In the past few weeks there have been three episodes of official, heavy-handed censorship of the media in Bangladesh.
1] The GoB blocked Facebook for a time on the grounds that it was running a competition encouraging cartoonists to mock Mohammad. This brought out the fundamentalists to the streets, something the GoB fears in any circumstances. Facebook was blocked on the grounds that it was offensive to Bangladeshi culture and religious sentiments. It was then revealed that people had also been uploading satirical cartoons published on the site of Sheikh Hasina and Khalida as well. An arrest has been made and the ban on Facebook lifted after negotiations with the management. This episode required mor eresearch.
2] Amar Desh has been banned and its editor arrested on technical reasons. I need to find out more about this as well but I know that 'liberal' and progressive friends are appalled by this move even thought they disagree with the politics of the paper.
3] Channel-1 has been taken off air for technical reasons. Again more research is required.
The thing here is that the Awami League came to power with a thumping majority and a broad appeal that stemmed from its more liberal approach to social and political matters. While it was sensitive to tradition it had a program of modernisation and tolerance. It seems that it has reverted to the time honoured tradition of answering criticism with censorship and closure, which totally undermines its appeal and electoral support among the educated urban middle classes.
More on this shortly.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Rick Stein
Rick Stein is one of my favourite TV chefs, probably because he comes across as a bit of a bumbler. He's certainly no 'jack the lad' like Jamie Oliver anyway. He focuses pretty much on seafood and his French Odyssey and Mediterranean Odyssey remain among my favourite TV cooking shows and I of course have the accompanying books. For these reasons I looked forward to the broadcast of his Far Eastern Odyssey (FEO). The title's problematic but remembering it's aimed at a British audience, for whom anything east of the Channel is exotic, we can live with that.
Somewhere I can remember reading that a focus on food and dining is a soft academic option for reaching an understanding of the other. I'm not sure of that and the raft of books on food from a number of theoretical perspectives supports my scepticism. I learn a lot from programs like FEO. Stein's project, it seems to me, is broadly humanistic; that we can understand other peoples, other cultures through their foods, which can be delicious and nourishing. He even touches upon economic issues at times but there's no deep analysis, but then the program format militates against that - and I suspect politics as such doesn't much interest Stein.
FEO covers all the usual suspects - Thai, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan cuisines - but the real surprise is the Bangladeshi section.
I think much to his surprise Stein enjoyed the Bangla food. He marveled at the subtle use of spices, the availability of fish, particularly fresh water fish, and the manner in which 'ordinary people' prepared their food. He also stated several times that most Indian restaurants in the UK were run by Bangladeshis, mostly from Syllhet and he implies that popularity of the UK curry probably lies in the traditions of Bangladeshi cooking. An interesting thought!
Stein cover all the usual things - the impossible traffic, the density of population, especially in Dhaka, the contrast between the idyllic rural landscape and the urban streetscape, the resilience of the people - with a sense of amazement. This chaos actually seems to work!
For me the really interesting thing was that Stein ended on an essentially optimistic note, rather than the deeply pessimistic tone of most visitors and commentators on Bangladesh. We are keeping the episode to watch again.
Somewhere I can remember reading that a focus on food and dining is a soft academic option for reaching an understanding of the other. I'm not sure of that and the raft of books on food from a number of theoretical perspectives supports my scepticism. I learn a lot from programs like FEO. Stein's project, it seems to me, is broadly humanistic; that we can understand other peoples, other cultures through their foods, which can be delicious and nourishing. He even touches upon economic issues at times but there's no deep analysis, but then the program format militates against that - and I suspect politics as such doesn't much interest Stein.
FEO covers all the usual suspects - Thai, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan cuisines - but the real surprise is the Bangladeshi section.
I think much to his surprise Stein enjoyed the Bangla food. He marveled at the subtle use of spices, the availability of fish, particularly fresh water fish, and the manner in which 'ordinary people' prepared their food. He also stated several times that most Indian restaurants in the UK were run by Bangladeshis, mostly from Syllhet and he implies that popularity of the UK curry probably lies in the traditions of Bangladeshi cooking. An interesting thought!
Stein cover all the usual things - the impossible traffic, the density of population, especially in Dhaka, the contrast between the idyllic rural landscape and the urban streetscape, the resilience of the people - with a sense of amazement. This chaos actually seems to work!
For me the really interesting thing was that Stein ended on an essentially optimistic note, rather than the deeply pessimistic tone of most visitors and commentators on Bangladesh. We are keeping the episode to watch again.
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