Bacchu Bhai as I knew him
Monday, 1 November 2010
BACCHU Bhai is no more with us. Veteran journalist Rezaul Huq, as he was called, left this mundane world unwept and unsung in the same fashion he had lived through the hustle and bustle of Bangladeshi journalism. He died at his residence in the early hours of October 29, 2010 silently due to his long standing cardiac-respiratory diseases. He was 78.
He was Bacchu Bhai to all of us, from the grassroots level to the upper echelons of the society. He was an embodiment of all finer qualities of a great human being. But he was a man of the masses, venting his anger and frustration at the untold miseries of the downtrodden through his fiery writings. He used to write in English even better than an English man as he was a journalist of rare calibre and with vast down-to-earth experience. He used to see things of the ivory tower from the streets where he used to mingle with the common man.
Just weeks ago, Bacchu Bhai returned from Birmingham of the United Kingdom after spending a few days with his Bhaira (brother-in-law), On his return, he told me that he had nice time there.
Bacchu Bhai, during his life-time, had his share of agonies and sorrows. His only son, now about 28, is disabled mentally and he often asked me to find a widow or a distressed woman as a caretaker of his son after his death. He was even ready to pay over one million taka for taking care of his son's wellbeing as long as he lived.
Then he suffered great pains to see his only son-in-law and once noted TV actor Khaled Khan suffering from a rare but incurable disease. He is the husband of celebrated Tagore singer Mita Huq.
Bacchu Bhai often used to tell me that he had now nothing to live for. But I consoled him with words of encouragement.
One day, Bacchu Bhai told me over phone that he has now mountains of money with him, thousands of taka lying under his back and thousands on his chest. He was merely joking about the sale proceeds of his house at Banani. He said, he is now free from all worries as he had faced in keeping his house in his control out of 'vultures' clutches'.
Bacchu Bhai was at his wit's end when he was looking for taxation papers of his house lying with Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha. He himself went there about a dozen times and asked me to help him. I too went there only to find that a notorious builder had managed to keep those papers out of Bacchu Bhai's sights in connivance with some low-class employees of Rajuk. Finally, he could get those with the help of his mighty friends.
The money that he got from sale of his house helped him build a multistoried building at his paternal home at Keraniganj where he visited once or twice every week to breathe fresh air and to be by the side of his parents' grave. Waheed Huq Bhai had his body donated to the IPGMR.
Bacchu Bahi was a die-hard admirer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and lately a supporter of his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. But a man of high principles, politics and policies being pursued by Hasina's government this time agonized and greatly upset him. He was bitterly critical of BCL activists whom he even called 'ruffians'. Editorials written by him in one English daily - he was a regular leader writer of that daily -- breathed fire about this. He was bitterly critical of the administration and often chided the government for leading the dear motherland to abject chaos.
Two days before his death, Bacchu Bhai wrote in an editorial when TIB issued its annual report.
There he wrote:
" The point that we would like to make is the path of free market economy this government has chosen even after the earthquakes in the heartlands of capitalism. Governments of US, Britain, France, Italy and many others are desperately cutting down state benefits to make up the losses sustained due to the limitless greed of market operators. If we have not learnt the lesson the failure would be ours. The government should take the warnings of DSE and CSE seriously before the scenes of the West are reenacted here.
"Only total commitment on the part of the political leadership can keep corruption within reasonable limits. That commitment, unfortunately, is missing. That's our misfortune."
Bacchu Bhai quite correctly pointed his fingers to the grave eve-teasing situation now sweeping Bangladesh.
Only five days before his death, he wrote editorially:
"All deaths are painful but some are more painful than others. Some even prick our conscience. The death of Natore college teacher Mizanur Rahman following assault by eve teasers he had tried to stop is one such death that has not only rattled our conscience, it has also laid bare the society's insensitivity to the almost wholesale moral degradation of the society. The Prime Minister's taking responsibility of the dead teacher's family is welcome but much better would have been if she had ordered a total war against the process of moral degeneration among the country's youth of late. The first step should have been identifying the rogues and teaching them the lesson of their life. That would have encouraged many more Mizanur Rahmans to appear on the scene with similar commitment.
"Not only widespread eve teasing the wholesale invasion of seeds of criminality among our younger generation is a cause for national alarm. Where are we heading for? What can we expect from these people when they grow up and take charge of the society? Social thinkers should try to find out reasons why criminality is on a sharp increase among our youngsters. Is it because they are following the examples of their seniors or they feel frustrated being deprived of the undue privileges their leaders are enjoying? We do not know the answer but the crime chart is alarming. Never in the history of this land young people had blackened the face of the nation black as much as they are doing now.
"The journey of the youth through the lanes and by lanes of life is to a great determined by the seniors. It is totally wrong to blame them alone a greater part of the responsibility lies with us. It is the seniors' duty to guide them on the path of decency, rationality and spontaneity. Before blaming the youth shouldn't we ask ourselves whether we are doing our duty. The answer to this question would be no, especially under the existing circumstances. Application of laws is first and foremost task for an organized decent society. We think herein our failure is shameful. Why eve teasing leading even to suicides are on increase? Because a section of the youth feel they have nothing to fear and many of them are only reenacting what they see at home.
"In the unfortunate situation of today we would rather favor a tough new law against eve teasing or stalking. Drive the fear of God into the minds of would- be criminals. That's where to begin the rest we leave to our leaders. Mizanur Rahman has shown the way with his life and now it is for us to honor his memory."
Bacchu Bhai minced no words over clashes centering round the military officers' housing project. In an editorial, he wrote:
"The first question that comes naturally into one's mind about the unfortunate flare up at Rupganj on Saturday is why was land registration except to the Army Housing Project (AHP) not being allowed for some time. Was there a Ministry of Land order in this regard? Is it to help the AHC to buy land at their dictated price which, according to media reports, was far below the market prices? In situations like this where a huge number of people demonstrate their anger by indulging in unruliness of some undesirable kind it is better to be transparent. Trying to suppress facts would only aggravate the situation.
"The facts, as reported in the media, are: About 6,000 acres ( about 18,000 bigahs!) of land was to be procured to set up another army ( not defense officers') housing project. Who approved the project is not very clear although some reports said it had the approval of the Prime Minister. The army set up a camp there, stopped registration of any transfers and was buying land from the owners. If these facts are real then land owners had real good reasons to protest. Since the clashes were so serious in nature it is necessary to go deep into the reasons instead of trying to blame political opponents.
"There are no available statistics about the number of Defense Officers' Housing Schemes (DOHS) in the country but we all know there are four in the capital. This is a special privilege not allowed to other cadres of government service. The common perception is that pieces of land allotted to officers almost at throwaway (?) prices are meant for their life after retirement. But this concept, if true, has been misused. In the capital's DOHS one would these days find multistoried buildings fetching great prices from people looking for a place to live in this land starved city.
"Six thousand acres in a single place is a huge chunk of land. If the plots are five kathas in size there would be 72,000 plots! That's huge no doubt. Again, are these agricultural land? On the whole the picture is hazy for any worthwhile assessment. We hope the government would initiate a probe into the reasons of the flare up and ensure justice and fair play. We don't want to see our men in military uniform being rescued by helicopters to avoid public fury."
Often I used to tell Bacchu Bhai that he was more brilliant than his elder Waheedul Huq Bhai in writings in English. He laughed and said his brother was a God-send genius.
He was a worldly affairs man. He told me how his two nephews abroad were giving him words of praise over phone while he was, at his old age, struggling for medical treatment of his own sister at home.
"Hey Mama, go ahead, go ahead with treatment of our mom, " Bacchu Bhai quoted them as telling him while he was in great difficulty physically in rushing his sister to and from hospital days in and days out. He was speaking of his nephews' apathy towards their own mother. He pointed to erosion of values today.
With Bacchu Bhai's death, the nation has not only lost a brilliant English prose writer but also a conscience-keeper as writer of editorials of classic genre. He was a great connoisseur of music. He used to accompany Mita Huq to every international musical functions.
In great national crises, we will be groping for ideas and advice of great personalities like Bacchu Bhai in the days ahead. Sadly, Bacchu Bhais are gradually dying with no new arrivals of their ilk.
The writer is Special Correspondent of the Independent, Dhaka.
e-mail: arjayster@gmail.com
He was Bacchu Bhai to all of us, from the grassroots level to the upper echelons of the society. He was an embodiment of all finer qualities of a great human being. But he was a man of the masses, venting his anger and frustration at the untold miseries of the downtrodden through his fiery writings. He used to write in English even better than an English man as he was a journalist of rare calibre and with vast down-to-earth experience. He used to see things of the ivory tower from the streets where he used to mingle with the common man.
Just weeks ago, Bacchu Bhai returned from Birmingham of the United Kingdom after spending a few days with his Bhaira (brother-in-law), On his return, he told me that he had nice time there.
Bacchu Bhai, during his life-time, had his share of agonies and sorrows. His only son, now about 28, is disabled mentally and he often asked me to find a widow or a distressed woman as a caretaker of his son after his death. He was even ready to pay over one million taka for taking care of his son's wellbeing as long as he lived.
Then he suffered great pains to see his only son-in-law and once noted TV actor Khaled Khan suffering from a rare but incurable disease. He is the husband of celebrated Tagore singer Mita Huq.
Bacchu Bhai often used to tell me that he had now nothing to live for. But I consoled him with words of encouragement.
One day, Bacchu Bhai told me over phone that he has now mountains of money with him, thousands of taka lying under his back and thousands on his chest. He was merely joking about the sale proceeds of his house at Banani. He said, he is now free from all worries as he had faced in keeping his house in his control out of 'vultures' clutches'.
Bacchu Bhai was at his wit's end when he was looking for taxation papers of his house lying with Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha. He himself went there about a dozen times and asked me to help him. I too went there only to find that a notorious builder had managed to keep those papers out of Bacchu Bhai's sights in connivance with some low-class employees of Rajuk. Finally, he could get those with the help of his mighty friends.
The money that he got from sale of his house helped him build a multistoried building at his paternal home at Keraniganj where he visited once or twice every week to breathe fresh air and to be by the side of his parents' grave. Waheed Huq Bhai had his body donated to the IPGMR.
Bacchu Bahi was a die-hard admirer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and lately a supporter of his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. But a man of high principles, politics and policies being pursued by Hasina's government this time agonized and greatly upset him. He was bitterly critical of BCL activists whom he even called 'ruffians'. Editorials written by him in one English daily - he was a regular leader writer of that daily -- breathed fire about this. He was bitterly critical of the administration and often chided the government for leading the dear motherland to abject chaos.
Two days before his death, Bacchu Bhai wrote in an editorial when TIB issued its annual report.
There he wrote:
" The point that we would like to make is the path of free market economy this government has chosen even after the earthquakes in the heartlands of capitalism. Governments of US, Britain, France, Italy and many others are desperately cutting down state benefits to make up the losses sustained due to the limitless greed of market operators. If we have not learnt the lesson the failure would be ours. The government should take the warnings of DSE and CSE seriously before the scenes of the West are reenacted here.
"Only total commitment on the part of the political leadership can keep corruption within reasonable limits. That commitment, unfortunately, is missing. That's our misfortune."
Bacchu Bhai quite correctly pointed his fingers to the grave eve-teasing situation now sweeping Bangladesh.
Only five days before his death, he wrote editorially:
"All deaths are painful but some are more painful than others. Some even prick our conscience. The death of Natore college teacher Mizanur Rahman following assault by eve teasers he had tried to stop is one such death that has not only rattled our conscience, it has also laid bare the society's insensitivity to the almost wholesale moral degradation of the society. The Prime Minister's taking responsibility of the dead teacher's family is welcome but much better would have been if she had ordered a total war against the process of moral degeneration among the country's youth of late. The first step should have been identifying the rogues and teaching them the lesson of their life. That would have encouraged many more Mizanur Rahmans to appear on the scene with similar commitment.
"Not only widespread eve teasing the wholesale invasion of seeds of criminality among our younger generation is a cause for national alarm. Where are we heading for? What can we expect from these people when they grow up and take charge of the society? Social thinkers should try to find out reasons why criminality is on a sharp increase among our youngsters. Is it because they are following the examples of their seniors or they feel frustrated being deprived of the undue privileges their leaders are enjoying? We do not know the answer but the crime chart is alarming. Never in the history of this land young people had blackened the face of the nation black as much as they are doing now.
"The journey of the youth through the lanes and by lanes of life is to a great determined by the seniors. It is totally wrong to blame them alone a greater part of the responsibility lies with us. It is the seniors' duty to guide them on the path of decency, rationality and spontaneity. Before blaming the youth shouldn't we ask ourselves whether we are doing our duty. The answer to this question would be no, especially under the existing circumstances. Application of laws is first and foremost task for an organized decent society. We think herein our failure is shameful. Why eve teasing leading even to suicides are on increase? Because a section of the youth feel they have nothing to fear and many of them are only reenacting what they see at home.
"In the unfortunate situation of today we would rather favor a tough new law against eve teasing or stalking. Drive the fear of God into the minds of would- be criminals. That's where to begin the rest we leave to our leaders. Mizanur Rahman has shown the way with his life and now it is for us to honor his memory."
Bacchu Bhai minced no words over clashes centering round the military officers' housing project. In an editorial, he wrote:
"The first question that comes naturally into one's mind about the unfortunate flare up at Rupganj on Saturday is why was land registration except to the Army Housing Project (AHP) not being allowed for some time. Was there a Ministry of Land order in this regard? Is it to help the AHC to buy land at their dictated price which, according to media reports, was far below the market prices? In situations like this where a huge number of people demonstrate their anger by indulging in unruliness of some undesirable kind it is better to be transparent. Trying to suppress facts would only aggravate the situation.
"The facts, as reported in the media, are: About 6,000 acres ( about 18,000 bigahs!) of land was to be procured to set up another army ( not defense officers') housing project. Who approved the project is not very clear although some reports said it had the approval of the Prime Minister. The army set up a camp there, stopped registration of any transfers and was buying land from the owners. If these facts are real then land owners had real good reasons to protest. Since the clashes were so serious in nature it is necessary to go deep into the reasons instead of trying to blame political opponents.
"There are no available statistics about the number of Defense Officers' Housing Schemes (DOHS) in the country but we all know there are four in the capital. This is a special privilege not allowed to other cadres of government service. The common perception is that pieces of land allotted to officers almost at throwaway (?) prices are meant for their life after retirement. But this concept, if true, has been misused. In the capital's DOHS one would these days find multistoried buildings fetching great prices from people looking for a place to live in this land starved city.
"Six thousand acres in a single place is a huge chunk of land. If the plots are five kathas in size there would be 72,000 plots! That's huge no doubt. Again, are these agricultural land? On the whole the picture is hazy for any worthwhile assessment. We hope the government would initiate a probe into the reasons of the flare up and ensure justice and fair play. We don't want to see our men in military uniform being rescued by helicopters to avoid public fury."
Often I used to tell Bacchu Bhai that he was more brilliant than his elder Waheedul Huq Bhai in writings in English. He laughed and said his brother was a God-send genius.
He was a worldly affairs man. He told me how his two nephews abroad were giving him words of praise over phone while he was, at his old age, struggling for medical treatment of his own sister at home.
"Hey Mama, go ahead, go ahead with treatment of our mom, " Bacchu Bhai quoted them as telling him while he was in great difficulty physically in rushing his sister to and from hospital days in and days out. He was speaking of his nephews' apathy towards their own mother. He pointed to erosion of values today.
With Bacchu Bhai's death, the nation has not only lost a brilliant English prose writer but also a conscience-keeper as writer of editorials of classic genre. He was a great connoisseur of music. He used to accompany Mita Huq to every international musical functions.
In great national crises, we will be groping for ideas and advice of great personalities like Bacchu Bhai in the days ahead. Sadly, Bacchu Bhais are gradually dying with no new arrivals of their ilk.
The writer is Special Correspondent of the Independent, Dhaka.
e-mail: arjayster@gmail.com