Dhaka and Kolkota is the world's fastest growing megacities
Some 20 hostages were killed in Dhaka, Bangladesh at a cafe on Saturday 1 July, 2016. The hostage taking turned terror attack is as shocking to Bangladeshis as to many people around the world. Among the killed were Bangladeshi, Japanese, Iranian, Syrian and Chinese tourists.
Bangladesh is as far way from Iraq and Syria as it's geography has granted it. It is not part of the Middle East, although it was influenced via religion and a few words from Persian thousands of years ago. It's in South Asia and attacks of this magnitude happen infrequently even in Indonesia. Asia has the largest Muslim population in the world. Yet, ISIS inspired terrorist attacks and groups are condemned and protested against by ordinary Bangladeshis, Indonesians and Indian Muslims. Secular Bangladeshi bloggers challenging the stricter, takfiri form of Islam that some Bangladeshis have decided for follow have faced both death threats and have been murdered in recent months. Despite Islam being the state religion, Bangladesh is a secular state. Bangladeshi society is attempting to balance secularism and religion while dealing with multiple social issues infrastructure and climate change affecting the majority of ordinary Bangladeshis.
Migrants working for no pay to build Qatar's World Cup infrastructure and Dreams
Bangladesh is most known for in the world is being one of the countries that sends thousands of migrants abroad for work, tourism and mostly as UN Peacekeepers around the world. Most of the time, it is seen as a low lying country that is prone to flooding and a neighbour of India. Bangladesh and India used to be part of a larger Indian sub-continent until 1947, when the British colonialists finally allowed the then Indian sub-continent to become two countries India and Pakistan. The partition of India is still today regarded as one of the most violent and mass movement of millions of people in recent human history. Millions of people were suddenly displaced from their homes and farmlands they had lived in for generations and told that they were now on the "wrong side" of newly created artificial and colonial borders. Neighbour who had lived in relative peace in multiethnic and multireligious towns and villages now belonged to mono religious states ie Pakistan was created as a Muslim nation and India became a majority Hindu nation. Anyone who studies both countries know that even now, just language and cultural diversity along slaps the colonialist created religious state in its face. Once again, the dying colonial power Britain blamed local governments and peoples for the violence as some form of ancient tribal and religious hatred instead of chaos brought on by Europe. In the partition two new states were created that were supposed to gain independence after India and Pakistan. They are Kashmir and Bangladesh. Kashmir is still fighting for its independence to this day having been occupied and ruled by both Pakistan and India. Both countries claim Kashmir as their respective territories since their independence. Ironically both countries' independence days are a few days apart from each other. Kashmiris have long demanded that they gain sovereignty since they do not feel that they belong to either country and have Kashmiri identity and language.
History of Bangladesh and Bengali culture and heritage
Bangladesh gained it's own independence in 1971 after an equally brutal war of independence against Pakistan. Formerly known as East Pakistan, Bangladeshis have felt more connected it's immediate neighbour India than its co religious distance neighbour Pakistan. Culturally and historically, Bangladesh shares a lot in common with India. People live on both sides of the border. The clothing is somewhat similar while the holidays are influenced by India. Bengali language, the official language of Bangladesh is written in a form of the Sanskrit script similar to the Hindi. Bengali literature is both popular in both countries and abroad. There is a large Bangladeshi Diaspora living abroad as well. British Bangladeshis haves been living in the United Kingdom especially the major cities, for decades now and have contributed to Britain. Alongside British Pakistanis and Indians, British Bangladeshis are known officially as British Asians in UK Census. The largest Diaspora is in the United States, Malaysia and the Gulf countries UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. Many Gulf countries rely on Bangladeshi and other South Asian migrants for ongoing construction and infrastructure projects in the Gulf capitals and large cities.
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