Remembering you

In the Spring of 2010, I was in my second semester. I met this amazingly beautiful girl, very sweet and humble in her nature. We were attending a public forum at the university. After the forum, as we walked out of the auditorium, we were introduced by a mutual friend. It was a very brief introduction that evening. We walked down the stairs, stopped at the lobby on the ground floor of the first campus.I wished to spend more time with her that evening but it was getting dark and she had to return home. It was 8th of April, 2010. That small meeting touched upon me very deeply. She got stuck in my mind. The next thing I went to office and looked her up on facebook. Her profile picture would carry three caps of smileys, one was her and others were Upal and Sujon, her two best friends. Even before I could add her up, I found her sending me friend request. We seemed to be connecting.

Over the next week

Acknowledgement

Following is an excerpt from my internship report submitted after my bachelors:

Acknowledgement

It has been a wonderful passage of time during my baccalaureate at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. I had first tried to enrol in ULAB in 2007 with a single subject in my Advance Level. I did not qualify. I required a minimum of two subjects to be eligible for enrolment in the university. After a long gap of studies because of work and financial constraints, I finally took the courage in fall of 2009 to start my undergrad. It still looked a long way – four years of full time education! As I reach completion of my undergrad I must mention few persons who have constantly supported me in my endeavours, kept my spirit up and who I am indebted to. Firstly, I am grateful to my Amma for her support, encouragement, prayers and celebration at every little success that I achieved in my life. She has been the most caring mother, who would wake up early in the morning to make sure I took breakfast before leaving for school and would stay up late until I arrived from my office. I remember my late father on this day for his wishes and efforts at seeing me excel and shine in my education and career. I acknowledge the support of my former features editor at New Age, Mubin S Khan for sparing me during office hours to do my classes. I am thankful to my best friend Syed Tashfin Chowdhury, for his constant support, for cracking all the bad jokes to cheer me up, for listening to my ranting and venting, and being an inspiration in many ways. Lastly but not the least, I am grateful to the management of ULAB, for providing me with a scholarship to fulfil my undergrad studies.

Read my post from three years ago when I first started my bachelors:

Right now, right here, where am I

http://saadhammadi.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/right-now-right-here-where-am-i/

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

‘We have not built this industry in a planned way’

In light of a devastating fire at Tazreen Fashions claiming more than hundred lives, Shafiul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), explains the industry’s efforts and flaws in an exclusive interview with Saad Hammadi

Three fire incidents in garment factories occurred within a space of three days. There is a saying, two is a coincidence but three is a trend. What do you make out of the situation?
Before any inquiry result comes we cannot say specifically what was behind it. Few people are saying it is a conspiracy, because Sumi, the worker of Debonair, was paid to set a fire. This is one angle of the inquiry. We, as BGMEA, have been doing training, monitoring, and ensuring fire safety. We have collaborated with brands, launched two films and made posters to create awareness, held three crash programmes in 2001, 2006 and 2010. After all these we have seen a very productive result in 2007, 2008 and 2009. We found no casualty even in 2011. So those have been going all good. In 2010 we have seen one incident and now the latest incident at Tazreen Fashions is shocking. We are trying to support the families who have lost their loved ones, as much as possible. We are taking utmost priority to take care of the injured patients at the hospital. We have seen them in a miserable condition at the Dhaka Medical College. Immediately we have taken initiative to shift them for better treatment, because they deserve it. If necessary we will send them

‘The most terrific instrument of repression’

Enforced disappearance is a technique to conceal crimes committed by state agencies. While human rights organisations continue raising concerns, very little has changed. Political leaders and activists of the opposition including youths and a garment labour leader were abducted this year, some of whose bodies were later recovered. None of the cases have had any conclusive investigation. Rainer Huhle, member of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearance spoke to Saad Hammadi during his recent visit to Bangladesh on the phenomenon
The definition of enforced disappearance according to international human rights laws suggests secret abduction or detention of a person by a state or political organisation without acknowledging the act. While this is an infringement of human rights, how does the UN as the apex body of international organisations, view the redress for the victims of enforced disappearance?
Reparation is a very important point in the convention.  It is one of the state obligations to repair or redress victims. In material terms it can be compensation but in moral terms, the state has to reinstitute the victims in the social setting.

What about trials?
There are clear obligations for states to prosecute and bring to justice the perpetrators. It is also a relief for the victims to see that the state makes clear that this is a crime.

Is there an example you could give, where justice has been served to victims of enforced disappearance anywhere in the world or where state agencies or the perpetrators were tried for the offence?
During the military dictatorship in Argentina between late ’70s and early ’80s many women were abducted and their children were given away to families who wanted to adopt them, mostly military families.
After change in the regime in 1983, during a democratic period, little by little the judiciary became independent and started investigating

Gone by the blink of eyes

I wanted to give the happiness and the comfort that you always missed from. I wanted to give you the shoulder that you always wanted from your dear ones. I heard your pain and swore myself to stay there for you at every step of your life. Since 2010 every single day, I swear, each of my day began with your thought and ended with the same. Cannot for once get rid of the memories of the time we spent together. The evenings you waited for me at the university, when I would come, hold your hand and take you home. I got my strength when I found you. I was always insecure about myself. I always considered myself an insignificant person, until you stepped up and gave me a reason to celebrate life. I always wanted to see you happy but on this day that happiness does not include me.

It’s a Saturday evening

It’s a Saturday evening. The days were so figured. I will see you in the afternoon before my meeting at office mostly at Kozmo or Mango. You got upset as time neared and I had to leave for office.