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As is my habit every morning when I wake up, I quickly look at the online version of The Wall Street Journal. I stumble around at that time as it was about 5 am and my dogs are nipping at my heels to take them for a walk. So, I basically sleepwalk through my routine every morning until I actually get out of the house rain or shine for an hour long walk. Not on Wednesday of last week. One look at the red banner of breaking news and I was wide awake. The news shouted out that 86 people, mostly women garment workers, were feared dead after a building collapsed near Dhaka. I spent the whole day mired in sadness, anger and sense of hopelessness about the land of my father.

As the details emerged over the next few days it became evident that, greed, wholesale corruption and total lack of future orientation caused the murder of some 400 people and maybe lot more to come. I say this is murder because this did not have to happen and to an extent it was the deliberate act of putting profits before human lives. If some terrorists blew up the building and caused these many deaths the world would have been much more outraged and there would have been non-stop coverage in the West. But, this has not caused the same angst as three people dying at Boston has caused. In my view this act of murder is no less an act of terrorism by some blinded people blowing up the Boston Marathon. This is an act of Profit Terrorism and it is nurtured by the value system that most of human society these days live with. What is Profit Terrorism? Well this is something I came up with after watching one industrial disaster after another in Bangladesh, China, US and many other countries. Profit Terrorists are people who are deliberately willing to murder other humans for the sake of making an extra dollar or extra ten million dollars.

Unfortunately this is not limited to Bangladesh but the breakneck speed of growth of the garment industry has given the Profit Terrorists more opportunities to commit murder and mayhem in Bangladesh.

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I am sure right now there are strong demands for punishing the owners of the buildings and factories involved with a public show of anger and action. Maybe someone would like to publicly put him on a “Shool” or behead him like they do in Saudi Arabia. But, by arresting the hapless Sohel Rana and the factory owners do we accomplish anything other than the satisfaction that we have punished one or five Profit Terrorists? I think Profit Terrorism is a systematic and pervasive vice that lives on the wink and a nod from the society and by extension of the governing elite. We can punish this one Profit Terrorist but we will have done nothing to address the core issues and conditions that make the profit terrorists thrive in our society.

Before we hang Mr. Rana, let us ask ourselves these questions:

1. Who allowed him to build those buildings without abiding by the rather nominal building codes of the country?

2. What gave him the courage to say, “The buildings will last 100 years” in the face of stark evidence that the buildings were unsafe?

3. What drove the factory owners and managers to force the workers to get back to work? Here the factory owners and managers were putting profit before the life of people. Why did they think they can get away with that?

4. What about the enforcement of the existing codes for safety? Who does that? Where were they?

5. Why did it take such a long time for the authorities to respond after the collapse?

The country and Madame Prime Minister have choices to make. The government can decide to punish a few Profit Terrorists (Rana and the gang) but leave the underlying causes untouched for yet another disaster in the near future. There has been fire after fire in Bangladesh garment factories but after the initial breathless activities nothing fundamental ever changes and the fire keep on burning. Similarly, if the country and the international buyers leave this government to paper over this disaster by punishing one moronic building owner then is another disaster that far away?

Photo: bdnews24.com

So, the country and the opinion makers must demand that the government addresses the underlying causes and not simply attack the symptom. But, how would the government take any action when the home minister is running around and blaming the collapse of the building on opposition or the strikers, etc. OK, let’s agree that this guy made this most ludicrous comment, but he is the home minister for Pete’s sake!

Why do I say the government should take the lead? Typically I am opposed to any government intervention in any business activity mainly because as organizing powers governments tend to be inefficient, period. This is especially true for countries where the public is kept in the dark. But, there is one thing the governments do well if they want to, enforcement of laws. That requires that there is a set of laws that everyone is equally subject to and the enforcement action is not dished out based on one’s station in life in terms of money and power. Profit Terrorists find ways to confuse and distract enforcement. As the mayhem in Bangladesh was going on, a fertilizer factory blew up in West Texas, killing some 17 people and injuring hundreds. This happened because the industry lobby managed the regulatory oversight to be transferred from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to the Homeland Security, a muscle bound bureaucracy which has no subject matter expertise.

Madame Prime Minister this is your opportunity to build a lasting framework for the garment industry so that Bangladesh can thrive and does not lose its toehold in the world. If the infrastructure issues are resolved I see nothing but progress for Bangladesh. Here are some ideas to get your government going in the right direction:

a. Levy a one-time surcharge on ALL garment factories so that you can provide lifetime living stipend to the survivors of the Savar disaster. Make sure all monies are publicly disclosed and the disbursements are direct and without middlemen.

b. Publish names and addresses of ALL buildings that are illegally built or do not have the required code approval. Start with the BGMEA building next to Sonargaon Hotel. This building is built illegally and on public property. This is your opportunity to make a fresh start. Demolish BGMEA building and start over.

c. Demolish or confiscate every building that has been built illegally and/or does not meet code. Many of these buildings probably do not meet code and there should be no hesitation in demolishing those buildings and illegally built buildings should become public property and rented out to businesses that can contribute to the continued growth of the country.

d. Create a public agency with enforcement powers that will disclose every building’s permitting process, periodic safety reviews and any incidents on a website. This is a low cost way to shine some light into the darkness of permitting and building process.

e. Start an outreach programme soon to the buyers of the Bangladesh with your concrete plans to reduce the risks of such disasters and other industrial accidents.

Madame, Prime Minister, I am afraid unless you take the action yourself, the marketplace will take actions that will limit Bangladesh’s ability to compete on a global basis. Let us hope your action and the country’s outrage will be channelled to eliminate the Profit Terrorists!

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Kayes Ahmed lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA with his three dogs. He runs a small yet global apparel and design business based in Boulder.

Photo: bdnews24.com

“He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself”

That is what an old Chinese proverb says. After years of wandering about the world, going through the war of independence during my youth back in 1971, living and nearly dying in a chaotic post-independence Dhaka, living in the UK and the US for most of my adult life, those words have never rang truer than now. I started thinking about vengeance, death and suicide all in the context of the current turmoil in Bangladesh. The country is careening down the path of self-immolation in the fire of vengeance and unmitigated wrong headedness on all sides. When will the madness stop? Those of us who have actually fought and lived through the blood red days of 1971 must speak now or see the Motherland of immense promise get destroyed inch by inch.

What do the Shahbagh folks want? They once wanted a new beginning, which can only happen after reconciling with the painful past. When the movement first started I believe the young people simply wanted justice for the atrocities and bloodletting that happened before most of them were even born. They were idealists and like all young idealists they sought purity of justice as they saw it. They have a perspective that is passed down by history written by the victors (yes, all histories are written by victors and they are never fair and balanced) and by popular story-telling and myth making. But, soon the folks at Shahbagh conflated justice with vengeance. One is never ever a proxy for the other. In fact Justice is as far removed from vengeance as love is from hate. The concepts can never be confused or conflated but the folks at Shahbagh have managed to do it just the same. On one hand they seek justice and on the other hand they scream, “Fashi Chai”. Well, justice and hangings from the lampposts are two entirely different things. So, the movement that was born out of sense of pride, just sorrow and desire to reconcile with the past soon turned into a blood thirsty movement of seeking vengeance, “Fashi Chai”. If they thought their vengeance seeking will go unhindered and unanswered, well they are wrong. A day has not gone by in the past two months where political violence has not taken a life or two. The rule of “digging two graves” is now in full play in Bangladesh. These graves are being dug while the ruling party and the Prime Minister and most of the intellectual class go about their lives without much concern. Well they should be very concerned.

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I write this article seating in an apartment in Jiaxing in Eastern China. One of the things I am witnessing is the flooding back of the garment workloads that left China for Bangladesh over the last few years. Bangladesh has been the undoubted beneficiary of rising Chinese labor costs, strong Renminbi and antipathy towards everything Chinese by the West. But, the “troubles” as the Chinese so politely say is making it too risky to continue to manufacture garments in Bangladesh. I think the folks at Shahbagh never thought that their little idealistic action could and may actually would frighten away Billions of Dollars and many jobs that go with that investment. There is a widespread sentiment to diversify away from Bangladesh. “We are moving away from Bangladesh” say Viet Geise, the Vice President of sourcing at VF Corporation, one of the largest brand consolidators in the world. The effects of the “Fashi Chai” movement will not be seen in the economy for just a bit longer but it is coming. For the latest period, exports growth to North America and Europe have slowed to 5%. Ok, it is still a growth but a slowing growth sows the seed of actual slowdown. Nike has already moved away from Bangladesh. They use about 896 factories worldwide for their shoes and apparel. In Bangladesh Nike has contracts with only 8 Bangladeshi factories. So, economic grave is being dug relentlessly while the political elites play Nero’s fiddle!

What about Jaamat? They are like a mild form of a virulent disease. Trying to ban them using courts and political shenanigans would likely kill off the mild variant and leave us with the Jihadi and virulent version. One just has to look at Pakistan to see what happens to a country when the Islamists become the dominant political force. They want to dig those graves and faster! To the Jihadi digging the grave is God’s work, be it actual or economic. In economic terms they want to take us back to tribal Saudi Arabia from 1400 years ago. Islam is the dominant religion of Bangladesh and it should not be given over to the mullahs to do as they please. But, that is what we are doing by trying to ban Jaamat as they wrap themselves in the green flag of Islam. We are handing over the high ground that comes with high ground of Islam to the virulent Islamists to twist and use as they wish. Jaamat is now behaving more like insurgency than a political organization. The logical place all these ends is where the moderate Jaamatis are forced out and replaced by the virulent, blinded Jihadists who will destroy everything that the country has stood for over 42 years. Is this what the folks at Shahbagh had in mind?

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What of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)? Well, it is not international to start with. The process is flawed and from outside it doesn’t seem like justice can be served. The “Fashi Chai” folks probably should know that in the real International Criminal Court in The Hague (where most of world’s war criminals are tried) there is no death penalty, never will be. Death penalty is an abhorrent concept and only few countries still practice this form of punishment. The flawed court (ICT) washed its dirty laundry of collusion using Skype and talking to outside people about the cases. The Sayeedee sentence that has triggered most of the violence is a case in point for the proof of the nature of the court. The Economist reports, “Of the three judges sentencing Mr. Sayeedi, one had only heard some of the prosecutor’s evidence, another heard none of it. The third heard no evidence whatsoever”. Well, if you are going to take a life do you not have the responsibility to review evidence and make a considered judgment? How can one actually judge if the evidentiary information is just a void! That is what seems to be happening in the bowels of the ICT.

What of Khaleda Zia and the Prime Minister? Here the great game is joined with monumental cynicism. BNP and Khaleda Zia view the Shahbagh movements just as an extension of Awami League’s power grabbing tactic. The banning of Jaamat will probably weaken the chances of BNP in the upcoming elections so there is all out effort to protect Jaamat and its allies by the BNP. In this endeavour the BNP is simply helped by the flawed processes of the ICT, the thuggery of the Shibir and the naiveté of the “Fashi Chai” crowd. By the look of things it seems that the Awami League may have been swept by the events and now being ruled by the events on the ground as opposed to shaping the events. The hard line and naïve stance taken by the Shahbagh folks should have been immediately moderated by the cooler heads but in their zeal to weaken the BNP they egged on the “Fashi Chai” crowd in all of their glory. Now, events have taken on their own momentum as they typically do. The Prime Minister and her opponent are locked in a deadly embrace that bode ill for the country and future of some 150 million people.

So, where do we go from here? There is a great need to RESET. I wonder if the parties and the intellectuals have the moral courage and the intellectual honesty to call for a reset. We do need to face up to the horrors of 1971 and put that behind us once and for all. But, do it more like the South African Truth and Reconciliation process as opposed to seeking vengeance and digging the attendant graves. It is the Prime Minister who has the moral authority both as the Prime Minister as well as the daughter of our slain leader to ask for a total RESET. History will judge her and the country’s intellectual and business elite by their courage to call for a RESET which will involve a commission that will dig into the truth, punish folks who must be punished and forgive but never forget the rest.

As I sit in the lonely apartment some twenty floors above the crowd doing Tai Chi on the manicured lawns I wonder if Bangladesh could find its way to tell the truth and reconcile. Without a reset we are likely to inflict great torment and harm on the minority Hindu community, destroy the economy, bring in the hard line Islamists into the body politic and maybe wipe off the gains made in the last 42 years. For all I know we could resemble our erstwhile masters in Pakistan. Dysfunctional! I am always afraid of the people who have never fought a war, seen bloodshed up close. They are always the hardest of the hardliners. I think the “Fashi Chai” crowd is mostly hardliners because they are so far removed from the business end of an actual “Fashi”. What will they do when the blood really flows? I do think we have the opportunity and still have the time to take a bold step and redefine the path of history. I have great hopes for a shining city on the hill.

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Kayes Ahmed lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA with his three dogs. He runs a small yet global apparel and design business based in Boulder.