Bangladesh is tagged as a “moderate” Muslim country, but how long can it hold this image? Even today the country witnessed rampages by Muslim fundamentalists in Dhaka. Anyone with a minimal IQ and sense of humour will laugh at the cartoon published on 17th September issue of Prothom Alo‘s supplement magazine Alpin, but the twisted minded fundamentalists has turned it upside down.

The cartoon depicts a conversation between a little boy with a cat on his lap and an elderly cleric:

Elderly cleric:  Hey kid, what’s your name?
Little boy:  My name is Babu
Elderly cleric:  You’re supposed to say Mohammad before a name. What’s your father’s name?
Little boy:  Mohammad Abu
Elderly cleric:  So what’s that on your lap?
Little boy:  Mohammad cat

The cleric teaches the boy to use “Mohammad” before a name and like any kid he follows it and says “Mohammad” before saying “cat”. Anyone will laugh at the mistake the boy makes, but the Saudi sponsored evil fundamentalists relate it to “insulting” Prophet Mohammad and compares it with the infamous Danish cartoon series.

Here’s a scanned copy of that cartoon, judge it yourself how this had “insulted” Islam and Prophet Muhammad:

The interim government has already lost popularity, and the way they handled the situation by arresting the cartoonist has made it worse. The only good side of the arrest is that the cartoonist is in a safe place now. The fundamentalists would have tear him apart if they could find him somewhere. So called followers of a religion which means “peace”!

Timeline: July 18 – July 19, 2006

Public transportation service from Khulna to Bagerhat is extremely poor. These two districts are only 30 kilometers apart, though the bus takes almost an hour to reach. Rupsha river separates the districts, and the newly built 1.4 kilometer bridge stands high. Yes, it’s named after Khan Jahan Ali as well.

I stayed overnight at Khan Jahania Gono Bidyalaya, which is less than a kilometer away from the famous Shat Gombuj or the “Sixty Dome” Mosque. Contrarary to it’s name, the Mosque doesn’t have sixty domes, but a total of eighty one. Seventy seven domes are over the roof and four domes are on four corners. There are sixty pillars supporting the mosque, and that’s how it got it’s name. Built in 1459 entirely with stones and red burn mud, the mosque measures 160′ x 108′ and the interior is beautifully decorated with terra cotta.

Bagerhat Museum is just beside the mosque, and it has quite a good collection of local antiques, mostly pottery and terra cotta.

The burial place of Khan Jahan Ali was near too, and I gave it a visit. My guide was a local electrician cum folk singer cum painter who has a very good relation with the people taking care of the burial place, or the maazar. The scenario inside the maazar looked a lot like what goes on inside Hindu temples. Some people have turned this sacred place into a business venture, and charges money from the visitors. I didn’t had to pay anything since my guide was their friend. The religious radicalism surrounding this place has got nothing to do with Islam.

Beside the burial lies a very big pond called “Thakur Dighi” and guess what’s in there! Crocodiles! Yes, dozens of crocodiles! They lived there for more than 500 years, and my understanding is that their ancestors were brought from Persia or Arabia by Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali. Interesting, huh?

Timeline: Jan 15 – Jan 19

I reached the port city on Sunday evening, on the very comfy Shohag Volvo Bus. I stayed at Asian SR Hotel this time, and I’m extremely happy about their service. It’s very apparent that the hotel authority has taken extra special care in training the staff. The room was great, so was the food! The hotel has a bar as well, and I tried out some Chinese liquor!

I’ll skip the reason why I went there, since it will only bore you. Instead, I’ll leave you with a few impressions and observations I had about the city of Chittagong.

- With so many small and not-so-small hills around, the natural scenery of the city is a truly magnificent. It’s an old city, and the buildings and the oak trees bearing the sign of it. One of the attractions of the city is Patenga sea beach, which is about 10 km away from downtown. This small beach has increased the beauty of the city by a large scale. Foy’s Lake is another attraction, and it’s a very romantic place to visit!

- No offence, but people in Chittagong speak in a weird dialect! I should better call it a language, since it has a very little similarity with Bengali. If Sylhety and Dhakaiya is considered a language, then it should be counted the same way.

- Since there are numerous hills all over of the city, setting up point to point wireless connectivity can be very tedious and expensive. Putting up a 180 feet (almost 55 meter) tower on top of a 10-storied building is a lot of money! In case of DSL/ADSL, cables get stolen regularly and therefore the ISPs only provide connection within 1.5 km diameter of their POP! One ISP guy told me that their fiber optic cable got stolen! How pathetic!

- Chittagonians seemed to be very conservative (read: Islamic). Foreign Muslim preachers stayed this part of the world since centuries (they used to come mostly from Middle East on waterways). I’ve seen a very few young women on the roads, even in the posh areas of the city. Most of the women wear borkas, which is an Islamic dress (usually black) that covers the entire body except for fingers and eyes. I always thought men hated shopping, but Chittagonian men seemed to do it with a lot of enthusiasm! Since I found guys buying sari, cosmetics and ornaments, I’m sure they lock their wives at home and buy the ladies’ products themselves! Very strange breed of men! Another important point of their conservativeness: I found only a handful couples dating around at the parks or at the romantic hillside spots.

- There are too many graveyards around, at least one in every five kilometers. What a terrible waste of land!

- When I went to Chittagong for the first time in October, when the CNG 3-wheelers didn’t had fair meters. Transport authority forced them to install meters, but the drivers don’t want to use them since it wouldn’t be possible to overcharge the passengers any more! Fucking thieves!

- Since there isn’t much cars around, there isn’t any traffic jam in the city except for the road in front of the sea port, and it’s a valid reason. But still, this jam is nothing compared to the jams of Elephant Road, Mogbazar, or Motijheel in Dhaka!

Any how, I’m way too tired now, and I seriously need to get some sleep. Before I go to bed, here’s a little yucky fact for you guys:

Chittagong, also known as Chattagram, Chatgaa, and Chattrala has the largest homosexual population in Bangladesh!