Testimony of journalists: On swelled sufferings of Aila hit people in one year

Slowly but surely, people have at last begun to return to their homesteads almost a year after Cyclone Aila had destroyed their livelihoods and shelters. It is very unlikely they will be returning to a distinctly better life. In fact it might worsen for some. But nonetheless even misery might seem bittersweet under one's own roof. The people of 11 unions of Koyra-Dacope-Shyamnagar in Khulna-Shatkhira districts were the worst affected on May 25, 2009 when Aila unleashed her fury. Since then, for almost the entire year, the fates of about 400,000 people have floated up and down along with the tides falling and rising.

But that has hardly defeated the human spirit. The people of those coastal areas stood up against all odds while sympathetic people of Khulna, Shatkhira and the capital city expressed their solidarity by all means to get the attention of policymakers. Even some of the policymakers tried to highlight the dire plight of the people. But the ghost of bureaucracy that Bangladesh has unfortunately inherited from the colonial era has sunk its roots deep. That sinister red tape defied even today's policy makers in such a tangle that one cannot help but feel enraged and cry out for the harshest punishment for those responsible. Theoretically, if the political authority of the state does not punish such disobedience, it loses moral authority to govern. In such a case the post colonial political authority becomes nothing but a subservient of that colonial bureaucracy. So it is an obligation of the state to investigate how a government agency like the Water Development Board has the audacity to work in favor of certain moneyed quarters, directly opposing directives of the Prime Minister herself as well as the Minister for Food and Disaster Management. The entire winter has passed and the embankments are still not fully repaired. The people who are returning to their homestead and those who will return are still faced with the same dilemma that they did through the year - would they be safe? But who will guarantee their safety? Who will vouch for their protection?

But this demand for some sort of guarantee has been voiced ever since Aila. It was not just the union level public representatives who waged their movements (with exceptions of course) to attract the attention of the higher authorities, but there were also citizens' initiatives in Khulna and Shatkhira under two banners of 'Ailai Bidhostho Badh Nirman Gono Shongram Committee' and 'Aila Durgoto Shonghati Moncho' combining the social and political forces of the districts. They have repeatedly sent reports of what were happening on the ground the needs of the people to the highest public offices of this republic including the Prime Minister's Office. The Upazila and District Administrations have lobbied too for completing the repair work before the rains come. The Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Nagorik Shanghati have organised series of events. Six international non-government organizations under the banner of 'Emergency Capacity Building Project' and partners of ECHO that had been working in the Aila-affected areas, also came together to strongly ask for expediting the repair works. But all the publicity through the organisations or through the public media seems have had no real impact whatsoever.

The journalists had given this issue much priority. They went to the affected areas and filed detailed reports. But the prevailing situation born of a diabolical apathy compelled them step out of the infamously clinical objectivity expected of journalists. They have proven they are not robots by producing the news through following binary signals continuously. This publication is merely a compilation of their sentiments in that context. It is their testimony, a testimony for humanity. In which court should these testimonies be placed? Human beings are the greatest and the strongest. Be Humankind.