Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

The Oil Crisis By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) March 17, 2004 Whether we like it or not, oil plays a large role in economic up and down swings around the world. The feasible applications of alternative energy seem to be still far away from achieving any noticeable dent in energy market. Now that the oil price has hit the 14-year high, many heads have begun rolling. Twice a year oil and gas evaluation consultants provide a composite price forecast for crude oil. In more likelihood than not, these forecasts resemble astrologer’s horoscope predictions, like the entertaining crystal ball. In the last 30 years, the volatile energy market had shown wild behavior in the face of wars, natural disasters, political instability, terrorism and other man made follies. Price is indeed relative to demand, however, when we add vices of men into this simple economic model, convoluted picture arises. OPEC boasts biggest control on world’s largest provable reserves, and from time to time, tinker...

Problems in Bangladesh and the Global Pattern By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) March 7, 2004 “Fresh ideas”, freethinking concepts are not from out of this universe. From the ages immemorial, liberty and freedom have been thwarted back, whatever progresses have been made are resisted, repeatedly, around the globe, by orthodoxy and even by the so-called “secularists” who would not relinquish or share their power in greater extent for the betterment of the whole. The strife in Bangladesh is perhaps not a local phenomenon. Bangladesh is part of our world. If you look closely, remarkable pattern emerges from various nations’ on going problems, which is strikingly similar to Bangladeshi problems, oppositions’ allegations of government censorship, etc. Here is one example from Russia that I find familiar in Bangladeshi context: “What democracy? The ordinary Russians may mumble while huddling around a heating furnace, or standing in a line for baked bread, but albeit in lower tone....

Humayun Azad and a few Self-Criticisms By Dr. Asif Nazrul Translated by: Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) March 6, 2004 Professor Humayun Azad used to refer white group as the group of purity. In 1987 the white group, composed of Dhaka University’s teachers, arranged a meeting under the leadership of Sirazul Islam, and Dr. Azad was one of the main speakers in that meeting. He had participated in the Senate Election under the same white party, and once he had performed his duty as the warden of international dormitory. He did not actively participate in the white party for long, and neither did he join in another faction. Instead, as a truth seeker, this academician delved entirely into writing for his self-development of social thoughts and freethinking. He became the bearer of free, independent and greed-less pen. That pen would become a threat for his life; this premonition was there for many years. Political parties and various related groups who misuse religion demanded ...

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Freethinking and Dangers By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) March 2, 2004 Distance, national origin, race or belief system do not matter in feeling pain for the fellow beings a few miles or thousands of miles away, or decades and hundreds of thousands years of difference. Our world is in the grip of rising violence, wars, terrorism, corruption and unfortunate natural disasters. What happened to Dr. Humayun Azad, hacking of a noted author in Bangladesh, is no different than today’s bomb blasts in Karbala or Baghdad, indiscriminate firings in Pakistan, Israeli oppressions on Palestinians, suicide bombers’ vengeance against the Jewish civilians, or a few years ago the unforgettable carnage in Gujarat of India, or the merciless killings of thousands of innocent civilians in the World Trade Center in New York. Humanity does not differentiate between races, religions, gender or distance. It is our entrenched system that throw ample amounts of distraction, in the form of entertainme...

Attack on Professor Humayun Azad – a Twisty Forewarning? By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 28, 2004 How to contemplate on the vicious attack on Bangladeshi Professor Humayun Azad? Several minutes passed by. And several hours are gone. Only things come into mind are expletives detesting the maddening profanity engulfing our world, not to be written for the civil consumption. The horrific images published in several Bangladeshi newspapers, showing the blood soaked shirt, the deep wounds in his left jaw, dazedly walking, still conscious, but looked in pain. Professor Humayun Azad is fighting for his life in Combined Military Hospital. Professor Humayun Azad is unconscious; his blood seeped through his shirt, heartbeat unstable, for expressing views against communalism and fundamentalism’s resurrection. What is happening in Bangladesh? A nation born out from the oppression and colonialism filled past, fought a gruesome battle against sadistic subjugation, a p...

The Wall Quandary By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 23, 2004 The International Court has begun the proceedings on the litigious wall issue between the Palestinians and the Israeli government on February 23rd of this year. Israel claims that the wall is for protecting innocent Israeli civilians from the Palestinian suicide bombers, and they gravely point in the direction of last weekend’s bomb blast in Jerusalem. Their position is understandable. Protecting a nation’s civilians from terrorism does have merit. However, the construction of wall in Israel exposes a stunningly different image than the bureaucrats of Ariel Sharon’s Government wish the world to reckon. In many cases Israel indicates that the security wall already in place along with other heightened security measures are working, the number of suicide bombings has come down considerably than its previous high average. According to Washington Times editorial: “In the spring of 2002, when Israel began build...

Russian Grizzly Politics and Chechnya By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 22, 2004 Chilly Russian Politics Russian winter is bitter. Severe wind-chill cut through flesh and bones and piles of snow cover streets, roofs and trees. While the winter may last a few more months or weeks, which is already in fazing out period for this year, Russian politics is gearing toward more cold and chilly wind. When the Berlin Wall collapsed more than a decade ago, the old Gorbachev’s Perestroika was in the headline news, and the vigilant Yeltsin brandishing democratic flags in between his drunken stupors, there was hope in the beginning, amidst the starved Russians and also the cold-war threatened the rest of the world, that possibly a better future awaited the Russians, democracy might get its hold on Russia for the betterment of the entire population. It did not work out quiet that way. In the recent days, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s turning away from the cogent democra...

Will Climate Change Destroy the World? Dear Readers, Please read the attached news article published in Great Britain’s The Observer newspaper. It is about the climate change and the imminent threat it possesses to our world, the global catastrophe it predicts is shocking. This is an election year in the United States and we must be careful in separating hyped up news for the cheap political gain from the one that has real values. There sure will be heads rolled reading this piece, especially, powerful people from all sides will come forward, denouncing or agreeing with this report, or showing no emotion at all. “Secret Pentagon Report” – it has that sheepish attractive force, the magnetic way pulling peoples toward the news, now the question is how authentic this report is. It predicts, “abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat...

The Failing Light -- Despair of a Poet Dear Readers, This long essay, The Failing Light, published in the Washington Post, is profoundly sad, and I find it is written with sincerity. Poet Reetika Vazirani’s life, so suddenly ended in painful suicide, and her taking the life of her own two-year old son along with her, is disconcerting, but perhaps not so atypical in our world where creative artists or poets and writers, emerging ones like Reetika and many others, find it disheartening in coping with the harsh reality, economic struggles and not fulfilling one’s long cherished dream of becoming a successful and recognized writer. Also, this is a story of an immigrant, though a “1.5 generation”, Reetika found it not easy in integrating with her adopted place, and she perhaps felt not harmonized with her birthplace India either. Possibly, the immigrant diasporas amongst us could relate to her feelings. Being an immigrant, I feel deeply saddened reading this essay, her str...