Shawpnil Canada, an association of Bangladeshi-Canadians in Toronto, truly represents the culture, values and lofty ideals of Bangladesh. Since winter in Canada is severe and lasts till mid-May the association decided to observe the Pahela Baishak once the spring returns with flowers and bees. May 22 offered the best option - schools and offices being closed on Victoria Day on the following day, made the weekend longer. Shawpnil Canada arranged the Bengali New Year celebration in a community hall in presence of over 200 Bangladeshi community members and their children. The national flags of Bangladesh and Canada exhibited prominently on the wall along with the pictures of national monument, Shaheed Minar and tigers of Sunderbans. Women dressed in colourful sarees and organisers wearing kurta and pajama transformed the ambiance into a town hall congregation as if in Bangladesh.
Welcoming the guests AKM Kamaluddin, a senior citizen, said Shawpnil Canada would like to pave the way for the Bangladeshi-Canadians to integrate themselves with multi-cultural Canadian society, uphold their values and principles and contribute to Canada's development efforts. The central themes of Bangladeshi cultural traditions are love for freedom, love for humanity and promotion of universal peace. All these have contributed to the promotion of liberal outlook for secular Bengali society. Kamaluddin said that talented, intelligent and hardworking people of Bangladesh have been demonstrating their resilience to natural disasters. Their contribution to garments manufacturing and green revolution is stunning. Bangladesh has achieved remarkable experience in poverty alleviation through the microcredit initiative of the Grameen Bank under the guidance of Nobel laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and rural development model of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), the largest NGO (non-governmental organisation) in the world. Experience of these organisations would be relevant for achieving Canada's goal to end poverty by 2030.
Shawpnil Canada has been established to strengthen Canada's community development and integration of immigrants. The activities include hosting seminars, talk shows and social events to facilitate newcomers integrating into Canadian society involving the Canadian-Bangladeshi professionals. Capacity building to new immigrants has been a major challenge to the association. Family values are fundamental to both the Bangladeshi and Canadian cultures.
The event was greeted by Navaddep Bains, Federal Minister of Science and Innovation and Ms. Bonnie Crombi, Mayor of Mississauga who could not attend it due to prior commitments. Iqra Khalid MP, first time elected to the House of Commons, and Peter Fonseka MP attended the event.
Addressing the gathering, Iqra Khalid remembered the pains her parents and siblings went through when the family immigrated to Canada when she was only twelve. The cultural shock was no less profound than the economic hardships. The assimilation to the society was a formidable challenge. Canada was an unchartered territory. Her family had no friends. But she and her family members successfully navigated through the rough water under the stewardship of her father, who proudly listened to her speech sitting in the front raw. Iqra Khalid characterised her journey from a village in Pakistan to Canadian Parliament as long, tumultuous and challenging; but the challenge proved worth taking. She commended the efforts of the Bangladeshi community in coming to the help of the new immigrants and facilitating their process of assimilation. She offered all the assistance she could extend in promoting the work of the association.
Peter Fonseka eloquently narrated his family's experience when they migrated from Portugal some 45 years ago. He lauded the role played by the immigrants in general and Bangladeshi community in particular in the last general election which brought the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau to power. He offered his services to the community and encouraged them to meet him whenever deemed necessary. He reiterated his solidarity with the community and pledged to attend similar congregations in future.
Mahboob Shareef, former UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan, thanked Minister Navaddep Bains and Mayor of Mississauga for their support. He expressed gratitude to Iqra Khalid and Peter Fonseka for their attendance, support and encouraging speeches. The event ended with a cultural programme performed by Bangladeshi-Canadian artists.
REVERSING TRANQUILITY: At the invitation of my former colleagues in the United Nations I attended the event and introduced my recently published book Reversing Tranquility. In my brief intervention I mentioned that Reversing Tranquility has been an attempt to compile the articles I have had written during the past five years and most of these were published by the daily newspapers in Dhaka, Lahore and New Delhi. The articles touched on the issues that have been affecting the globe in one way or another. Ironically the regions I had worked during my employment with the United Nations witnessed upheavals that destabilised the region and caused large-scale human displacement. Attempts were made to redraw the map and in some cases it was successful though it set the new ground for insurgency in future. The dividends of the Arab Spring could not be exploited for the causes for which hundreds of people made supreme sacrifice. Either mayhem has overtaken or the military dictatorship returned with renewed determination to subjugate people permanently. The international community shifted its position in no time and began pouring in economic and military assistance to the regimes ranked very high in the abuse of human rights. The conflicts in the Middle East have taken a new dimension with the emergence of the ISIS and the division in the international community in its approach to deal with this most brutal radical outfit has dismissed hope of resolving the conflict soon.
Reversing Tranquility does not provide any prescription; it only highlights the forces that led to the current state of affairs. The regrouping of the Taliban in Afghanistan, resurgence of fundamentalism in India and weakness of democratic institutions in Bangladesh serve as a wake-up call to the people in the region that there is no alternative to unconditional commitment to pluralism and renunciation of bigotry.
BANGLADESH MISSIONS ABROAD: There was no representation from the Bangladesh High Commission in Canada. I will not be surprised if the High Commission was not invited. The community doesn't have much contact with the High Commission and there is apparently a lack of goodwill between the two.
During my assignments in overseas I have very often witnessed a divide between the Bangladesh Missions and the Bangladeshi communities. Once in 2009, while my wife and I were returning from Dubai to Asmara, a group of around hundred Bangladeshi workers suddenly arrived at the transit lounge in Saana airport, Yemen. Upon my query, some of them mentioned that their "work permits" had been abruptly terminated by the employers in Saudi Arabia and they were being deported back home. When I asked whether they had approached our missions in Jeddah or Riyadh they replied in exasperation, "We cannot even enter into the Embassy."
Bangladesh government maintains diplomatic missions abroad with considerable costs to strengthen bilateral relations with foreign countries. But one of the functions includes maintaining liaison with, if not serving, the community. The officials, however, do not appear to take this function seriously.
Here is another example. I accompanied an elderly freedom fighter to an embassy a few weeks ago and our experience has not been pleasant. Many of the missions have not done well in this respect. The Foreign Ministry should look into it. The present Foreign Minister being a former career diplomat understands very well the mindset of the officials assigned in the missions and is best suited to provide guidance to them. Bangladeshi communities abroad are not liabilities - they are assets to the country.
The writer is a former official of the United Nations.
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