers.

Bangladesh Garment

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/08/05/ap6743956.html

Associated Press

Bangladesh garment sector pinched by recession
By JULHAS ALAM , 08.05.09, 12:27 PM EDT

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Bangladeshi entrepreneurs say the garment sector, a mainstay of the country's exports, has started feeling the pinch of the global economic crisis with about 25 factories shutting in the past two months.

In June the sector contracted 0.1 percent month-on-month after growing 9.6 percent in May, Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told reporters late Tuesday.
Article Controls

He said prices for Bangladeshi garment products have fallen 20 to 25 percent in the global market and the situation is taking a "serious turn". About 25 factories were shut down over June and July.

"The buyers do not want to offer good rate anymore," he said as the entrepreneurs late Tuesday held a meeting with Members of Parliament in the capital, Dhaka, to discuss the crisis.

Impoverished Bangladesh annually earns $12 billion, or almost 75 percent of the country's annual export earning, from garments. The industry employs more than 2.4 million people, mostly women.

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs must also deal with competition from other exporters such as India and Vietnam.

"We are under tremendous pressure to keep us afloat," Murshedy said.

The World Bank in November said Bangladesh's garments industry might start feeling the impact of global recession in the May-June period.

Murshedy said the next three months till October would be the most challenging period for the industry as domestic issues including frequent power outages and a gas crisis are aggravating the situation.

The garment factories depend on privately owned, diesel-run generators to supply electricity because of power outages during this summer.

He demanded the government bring the entrepreneurs under a special stimulus package to support the sector at least until June 2010.

The entrepreneurs also said there has been no new investment this year in the sector and they see no chance in next few months.

"If there's no new investment, it will further stall the growth," said Annisul Huq, a garment manufacturer and president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"We need urgent move by the government to offset the impact on the garment sector," he said.

The United States is the largest market of Bangladesh's garment product while Europe is the second largest destination. Bangladesh manufactures garment products for global brands like Banana Republic, Disney ( DIS - news - people ) or Gap ( GPS - news - people ).

The entrepreneurs said they are now focusing on Japan to create new market.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

REPORTING DISASTER

Reporting (natural) disaster: Some stray points to talk about

By Julhas Alam

In our careers, we cover inevitabilities. Disaster -- natural or manmade – often confronts us, or we push ourselves into that to stay with victims.

Covering disaster as a reporter is not that easy. It involves physical and mental strength of a reporter since one needs to vigorously go through physical and mental adversaries to report the situation, the victims, the most vulnerable of the moment. We need to work under an air-tight deadline pressure. Adjustment of emotion is also often difficult to deal with in such a situation. Beyond personal capabilities of a journalist in case of covering a disaster, it also matters the financial and editorial capabilities of a particular media organization to better serve the victims when a disaster strikes. This is different from the hit-and-run journalism.

When ICRC means disaster it means both manmade and natural. The modern society is overwhelmed by the frequent occurrence of disasters and responding quickly to disaster situations from authorities’ end is vital. Media’s quick response is also crucial since it helps authorities, aid agencies and the people know what is happening on the ground. Accurate information is the key tool in such case.

But here this paper will mainly and briefly focus on media’s role in handling natural disasters in Bangladesh context. And I couldn’t ignore some of the points of widely-recognised yardsticks of standard journalism.

My senior colleague Farid Hossain will discuss practices, perhaps loopholes or lapses in the practices, in Bangladesh context in covering disasters. Feb. 25-26 mutiny in Bangladesh Rifles headquarters will come as a prominent topic for that part of the discussion. No doubt, BDR mutiny was an acid test for Bangladesh media, especially for the broadcast media. There are points in our mind to debate those things to correct our position.


BEYOND RELIEF: SHIFTING PARADIGM IS IMPORTANT

IT IS OFTEN NOTICED THAT BANGLADESH MEDIA IS TOO FOCUSED ON RELIEF ISSUES. SOME PERTINENT ISSUES ARE OVERLY IGNORED. Definitely, relief activity is a vital part of the disaster management operations. There’s no scope to ignore this very important element of the disaster management activity.

It would be better if media can focus on other areas too to benefit the people.

Pre-disaster briefing for media:

Media has a role to vigorously check if authorities are well-prepared to handle a pre-disaster situation for quick evacuation. Or if the volunteers are adequately equipped to warn the would-be victims.

Media needs to check: Are resources available in the hands of the authorities to minimize the loss of lives and properties?

As reporters who are interested to deal with disasters like cyclone and flood need to know what are the basic tools the volunteers need for evacuating and warning the people. .

We need to know which government departments are involved in the disaster management activities, what mandates they have etc.

We need to know how Bangladesh Red Crescent Society works, how ICRC is related.

We need to know how local resources can be used in the affected area to shelter the villagers.

We need to know details about the approaches of Bangladesh’s disaster management discourse---weaknesses and strength.

Post-disaster situation:

Who is the most important to media: Dead or Survivor?

This is a big question to any global or local aid agency, government authorities or any other party involved in any disaster situation. To media too.

Usually, in a disaster situation, the survivors are given the priority over dead in any healthcare system. However as the survivors have a right for healthcare assistance, the deceased have the right for proper identification and dignified disposal. But what should come first and how--that is also a very important matter to discuss. Nobody expects a mere disposal of dead would come first after a major natural disaster like tsunami or a devastating cyclone as many other urgent issues need to be fixed very quickly in such a situation.

About the survivors, the ICRC says: (In a disaster situation) The surviving community has to face physical, psychological, religious and cultural issues raised by the dead in the aftermath of every disaster.

BUT, there’s no way to ignore the matter of the dead people. It needs urgent attention from media since media reports let the authorities and “the people” know about the situation on the ground after a disaster. MEDIA CAN’T FORGET THE DEAD WHEN IT DEALS WITH A DISASTER.

ICRC, being the global actor in this case, uses the term “management of dead”. It means in a post disaster situation, the management of dead is comprised of three main spheres:

-Physical management of dead.
-Information management of dead
-Specific support to bereaved families and communities.

In this light of discussion media needs to check if all these phases are being maintained when aid agency people and the authorities deal with the dead after a disaster. In that case media should check if authorities

-Respect the dignity of the dead,
-Respect the bereaved, including their right to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing loved ones
-Identify the dead positively.
-Ensure dignified disposal of the dead in line with religious and cultural values of the affected community.

Through the whole process, media needs to scrutinize procedures in handling the dead:

-Recovery
-Transportation
-Storage
-Identification
-Disposal of dead


MEDIA is often infested with wrong ideas when dealing with disasters:

It is noticed that in a post-disaster situation media quickly projects that dead bodies are causing EPIDEMICS. But often local officials make such statements creating a wrong impression and giving wrong signal to the people, and when media uses those angles, authorities take wrong measures like quick mass burial without proper identification and religious or cultural practices. Depriving the dead of their rights to be properly identified, creates a psychological disaster to the surviving family members and relatives.

But the fact is that:

-Victims of natural disasters are normally killed by injury, drowning, or fire --- not by disease.
-At the time of death, victims are not likely to be sick with epidemic-causing infections (i.e., plague, cholera, typhoid, and anthrax).
-Most infectious organisms do not survive beyond 48 hours in a dead body. An exception is HIV, which has been found six days postmortem.



FORMULA: MASQ

SORRY… WE WERE HOAXED:
Iraqi PoW abuse pictures handed to us WERE fakes

It was the Daily Mirror’s front-page apology. Daily Mail, 15 May, 2004 (Reference: Journalism: Critical Issues. Edited by Stuart Allan). We can avoid such embarrassment

When we report any disaster, we need to be most careful to avoid such any apology to the readers or viewers. In a disaster situation it can be fatal for a media outlet in case of misreporting since the incessant drive to be first with the story, to scoop one’s rivals whatever the cost, can claim its usual casualty---the truth. It’s like miscarriage of the outlet’s credibility.

Objectivity in reporting disaster enhances the standards of journalism, and thus ensures people’s welfare.


What can we do in this case to maintain basics of reporting truthfully? Let’s follow a simple MASQ formula.

M= Maths
A=Angles
S=Spellings
Q=Quotes

It has a 3-P effect:
P= Performance of government authorities involved with the disaster situation
P=Performance of the aid/UN agencies
P=Performance of the community involved in the post-disaster recovery

MASQ+3-P= People’s welfare

But there’s another VERY important issue, which matters when we talk about media’s credibility, especially when it is related to any disaster situation. That is
use of ANONYMOUS SOURCE.

We see rampant use of anonymous source in our media here. But so far I know no newspapers in Bangladesh have any formal guideline for the use of anonymous source. Sources said… many critics say in most cases it actually should be the PARTICULAR REPORTER SAID…

There’s no way to ignore this phenomenon of the anonymous source, but it should be the LAST OPTION in any news reporting. And when it comes to disaster reporting we as reporters or editors should follow a certain guideline for this.

We can raise some points here:

AP maintains some basic guidelines when we use anonymous sources. That is when we use anonymous source, it means we have enough efforts to get the information from other sources but failed to confirm it except the only source who wants to stay anonymous.

Secondly, we consider if it is information or statement. If it is information and it is very very essential for the story, we will use it. If it is only statement/comment we DON’T use it. AGAIN, we try to ensure that we have made all possible efforts to confirm the information from other possible sources and there is no other way but to use the source’s information without naming the person.

Thirdly, we try to give the readers an indication about the rank or the type of the source I have pursued for the particular information. For example, we say a senior official with the Bureau of Disaster Management if we use information like 4500 People Dead in Tropical Cyclone SIDR and it is actually obtained from a top official of the bureau. We don’t simply say A SOURCE SAID.

If we talk to one such source, we don’t say OFFICIALS SAY. We simply say ONE OFFICIAL confirms/says. We also consider how important the information is for the public interest.

INTERVIEWING DISASTER VICTIMS

In a disaster situation, the matter of extra care should be in reporter’s mind when it comes to interviewing victims or surviving family members.

About interviewing victims, The Associated Press’s Special Correspondent George Esper once said: “We should frame our questions with respect and research. We must be sensitive but not timid.”

Most victims or the victims’ relatives face a wall of grief in the aftermath of a death or disaster. We the journalists can’t reduce their pain of the moment. They have the right to mourn, they have the right to stay their own, they have the right to cling to their very own grieving space. As reporters we overstep into their grieving space. Still we do that since we ultimately serve the people, help them stand up again. We want to tell the world their stories so the unaffected can come forward. So we need to handle them with care.

-When approaching a victim, we need to identify ourselves politely and clearly before asking them questions.
-We should allow the victims to say “no” to our requests. We can again retry, but with care and softness.
-We need to realize that we are violating the victim’s space and we may receive a harsh or emotional reaction at first. We should not react harshly in return.
-We should never ask “How do you feel?” or say “I understand how you feel.” Rather saying “My name is…” and “I am sorry for what happened”, then ask questions such as “Could you tell me about your relative’s life?” or “How did this occur?” or “What did you see when it occurred?”
-We need to treat each victim with dignity and respect.

TRAUMA is a fact for journalists involved in covering disasters: DON’T deny it


Again BDR mutiny is a good example for us who saw those decomposed bodies, and were overwhelmed by the emotional wave of the survivors and their family members. Personally, I could not sleep well for several nights. Many of my colleagues have reported that they could not eat well for days. Counting dead bodies after a ferry disaster is not that easy. When I covered Sidr and traveled from Patharghata, Barguna to Khulna touching Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Barisla, Patuakhali, that was a terrible experience as we needed to report on the vast swath of the region so extensibly that it was difficult to stay afloat, both physically and mentally. Trauma and fatigue gripped us easily in such a situation. If it happens we need to speak up. Please don’t ignore this before you collapse. If we can’t manage we should talk to our colleagues and family. We may need to even visit doctors. If I can’t continue, bear the load I should tell my boss I CAN’T.


There are some points from a research: Let’s get some insights for disaster reporting (Note: This information has been taken from a Reuters story published on 30 June, 2006)

How do you get a humanitarian crisis into the headlines? And how can you convince editors to keep covering it? A 2006 study by U.S.-based media analysts CARMA International may provide a few pointers.

The survey of disaster reporting in newspapers in the United States, Australia and Europe found that it is not human suffering but Western self interest that dictates how disasters are covered in the press.

“The ultimate challenge for victims of disasters and those who wish to help is to capture and sustain media attention by using national economic and political self-interest as hook,” Tom Vesey, managing director of CARMA International, said in a statement.

The authors scrutinised the content of 64 daily and weekly newspapers from nine countries for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami, Bam and Kashmir earthquakes, Darfur and Hurricane Stan. Here are some of the key findings:

• Hurricane Katrina dominated with 50 percent of the coverage. The Indian Ocean tsunami came second with a quarter of the coverage, followed by Darfur with 15 percent, and Bam, Kashmir and Hurricane Stan making up the remaining 10 percent.

• There was no direct link between the number of people who died and the amount of coverage. The death tolls for Darfur and the tsunami were similar, but Darfur received much less coverage. The 2003 Bam earthquake in Iran attracted the same level of media coverage as Kashmir, even though 3.5 times more people died in Kashmir.

• The U.S. press provided the most coverage of humanitarian crises.

• Media reports on Katrina focused on the political and economic implications of the disaster ? only 27 percent looked at the suffering of the survivors.

• Some of the language used had racist overtones, including widespread reports of black groups raping and pillaging in New Orleans ? many of which turned out to be false.

• 40 percent of the tsunami coverage focused in Westerners affected, even though only 900 Westerners died compared with a total of 230,000 dead or missing.

• The German press gave three times more coverage to Katrina, in which no Germans died, than to the tsunami, in which they lost more lives than any other European country.

• Food shortages were mentioned far more than water shortages.

• In all the disasters except Bam, local government relief work was criticised.

• In some cases there was less coverage of crises involving celebrities than those without.


To prepare this briefing I have taken help from various publications and web sites. I need to mention about some of them here.

1. Guidelines for first responders on Management of Dead in major disasters in India. (ICRC publication)
2. Journalism: Critical Issues. Edited by Stuart Allan.(Open University Press publication, England)
3. Investigative Journalism: Context and Practices. Edited by Hugo de Burgh. (Routledge publication, London, UK)
4. Various publications of The Associated Press (AP)
5. Reuters resources


This paper was presented at a media workshop organized jointly by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on July 24, 2009 at Rajendrapur. Some 40 journalists from various media houses took part in the workshop. Commonwealth Journalist Association’s International President Mr. Hassan Shahriar, The Associated Press (AP) Bureau Chief Mr. Farid Hossain, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) President Mr Shamim Ahmad, ICRC’s Mission Head Mr. Finn Ruda and other local and regional officials of the ICRC also took part in the workshop as resource persons.