novelists-from-bangladesh

"Despite the level of achievement already attained, debate over the constitutionality of generating funds for the sovereign wealth fund undermine investor confidence in the country’s political commitment towards building a buffer for a potential collapse in the price of oil."

"I do not think that the deficient lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) has anything to do with the willingness of banks to lend."

"The key stumbling blocks have been related to the bankability of individual projects, and there are a number of factors feeding into this. The first one is cost recovery: the power sector is one example where many investment projects exist but the returns are affected by electricity tariffs that are well below market levels"

"The recent probe on the fuel subsidy has raised significant concerns about Nigeria’s effectiveness to curb leakages and prevent extra-budgetary spending. In addition to this is the delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is holding back substantial investments in the sector and risks further undermining production levels."

"There is little guarantee that interests rates would result in a significant boost in bank lending. The reasons for the current lack of lending are more structural. To get to the point where interest rate cuts would affect lending would be hugely destabilising to the country’s macroeconomic health. So, for the time being, there is no clear-cut argument for monetary easing."

"Elebele (Unnecessary) part 2"

"Usually I have allergies to some things. Atel parents' sons and daughters are one of those. Atels can be tolerated, but their off-spring is intolerable. Continuously living in a wise weather, their nature becomes confusing and strangely foolish. Their intelligence goes in a new line. These lines are very horrible. ..... The meaning of some words is really changing over time, day by day these meanings are becoming more and more opposite. Suppose the word "intellectual". Etymological meaning of the word is: those who gain livelihood by intellect or by the works of intellect. But what is the meaning of the word "intellectual" today? Today the term intellectual is being used as a group of moody selfish opportunists whose main work is giving satement. A few days ago one of my friends said - many kinds of movements are being held in the country. In the movements, students die, workers die, homeless orphans die, but no intellectual dies here. They use to survive through the tactics. Because, who will give statements if they die? Who will take care of the culture? Who will be the chief guest and special guest in the meetings-conferences? Someone can think of my writing after reading it that, I want to underestimate the work of giving statement by making it easier. But I'm not doing it ever. I saw intimate moments of signing of an intellectual in a statement in this country - I know how difficult it is to do. In order to sign the statement, an intellectual have to notice lot of sides. The first thing is to see who has signed before him. What is the background of those who signed? Pro-China or pro-Russia or pro-America? Then to think, will the government laxation will be annoyed if the signature is signed in the statement? Will the public will become angry after signing on the statenent? There is also other tensions - will his name on the newspaper be printed properly? Will his seniority be maintained properly? Won't his name be mentioned after any newly less-popular activists name? I noticed that the intellectuals are very cautious. They do not want anyone to be angry. They themselves also never become angry. The smile of their faces is always in appearance. Who knows, how they make this impossible as possible.""

"Uncle Jamil: (After reciting the Quran at the end of the prayer, he says to Moti) Listen Moti, Allah created the world and humans because of His love. Now tell me, what do you understand by love? Moti: Love is a matter of shame and embarrassment between husband and wife, but it is necessary. Uncle Jamil: (Struck with bloodshot eyes and shocked) Moti, get out of my sight right now... Who is there, anyone, bring a bucket of water, pour water on my head..."

"As the days go by, Bangabandhu is getting more and more annoyed with the military. The military is a monster. Just as the Pakistani military is a monster, so is the Bangladeshi military. If Saint Martin Island becomes independent for any reason, if they have a military, they will also be monsters. Bangabandhu has made a defense agreement with India for twenty-five years. There is no need for the military anymore. The power of the military must be gradually reduced. It must be done in such a way that they cannot even understand. One morning, they will wake up and see that there is no soil under their boots. There is quicksand under their boots. They will slowly sink into quicksand. This is the only way to make a monster human. Bangabandhu stood up with his pipe in hand. Now it was his turn to see off the visitors one by one. The list of those he met that day and the measures he took is given below- 1. Relatives of the devoted Awami Leaguer Mozammel: Mozammel has been captured by Major Nasser. Place Tongi. As soon as Bangabandhu entered the house, Mozammel's father and the two Bangabandhu fell at his feet. The Tongi Awami League president also tried to catch him but failed. He tried to catch Mozammel's relatives. Finding his feet, Bangabandhu said, "Tell me what happened?" The Tongi Awami League president said, "Our Mozammel is involved in a false case. Major Naser caught him. Naser said, "If you give me three hundred thousand taka, I will release him." What is the false case? Mozammel's father cried and said, "A murder case has been filed." The Tongi Awami League president said, "When this Major Awami League hears this, he lights up like a star. He has publicly declared that he will not hold any Awami League against Tongi." Bangabandhu! I myself am now restless with fear. I do not live in Tongi. I have moved to Dhaka. (Crying) Bangabandhu said, "Don't cry. Nothing worth crying about has happened. I am still alive. I am not dead. I am taking action." He ordered Mozammel to be released immediately. An urgent order was given to remove Major Naser from Tongi. The main incident (Source: Bangladesh Legacy of Blood, Anthony Mascarenhaas) A newlywed couple was traveling in a car. The brutal terrorist Mozammel, along with his gang, intercepted the car. He killed the driver of the car and the husband of the newlywed girl. They all raped the girl. The girl's bloody dead body was found under the Tongi bridge three days later. After Mozammel was caught by Major Naser, Mozammel said, "Don't make trouble and let me go. I will give you three hundred thousand taka. Don't take the matter to the government level. I will be released on the orders of Bangabandhu himself. You will be in danger. I don't want to involve Bangabandhu in a trivial matter." Major Naser said, "Is this a trivial matter?" Mozammel did not answer. He looked at him with bored eyes. Major Naser said, "I will definitely arrange for you to be hanged." Put your three lakh taka in your anus. -Mozammel said, let's see. -Mozammel invited Major Naser to eat cooked kathal at his house after being released."

"It is the nature of the human race to feel safer in the shelter of lies than in the shelter of truth."

"Those who understand less, are the happiest in this world."

"Both love and hate are written in human eyes"

"So many people are hanged for no good reason, so many people die by the roadside and there is hardly any public headache over these. Yet, here was a fictional character being hanged and the public are up in arms. I was quite taken aback by all this."

"In the Holy Quran, Surah Takbir, a verse was revealed about the girl buried alive. While describing the Day of Judgment, the Most Gracious said - "When the sun loses its light, when the stars fall, the mountains are removed. When the pregnant camel is neglected, when the wild animals gather, when the sea swells, when the soul is reunited with the body, then the girl buried alive will be asked - for what crime was she killed?" I, an unlettered person, wanted to write for you the biography of the great man who brought us this message of the Most Gracious. All people have debts to their fathers and mothers. We also have debts to the Prophet. It is an extremely difficult attempt to repay that huge debt. If I have made any mistakes, I ask forgiveness from the Most Gracious. He exists only to forgive. I ask forgiveness from the Prophet too. He also has a vast ocean of forgiveness."

"Imagine you are on a planet. When you look at the planet, you may think that the planet has been the same forever. But if you go there and see a Nikon camera, you will have to hold it in your hand and say that it has a maker. When you look at a small plastic camera, you say that it has a maker. But the camera has many limitations. There is a person behind you. As soon as the camera focuses on the person behind you, you will become out of focus. And as soon as the camera focuses on you, the person behind you will become out of focus. But the human eye does not have this problem. The eye is much more powerful than the camera. There is a machine in our body, whose job is to keep the body's sugar level stable. The entire human body is full of such diverse and complex machinery. I do not think that all these complex things happened in one day. What does "Darwin's Theory" say? It says, survival of the fittest. It says, in order to survive on earth, humans will face various dangers, and we have become like this in order to overcome them. But the eyes of animals are yellow. And our eyes are white. This happened so that people could recognize themselves in the darkness. This knowledge was enough for us to survive. But how did this knowledge come to man's mind that he actually discovered the "Big Bang Theory"? Who gave this extraordinary knowledge to man? If you pay attention, you will see that the first house that man builds is a prayer room. It is the same for people of all nations. That means, from the very beginning, man was actually worried about one thing - Who is guiding me?"

"A skilled photographer equipped with a camera with a very powerful lens who captures mainly photographs of ordinary birthday parties."

"Humayun's works are the most profound and most fruitful that literature has experienced since the time of Tagore and Nazrul."

"On rainy days, I remember the songs of my childhood, The rain falls heavily, The river floods; If I call you, Come hold my hand, Let's get wet in the rain today, Come sing a song with a kind gaze on the clouds, You won't come; I know, I know, Why do you call me for no reason, Why do I die of thirst? Dear, please come, let's get wet in the water, In the rain of the autumn night; How much love, how much loving togather, Tears were watery, how much laughter, Keeping eyes on eyes, painting with tears, in the night of Jasmine breeze; Even though you are close, How far away you are, I die of thirst, Let's get wet in the rain today."

"Let's forget today who is friend or foe, and hold each other in caring embrace. Let your love be the magnet to bring the humanity to Allah's grace. Remember those in perennial fast, constantly in hunger and deprivation, Share with the poor, orphans and the destitutes, to make inclusive your celebration."

"Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel, Shall rest in quiet only when I find The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed. Only when the battle fields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres Shall I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet, I am the rebel eternal, I raise my head beyond this world and, High, ever erect and alone!"

"O heart, Ramadan has come to an end, and the happy Eid knocks at the door for all, Come, today give yourself away wholeheartedly, heed the divine call."

"O heart, with the very stones or bricks that some people hurled at you all along, build a wonderful mosque of love with foundation, solid and strong."

"Although I am grateful to you for the respect that you have expressed towards me by inviting me to preside over the conference, I am forced to say that you have not made the right choice. I have been locked up in the socially oppressive iron casket of 'porda' for all my life. I have not been able to mix very well with people – as a matter of fact, I do not even know what is expected of a chairperson. I do not know if one is supposed to laugh, or to cry."

"She was much ahead of her time and society in understanding the causes of its degradation and in setting up a correct approach to address them. She rightly realised that without empowering women, a society can never flourish. Hence, the thematic thread that runs through all her intellectual efforts is a concern for equitable gender relations – feminism."

"Begum Rokeya had dreamt of a society where women would be magistrates, judges and barristers and that has come true as many women are already there in such posts."

"Why did I come, oh! to this burning world, why was I born in a house with a curtain-veil!"

"I was in Aligarh till last year. Since the station there seemed to be unique in its splendor on the E. I. R. line, I used to go there every day on foot. Among other things, I saw many 13th-century burqas there. And God knows, every burqa was funny in some way or the other."

"In order to silence the crying children, the people on the street would point their fingers at them and say, "Shut up, look, Mecca is going to Medina, oh!" - The besieged Jujuburis, they are Mecca and Medina!""

"[That woman] once came to Calcutta. When four or five of them went out in an open motor with burqas, the boys on the street would say, "Oma! What are those?" They would say to each other, "Be quiet! They can't help but become ghosts at this time of night." When they saw the burqa's veil fluttering in the wind, they would say, "Look, look. The ghosts' bodies are moving! Father! Run away!""

"[A woman] had gone to the house of a Bengali gentleman for a wedding invitation. As soon as they saw her [with a burqa], the boys and girls there would scream in fear and run away, not knowing who would."

"When the train arrived, an English employee said to Haji Saheb in broken Hindi, "Munshi! You should walk with your shoes. When the train arrives, there will be no empty seats on the platform." Haji Saheb said with folded hands, "Hujur, all those shoes are not covered." The employee again tapped his shoe on a "bag" and said, "Ha, ha - all those shoes should walk." The women did not utter the word "shoe boot" at the request of the veil."

"The more veiled and hidden like a snail in the corners of the house, the more noble he is."

""Now let us enter the Muslim society. According to the Muslims, we are 'half' of a man, that is, two women are equal to one man. Or if two brothers and a sister are together, we become 'two and a half'... You will find in the 'Muhammadan law' that there is a provision that a daughter gets half of a son's share in the ancestral property.... But we are not half of brothers in the eyes of God and mother. If that were the case, the natural arrangement would be that where a son gets ten months, a daughter gets five months!!... We enjoy the love and affection of our mother equally with our brother. There is no partiality in the heart of a mother."

"The main reason why I have never been able to raise my head against slavery is that whenever a sister has tried to raise her head, her head has been crushed by a blow in the form of a weapon in the name of religion or the words of the scriptures. What we did not accept easily at first, we later considered as the command of religion and made it a matter of honor."

""In order to deceive us, men have published those religious scriptures as "God's commandments". In ancient times, the person who was known among the ten for his talent, he tried to rule the barbarians by declaring himself to be an angel or a god sent by God.... As the world gradually became more intelligent, clever and talented men saw that people no longer believed him when he called him a "prophet". Then the great Jesus introduced himself as a part of God (the Son of God) and wrote the book of the Gospel. In it it is written, 'A woman is completely subject to a man, and her husband has full rights over her property.' And the woman, who was devoid of intelligence and conscience, accepted this. Then the great Mohammed made a law that, 'A woman shall always be subject to a man, before marriage to her father or brother, after marriage to her husband, and in the absence of a husband to her son.' And the foolish woman bowed her head and accepted that law. Sister, you see that these religious scriptures are nothing but rules and regulations written by men. What you hear in the laws of the sages, you may find in the laws of a woman sage the opposite of that. The religious scriptures are not inspired or directed by God. If God had sent an angel for the purpose of ruling women, that angel would not have been limited to Asia only. Why did the angels not go to Europe? Why did they not go from America and from the poles to the poles and proclaim this command of God: "The women shall be subject to men." Is God the God of Asia only? Wasn't America his kingdom? God-given water and air are in all countries, but why haven't the messengers spread throughout the land? If the civilized people of today believe what the barbarians believed in ancient times, then what is the difference between civilization and barbarism? Whatever the case, now we will no longer bow down to the rule of men in the name of religion."

"'Why do you allow yourselves to be shut up?' 'Because it cannot be helped as they are stronger than women.' 'A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable him to dominate the human race. You have neglected the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own interests."

"Had God Himself intended women to be inferior, He would have ordained it so that mothers would have given birth to daughters at the end of the fifth month of pregnancy. The supply of mother’s milk would naturally have been half of that in case of a son. But that is not the case. How can it be? Is not God just and most merciful?"

"If today I get back with you, our conservative grandmothers will say to other women rebelling against gender injustices, Look, even a rebel like Jainab has also surrendered. I don't believe that only married life can be the ultimate success for women."

"Your kitchen is not inferior to a queen's boudoir!' I replied with a pleasant smile, 'but we must leave it now; for the gentlemen may be cursing me for keeping them away from their duties in the kitchen so long.' We both laughed heartily."

"The opponents of the female education say that women will be unruly...fie ! They call themselves muslims and yet go against the basic tenet of islam which gives equal right to education. If men are not led astray once educated, why should women?"