La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(20 décembre --- 27 décembre)

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh a installé une banque de lait pour les orphelins. En dépit de protestation depuis les groupes ultra-orthodoxe, Bangladesh poursuit les exemples de Malaisie et Iran.

Selon un reportage, Lumpy Skin Disease a ciblé 862.000 bovins à traverse tout le pays. La maladie a déjà 111 bovins. La maladie a  causé assez dégâts aux bovins à Chattogram.

Selon un reportage, élection commission a affirmé la date d'élection municipale. Le 30 janvier est fixé la date d' élection.  Il se peut que l'opposition puisse participer à l'élection.


Selon un reportage, le mardi des ouvriers d' un atelier de confection ont manifesté pour les arriérés. Une escarmouche entre la police et les manifestants s'est aussi déroulée.

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh a connu une courte offensive du froid pour quatre jours. Presque 216 enfants ont été hospitalisés à Kurigram.

Selon un reportage, un homme d'affaires a été brutalement tué chez lui à Chattogram. Il était disciple d' un groupe de Soufie islam, situé à Chattogram.


J'ai enfin acheté un laptop d'occasion depuis IDB. C'est un notebook de Toshiba.

Time To Look For Alternate Overseas Job Market

External job market for Bangladeshi workers does not look that good. Traditional market like Saudi Arabia remained stagnant. Only conditional recruitment is going on there after it remained closed for Bangladeshis for sometime: Bangladeshi female domestic worker should be sent to resume recruitment of Bangladeshis.

Meanwhile, Malaysia, another major destination for Bangladeshi workers, has launched an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. "Back for Good" program, launched in August 1 and will expire by December 31, aims to curb significantly illegal foreign workers who have overstayed their visas by sending them back to their country of origin after paying a punitive fine. One year later they will be eligible for re-recruitment. News report hints that around 30000 undocumented Bangladeshi workers will face full brunt of B4G program. Situation is so dire that national flag carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, has increased frequencies of flights between Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka to meet the deadline so that stranded Bangladeshi workers do not face severe punishments.

Falling remittances flow from traditional sources and adverse policies in some markets cue new efforts to search alternative markets. There are some destinations  that look promising but series of bad incidents overshadow the good prospect.

Series of killing by gunshots imperil the very existence of Bangladeshis in South Africa, where they successfully started grocery and other small businesses. In the  last five years, around 400 Bangladeshis were gunned down. News reports indicate that South Africa too is a popular destination for undocumented Bangladeshi workers. Having worked for two or three years, many managed to grab legal documents. Even these undocumented workers are not insulated from ghastly gun violence.

Earlier, law-enforcement agencies back home arrested cohorts of abductors resided in Libya for abducting Libya-bound illegal Bangladeshis and asking for ransoms to relatives back home.

In Saudi Arabia, tortures meted out to female domestic help of Bangladeshi origin turned Bangladeshis' stomach. Reuters carried a report that claimed that there was an online site for selling poorer women, hailing from third world countries, to Middle Eastern clients. In that nomadic culture housemaid does not enjoy a respectable life.  Once a migrant worker told me that God made "halal" till knee part of a washerwoman's body. I don't know how much truth it contained but I was shell shocked. Even I find the French word, "femme de chambre" or "bedroom woman",  for a domestic help shocking. The French colonized a large part of sub Saharan Africa and part of Middle East. Maybe the word has its roots from that part of the world. Look at the final resting places of the Pharaohs whose decorated secret chambers also contained mummies of slaves. The film "Charlie Wilson's War" offers another account of sporting spectacles of slave girl trade.

In the movie, a congressman throws party for elites and stages a funny slave girl trade. These social elites get along well with their Middle Eastern partners. Perhaps the auction is intended to entertain the guests. Since vestiges of nomadic culture is still prevalent in those societies, we should take precautionary steps while sending housemaid there.

Back in last week of November, around 35 female workers took refuge in a repatriation center in Saudi Arabia, fleeing violence at workplace. Luckily, frequency of such horrifying incidents precipitated the Saudis to launch a special service to take calls from housemaid in distress.

Bangladeshi government needs to do more: recruiting more Bangladeshi staff who speaks dialects of workers at the embassy in Riyad, signing more complementary agreements  with the Saudis to ensure safety of these workers and stalling the recruitment for sometime if necessary.

 In Karnataka ,India, a drive against Bangladeshi domestic help was launched couple of months ago. Karnataka government alerted the apartment owners and advised them to discharge their domestic help as soon as possible. It appeared that Bengali domestic helps cook very well and very docile so Bengali middle class there prefers recruiting them. Language barrier does not appear to be a major problem in communicating like Saudi Arabia.Somehow the xenophobia that evil quarter may misuse the poor workers led to this anti-Bangladeshi drive in the region.
Given the dismal picture in existing overseas employment markets , searching new one as well as more efforts of engagement with the existing markets are called for.

(Source: Bangladesh Economic Review 2018)

If we take a close look at the remittances for the last 10 years we will see that remittances from Saudi Arabia and UAE declined for the last five years. Meanwhile, remittances from USA,UK and Malaysia increased significantly for the last ten years.
Since we inclined heavily towards sending semi-skilled and unskilled workers, it is better to devise new ways so that we could send more workers to new overseas markets and induce others to take more workers from us.
Bangladesh could lobby other traditional markets to replicate the Malaysian "B4G" program. Under the program, workers in rotation will go abroad and come back to home for a predetermined period. Government initiatives can assure the participating workers that government will take care of their housing and healthcare needs if they comply with the rules of the program. Government can also build subsidized housing unit for this target group of workers.

Bangladesh could also sign special agreements with India to send domestic help, construction worker and agricultural laborer. If any major Indian city does not have reservation from hiring Bangladeshi domestic help, then under government-to-government contract special work permit can be awarded to this kind of workers. Local Indian High Commission can ensure smooth distribution of the permits and can make sure that remittances sent by these emigrant Bangladeshi workers may end up in right hands and may use in home renovation, providing good education to children and providing good medicare.

There are many humanitarian NGOs in India. They work for vulnerable groups and operate many safe houses. Unlike Middle Eastern countries, Bangladeshi domestic help will enjoy safe and secure life there as the population in general is not hostile towards them.
In exchange, Bangladesh can issue more professional visas to Indians, hailing from those Indian States that welcome Bangladeshi workers, to work on RMG, textiles and IT sectors. It will help tremendously to balance the remittance flows between the countries.
Iran and countries belong to former Soviet Union could also be viewed as potential destinations of overseas employment. Unfortunately,Bangladesh never explore the Iranian construction, agriculture and shipbuilding industries where Bangladeshi workers could make valuable contribution.US sanctions could cause some trouble as Iranian central bank also falls under the new sanction, but Bangladesh could join multilateral initiatives to bypass them.

African countries could be destinations for setting up small businesses and agricultural farms. Bangladesh could ink deals with South Africa and Libya to provide law enforcement assistance in those countries in a bid to reduce the incidence of gun violence and human trafficking. If Bangladeshi financial institutions are allowed to operate in these countries, then small businessmen could get easy credit to start businesses.


Tragic tales of our migrant workers in Saudi Arabia , South Africa and Libya insinuate that overseas employment industry is infested with thugs and they act here without facing any obstacle and remorse. While innocent souls perished abroad, reputation of the country took a bad hit. Undeniably foreign hands also took part in this kind of criminal act. Unfortunately, from our part, we have not yet taken any step to identify the culprits and to bring them to book. Nonchalance stance hampers the traditional markets and puts obstacles to finding new ones for our workers. Unless we address the issues at home, chances are slim that things will be better for our overseas employment situation.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(13 décembre ---- 20 décembre)

Selon un reportage, incendie dans une usine d' éventail a tué 10 personnes à Gazipur. Plupart d' ouvriers sont morts asphyxiés au 3 ème étage.

Selon un reportage, le bilan de mort  depuis l'incendie à Keraniganj a augmenté à 19 personnes.


Selon un reportage, le gouvernement a publié une liste de collaborateur, pleine d' erreur. La liste a tellement heurté des guerriers de la guerre de 1971. Des manifestants ont aussi demandé démission de ministre responsable.

Selon un reportage, police a arrêté deux agresseurs après ils avaient tenté de violer une voyageuse étrangère à Cox's Bazar.

Selon un reportage, le fondateur de la plus grande ONG du monde est mort. BRAC est aussi la grande organisation microcrédit qui lutte contre la pauvreté au Bangladesh. Il a aussi créé BRAC Bank et BRAC Université qui a mis le premier satellite en orbite.

Don't Ignore Refugees' Rights

The coming years are going to see lots of refugees around the world. Many of them will be displaced due to political tension or climatic conditions. Bangladesh's mega cities have long been hosting villagers fleeing horrors of river erosion. Recently, the country welcomed nearly million refugees from persecution in the Rakhine State in Myanmar.

In addition, huge number of Bangladeshis work in Middle East and South East Asia. Any kind of geo political tension in these countries could lead to massive evacuation program like that happened during the gulf war or second world war. The prospect of a refugee like situation is pretty high for Bangladesh.

Across the border, tension is rising among different communities.  There is a mild chance that we may host some political refugees from India. But for the next few years, it is highly unlikely that this may happen. It all depends on how the Indian government is going to implement the the National Register Citizens and to deal with the aftermath.

In dealing with the Rohingyas, Bangladesh already met some harsh truths: pledged promises of aid never translated into actions, economic opportunities or alternative livelihood for the Rohingyas have never been devised, market access to some developed countries for Bangladeshi goods as a gesture of acknowledgement to host stateless people has yet to take place and no policies have been devised to spell out how the refugees' rights over resources( what they earn through their participation in economic activity)  will be ensured and their free movement will be respected.

No one accepts willingly a refugee life in a foreign land. At the same time, economic opportunities and freedom to move without obstacles are extremely difficult for a refugee in a foreign country. Often, the condition facing a refugee turns worse if the hosting country becomes hostile or the population hold animus towards the refugee. Furthermore, there are lack of international efforts and agreements that ensure refugees' rights of their earned earnings and resources. From day one, a refugee becomes a subject of intense exploitation.

In the surrounding villages of Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, many Rohingyas forced to sell their labor at a wage rate far below than the market in face of grinding poverty.I had the experience to travel on a rickshaw  in Cox's Bazar back in 2010  or 2011 at a fare much lower than the market could offer. Later I figured out the rickshaw puller was a Rohingya.

The movie "Gangs of New York" offers another vivid account of the impact of refugees could play in the society and labor market. In the movie, the Irish immigrants greatly shape informal labor market. Many are conscripted in the US army and sent directly to the battlefields, unknown and treacherous ,to embrace cruel death. Their dues are never paid. Some of these poor migrants fall into the lure of notorious gangs.

In Thailand, another group of Myanmar refugees have taken up hazardous jobs to sustain families. They extract copper from dumped electronic gadgets and laptops in awful working environment. Many burn their hands while doing so, as reported by the New York Times.

In the neighboring state of West Bengal, a small mangrove forest island once became a tension point between refugees of Bangladesh and state government. Poor refugees came in droves and started living in the forest despite repeated warnings from the government. Later police and ruling party cadres cleared the island launching a brutal crackdown. The killings in Marichjhanpi island still rankles with the refugees living in West Bengal.

To insulate the refugees from exploitation and to safeguard their interests, multilateral bodies should step forward. For instance, many nations can welcome a particular group of refugees. But due to statelessness , they cannot go/travel  to those countries. UN can make special arrangements / travel documents that allow a refugee to move freely within a country and between friendly countries.

More precisely, a family may be separated by a tragic event and may become refugee. Sole bread winner may reside in a richer country but the rest of the family members may remain stranded in refugee camps of a poor country. In this case, UN may issue special travel documents to help the family reunites without violating laws and regularities of the hosting countries.Furthermore, migrant member of a refugee family may need to remit money back to the host country where his/her family members live. Due to the status of refugee, they cannot engage in legal financial transaction. Often the host country allows the refugees to engage in economic activities like farming, pisciculture, small business etc. Again due to their status, they cannot do banking legally in the country. UN can launch initiative through UNHCR so that refugees can open bank account using their refugee identity, can do financial transactions legally and can protect their resources.

Just to provide shelter is not enough for the refugees. As they are subject to exploitation and vulnerabilities stemming from the situation exists in the ground of hosting countries.Multilateral bodies  need to take initiatives to find ways for economic opportunities for the refugees, instead of relying heavily on aid, and to make sure they move freely between countries that are amicable towards them.

To market the goods and produces of refugees, some solution should be devised. Like duty free shops at airports, we can introduce duty-free  market place for refugee made goods in major cities. They can be given credit, subsidized seeds, fertilizer, land and pond . Special haat could also be arranged for their produces in week days and weekend. This can all happen under the good care of UNHCR.

Many countries are tremendously friendly towards the Rohingyas. These countries can fix a quota of RMG items , wear by defense personnel. Bangladeshi government in turn can redistribute quotas to Bangladeshi RMG manufacturers who will help prepare Rohingya entrepreneurs or offer jobs to Rohingyas in their factories. Their earnings could go directly to the bank accounts operated by UNHCR. This initiative, if work, will create a new breed of  Rohingya entrepreneurs whose ventures will lift the community up from dire poverty.

Meanwhile, Myanmar government can give Rohingya originated traders some special permits to do trade of kitchen commodities in the country. This will open up another alley of opportunities for the Rohingyas. Uninhabited islands of Myanmar could also be leased to Rohingyas so that they could grow their own food, do farming and sell their produces to outside world. This will partly assuage their economic and financial woes. If Rohingyas are reluctant, then able Bangladeshi farms can be invited to lease those agricultural plots inside Myanmar.

Last two initiatives are bilateral in nature, depending much on how other friendly countries appreciate the ideas. Multilateral agreements like banking operation and travel documents for refugees can effectively materialize them. Since pledges of aid recede as time progresses, it is not a good idea to rest solely on aid to solve refugee problem. Mainstreaming the contribution of refugees towards the economy could be good alternative.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(06 décembre --- 13 décembre)

Selon un reportage, un Chinois est mort dans la centrale charbonnière à Payra, Borishal. Il a échoué à boucler sa ceinture quand il travaillait à la hauteur de 80 feet et est tombé.

Selon un reportage, un homme d'affaires chinois a été tué et enterré près de son appartement à Banani. Sa famille est en train de passer vacances en Chine pendant que la tuerie se déroulait. Police soupçonne désaccord dans les affaires s'est soldé par la tuerie. Les caméras de surveillance n'ont pas marché en ce moment là.


Selon un reportage, incendie a ravagé une usine du plastique à Keraniganj, tuant onze personnes.


Selon un reportage, les ministres des affaires étrangères et de l'intérieur du Bangladesh ont reporté leurs visites officielles en Inde afin de la situation sulfureuse là bas. Selon un autre reportage, la véhicule de l'ambassadeur adjoint du Bangladesh à Guwahati a été ciblé par les manifestants.

Dismal Job Market: Who Gets The Blame?

A recent study on unemployment reveals that 34% of the graduates are currently unemployed. The study in progress has found that the  performance of graduates in job is not as good as the employers anticipate and the education system is not compliant with the job market.

I have not got the chance to leaf through the study in question. So I am not going to comment on the study.

However, it is not clear how many of the graduates have lost their jobs due to stalled growth in private sector. Vibrant private sector is conspicuously absent in Bangladesh, a place dominated by crony infested businesses. At the same time, slowing down of growth in major economies also affects the private sector here. In recent months, many multinational companies have wound up their operations in this part of the world to expand their operations or to reduce cost significantly.
A recent news report says 64 RMG factories have been closed down in 10 months of this fiscal year as they are unable to cope with government's new salary decision and lack of bank support for this crucial sector in the wake of piling up of non performing loan. Lugubrious air prevailing in the financial sector is largely due to squandering of bank money and mismanagement.

So banks grow cautious to lend further and trust deficit stalls the growth of private sector. Sometimes policy decision also plays a role influencing the job market. We witnessed plenty of examples in telecom sector.
Citycell laid off thousands of workers after regulatory authority had shut it down over due payments. Angry workers descended into the streets and staged protest against the decision.

Two other major operators declared a merger and fought a legal battle with the government over contested tax. The operators lost the battle and were asked to pay the tax money to the government. One of the operators has launched a voluntary separation scheme for its employees in order to economize its labor force.

Their actions lend credence to the argument that consumers and workers bear full brunt of cost cutting measures.

Tension is also  brewing in media industry. In the beginning of this year, an association of broadcast journalist was formed to protect the interest of the journalist from the whims of the owners. Most of these outlets are set up with political blessings where professionalism has little role to play. Indiscriminate termination of journalist is pretty common. A TV channel drew ire of the journalist community after the TV authority had fired the whole reporting and editorial team of the news department.  More recently, fired journalist of a TV channel laid siege to TV premises. Many journalists have not been paid their dues. Even the experienced and senior ones face the music.

It is more or less pretty evident that experience and skill has no role in recent termination in the media. Business model may be wrong or the  outlets  were set up on different purposes. In the face of increasing cost, they simply scuttle the journalists.

Truth is there is no vibrant and free private sector, where ups and downs reflect rules of free market. Question remains on how one can blame performance and skill set of an employee in this crony infested and politically aligned private sector.

Drawing lessons from our RMG industry offers some objective explanation. When it all started back in late 70s, bureaucrats and people closer to power corridor managed to grab the permit to set up factories. RMG buyers from Hong Kong and South Korea trained the initial work force made them ready to deliver the desired product. This in-house training program prepared the skilled workforce. None back then envisaged that our RMG industry would reach such stage. Obviously we need more specialized institution to churn out more knowledgeable employee to deal with the challenges when the industry is on a firm footing.

When the industrial revolution was unfolding,  European countries did not target job market and did not churn out market desired workers.  Rather back then those countries produced finest quality of mathematicians and innovative minds. Instead of job market soothsaying , we need to take cue from those periods.

Look what happened to the Indian IT sector. New rules by the American government and trade war between US and China made a heavy dent in Indian IT job market. It does not mean that those who got fired do not have the skill . Rather, they fell victim of a bad patch in Indian IT industry.

What we are missing here is crux of the problem. Quality of education is the area where we should concentrate instead of making workers. We have to ensure quality education at all levels. If that happens then we will get good citizens who will be able to contribute tremendously to the society through their thoughtful duties and deeds. They will be able to meet the challenges of the future at the same time.


At the moment, we are pursuing an educational policy that is parallel to feeding a cub semi prepared food by a carnivore. There is always someone to crack the problem for a  student.  Omnipresence of these coaches seriously hampers the learning process of a student. A student does not stumble upon a problem more often and solves the problem by himself. The result is we are getting dependent generations who have no confidence in themselves. Appalling state of innovation, lack of quality books, lack of pioneer in every field are tell-tale signs.


Repository of knowledge, book, that helps a learner in his/her formative years is not easy to find. Libraries, where a learner gets a chance to find them, are drying up. Government and private donations that sustain them are rare.

Journalist Samanth Subramanian once wrote a feature about the public libraries in the state of Tamil Nadu, one of the Indian states that produces super IT professionals and  scientists. Central and local government allocated special funds to the libraries scattered across the state, according to him. The fund used to buy various genres of books and magazines, including foreign ones, to quench the thirst of the bibliophiles. Thanks to government patronage, these institutional buyers help flourish local publication industry and dawn a breed of readers.

Red=2015 & Green=2017. Num of Technical Institution. Source: BANBEIS

Meanwhile, to instill special kind of technical knowledge, we need technical schools and teachers' training college. We failed miserably to  groom our future teachers. Stat furnished by BANBEIS on the number of technical institution is pretty disappointing. I find the SSC and HSC vocational training institute number pretty erroneous. However, number of Technical School, Graphic Art Institute, Textile Institute, Survey Institute, Agricultural Training Institute,Marine Institute and Medical Training Institute stands pretty much same in 2015 and 2017. There have been slight increase in the number of Polytechnic Institute and Technical Training Center.

Similarly, we need to recruit good teachers for these technical schools. If we are really serious , the number of institutions and teachers should have gone up.

Quality text books also lack here. Unfortunately, we do not have enough good educational content writers or academic to write legible and good text books that explain things to a learner crystal clear. Another hint that our education system is really poor.
Instead of going after the indirect reasons, we should focus on the right target in order to get good citizens and world class workforce.

Quality education is not a privilege to few but a right for all that holds the key to augment the threshold quality of a typical learner. Attaining that goal obviates the need to do research on such trivial issues on our labor force and spares the fund for more pressing one.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(29 novembre --- 06 décembre)


Selon un reportage, Bangladesh a demandé aux Philippines de divulguer l'identité des pirates qui avaient piraté la Banque centrale de Bangladesh. De plus, Bangladesh a aussi demandé de partagé l'amende, recueilli par la Banque centrale de Philippines après une enquête sur le rôle de Rizal Bank dans le piratage.


Selon un reportage, l'Université de technologie du Bangladesh a donné son aval aux demandes de manifestants qui se sont insurgés après tuerie macabre d'un étudiant. L'autorité a aussi licencié 26 étudiants pour avoir engagé dans ragging.


Selon un reportage, police a appréhendé deux personnes pour avoir tué deux femmes à Mirpur 2.


Selon un reportage, un cadavre d'une fille de policier s'est trouvé dans une rue à Malibagh. Police a appréhendé son ancien copain pour interpellation. Ses camarades d' une université privée sont descendus dans les rues et ont manifesté pour justice.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(22 novembre --- 29 novembre)

Selon un reportage, une cour d' antiterrorisme a condamné à mort 7 coupables et libéré un autre pour avoir assisté à la tuerie macabre dans Holey Artisan Bakery, revendiqué par Daech et bouleversé le monde.

 Selon un reportage, Australie a retiré l'alerte de voyage sur Bangladesh, imposée après Holey Artisan Bakery Attack.

Selon un reportage, presque 35 femmes de Chambre ont pris refuge dans un centre de rapatriement en Arabie saoudite et prié au gouvernement bangladais de les rapatrier dès que possible.

 Selon un reportage, une explosion de mine en Birmanie, a tué un Rohingya et blessé deux autres.

Mon portable est tombé en panne pour 60 heures. Il ne se ravitaillait pas. Puis je suis allé chez ingénieur de portable. Maintenant ça marche. Mon laptop est aussi tombé en panne il y a trois mois.

Man Vs Wild

A trivial news emanating from Boalkhali of Chattogram caught me off guard. The news reads three lives perished in an attack by elephant herd. One met the death while gardening his cultivable land. The other person was struck by an elephant while he was picking arum leaves behind a saw-mill. An elderly man was trampled down by a herd of elephants after he had finished his morning prayers. Earlier, two baby elephants had been killed: one was drowned in a pond and another one was electrocuted by a trap set by villagers. Villagers claimed more and more elephants descended on villages, located on the fringes of forests of South Chattogram and Bandarban, in search of food. This is happening due to shortages of foods in the woods.

This tragedy is a stark reminder that trappings of development are making a heavy dent in the nature. The result is obvious: the elephants could not sustain in receding forests and devoured the surrounding paddy fields on far too many occasions.

This tragic encounter is also taking place in other parts of Bangladesh: in Moulvibazar wild cats are caught by locals while they try to catch fish. In villages close to Sundarban, Royal Bengal Tigers often prey on livestock. In Rajshahi, a mango orchard is occupied by Shamuk Khol birds' nests, prompting local administration to issue notice against orchard owner of causing any damage to the nests and doling out compensation.

Stray incidents call for urgent policy action so that man and wild can live in harmony. Many of our neighboring countries make great progress in this regard, significantly reducing incidence of tragic encounters and loss of property. Bangladesh can draw lessons from them.

To accommodate growing population, houses are being built in cultivable lands. Cultivable lands are being used to grow cash crops that fetch more money for farmers. Moreover, for the sustenance of growing population, forests turn into cultivable lands. For this reason we see paddy fields invade forests where elephants roam free. Trees used to grow in the woods were cut down and agricultural land were transformed into orchards. So desperate birds like Shamuk Khol make nests on mango tree tops. Pisciculture is so widespread and profitable that no pond or ditch is left unused for desperate "mechho bagh" or Fish Tigers to fill their stomach. Thin vegetation, disappearance of mangrove forests due to increased human settlement and agricultural activity are pushing the deer stock further from the reach of tigers. Evidently the hungry Maharajas raided the nearby villages in search of food and made headlines on the newspaper.

Development and preservation of forest can go hand in hand, contrary to the argument that stresses on the tradeoff between the two. A symbiotic relationship could be explored so that the two could coexist in harmony.

Peasants would not lay traps if there were incentive /compensation to damaged crops stemming from marauding elephants. Subject to the report of forestry officials in the wake of such incident, local administration could hand down cash or subsidized rice, more than the value of damaged crops,to the victims. In this situation, any approaching herd of elephant does not pose any threat to harvest, so the peasant is no longer hostile to elephants. Meanwhile, the starving elephant gets an alternate source of food in the paddy fields and becomes more docile at a later date.

Shamuk Khol nest incident in Rajshahi is an eye opener. There local administration gave words to the orchard owner that he would be duly compensated and issued a notice for not obliterating the nests. The assurance and local support from the villagers salvaged the nests.

Similarly, Sunderban villagers could be given wild hogs or piglets so that the tigers prey on them instead of the cattle. Proper training can be introduced to take care of the mangrove forests. In addition, subsidized rice could be distributed among villagers who comply government instructions to preserve the forest and to be kind to the wild.

Local administration and forestry officials could initiate advocacy campaign in the target area in a bid to disseminate information on incentives. Awareness building is at the core of this advocacy campaign. Special job program and scholarship for children at school in target area could also be introduced.

Most of our public fund is squandered away because of corrupted projects and mismanagement. Projects aimed to preservation of the wild will not demand more money. Government could easily allocate fund for this kind of initiative that will in the end bridge two hostile communities.

In Africa, parents of a newborn of a primitive society take the umbilical cord to a nearby forest and bury it. It is done so that the baby develops a bond to mother nature and performs its duty diligently at a later stage.

This kind of practice is conspicuously absent in our society, which receives lights of education and enjoys all the marvels of modernity. Government cannot sit idle and needs to act fast.

Any encounter with wild tiger may end up with tragic consequences. But that does not bar humans to preserve endangered species like tigers. Because we know the value of such species in nature and have the vision about what the world will look like without them. For this reason, elephant trek, Shamuk Khol nest, safe preying zone for fish tigers and undisturbed habitat for Royal Bengal tigers should be included in our development agenda. A society is recognized as developed when it mourns loss of its wild. Do we really progress to that stage?