[shahidulnews] From Dili to Delhi: Fire at NTV

[Guest guest]

3 DHAKA TV STATIONS BURNT TO THE GROUND.

Shahidul Alam <shahidul (AT) drik (DOT) net> wrote:

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 20:26:54 +0600

"Shahidul Alam" <shahidul (AT) drik (DOT) net>

shahidulnews (AT) drik-amsterdam-01 (DOT) drik.net

[shahidulnews] From Dili to Delhi: Fire at NTV

 

http://shahidul.wordpress.com/2007/02/27/

 

I had just left behind a tense East Timor. No rice for several weeks…

violence had again erupted on the streets. I had expected my one day

pit stop in Dhaka, on my way to a UNAIDS assignment in India, to have

been less eventful. Dili to Delhi had a nice ring to it. The plane had

arrived in the early hours of the morning, and as I sat at Drik trying

to finish the million pending bits that invariably pile up, Rahnuma

rang to talk of the fire. Soon we were up there, outside the familiar

building where I'd recently given interviews. Through the billowing

smoke, my NTV and RTV mugs reminded me of how close our lives

constantly were to needless tragedies shaped by irresponsible

gatekeepers. I wondered whether the new gatekeepers in power, ushered

in by an unspoken coup, would be different. They had started well,

arresting corrupt individuals, and attempting to establish the rule of

law, but the sinister rumblings of indefinite stay, had all the

signals of previous regimes while the significant omissions in their

'hit list' was deeply worrying. On the plane Farhad Mazhar and I

talked of having to brace ourselves for new measures designed to make

us more safe. As for the disproportionate influence of 'friendly

nations', swapping freedom for security appeared to be the order of

the day. I wish we had a choice on whom to befriend.

 

Naeem's translation of Anisul Haque's moving Op Ed

(http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/bsec-fire/), and Peu's mail pointing

to Munir's powerful images, bring home a message too often forgotten.

As Shupon points out, we forget very easily. As we've forgotten the

deaths in the garment factories, or the ferry disasters. But then,

those had involved the death of poor people. The near death of the

well to do could perhaps have a more lasting memory. The tranquil

mornings in the mountains of East Timor seemed a long way away.

 

Shahidul Alam

Delhi

27th February 2007

 

 

--

Shahidul Alam

Drik Picture Library Ltd.

http://shahidul.wordpress.com

www.drik.net

_____________

shahidulnews mailing list

shahidulnews (AT) drik-amsterdam-01 (DOT) drik.net

http://drik-amsterdam-01.drik.net/mailman/listinfo/shahidulnews

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=135304&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24

 

 

 

 

Bored stiff? Loosen up...

Download and play hundreds of games for free on Games.