Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tribal Life In Bangladesh
Muslim people's life
Bangladeshi People’s Life in Religion:
Most Muslims in Bangladesh are Sunnis, but there is a small Shia community. Most of those who are Shia reside in urban areas. Although these Shias are few in number, Shia observance commemorating the martyrdom of Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, is widely observed by the nation's Sunnis.
The tradition of Islamic mysticism known as Sufism appeared very early in Islam and became essentially a popular movement emphasizing love of God rather than fear of God. Sufism stresses a direct, unstructured, personal devotion to God in place of the ritualistic, outward observance of the faith. An important belief in the Sufi tradition is that the average believer may use spiritual guides in his pursuit of the truth. These guides - friends of God or saints - are commonly called fakirs or pirs. In Bangladesh the term pir is more commonly used and combines the meanings of teacher and saint. In Islam there has been a perennial tension between the ulama - Muslim scholars - and the Sufis; each group advocates its method as the preferred path to salvation. There also have been periodic efforts to reconcile the two approaches. Throughout the centuries many gifted scholars and numerous poets have been inspired by Sufi ideas even though they were not actually adherents.
Sufi masters were the single most important factor in South Asian conversions to Islam, particularly in what is now Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshi Muslims are influenced to some degree by Sufism, although this influence often involves only occasional consultation or celebration rather than formal affiliation. Both fakirs and pirs are familiar figures on the village scene, and in some areas the shrines of saints almost outnumber the mosques. In some regions the terms fakir and pir are used interchangeably, but in general the former connotes an itinerant holy man and the latter an established murshid, a holy man who has achieved a higher spiritual level than a fakir and who has a larger following.
Ever since Sufism became a popular movement, pious men of outstanding personality reputed to have gifts of miraculous powers have found disciples (murids) flocking to them. The disciple can be a kind of lay associate earning his living in secular occupations, consulting the pir or murshid at times, participating in religious ceremonies, and making contributions to the support of the murshid. In addition, he may be initiated into a brotherhood that pledges its devotion to the murshid, lives in close association with him, and engages in pious exercises intended to bring about mystical enlightenment.
The Qadiri, Naqshbandi, and Chishti orders were among the most widespread Sufi orders in Bangladesh in the late 1980s. The beliefs and practices of the first two are quite close to those of orthodox Islam; the third, founded in Ajmer, India, is peculiar to the subcontinent and has a number of unorthodox practices, such as the use of music in its liturgy. Its ranks have included many musicians and poets.
Pirs do not attain their office through consensus and do not normally function as community representatives. The villager may expect a pir to advise him and offer inspiration but would not expect him to lead communal prayers or deliver the weekly sermon at the local mosque. Some pirs, however, are known to have taken an active interest in politics either by running for public office or by supporting other candidates. For example, Pir Hafizi Huzur ran as a candidate for president in the 1986 election. The pirs of Atroshi and Sarsina apparently also exerted some political influence. Their visitors have included presidents and cabinet ministers.
Although a formal organization of ordained priests has no basis in Islam, a variety of functionaries perform many of the duties conventionally associated with a clergy and serve, in effect, as priests. One group, known collectively as the ulama, has traditionally provided the orthodox leadership of the community. The ulama unofficially interpret and administer religious law. Their authority rests on their knowledge of sharia, the corpus of Islamic jurisprudence that grew up in the centuries following the Prophet's death.
The members of the ulama include maulvis, imams, and mullahs. The first two titles are accorded to those who have received special training in Islamic theology and law. A maulvi has pursued higher studies in a madrasa, a school of religious education attached to a mosque. Additional study on the graduate level leads to the title maulana.
Villagers call on the mullah for prayers, advice on points of religious practice, and performance of marriage and funeral ceremonies. More often they come to him for a variety of services far from the purview of orthodox Islam. The mullah may be a source for amulets, talismans, and charms for the remedying of everything from snakebite to sexual impotence. These objects are also purported to provide protection from evil spirits and bring good fortune. Many villagers have implicit faith in such cures for disease and appear to benefit from them. Some mullahs derive a significant portion of their income from sales of such items.
In Bangladesh, where a modified Anglo-Indian civil and criminal legal system operates, there are no official sharia courts. Most Muslim marriages, however, are presided over by the qazi, a traditional Muslim judge whose advice is also sought on matters of personal law, such as inheritance, divorce, and the administration of religious endowments (waqfs).
In the late 1980s, the ulama of Bangladesh still perceived their function as that of teaching and preserving the Islamic way of life in the face of outside challenges, especially from modern sociopolitical ideas based on Christianity or communism. Any effort at modernization was perceived as a threat to core religious values and institutions; therefore, the ulama as a class was opposed to any compromise in matters of sharia. Many members of the ulama favored the establishment of an Islamic theocracy in Bangladesh and were deeply involved in political activism through several political parties. Most members of the ulama were also engaged in carrying on the tabliqh (preaching movement), an effort that focuses on the true sociopolitical ideals of Islam and unequivocally discards all un-Islamic accretions. Tabliqh attracted many college and university graduates, who found the movement emotionally fulfilling and a practical way to deal with Bangladesh's endemic sociopolitical malaise.
A number of Islamic practices are particular to South Asia, and several of them have been subject to reforms over the years. For example, the anniversary of the death of a pir is observed annually. Popular belief holds that this anniversary is an especially propitious time for seeking the intercession of the pir. Large numbers of the faithful attend anniversary ceremonies, which are festive occasions enjoyed by the followers of the pir as well as orthodox Muslims. The ceremonies are quite similar in form and content to many Hindu festivals. Several nineteenth- and twentieth-century fundamentalist reform movements, aimed at ridding Islam of all extraneous encroachments, railed against these and similar practices. Nevertheless, the practice of pir worship continued unabated in the 1980s.
Nonorthodox interpretations of Islamic beliefs and practices pervaded popular religion in Bangladesh in the 1980s. Hindu influences can be seen in the practice of illuminating the house for the celebration of Shabi Barat (Festival of the Bestowal of Fate), a custom derived from the Hindu practices at Diwali (Festival of Lights). Rituals to exorcise evil spirits (jinni) from possessed persons also incorporated Hindu influence. Often, villagers would fail to distinguish between Hindu and Muslim shrines. For example, shrines called satyapir, which dot rural Bangladesh, are devoted to a Hindu-Muslim synthesis known as Olabibi, the deity for the cure of cholera. This synthesis is an intriguing superimposition of the Hindu concept of divine consort on the stern monotheistic perception of Allah.
Post-1971 regimes sought to increase the role of the government in the religious life of the people. The Ministry of Religious Affairs provided support, financial assistance, and endowments to religious institutions, including mosques and community prayer grounds (idgahs). The organization of annual pilgrimages to Mecca also came under the auspices of the ministry because of limits on the number of pilgrims admitted by the government of Saudi Arabia and the restrictive foreign exchange regulations of the government of Bangladesh. The ministry also directed the policy and the program of the Islamic Foundation, which was responsible for organizing and supporting research and publications on Islamic subjects. The foundation also maintained the Bayt al Mukarram (National Mosque), and organized the training of imams. Some 18,000 imams were scheduled for training once the government completed establishment of a national network of Islamic cultural centers and mosque libraries. Under the patronage of the Islamic Foundation, an encyclopedia of Islam in the Bangla language was being compiled in the late 1980s.
Another step toward further government involvement in religious life was taken in 1984 when the semiofficial Zakat Fund Committee was established under the chairmanship of the president of Bangladesh. The committee solicited annual zakat contributions on a voluntary basis. The revenue so generated was to be spent on orphanages, schools, children's hospitals, and other charitable institutions and projects. Commercial banks and other financial institutions were encouraged to contribute to the fund. Through these measures the government sought closer ties with religious establishments within the country and with Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Although Islam played a significant role in the life and culture of the people, religion did not dominate national politics because Islam was not the central component of national identity. When in June 1988 an "Islamic way of life" was proclaimed for Bangladesh by constitutional amendment, very little attention was paid outside the intellectual class to the meaning and impact of such an important national commitment. Most observers believed that the declaration of Islam as the state religion might have a significant impact on national life, however. Aside from arousing the suspicion of the non-Islamic minorities, it could accelerate the proliferation of religious parties at both the national and the local levels, thereby exacerbating tension and conflict between secular and religious politicians. Unrest of this nature was reported on some college
Bangladeshi people’s Culture:
Bangalees have a rich fictional legacy, with the first available form of literature being over a thousand years old. Bengali literature developed considerably during the medieval period with the rise of popular poets such as Chandi Das, Daulat Kazi an Alaol.
The traditional music of Bangladesh is very much the same as that of the Indian sub-continent. The music in Bangladesh can be divided into three main categories: classical, modern and folk. Both vocal and instrumental classical music is enjoyed in Bangladesh. Ustad Ayet Ali Khan and Ustad Alauddin are two famous classical instrumental players that are internationally known. Modern music is becoming more popular and is practiced widely. Contemporary, pop songs and bands are also enjoying more widespread fame, but are mainly popular in the regions of Dhaka City.
Tribal dances are very popular among the Bangalees. The countryside girls are in the habit of dancing to popular folk music. Their dances require no regulations as such, just a small amount of courage and a big amount of rhythm. Popular songs like Shari and Jari are presented with the accompanying dance of both male and female performers.
Drama and theatre is an old tradition that is very popular in Bangladesh. More than a dozen theater groups in Dhaka City have been regularly staging locally written plays for hundreds of years. Many have also started adopted some plays from European writers. Baily Road in Dhaka is known as “Natak Para” and this is one location where drama shows are regularly held. Many shows are also held at the Dhaka University.
Another important aspect of the culture of Bangladesh is clothing. Bangladeshi woman usually wear Saris, made of the world famous and expensive, finely embroidered quilted patchwork cloth produced by the village woman. Woman will traditionally wear their hair in a twisted bun, which is called the “Beni style”. Hindus will traditionally wear Dhuty for religious purposes. These days most men of Bangladesh wear shirts and pants
Lower class People’s Treatment:
Lower class People’s Treatment:
Lower class People’s Jobs
Basically the lower level people in Bangladesh they do there job like wage earner such as Rickshawpoller, guard, tea seller, vegetable seller, hawker, labor, transport driver, and so many lower type of jobs. So there income is so few. By there little income they could not buy food, clothes and other necessities.Life for 100,000 hawkers and street-vendors of the city has turned into a hellish nightmare after the government's drive to evict them from the streets and footpaths where they used to sell things as wide in variety as nail polish to mint-leaves. Though promises have been made to allot them an alternative place to run their businesses, no initiative has so far been taken by the government to implement that pledge. These hawkers, poor as they are, have always remained outside the paradigm of power, and chances are, they along with thousands of others will slip into social and economic chaos.
these evicted hawkers come from. Naznin Sultana, a school-teacher living in Mohammedpur, says she has always depended on these road-side vendors as, she says, “They sell it cheap, and I do not have the time to go into one of these malls and wait in the queue, to buy, say, one kilogram of aubergine; I used to stop by near one of those pushcarts on my way home and buy the needful”.
It is understandable that the street-vendors can afford to sell their goods at a cheaper price, as they do not have to pay the electricity bills, neither do they have to pay the rent. And, Naznin adds, it is nearly impossible for a woman to shop in the bazaars as they are always dirty and it is always difficult for a woman to go there alone.
Alluding to the existing trends in Bangkok, she says that instead of booting them out of the streets, the government should do something so that these poor hawkers get a chance to sell their goods. “In Bangkok, hawkers and street-vendors are allowed to do business till seven or eight in the morning,” she says, “We can do something similar. This is a part of our culture, a vibrant and noisy street. There is no point in just telling the hawkers that enough is enough, now just leave. We who have some wealth are lucky that these poor people are selling us things; I will not be surprised if these jobless poor people indulge themselves in mugging and extortion. A hungry stomach, after all, is the root of all crime.”
Ain O Shalish Kendro, BLAST and several left parties have criticised the government decision to clamp down on the hawkers. They have termed the eviction of the hawkers as unconstitutional as they argue that the highest law of the land guarantees every citizen the right to livelihood. Interestingly as the State of Emergency is in effect, the fundamental rights of the citizens have been suspended, and it is even not possible for the “aggrieved”, as the new emergency law puts it, to seek justice in the court.
Having hawkers and vendors blocking the footpaths and roads have been an eyesore, there is no denying it. But showing them the door, without rehabilitating them, may cost the country's social harmony dearly. How to rehabilitate them and where, are million dollar questions, and politicians and the technocrat advisers of the recent government tend to shirk from the answer. History of such rehabilitation is mired in corruption and mismanagement. Hawkers' leader Waliullah says though a number of hawkers' markets are built at Bangabazar and Nilkhet, getting possession of a booth in these markets have remained far beyond their means as each stall costs around Tk 2,00,000 to 3,00,000. It is also alleged that in most cases the shops are allotted to members and supporters of the ruling parties. Instead of benefiting the poor hawkers these rehabilitation projects become another money-making drive for the country's lumpen middle class businessmen.
Roadside shops demolished during the eviction drive, with them the livelihood of the hawkers
So, the fate of the country's hawkers hangs in balance. The government, which is a constitutionally mandated one, has so far remained silent about making a new arrangement for them so that these people do not slip into the extreme poverty line. If rehabilitation does not take place soon, chances are there that however minimum social balance we have in our economic life will be lost; this is a dangerous prospect, which can rapidly become a reality.
After a devastating eviction drive in Karwanbazar, the hawkers are left with only debris. A street-side restaurant owner sits desolately after his little eatery was demolished
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2007
Lower Level People’s Sanitation
In lower level people could not able to use sanitation, that’s why people suffer many kind of disease. In Bangladesh the mortality rate is high in lower level. Because these people are not lead there life in a healthy way. These people easily fall in diseases for there unhealthy life. As a whole Bangladeshi lower class people life style is so different from others classes.
Lower Level People’s Education.
In Bangladesh in case of poor people who are always deprived from education. Because these people has not capability to send there child in schools, even they are not getting basic primary schools. Although some non government organization (NGO) establishes school education such as BRAC school, ASA etc. As well as government took some initiative steps to provide primary education for lower level and grassroots people. For the poverty these people send there child to do the work for earn the money
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Lower Level People's House
In Bangladeshi lower people who are suffering from house. This level of people could not able to build there own house, usually they live in the slum area.Most of them live in slums. They live in poverty. But they are part of our country and our life. We can change our poor peoples’ Destiny. Our rich people can help them beside some government activities. I know Bangladeshi people are very kind and well hearted. Please help the poor people and save our country from the poverty.
Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries with 150 million people, 49 percent of whom live below the national poverty line. In addition, child malnutrition rates of 48 percent are the second highest in the world, a condition that is tied to the low social status of women in Bangladeshi society.
Our Work
The Hunger Project has been active in Bangladesh since 1990 and is currently the country's largest volunteer-based organization covering all 64 districts.
The centerpiece of The Hunger Project's strategy is the training and ongoing support of more than 114,000 volunteer animators, 40 percent of whom are women, who organize mass action campaigns in their areas. The animators focus their actions in clusters of villages known as unions and work closely with the elected Union Parishad (local government bodies) members to encourage decentralization and increased access to resources. Union Parishads (UPs), which cover a population close to 20,000, are the unit of government closest to the people. UP-based initiatives include ensuring 100 percent sanitary latrine coverage, 100 percent birth and death registration, and open budget meetings to provide transparency and accountability.
The Hunger Project conducts trainings focused on gender issues and leadership to local women leaders in each area in which we work. These leaders then proceed to organize local meetings, lead workshops and initiate campaigns against early marriage and dowry, malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, gender discrimination, and inequality, illiteracy and corruption. In conjunction with our core strategies, The Hunger Project also works in the following capacities:
Lower Level peole life:
A class of people in a society characterized by low income, low level of education, high unemployment and, as a result of these, a low social status.Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. Usually most societies have some notion of social class , but concretely defined social classes are not found in every known type of human societies.
Bangladesh known by the world as a poor country. Most of the people live under poverty. As a whole the life of the lower class people also very miserable. Usually they could not able to buy the extra necessities even there food,clothes,education. There accommodation system is so poor basically they live in slum or in village straws made house. They are not capable to lead average life. Always they fall in trouble to earn the food. there life style so poor they can't able to send there children in school,to take education.Poor people in Bangladesh tend to have low levels of education and limited access to land and hold low paying, physically demanding, and socially unattractive occupations, such as casual wage labor. In both urban and rural areas, the poor lack access to modern amenities and services, and they also tend to live in houses of inferior quality. Households headed by women, who are widowed, divorced, or separated, have a considerably higher incidence of poverty relative to the others.
Poverty levels are typically determined based on income and consumption levels. But evidence, and the voices of poor people themselves, have shown that poverty has many more dimensions.
Poverty means hunger, lack of medical treatment, and poor access to basic services, such as electricity and water supply. It means being unable to send children to school and often needing them to work instead.
Poverty means a lack of assets—such as land or savings—and thus extreme vulnerability to shocks due to economic downturns, family illness or natural disasters. It means social exclusion, and a constant feeling of insecurity and stress based on an uncertain future.
Middle Class Jobs and Income :
Usually middle class people job status also middle level job. Basically these people maintain there status by there moderate income. so there life also different on the basis of there job and income.
Middle Class People's Education
In middle class people they provide education there child according there ability.Because Bangladeshi education system is discriminate system.Most of the parents are not able to send there child expensive school. So in education there has big disparity in our society. Primary education is the foundation on which the nation's edifice of education has to be built and the ground laid for the individual's pursuit of further learning and fulfillment of life's potentials. Progress in primary education in Bangladesh in the last fifteen years, despite its many deficiencies, is characterized by strengths, which truly can be regarded as points of shining light.
A major achievement of the last decade was to attain gender parity in primary school enrollment. Other accomplishments are improvement in gross and net enrollment in primary education and reduction in dropout and improvement in completion of the cycle. Middle class family prefer to send there children in public and private schools, colleges, universities. Although some private education organization are so expensive. Finally, we can see the education system also play the grate role in life style in the society.
Middle class people's life style:
The middle class of Bangladesh contributes in a paradoxical manner in the process of the construction and reconstruction of several themes and sub-themes of nationalism. Its double role has been manifested in the transformation of the society from the religion based Muslim nationalism to language based secular Bengali nationalism, particularly between 1952 and 1971 as well as in replacing that Bengali nationalism by Bangladeshi nationalism regarding the religious distinctiveness as the determinants of its collective identity. Although the middle class of Bangladesh played the historical role in the construction of Bengali nationalism by inspiring the people with a new sense of nationalism based on language, culture and tradition and paved the way for the Bengali nationalist movement, in post-75 Bangladesh the same middle class contradicts itself with its new political doctrine where religion has been amalgamated with its national identity.
The majority of the population of Bangladesh are maintain in middle class status.Usually there income is average to lead a good life in the society. Although sometime they faces on trouble to lead the life in the prosper. If we look through the society we can see this level of people over in country. These status of people might be economically well. They could spend there income to made abode. They could able to set up there accommodation according to there capabilities
Middle class people's life:
The term clearly refers to status rather than to class. People are judged to be middle class or otherwise more by their level of education, the physical conditions in which they work, and/or their consumption habits than by their relationship to the means of production. An example of each follows:
A social and economic class composed of those more prosperous than the poor, or lower class, and less wealthy than the upper class(1) Education. In Victorian Britain, when the present system of school-leaving examinations supervised by the universities was introduced, they were sometimes called the ‘middle class examinations’. For a century from the 1850s to the 1950s passing such examinations was regarded as a passport to the middle class.
(2)Physical conditions. ‘White collar’ is a near-synonym for middle class, and ‘blue collar’ for working class. Thus a job is middle class if it is done in clean conditions and does not involve heavy manual work. A working-class job is perceived as one done in dirty conditions which require protective clothing. This distinction is also fading with the rapid change in the nature of work since the 1960s.
(3)Consumption habits. The commonest measurements of class are those used by the advertising industry to classify those who read or watch particular media. But advertisers are interested only in consumption habits, not in class properly defined.
The basis for the commonly expressed view that ‘we are all middle class now’ is therefore: (1) that many or most of us call ourselves middle class; and (2) that the old badges of status of the working class are no longer reliable.
Upper class people’s entertainment:
Bangladeshi upper level people usually used to do the high level entertainment. They can able to spend huge amount of money in entertainment.The upper class men had races, tournaments (including knights, and squires), and would put on a show for peasants the lords and the upper class men.The upper level people usually spend time by going vacation in richest places even in abroad. Most of the people spend there vacation with family in tourist attract places such as Switzerland, Paris,London,Bangkok,and more tourism places.Tease level of people usually watch movie at home, sometime they go at cinema hall like Basundhara cineplex.They could buy LCD television,VCR,DVD etc musical instrument. Even they could play badminton,billiard,in there own home ground.
Upper level people's beliefs, and activities, and abilities of upper-class people covered the Principle of Legitimacy amply; but he could not resist the opportunity to exercise his special faculties in a field he knew of old.
These class of people usually go to the party such as DJ party,dance party and other kind of recreational party.Some people take amusement by swim to there own swimming poll. The elite class people also can attend nationally and internationally entertainment function.so someway the richest people are so lucky.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Upper class people's education
Upper class treatment
Upper class people life:
Although Bangladesh is a developing country, but there is a sizable of people those are maintaining upper class in the society. Basically, about 9.75% of the whole masses are living this stage. Defiantly most of the upper level people live in the city areas. They lead luxurious and healthy life. Basically they kept the mainstreams of economy of Bangladesh. Obviously there income are so high, they build luxurious building, they do shopping world class market even in abroad. Usually upper class drives BMW, HUMMER, LEXUS, FERRARI, etc those they can able to buy.
Upper class people build the industry, garments factory, banks, and insurance. Schools, shopping center etc. Basically these people lead standard life according to demand as they want. They can easily fulfill there basic needs as well as there luxurious needs.
Upper class people's life
Although
Upper class people build the industry, garments factory, banks, and insurance. Schools, shopping center etc. Basically these people lead standard life according to demand as they want.They fulfill easily there basic as well as luxurious need. Upper class is a social class of the more wealthy members of society, in particular those who have immense wealth, have power over businesses or clutch large numbers of stocks and shares. In short the class occupying the uppermost position in the social chain of command is the upper class. The phrase upper class refers to a set of people at the top of a communal hierarchy. Often members of a higher class do not have to labor for a living, since they are supported by earned or inborn investments. Members of a superior class often have power over over other natives as employers or landlords or from time to time as members of administration.
Historically, members of a higher class often did not have to labor for living as they were supported by inherited wealth although members of the higher class may have had less actual money than merchants.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Catagory of people:
Upper level people’s life
Middle level people’s life
Lower level people’s life