Ariel 'Foreign Bureau'

By Waliur Rahman, Correspondent, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 15 March 2005

When London called just after midnight one day in January, I was glued to the TV watching Tom and Jerry. I was aware of what had been unfolding, but was not in a mood to ruin my sleep over what was becoming a regular phenomenon in Bangladesh.

But the caller was very polite in asking me to go to the office to help generate stories for the next morning’s BBC Bengali transmission.

The matter was indeed urgent. After being critically wounded in a grenade attack in north-eastern Habiganj district, about 250 kilometres from the capital, the former finance minister and prominent opposition leader, Shah Ams Kibria, was on his way to hospital in Dhaka.

Four others had been killed and his condition was deteriorating fast. My colleague Qadir Kallol was already at the hospital. I exchanged a quick call with him and was in the office within ten minutes.

Kibria died before arriving at the hospital. Since no one had claimed responsibility, questions like ‘who might be behind this and why?’ cropped up.

We forced officials and analysts to leave their beds– much to their dismay – to answer these queries.

Cocoon of terror

We did manage to generate enough material for the transmission, but the puzzle – who might be behind the attack and why – remained unsolved. In fact, we have been asking these questions for the last six years.

Bomb and grenade attacks have become a regular event since 1999. Muslim shrines, Bengali new year celebrations, cultural functions, Valentine’s Day parties, political rallies and even diplomats like British high commissioner Anwar Chowdhury – all have been targeted, with more than 100 people killed.

Investigations routinely take place, but nothing has come out so far.

Trust me, Bangladesh is now offering more stories than many countries on the BBC map.

If you’re bored with the frequent bombings, you can turn to the hardline Islamic groups. To quote recent reports, Bangladesh is ‘a cocoon of terror’ where terrorists unload ‘deadly cargos’ to make it the place for the ‘next Islamist revolution’.

The government has long denied the presence of the Islamic militants in the country, but recently banned two Islamist groups and arrested dozens of suspected militants in a rare crackdown.

Then there are stories of political tension, ferry disasters and, more importantly, floods. You will learn how 140m people live with floods, seeking to prick the world’s conscience.

It's not all bad news

But I wouldn’t want you to think it’s all bad news. We have two modern studios in Dhaka, enabling us to file stories in quality. We no longer wait half an hour to FTP a two-minute story through local internet providers.

Life is now much easier with access to the BBC’s electronic news production system, from the 14th floor of a new office at the heart of the city.

Bangladesh is the home of some internationally-reputed aid agencies, which help some of the poorest people on the earth to build a better life.

But journalism here can be a dangerous business. At least ten journalists have been killed in the last five years for reporting on issues that criminals didn’t like.

In fact, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has ranked Bangladesh as the most dangerous place in Asia for news gatherers.

For citizens, Dhaka can also be unsafe. I survived a mugging attempt last month – close to our BBC bureau – while inside a taxi at 8.30pm. But that’s a different sort of story.

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