Monday, August 27, 2007
On the upshot
Well things have certainly settled down. I'm really impressed with the way the interim government is handling the situation. The curfew was lifted intermittently each day, progressively increasing the hours so that life can resume to some semblance of normalcy. But every night it was re-enforced with cellphones being turned off in order to prevent organized riots or protests. The upside was that, for the few days that we were trapped at home, my brother's friends, my cousin and his friends, and my sister and her hubby were all staying over. So we got a lot of food and movies and it was quite a party. I say I'm impressed because it instantly put an end to the riots but it was nevertheless claustrophobic. On the 2nd day, when the curfew was lifted for just 2 hours, EVERYONE was out on the streets! Unfortunately the uni I work at is still closed, but the private univs have re-opened. So I hope to start research work from tomorrow even though I can't get an appointment letter without DU re-opening. But if I don't start office tomorrow I will go out of my mind and I will drive Jonathan crazy too (if I haven't already).
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2 comments:
That is great news! I’m happy that everything is getting back to normal…
The few pieces of information that I was able to have access here (US) were quite diffuse… Not much was said and I’m not sure what to think about it. Namely, I don’t know what to think about your government position against students. Usually we know that government affected forces tend to overreact and usually they end up amplifying the problem, instead of being part of the solution. But because all these situations are completely context dependent, it’s really difficult to form an informed judgment about them from the outside. Anyways, every time you have some kind of skirmish between students (or student related personnel, including professors, etc.) and government armed forces, it’s impossible to avoid some spontaneous comparisons, for example, with the May 1968 in France, and some other episodes, like the Tiananmen Square protests in China… I truly hope that this was not as serious, although I tend to look at them as signs that social changes are probably emerging in Bangladesh.
It’s definitely a big concern if the curfew caused a delay in helping those affected by the floods. Anyways, social movements are unpredictable and usually they are not opportune in terms of the national agendas… And they emerge as chaotic forces. All this can have some nasty consequences, but the general outcome is usually very interesting. At least, as someone that is now living in a free country (that wasn’t free at all until 1974), I see this social changes as really positive forces in the evolution of societies.
here in brazil i can see some social activity in the form of long-lasting strikes and demonstrations but apparently it is becoming a natural way of living and not a motor for change. in public administration strikes are part of the dynamics. some public universities, for instance, have their academic calendar delayed from year to year because of "endemic" strikes, and people who can prefer private universtities in order to have a normal life. after the big hope the election of lula da silva activated in 2003, people are now not believing in the change of this society; extremely richness and poverty and increasing delinquency don't seem to be inverted... it's just the way it is.
i resisted several times to come here because i wasn't sure how to face these asymmetries: now i really love brazil and i see that people can live here because they always find a comfortable and bearable way of dealing with it. that's the only way of surviving. and that's probably what we all do in our homes. because all homes have problems, for sure.
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