Mi Casa es...

Its been about a month and a half since being in dhaka now. The political unrest is a little bit under control.

From what I understand - the riots were started by the political parties taking an opportunity to bring down the military in the eyes of the people. The two ruling parties has been like a feuding family for the last 20 years or so. They were the sole causes on unrest in the city as they tried to one-up the other. So, it seems when the students stood up against the army to step off the campus grounds - the two parties paid off a few 100 students to star a city wide riot to demonstrate the ineptness of the current army government. But the reality is - the army not only complied but also took it further by calling a gearing so the students had a floor to speak about the situation. When curfew and city shutdown was announced to stop the riots - the parties went nuts. They played their old tricks of calling out to the "west" and asking for the return of democracy and save the country from military control. The military, meanwhile, has been working better for the people than ever before to maintain peace and bringing justice so the common people can feel safe. Granted - the military gv't has its own set of issues but politics isn't perfect. When the so called "democratic" parties were in place - Bangladesh was ranked the world's #1 corrupt country! Now, under military gov't there is voter registration - photo and thumb print ID - in place so the election being held in Dec 2008 will be a fair and just election. The leaders of the parties and families are in jail or in exile. People seriously hope that the 2008 election brings about a fair and just gov't in place and run it with the people in mind rather than for personal power and greed. Most people have lost hope - it is common to hear - "eh, nothings going to change" but there are few hopefuls that are holding out thankfully.