Rafi in SCB

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI ("PATI MASTAN")
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Dear Netters,

I just got a phone call from Asif Saleh to remind me that today is the
first death anniversary of our departed friend and SCB comrade Rafi
Ahmed ("Pati Mastan" from "Amherst er chipa goli").

A year ago today, this young, bright boy passed away in a sad drowning
accident at Sandy Hook Beach in New Jersey. In his short time on
Earth,
Rafi brought humor and charm to a lot of people's lives, both on and
off-line.

On the Friday before his death, I and Kamal Quadir (of Oberlin College)
were sitting on the railing of Riverside Drive, NY and listening to the
tall tales of this mischievous Bengali boy. I remember him pointing
out
a motorcycle gang and lecturing us about the "risks that people take".
I remember also him sitting patiently in a pizza parlor watching
Bengali
workers behind the counter and commenting to me when I walked in,
"Bichitro jibon" (and then proceeding to get excited about a jazz CD he
had just bought). Around 1 am, Kamal & I decided we had to introduce
him to our regular summer staple in NYC-- FROZFRUIT ice lollipops.
After having one, Rafi proceeded to purchase another 3 in the next 2
hours. In his words "Makkhi jinish tho eta! Ki dekhalen bhai!"

At the time of his untimely death, many of the friends he made through
the Internet posted their remembrances and memories on SCB. Those
posts
helped Rafi's parents in their time of grief.

I will re-post some of Rafi's famous posts from his SCB heyday, so we
can remember for one brief moment this bright, funny spirit that walked
among us.

Please pray for Rafi's soul and also for continuedgood health of his
parents and sister.

--Naeem Mohaiemen

Subject: Pati Mastan/Rafi Ahmed omor!
From: naeem@ix.netcom.com
Date: 1996/08/23
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengaliN.

Asif Saleh wrote:

> A. "amra shobai bagha bangali...karo kothai kan dei na" S.
>
> copyright: pati mastan :-)

Chalie jao. Bhalo lage dekhle.

Rafi'r shei oithihashik innovation er maddhyome thake shmoron kori.

Comrade Rafi Guevara-- Lal Salaam!

N. "Bolcho ki? Rafi tho moteo communist chilo na!" M.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 1: "Ammu, ami Net Mastan hobo"
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Message: 105
To: tahsin@cs.brandeis.edu
From: "Asif Saleh" <asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject: More of Rafi's old postings from SCB [RAFI]
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 11:30:53 -0400
Re: World Cup Opening Ceremony and Sushmita Sen

Soumitra Bose (soumitra@ix.netcom.com) wrote:

: Ha re Allah ! Tomra shala shuru korle ki Romjan mashe , onno shomoi
: bhable o to hoto. Radhe kesto ! ekhon naki Kukam ar Sushmita Sen ?
: Bangalee ar ki kichukei baki rakhbe na ?

Sh(w)opne khele kacchi biriyani khabo, lobon diye bhat ke khai?

R. "Sushmita Sen. Heh Heh. Heh Heh. =) " A.

Asif Saleh (asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu) wrote:

: He also endorsed Ershad in 1983 before his death. He said
: it was under his order that Ershad remained in Pakistan to "help"
: other Bangali officers there. Osmani's reputation was
: larglely tarnished because of this statement which many people
: saw as a way to cover up for Ershad. To me, it is just a case
: of "Bura boyosher bhimroti" :-)

        Did he actually say that? Or was it a mere propaganda stunt
        pulled by Ershad later in his rule to legitimize his actions
        during the liberation war. I don't remember Osmani saying
        this at all. Hm.

        (The punchline was the Leader of Opposition (sic) ASM Rab
        referring to Ershad as a valiant freedom fighter, someone
        who stayed back and did not come over -- even though he
        really, really wanted to -- because Osmani had told him so.)

: ********************************************************************
: Asif Saleh
: ********************************************************************
: --------------------------------------------------------------------

R. "Oi beta, chapa martasosh na to! =)" A.

Asif Saleh (asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu) wrote:
: Pati Mastan wrote:
: >

: Well, I remember the state run TV-radio saying that Osmani actually
: made the statement. He was alive when this news was publicized and
: he did not protest it either. So we can conclude that he had at
least
: tacit support to that theory.

: Asif " Oi beta mastani koma " Saleh
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Potential patent violation. Just so you don't think I
have tacit support in this either.

RE: Potuakhali not Borishal.
Naeem Mohaiemen (naeem@ix.netcom.com) wrote:

: Mogo bari Borishal
: Mogo dada zomidar
: Mogo sasa sokidar
: Mogo chino?

You forgot to add:
Mora Ainer Lok. =)

: Actually, I am not from Borishal anymore. My father's vilage is part
: of the break-away secessionist republic of Potuakhali.

But Borishal aj shudhu jela noi, Borishal "bibhag"-o
bot-e. Bishsher nipirito Borishailla ek how.

: Or as a friend put it: "Potuakhali ekta jaiga'r nam holo?!"

        If we're talking about names...
        Golachipa,
        Chhagolnaiya
        Bhheramara ... ittadi.

: --

: Naeem Mohaiemen
: naeem@ix.netcom.com
: ______________________________________________________

R. "As long as nobody comes up with 'Borishailla goru chor....'" A.
--
Re: BANNING RELIGION in ELECTIONS
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)

Pavel (nrp@cs.purdue.edu) wrote:

: I am going to quote Patti mastan
: "Tomake nie ar para gelo na..." Kothay ekhaney ektu atlami marbo
: tomar jonno tao kora zabey ne dekhchi .. however i m trying my
: best 8-)

Ki odbhut! Atlami ar ami in the same breath!
Ami bakshunno.

: Regards
: -Pavel

R. "Atlami kora Naeem-der forte. Ami niriho manush. =)" A.
Re: Comments from Japanese people on the disputed topic of Role of NHK
to
present the plight of poverty
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)

Zaki Wahhaj (thekey@minerva.cis.yale.edu) wrote:
: > There are two things that I can't stand in this world; racists and
Japanese
: > people.
: > From anonymous [April 17, 96]

: Ergo, he hates himself. :-)

Or rather, he can't stand himself. Kinda lame, eh?
(yeah, yeah, I'm groaning too)

: Sorry, couldn't resist it!

Me neither. =)
: Zaki

R. "Perhaps he just means that racists and the Japanese are both
lame.=)" A.
Re: The Story Of The Beans And Vinegar
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Hey Mariam,

Welcome back to SCB (of both Bangladeshi and Bengali varieties).
You and your stories have been missed. Sorely.

Delighted that once again we can sit back, and relax, while you
hook up to the sea of stories and wash away the usual drudgery.

R. "Back again in the Land of Gup and all's right with the world. =)"
A.
--
Subject:      Re: SHADHINOTA, THE NET ABUSER
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/25

FARSHED MAHMUD (fmahmud@unix.amherst.edu) wrote:
: hey, here's a new one people -

: alt.atlami-r.shima.nai

: rafi bhai - you know what i'm talking about. you know VERY WELL what
i'm
: talking about. heh, heh!

: Farshed

Tomake niya para gelo na.
*** dirghoshash ***

: Zunaid Kazi (kazi@stimpy.eecis.udel.edu) wrote:

: : I suppose the "new" SCB is going to be the parade ground of young
'uns
: : whose definition of "real issues" is the public exhibition of the
: : nethermost regions of their minds.

I think this is precisely what he was referring to.
;)

R. "Atlami need not be a dirty word. *Offended Harrumph* =)" A.
--
Subject:      Re: I AM SICK OF THESE POLITICAL CONVERSATIONS...
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/03
SC1460 (sc1460@aol.com) wrote:

: Bangladeshi culture? What exactly is that? Perhaps I'm missing
something.
: Everytime I visit BD i either get western influenced or hindi/punjabi
: influenced music; there's a tragic lack of original plays; any
: performances that are put on are stifled by the restrictive social
and
: religious climate; the televison programmes are incredibly boring;
our
: fashion scene revolves around clothing that is hundreds of years old
etc
: etc. Am I the only one who finds current Bangladeshi culture
frustrating?!

        Well, when you talk about culture, are you saying the work
        of newer generation poets like Tito, Azad, Rudro frustrate
        you? You find nothing of value in the art of the newer
        artists like Goutam Chakrabarty, Shireen Shyanal, and their
        contemporaries? I'm not even bringing up the newer work of
        older artists and poets, like Quayyum Chowdhury, Debdash
        Chakrabarty, Osman Ali, Shamsur Rahman, Nirmalensu Gun,
        and others.

: At the end of the day a vibrant culture expresses the feelings of its
: people. Unfortunately our people are wrapped up in blaming each
other,
and
: seem to feel nothing but disgust. How can culture grow in such a
climate?

        How exactly do you define "culture"? "The Moor's Last Sigh,"
        Rushdie's new book, does a lot of blaming and finger pointing.
        Is it thus outside "culture"? Kamrul Hassan's caricature of
        Yahya and later, Ershad expressed disgust and blamed both these
        illuminaries. Were his works culturally challenged?

: It's a sad fact that the only drama coming out of BD is political.

I hear the new plays being staged in Bailey Road are getting
rave reviews.

: Regards
: Hud

R. "Then again, there's Imdadul Huq Milan.... *sigh* " A.

Subject:      Re: BANNING RELIGION in ELECTIONS
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/30

--
Zillur Rahim (CollegeStation,Texas) wrote:
[tomes urging the Islamization of the world]

        I have been following your postings with interest and
        feel that the following line more or less forms the
        crux of your argumentation.

: Unless we go back to the true teachings of Islam there is no hope;

        I would like a little more detail on this. What exactly
        do you mean when you say "true teachings of Islam?"
        What do you include under "true teachings:" The Quran,
        the Hadiths, the shariya, fiqh -- all of the above, or
        some of the above? What are your views on the development
        of the Islamic legal system? Ijtihad? The need/lack thereof
        of Ijma? What are your thoughts on an Islamic Code of
        Ethics?

: Zillur Rahim

R. "Pandora's Box. Here we go again." A.
Subject:      Re: News: Election Campaigne Update
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/26

Asif Saleh (asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu) wrote:
: Pati Mastan wrote:

: >         How viable is this for either JI or JP? Rather than pooling
: >         resources and focusing on their relative strengths, it
seems
: >         as if they are eager to cash in on the money-making
prospects
: >         of selling party nominations. I believe BNP stands to gain
a
: >         lot from this sort of divisive partisan politics: the
opposition,
: >         even in a semi-unified front would stand to gain more.
: >

: Agreed! If the opposition actually decides to go separate ways BNP
: is going to be the clear winner because

        I don't know about being the _clear_ winner: though I
        have no doubts that this situation will pan out to the
        advantage of the BNP, I really have trouble believing
        that it may be enough to give them anything close to
        a clear majority. And especially when they were unable
        to secure that in the _last_ elections.

But perhaps that is exactly what you meant, in which
case this entire post is redundant. Hm.

: 1> There is now hardly any ideological difference between BNP , AL
and JP
: So, voting is going be strictly on party line.

        Yes, voting will be along party lines: they way they
        have always been. Since when has _ideology_ been an
        issue in Bangladeshi politics? All these parties are
        comprised of professional political turncoats. Ergo,
        the whole question of ideologies is/has been/will be
        rather moot.

: 2> The present polarization, it seems to me, is BNP vs ANTI BNP. In
such a
: a scenario. The Anti BNP vote will clearly be divided.

Agreed.

: Asif 'anek deen porey ekta khati kotha bolso" Saleh

: Is this a copyright violation ?;)

Dangerously verging on one. =)

R. "Tui ami ekmot? Keyamot dhare kase?" A.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 2: "Ki, kisher nesha korsen?"
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Subject:      Re: St Joseph News...Sarkar Sir
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/05/11

Akhtar Hossain (hossain@mwk.com) wrote:
: **** St Joseph News ****

: Just this morning I had an e-mail from my friend in Dhaka, telling me
that
our
: dear old Sarkar Sir, has retired this week. Every Josephite know
Sarkar Sir
: from the heart and sole. I had the opprtunity to meet him in 1994, on
my
^^^^

: last visit to Dhaka. Believe me he was the same old Sarkar Sir...

: "apnar gal amar juta...ata paren na...naz cinema ki chole sheta to
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Maybe "sole" was not an innocent typo after all. =)

: thik janan.."

: What can I say.

: thanks
: akhtar

        I still remember Sarkar in class: bellowing out "Uttor kona
        daran" when he came in to class in order to single out some
        one to read out the class work of the day, leaving all the
        students in the class dazed and confused in our attempts to
        figure out _which_ "uttor kona": Northeast, or Northwest.

And the times when he used to get really upset: "You may be the
son of a business magnet [sic], but I say, 'Damn Care!'"

And then the inevitable "gear." Ahh. memories....

R. "Ki, kisher nesha korsen?" A.
--

Subject:      Re: Dhaka Diary, March 1996, Part 1
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/26

Sharif Islam (ssislam@mds.qmw.ac.uk) wrote:
: Hi Denis

: Thank you sharing your Dhaka experiences with us. As an individual
you
have
: every right to express your feelings, whatever the way you felt, in
your
diary. But,
: since you are making it to public through SCB, I would advice you to
do some
: editing beforehand. Especially, analogies like 'Muslim crow" or
'Hindu
: mosquitoes' might be unacceptable to many people like me.

        It is because there are still people like Denis Wright who are
        unabashed to express their feelings in their totality that SCB
        is worth perusing. People like Denis who have loved Bangladesh
        and feel comfortable in their love to express in minute detail
        how they feel -- be it positive or negative -- about something
        are too rare; as is the opportunity of experiencing Dhaka
through
        someone like him. Such bowdlerizing as you suggest really
        achieves nothing, since:
        a. It removes the opportunity for the rest of us to share the
           raw first impression, and realizing how someone really
feels;
        b. Whatever emotion or sentiment that you object to still
           remains, as only the literal representation of that feeling
           has been curtailed/censored;
        c. It only heightens racial/religious intolerance amongst us
           since it implicitly states that certain references are
           categorically non-kosher, however harmless they might be.

        If you find analogies in his writing unacceptable, criticize
        his writing: you are absolutely within your rights to do so.
        Or, press 'n'. But don't resort to mindless, senseless
        censorship: it hurts more than helps. Dennis Wright is doing
        us all a huge favor by letting us into his world; the least
        we can do is retain respect for his world and at the same
        time, for our own independent thinking.

: Best wishes

R."so I'm not the only one who thinks Baby Taxis are a menace to
society...."A.
--
Subject:      Re: Outcome of the next elections
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/11

Udayan Chattopadhyay (100715.41@CompuServe.COM) wrote:
: Well ... don't know about predicting seat allocations, but -

: 1. What will happen to Ershad now that AL has co-operated with
: his party?

        What will ultimately happen to Ershad remains to be seen.
        However, his release is bound to be high up on the JP agenda.
        JP will definitely bargain hard in the forthcoming power
        struggle, and they have a lot of things going for them:

        a. As somebody already pointed out (I don't remember who,
        sorry), JP stands to gain from these elections as a viable
        alternative within the nationalist fold. Among people
        frustrated with both the BNP and the AL, they might seem
        a preferable alternative to the JI. Further, they were not
        nearly as virulent as the AL in the recent showdown against
        the government: thus most of the anti-terrorist fallout in
        the public mind will stick to the AL, and the JP will
        definitely capitalize on this.

b. They have a strong organizational base, and adequate
financial resources to create a strong showing in the
elections.

        c. JP is not going to contest in all the seats nationwide --
        rather, they are going to pool resources and go all out to
        win the seats that they have party members contesting from.
        Possible JP strongholds: greater Barisal area (Anwar Hossain
        Manju, Naziur Rahman Manju, Hiron, et al.), Northern Districts
        (Ershad -- who's still popular, a good number of the ministers
        of his last cabinet), and areas in the greater Dhaka-Mymensingh
        region (Mawdud Ahmed, Zafar Imam, etc.).

: 2. Can the AL hold on to any remnant of dignity if they try to
: bring up the Golam Azam issue, having co-operated with JI?

: 3. Can the AL NOT bring up the Golam Azam issue, having harped on
: about it during 1991-4?

        Chances are AL is going to do a classic volte-face vis-a-vis
        its stance on the Golam Azam issue: it will probably try and
        forget anything that it had to do against Golam Azam. And all
        for the very expedient reason that the AL cannot do without the
        JI if it intends to form the government. And since the BNP has
        already paved the way of diluting ideological rhetoric when it
        comes to harnessing power, AL won't even need to justify its
        stance.

        Politics in Bangladesh has always been practising the art of
        the politically expedient, and regardless of wherever any
        party may have stood in the past on any ideological issue,
        not many consciences of the politicians involved will be
        troubled over changing sides and turning coats. Prepare to
        see a very "1984"-esque side-swapping in the near future.

: etc etc etc ...

: The JP and JI as a result of this movement appear to have been
: completely legitimised in BD politics - and the implications for
: what will be demanded by these two factions in the event of an AL
: govt, or more likely a forced coalition with JP/JI are pretty
: scary.

        Agreed. It is sad to see how the lust for power can make
        us make amends not only with avowed anti-liberation forces
        but also with authoritarian "anti-christs" whom we fought to
        bring down only five years ago.

Power legitimizes/justifies all.

R. "Four legs good, two legs better!" A.
--

Subject:      Re: Definition of Razakar!!
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/25

        I am certain my questions and responses to Mr. Rahman will
        be nothing but an exercise in futility, but there's only
        so much ostrich-like argumentation that one can take.

Masud Rahman (masud@dvorak.amd.com) wrote:
: Sumon Shahed wrote:

[deletions]

: Pakistan Army did those killings. You can only accuse JI for being
silent.

        Then all the eye-witness accounts that survive of teachers
        being led away for the last time by Bengali students that
        they recognized (even through their makeshift masks) are
        made up?

        I wonder if Naeem is anywhere near done with "Shobak." If not,
        would it be possible to quote relevant excerpts from Mofaxxal
        Haider Chowdhury's diary?

        Another small question here: do you accept that para-military
        groups like al-Badar, al-Shamsa and the like existed, or do
        you put them down to the figments of over-ripe post-liberation
        Bangladeshi imagination?

: >
: > 2) Since Jamaat was a political party at that time, does not imply
crimes
commited
: > by it, are eventually political.

: Jamaat's stand was political, i.e., to keep Pakistan united.

        To a large extent, so was that of the Bosnian Serbs': to create
        a unified "Greater Serbia." Political ideologies are entirely
        irrelevant to the question of morality and basic humanity: just
        because you operate with a distinct political goal in mind does
        not exonerate you from the guilt of your actions.

[deletions]

: We all don't know their leaders committed the crime, may be you know
from
your
: bias sources. May be they didn't apologize.. in my judgment I also
wish JI
: apologize for not taking into consideration for the overwhelming
support for
: the independence..that should be the apology for political
mistake...but how
: can they apologize for the war crimes, which they didn't committed?

        You seem to be operating from faith here: "I believe Jamaat
        committed no war crimes, therefore they committed no war
crimes."
        Comes handy as a vigorous defense, but hardly a rational or a
        valid defense.

[deletions]

: Mr. Shimant did you ever thought the same about Jamaat?
: They had been suffering even more (for more than 25 years).

What about the Nazis that are still alive? They have been
suffering for over 50 years now. My heart bleeds....

All these years,
: nobody ever could prove his case against a single leader of
Jamaat-e-Islami
: of the so called war crimes (rape, murder, pillage..) in the court of
law
: but making it a cheap political rhetoric.

        That would possibly be because there has never been a
war-crimes
        trial. Doesn't mean that all the people that are accused of
        war-crimes are truly innocent; just that their guilt/innocence
        has not been tested on judicial grounds. Why not? Political
        expediency for the most part. But a few corrupt politicians
        and opportunistic political machinations do not automatically
        acquit Jamaat of their involvement in the war-crimes of '71.

: Thousands of adults also accepted JI recently and didn't have any
role
: what so ever in '71, many of them even fought as Muktijodhas. So you
really
: need to look at their present before portraying them as criminal.

        The other issue is this: just because a political party has
        mass support, doesn't say anything about its past activities
        other than that certain number of people may support those
        activities. The Nazi party ideology is gaining mass support
        in different parts of the world: doesn't mean the Nazi Party
        never did anything criminal. The Khmer Rouge still has grass
        root support in Cambodia: doesn't mean it did not actually
        go and kill millions of Cambodians while they were in power.

        Jamaat's support base only means some people in Bangladesh
        still support it as a political party; doesn't say anything
        about whether its actions in the Liberation War was legal,
        moral or even plain human.

R."Kane angul diye 'ami shunbo na' kore chitkar korlei shob thik hoye
jaina."A.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 3: "Moina bole 'Tui Rajakar' "
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Subject:      Re: NBC Olympic Broadcast
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/22
Message-Id:   <4t0id8$1ik@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4sqrqf$e1f@sphinx.Gsu.EDU>
<n+HAvDA$Rr8xEwLt@areyou.demon.co.uk>
<AHMED.96Jul22122132@hqpdt20.ms>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

In the vein of discussion so far, how many other people got totally
sick of watching Michael Johnson's teeth during the opening ceremonies?
Especially in the middle of the torch-lighting... like we really care
how the god of 200 & 400 ms feels about it.

I have mixed feelings about the opening ceremonies themselves...
the Temple of Zeus bit was nice, but chrome pickup trucks laden
with searchlights, and cheerleaders? Sights of Americana that I
would rather not be reminded of... leave me in my ostrich-like bliss.
Having Ali light the flames _was_ touching.... Also, having a
Greek athlete run up with the torch as well was a very nice
touch.

R. "But compared to Barcelona, kothai Agartola, kothai chowkirtola...."
A.
--

Asif Saleh

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~asaleh/WWW/

Message: 106
To: tahsin@cs.brandeis.edu
From: "Asif Saleh" <asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Last batch of Rafi's writings [RAFI]
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 11:43:43 -0400

Subject:      Re: Latest strategy of BNP.
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/16
Message-Id:   <4sh1dj$sbu@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4s1o3d$e6t@ren.fp.co.nz>
<4s33fg$5ho@willow.cc.kcl.ac.uk>
<4sbi19$sja@ren.fp.co.nz> <4sd4jf$2jo@willow.cc.kcl.ac.uk>
<Pine.SOL.3.91.960715143336.303C-100000@johannes.abo.fi>
<4sdvvo$hlp@tom.amherst.edu>
<Pine.SOL.3.91.960715214843.13595D-100000@kasper.abo.fi>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Montaz Ali INF (mali@kasper.abo.fi) wrote:
: On 15 Jul 1996, Pati Mastan wrote:

: >
: >     Not picking any sides regarding the contention at hand,
: >     but when was the last time Ittefaq was regarded as an
: >     unbiased and fair newspaper? It definitely has not been
: >     one for some time now.
: >

: Dear Mr. Asif Saleh & Mr Pati Mastan

: Both of you are trying to confused the whole issue. Ittafaq may have
favored
: AL in the poll but the current topic is completely different & no one
can
: make it baised. When something is deterministic, then you cannot make
it
: otherwise. Now, there were several robbery in different parts of the
country.
: Some of them were caught with goods/arms among them some were members
of JCD
: & JJD. These BNP activists were caught in three robberys in
chittagong,
: somewhere in Noakhali and elsewhere. As it was reported in Ittafaq
these
: people are active member of BNP wings from different parts of the
country.
: The incident of robbery took place just after AL took over. If the
report is
: untrue then BNP should take action against the reporters. If it is
true then
: BNP should disprove the charges in the legal plateform. And so far
they have
: not done anything yet rather than trying to make the issue political
in the
: political stages. I don't undersatnd how could you co-relate reports
of
: electionering with the report of robbery together.

        I don't know about Asif, but _I_ was not drawing any parallels
        between the election strategies espoused by certain newspapers,
        and whatever has happened regarding the dacoities. What I _was_
        trying to get across is the question of bias involved in the
        reporting of certain newspapers when the news item relates to
        some political party or other. My contention was simply this:
        if you read remarks in the Ittefaq about the BNP, take it with
        a least a pinch of salt.

        Now, for the issue of robbery itself (and here we get the crux
        of the matter). If I remember correctly, someone posted that
        according to an Ittefaq report, BNP, in its
post-election-debacle
        insanity, had taken on an active party-sanctioned policy of
        destabilizing the nation through bank robberies and the like.
        The enterprising reporter at Ittefaq arrived at the fact from
        the fact (?) that the people arrested for alleged involvement
        in the robberies are members of the Chhatra Dal. Now, this
        seems to me like a classic fallacy of the post hoc ergo propter
        hoc order: since after X, it happened because of X. That is to
        say, since these people committed the robberies after they
        joined the Chhatra Dal, they committed the robberies _because_
        they are in the Chhatra Dal. Quite a leap in logic in there.
        Just because Chhatra Dal members are (allegedly) looting banks,
        it does not necessarily follow that it is now BNP policy to
        have its student members rob banks. It is like saying, if your
        company peon likes to spit betel juice on newly white-
        washed walls, it is your company policy that their peons
        will spit betel-juice on white walls. The contention seems at
        the very least far fetched.

        Whoever is involved in these bank robberies deserve to be
        condemned and punished, regardless of their political
        affiliations.

: Montaz Ali
: Abo Akademi

R. "Are Obhi ajke MP, ar amra chichke bank dakati niye chinta kori!" A.
--

Subject:      Re: Minority Cabinet members
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/06
Message-Id:   <4rm7m0$3fi@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4qpmpr$mj2@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
<4qsr32$24t@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu> <4rc2qf$16o@tom.amherst.edu>
<31D9C1F3.6582@eos.ncsu.edu> <4rfn9c$d0n@dfw-Ixnews10.ix.netcom.com>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Naeem Mohaiemen (naeem@ix.netcom.com) wrote:

: dekho scb the shob humorless noya jonogon eshe uposthith. Thara
: bhab-be ami shotthi shotthi Jamaati :-)

        Let's see if I get it right.
        _You_ have a smiley after what you say... smileys are
        indicative of having a sense of humor ... therefore, you
        have a sense of humor... people who think you are a Jamaati
        don't have a sense of humor...therfore, you don't think you
        are a Jamaati.
        Do I pass?

: hang on, who was it getting flamed left and right last year for
daring
: to send letters to NY Times protesting Golam Azam's invitation
: to ICNA conference? ...... :-)

Whoever it might have been, it definitely must have not been
you.
Or so they say....

: --

: Naeem Mohaiemen
: naeem@ix.netcom.com
: ______________________________________________________

R. "Ei Naeem, Moina bole 'Tui Razakar'" A.
--

Asif's note: I laughed a long time after reading this one. Naeem was
the
one who wrote the letter to Ny times and he is no jamati , believe me(
for those of who don't know him)

Subject:      Re: Ex-Bangladesh VP quits party
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/01
Message-Id:   <4r9cko$jgk@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <SAHMED.96Jun30141328@occs.cs.oberlin.edu>
<31D71761.2553@ix.netcom.com>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Imran Zaman (imranz@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: Saif Ahmed wrote:
: >
: > :
: > : DHAKA, June 30 (UPI) -- Former Vice President Moudud Ahmed
resigned
: > :from the Jatiya Party Sunday, saying his departure was a protest
against
: > :the party leader's cooperation with rivals...
: > :
: He declined to say whether he will join another party. ``You will
: > :know very soon,'' he said, saying he will not retire from
politics.
: > :

: I won't be surprised if he joins the BNP!!!! That's his only
option
right now.
: Some people never change!!!!

        I agree. He has not qute been in the good books of the JP
        hierarchy, specially with the publication of his controversial
        book. Further, he led the pro-BNP element in JP -- the pro-AL
        being led by Mizanur Rahman -- and it seems that the pro-BNP
        side of JP has been sidelined, at least for the near future.
        I imagine the JP head honchos are relieved that he didn't
        win a seat in the elections, and are definitely glad to have
        gotten rid of him. Sad for the parliament in a way: he was
        definitely a good orator.

        On the issue of parliament, does anyone care to comment about
        Obhi's election to the parliament? Makes for interesting
        dynamics in the interrelation between BNP and JP, doesn't it?
        Specially since Aman got reelected with a substantial majority
        (he's definitely here to stay), and they are reputed to hate
        each other's guts.

R. "SCB been too apolitical these past few days. No flames, no fun. =)"
A.
--

Subject:      Re: Minority Cabinet members
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/28
Message-Id:   <4r195i$2gh@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4qpmpr$mj2@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
<4qqrf4$ebh@willow.cc.kcl.ac.uk>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Shabbir A. Bashar (S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk) wrote:
: nmohaiemen@aol.com (NMohaiemen) wrote:

: >[My vote "Yes" on the last. They send very important message of
: >inclusiveness and diversity.]

: This is the wrong way to go about it though - through conveying an
: superficial message like "oh are we so noble that we have a Hindu
: in the cabinet". My point is, we should be adopt a public attitude
: and sentiment in such a way that a person comes before his or her
: sex or religion. This is very important if we are to pave the way
: towards an echelon of the best of the best at the top - inlcuding
: politics.

        Noble goals, no doubt. However, before we can attain such
        lofty heights, we need to broaden our minds, and generate
        a feeling of inclusiveness towards minorities. Unfortunately,
        a Hindu in Bangladesh is regarded as a Hindu Bangladeshi,
        with both the words forming his/her identity in the
        minds of the majority. Sad, and detestable; yet true. It
        is hard for the complacent majority to equate themselves at
        all levels with people numerically inferior to them. The
        way to overcome this is to show conclusively that numerical
        superiority in no way points to anything other than mere
        numbers: abilities, intellectual or otherwise, play no
        part in these considerations. For that ideal situation to
        come about, minority leaders in political, judicial,
        administrative, business spheres (and the like) need to
        be highlighted. And herein comes the issue of affirmative
        action. For it is incumbent upon the majority to shed light
        on the achievements of the minorities, and to allow greater
        representation from the minorities in the selective fields
        and in the process, make ideals of these minority leaders
        not only for the minority masses, but for those siding in
        the majority as well. Only when the majority of the people
        internalize the truth about minority potentials will the
        question of number representation and the equation of
        ability with identity become moot.

: If this Hindu gentleman is the best in the country to do this job,
: (and this decision is to be taken by the PM only and not Shabbir
: Bashar or any other Tom Dick or Abdul!) then everyone else must
: accept it. If however, this person got the job to fill some quota,
: then I'll excercise my right to criticise on grounds that this is
: sending exactly the wrong message.

        Agreed. Mere quotas don't accomplish anything. However, if
        there are two equally qualified people for a prestigious job,
        and one happens to be a minority, it helps to give the
        minority person the job. Atleast today, the way majority
        Muslims interact with minorities in Bangladesh, placing a
        qualified minority person in a responsible, challenging,
        and respectable position will go a long way towards easing
        identity crises. And such qualified people who are from
        the minority as well are around, if not abound.

        But here is the crux of the issue: Is one Hindu in a minor
        ministerial post enough? The governments of yore all had
        their cosmetic (my belief) minority member in the cabinet;
        so does Hasina's. Message of inclusiveness wasn't loud
        enough in the past, and I, for one don't see any noticeable
        increase in the decibel level.

: >Naeem Mohaiemen

: --
: Shabbir A. Bashar

R. "Minority potential? Bonik Sir, Dutta Sir, Modhu Sir.... 'nuff said"
A.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 4: "Baby Taxis are a menace to society"
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Mozammel Khan (khanm@atlas.sheridanc.on.ca) wrote:

: :: The list that I quoted contain the regular FF officers name those
who
: :: fought Under the Command of Gen. Osmany. They are documented in
the
: :: Ministry of Defence and my sources have quoted only from there. It
: :: does not contain the names of any one other than the regular FF
: :: officers.

        Yes, but the lists that have been published so far are
        _not_ comprehensive. The first _ever_ comprehensive
        compilation of FF's is "Muktijuddher Prekkhapote
        Bektir Obosthan" the source book that I quoted from.
        The books that you listed are memoirs first, compilations
        second, if at all. Under no circumstances are they
        authoritative and unbiased source books. This one however,
        is nothing but that: a compilation of names of people
        who were involved in various capacities in the war.
        And, yes, it was authorized by the Defense Ministry as well.

The names I listed were from the roster of regular FF officers.

: :: If any one comes with a list that contains FF(!) such as

: :: 1. Abdur Rahman Biswas
: :: 2. Shah Azizur Rahman and so on then I have no comment.

        What on earth is this comment supposed to mean? Where do
        you come up with this? You seem to suffer from the delusion
        that you have some divine right and monopoly over the list
        of people who participated in the Liberation War. However,
        the last time I checked, I didn't notice any notification
        to this effect. Further, such delusions of grandeur are
        definitely fun things to indulge, but it gets a tad boring
        after a while on public forums like SCB.

: :: A sensible person should not be co-accomplish of a deceptor, cheat
and
: :: most of all a 'razakar'.

Do us, but more importantly, yourself a huge favor, get a clue.

: :: Mozammel Khan

R. "'Tui Razakar' chitkar Humayun Ahmed-er natokei manai, bastobe noi"
A.
--

Subject:      Re: Through the periscope 3
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/17
Message-Id:   <4l1t3t$1id@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <1996Apr12.075029.3613@mwk.com>
<4kmji6$t47@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu> <4kruif$sej@urvile.msus.edu>
<4l1aqd$59t@manuel.anu.edu.au> <4l1nig$lp4@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Khondakar M Mostafa (kmmst26+@pitt.edu) wrote:
: Through The Periscope
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: Captains Logbook.

[insights into the captain's objective and unbiased perceptions
of other SCB-ers deleted.]

        O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
        But it would be done sooner and better if you for one --
        Could keep your eyes on the charts and on the rudder
        In lieu of wasting time criticizing some one other.

R. "Sheeesh. Some people have too much time on their hands." A.

My note: He called me up after writing this 4 liner poem. He was very
satisfied after writing this and said to me "khub moja paisi".

Subject:      Re: REPLY TO NIAZ RAHIM PAVEL
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/04/03
Message-Id:   <4jssf0$34p@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4jsjqs$fp4@wumpus.its.uow.edu.au>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Tahsin Saif (ts03@wumpus.its.uow.edu.au) wrote:
: Lines: 7
: Mr. Pavel,

: Let me tell you something.... We don't need any Father Figure like
you
in
: this site to tell us what we cannot say or do. So please don't get
: yourself involved in our discussion in the future.

Are we really watching the rise of numerous Big Brothers in
our midst or is it just me? Control! Control!

: Tahsin Saif

R. "amra shobai raja amader ei rajar rajotte...." A.
--
Subject:      Re: can you help me?
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/02/24
Message-Id:   <4go44e$s9u@amhux3.amherst.edu>
References:   <4gmgsk$6ra@news.cc.oberlin.edu>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

szm2133@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu wrote:

[long post fuming over Maimun's supposed anti-Bangladeshi male
stereotyping]

Zaed,

Maimun asked:

> Why do so many Bangladeshi men think it's ok to flirt, date and make
long
> term plans with North American Bangladeshi women, then run back to
> Bangladesh and marry a young girl from there?

Notice her use of the term "so many" instead of aking "why do
Bangladeshi
men...." which clearly exonerates her of taking a tar brush to _all_
Bangladeshi men. Now, what Maimun talks about and laments over, clearly
happens. A good number of Bangladeshi men _do_ "flirt, date and make
long term plans with North American Bangladeshi women" and then run
back to get nubile young things from home sign on the dotted line.
Is this lamentable? Yes. Is Maimun within her rights to point it out
and state that such behavior is heinous, cowardly, and utterly
loathsome?
Absolutely. Especially as she refers to her own personal pains
regarding this matter.

Now, since _some_ Bangladeshi (or perhaps even "so many") men act
in this disgustingly dastardly fashion, does it mean that _all_
Bangladeshi men act in the same fashion? Absolutely not. Does
Maimun indeed implicitly refer to _all_ Bangladeshi men when she
talks about _some_ Bangladeshi men? I don't believe so. Thus,
are there any generalizations in her post? Yes. Are they warranted?
Absolutely. Do her generalizations fall into the category of
malicious stereotyping? No. Rather, her comments were based on more
than a mere modicum of truth, and as such, her generalizations are
not by any means flagrant or baseless. And you know probably
as well as any body else on SCB, generalizations form the core
of all sciences and humanities.

It's nice of you to stand up for the injured pride of all the
Bangladeshi men out there; however, if the injury itself is
ill-perceived, not much point in standing up is there?

:
:
ZAEd---------------------------Oberlin-------------------------------------

R. "Patience, patience." A.

Finally Rafi's last post: 36 hours before he died

Subject:      Re: Dhaka Diary, March 1996, Part 1
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/26
Message-Id:   <4t92bi$ifm@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <dwright-2307960938000001@remote-048.une.edu.au>
<4t7o0u$hj5@epsilon.qmw.ac.uk>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Sharif Islam (ssislam@mds.qmw.ac.uk) wrote:
: Hi Denis

: Best wishes

R."so I'm not the only one who thinks Baby Taxis are a menace to
society...."A.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 5: "What next? The Messiah is Jamaat member?"
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Subject:      Re: To Mr. NRHP
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/03
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Montaz Ali INF (mali@johannes.abo.fi) wrote:
: On Fri, 31 May 1996, nrhp wrote:

[deletions]

: >
: > 2. If AL has so much love for the freedom fighters in the army, Why
Major
: > Jalil who was among nine sector commanders of our liberation war
was
not
: > even given a reconition and medal of honor ?? Is it because he
stood
: > against the AL government policy of foot kissing India ??

: As far as I know all sector commanders were given the honor of "bir
uttom"
: including Kadir Siddiqui! Major M.A. Jalil was a great FF and will be
: respected for his part BUT that does not permit him to destroy the
nation in
: the name of "scientific sociolism" with a little or no knowledge of
comunist
: or socoilist ecconomy! As far as I know from history, he (Jalil)
stood
: against the Indian army's looting but what does it co-relate to "your
foot
: kissing"!

Couple of facts:

a. Kader Siddiqui was not a sector commander.

        b. The problem with Major Jalil does not stem from his
           opposition to post-independence Al policies, it goes
           back further than that. Jalil had a run in with
           Lt. Col. Monzoor (the same Monzoor later involved in Zia's
           killing), who was his superior in the army chain of
           command. (Actually, Monzoor was the Sector Commander
           for Sector 8, while Jalil was the commander for Sector
           9. However, Monzoor outranked Jalil and also was reputed
           to interfere with the workings of Sector 9. This is
           plausible for most supplies to Sector 9 had to be
           routed through Sector 8.) It is from this initial
           run in with the Army chain of command that Jalil
           was placed in the AL's and the Army's little black
           books.

        c. Jalil's run in with AL started when Abdur Rab Serniabat,
           the senior politician in Sector 9 area, and the father of
           Sheikh Kamal's wife, openly sided with Monzoor.

        d. Because of Jalil's "insubordination," almost none
           of the freedom fighters involved in Sector 9 were decorated
           for their efforts. The only person I remember being
           decorated from Sector 9 is Lt. (later Maj.) Mehedi Ali Imam.
           The story behind his decoration raises eyebrows. To say the
           least.

        For a detailed listing of people involved in '71 in the
        different sectors, check out
                http://www.amherst.edu/~rahmed/geography/sectors.html
        (The rest of the site will be up soon. I hope.)

R. "Abar lebu kochlano...." A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Rocky start for new Bangladesh Parliament
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/17
Message-Id:   <4sj1pn$ohr@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <Ubangladesh-ParliamentURThp_6lE@clari.net>
<Pine.HPP.3.91.960714085418.943B-100000@ux6.cso.uiuc.edu>
<4sdaes$6q1@nz12.rz.uni-Karlsruhe.de> <4se589$bbo@willow.cc.kcl.ac.uk>
<Pine.SOL.3.91.960715231947.13648A-100000@kasper.abo.fi>
<4shuqn$t8n@newserv.ksu.ksu.edu>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Affan Habib (affan@ksu.ksu.edu) wrote:

: There is no law in Bangladesh penal code that a convicted criminal
should
: be given parole on the ground of attending perliament session, no
matter
: how he/she won from how many constituencies.

        There is no law to the contrary either. Parole is granted at
        the discretion of the judiciary, if and when it is taken to be
        justifiable. Note precedence of granting parole for being
        present at burial/cremation of near relatives. Further, all
        of the cases against Ershad are pending final say in different
        courts; hence, the granting of his parole to attend the
parliament
        is not suspect from any legal perspective.

We have to remembter
: Ershad is not a political prisonar, he has been proved guily of
criminal
: offense. Should we agree that since Ershad won from five constituency
and
: hence he got high popularity among people, all his criminal offenses
have
: to be forgotten.

        Granting parole from jail to attend parliamentary sessions
        is not the same as the commuting of a sentence. He is still
under
        legal wraps, or so he is supposed to be. His attending the
        sessions has no bearing on his legal status whatsoever; he
        is still in legal custody pending the final outcome of the
        cases the government has brought against him.

Think it another way, say you got involved in criminal
: charges and you are not a politician contesting or winining from any
: constituency. Then you will have to be behind bar while a corrupt
: politician like Ershad would get his way.

        Just proves that to be a successful criminal, you have to
        be able politician as well: whatever you do, just keep
        your constituents happy.

        But seriously, and not to support Ershad's activities
        during his rule, he _is_ the duly elected representative
        of the people in his constituency. (Or should I say,
        constituencies....) He was a valid candidate, the people
        did elect him, and now they have the right to voice their
        opinions through him. Annoying perhaps, but that's how
        democracy works.

Why should law should be
: different for so called politicians..Shouldn't it rather be more
harse
: for those who, in the name of poor people just make their own
fortunes
: stealing the state property..Please comment..

        Seen from the political perspective, as long as the people
        vindicate your corruption, nothing wrong with being a corrupt
        politician. It's another matter altogether from the legal
        perspective. Or so it should be. And hopefully, so it _will_
be.

: Regards,

: Affan Habib

R. "Abar eki chhader niche Ershad, Rawshan, Zeenat! Too much! =)" A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: I AM SICK OF THESE POLITICAL CONVERSATIONS...
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/03
Message-Id:   <4ov3j1$vpd@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4oi43r$1sr@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
<4ot28f$6jj@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

SC1460 (sc1460@aol.com) wrote:

: It's a sad fact that the only drama coming out of BD is political.

I hear the new plays being staged in Bailey Road are getting
rave reviews.

: Regards
: Hud

R. "Then again, there's Imdadul Huq Milan.... *sigh* " A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Pati Mastan
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/06
Message-Id:   <4p6p2r$vn4@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <31AB8946.41C67EA6@wrri.nmsu.edu>
<Pine.SUN.3.91.960530233633.17288C-100000@bessel.nando.net>
<Pine.SOL.3.91.960602162019.10514A-100000@johannes.abo.fi>
<4ov2sn$vpd@tom.amherst.edu> <4p2lca$36j@manuel.anu.edu.au>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

MMH (mmh@anu.edu.au) wrote:
: In article <4ov2sn$vpd@tom.amherst.edu>, rahmed@unix.amherst.edu
(Pati
Mastan) wrote:

: > a. Kader Siddiqui was not a sector commander.

: Kader Siddiqui commanded a troop pf 17000 soldiers reportedly
: without taking any Indian help.

        17,000 seems too high a figure. Does anyone have any
        verifiable figure for the number of people fighting
        with Kader Siddiqui?.

Since he fought the war the
: way he dicided (that is out of command of the Commander in Chief)
: he is not known as a sector commander like Zia, Shafiullah .
: His contributions may be more than that any sector commanders if
considered
: individually.

        That Kader Siddiqui was a truly valiant freedom fighter
        is beyond question. However, valor is not the criterion
        in judging service to the cause of liberation. It is
        possible to honor valor without detracting from the
        the services and contributions many others have rendered.

: >     c. Jalil's run in with AL started when Abdur Rab Serniabat,
: >        the senior politician in Sector 9 area, and the father of
: >        Sheikh Kamal's wife, openly sided with Monzoor.

: You are wrong Mr Pati mastan.Sheikh Kamal married to a daughter of
: Mr. Dabir uddin then Chief Enginner of Dhaka University.

My mistake: Serniabat's daughter was married to Sheikh Moni.
Apologies.

R. "Senility catching up." A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Mak Kalam: Freedom Fighter?
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/10
Message-Id:   <4pi2qc$dg8@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <DsL037.BwD@relay.sheridanc.on.ca>
<31B74918.5073@msg.ti.com> <4p9d42$jpe@tom.amherst.edu>
<Dsn8vG.MMI@relay.sheridanc.on.ca> <4paoj3$qo8@tom.amherst.edu>
<DssCur.Lp0@relay.sheridanc.on.ca>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Mozammel Khan (khanm@atlas.sheridanc.on.ca) wrote:

: :: does not contain the names of any one other than the regular FF
: :: officers.

The names I listed were from the roster of regular FF officers.

: :: If any one comes with a list that contains FF(!) such as

: :: 1. Abdur Rahman Biswas
: :: 2. Shah Azizur Rahman and so on then I have no comment.

: :: A sensible person should not be co-accomplish of a deceptor, cheat
and
: :: most of all a 'razakar'.

Do us, but more importantly, yourself a huge favor, get a clue.

: :: Mozammel Khan

R. "'Tui Razakar' chitkar Humayun Ahmed-er natokei manai, bastobe noi"
A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Mak Kalam: Freedom Fighter?
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/07
Message-Id:   <4p9d42$jpe@tom.amherst.edu>
Distribution: world
References:   <DsL037.BwD@relay.sheridanc.on.ca>
<31B74918.5073@msg.ti.com>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Mak Kalam (makn@msg.ti.com) wrote:
: Mozammel Khan wrote:
:
[acrimonious postings re. personnel involved3e in Sector 8]

The list of personnel that I have with me lists:

Sector 8. (From the Air Force.)

        Flight Lt. Jamal Uddin Ahmed,
                Adjutant,
                Head Quarters

and

        Flight Lt. Abul Kalam,
                (his whereabouts and exact involvement in the
                 War is not listed.)

        This list that I have with me was compiled by A.S.M.
        Shamsul Arefin, who participated in the Liberation
        war in Sector 9. It has been generally accepted as
        quite comprehensive.    ,

        I am trying to patch together a site listing all the
        people who were involved in the Liberation War at a
        leadership level, but the going has been tediously slow.
        It should be all up ... soon. Anyway, the URL is
        http://www.amherst.edu/~rahmed/geography/sector.html
        Do check it out and let me know your responses.

R. "The Lethargic HTML-er =)" A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Mak Kalam: Freedom Fighter?
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/06/08
Message-Id:   <4paoj3$qo8@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <DsL037.BwD@relay.sheridanc.on.ca>
<31B74918.5073@msg.ti.com> <4p9d42$jpe@tom.amherst.edu>
<Dsn8vG.MMI@relay.sheridanc.on.ca>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Mozammel Khan (khanm@atlas.sheridanc.on.ca) wrote:

: :: Mr Ahmed:
: :: I have no comment on any unpublished work.

        Er. Sorry if it was not obvious in my post, but, the source
        I was quoting from is _published_. It came out late last
        year as "Muktijuddher Prekkha Pote Bektir Obosthan,"
        published by University Press Ltd. (ISBN 984 05 0146 1)
        (I had access to the manuscript, and unscrupulously
        photocopied it all, then asked for his permission. =)

The published list does
: :: not even name A S M Shamsul Arefin as an officer in Sector 9 of
which
: :: the Commander was Maj. M A Jalil. The sources that I have quoted
are
: :: not only authentic, there were no controversy about them since
their
: :: publications.

        None of the books that have come out so far contains
        a comprehensive list of people involved in the Liberation
        War. The book by ASM Shamsul Arefin is a compilation
        of people in leadership roles in the war, and that's
        all it is. It actually is a pretty impressive.

        About Mr. ASM Shamsul Arefin being in Sector 9 in the
`       first place, my father served in sector 9 as well; he
        vouches for Mr. Abedin's active participation. Call me
        biased, but my father's word is good enough for me. =)

: :: Mozammel Khan

R. "Now if only _my_ word were good enough for my father.... *sigh*" A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

: I won't be surprised if he joins the BNP!!!! That's his only
option right now.
: Some people never change!!!!

R. "SCB been too apolitical these past few days. No flames, no fun. =)"
A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Rocky start for new Bangladesh Parliament
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/19
Message-Id:   <4so7or$5tl@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <Ubangladesh-ParliamentURThp_6lE@clari.net>
<Pine.HPP.3.91.960714085418.943B-100000@ux6.cso.uiuc.edu>
<4sdaes$6q1@nz12.rz.uni-Karlsruhe.de> <4se589$bbo@willow.cc.kcl.ac.uk>
<Pine.SOL.3.91.960715231947.13648A-100000@kasper.abo.fi>
<4shuqn$t8n@newserv.ksu.ksu.edu> <4sj1pn$ohr@tom.amherst.edu>
<4sjt5s$3bh@newserv.ksu.ksu.edu>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Affan Habib (affan@ksu.ksu.edu) wrote:
: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan) wrote:
: >Affan Habib (affan@ksu.ksu.edu) wrote:

: Bangladesh penal code, so far I know from different sources, is very

: much explicit about the rights and privilidges a convict should
enjoy.
: The few instances under which a convict can be granted parole cover
: humaniterian grounds like burial/cremation of near relatives but not

: attending perliament (after all a criminal might need to attend the
: burial/cremation of his father, but what he is gonna do for people
: attending perliament). Since this is a priviledge, having nothing
: about attending perliament means it is not granted for a crinal.

        I worked with Justice Afzal of the Supreme Court while in
        Dhaka last summer, and I remember the question of parole
        coming up. The situation regarding granting of parole is
        not quite written out explicitly (like most of the legal
        situations and considerations under our interpretive
        system of law) and the rule of thumb is that the question
        of granting parole is usually left to the discretion of
        the presiding judge. Thus, if the judge thinks it is
        justified to grant parole in somebody's case, it is legal
        to grant parole in that case.

        Right/privilege dichotomy notwithstanding, the judge in
        Ershad's case thought a parole was warranted, and that's all
        there is to it from the legal point of view.

: Why we should be so kind to the corrupt politicians. They, while in
power
: and outside in power, make their fortunes in the name of serving the
poor
: people, using that stolen money can win the elections and now law
should
: be relaxed to them. WHY?? After all it is the politicians for whom we
are
: in such a miserable shape. So we should be vocal to make Ershad an
: example what might happen if they get caught/trapped and wish more
and
: more are placed in their due place which they deserve.

        The only way to stop criminals from having access to power is
to
        stop voting for them. The judiciary has no say in the
individual
        political dynamics, that is, unless they cross over into the
realm
        of criminal activities. You can't just make an example out of
        Ershad unless you irrefutably prove that he was involved in
        criminal activities. And Ershad has yet to be proven a criminal
        irrefutably.

        However, your point is made as well. Ershad has been convicted
        of criminal activities and is serving his term. He is not a
        political prisoner, but a criminal. Hence, the rights and
        privileges accorded to him in jail are unfair.

        Does anyone know if he was sentenced to however many years of
        "shosrom" or "binasrom" imprisonment? (The English terms
        escape me....)

: Yes, he is. But you have to remember if any of his appeal cases
upholds
: the previous verdict (of course he can go up to supreme court and
lenthen
: the process) his perliament membership will automatically be
cancelled,
: no matter if the people of whole Bangladesh choose him. I won't mind
if
: he gets clearance from all his cases in appeal. But as long as he
does
: not, he is a criminal in the eye of law.

Agreed. Well put.

And a proven criminal should not
: have any access to our perliament even people voted for him (of
course
: almost everybody inside there are more or less same like him, though
not
: being charged against in the law).

        Well, here you raise a number of problems.
        a. He has not been proven beyond the recourse of law to be
guilty
           of criminal activities. Hence, his candidatures were valid.
        b. People have the right to vote for anybody they want, as long

           as they are valid candidates.
        c. If by any chance, even if a previously convicted criminal
           is declared a valid candidate, and if the people vote for
him,
           it is the legal right of the winning candidate to sit in the
           parliament. It is a privilege to be allowed to serve the
           people, but it is a right of the people to have their chosen

candidate voice their concerns.

           (Interesting case in point, the person nominated by BNP
           in the Bakerganj-5 constituency in the by-elections to fill
           the seat vacated by President Biswas, was Golam (I think)
           Sarwar, aka Soru Goonda. He was serving sentence in jail for
           multiple murders during Ershad's time; he was released after
           BNP came to power, just five months or so before the
           by-election. His candidature was found valid, and he was
duly
           elected.)

        Thus, it is finally the people's choice: if you want to keep
        somebody away from the parliament, convict him, find him
guilty,
        declare his candidature invalid, but once the people have their
        say, there is almost no means of keeping someone out of the
        parliament.

        Somewhat relevant to these issues: does anyone know what
happened
        after Akhtaruzzaman Babu absconded? His seat must have fallen
        vacant before the other AL MPs boycotted the parliament; was
        there a by-election to fill his seat?

: Regards,

: Affan Habib

R. "And as I keep mentioning, Ovi-o to aaj MP...." A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: ORIGIN OF WEEK
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/18
Message-Id:   <4smg33$igg@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4sd4bt$22ja@news-S01.ny.us.ibm.net>
<4sjb16$3t9@zk2nws.zko.dec.com>
Followup-To:
soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.bengali,soc.culture.punjab
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:
soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.bengali,soc.culture.punjab

Ranjit Mathews USG (ranjit@fwasted.zk3.dec.com) wrote:
: I believe the seven day week is of astrological origin; one day for
each
: astrologicical or divine heavenly body:
: A God is associated with each planet.

: Sunday                Sun
: Monday                Moon
: Tuesday               Mars

        I believe Tuesday was associated with Tiu (or Tiw), a Germanic
        god, identified with Tyr, a Norse god of war.

: Wednesday     Mercury (Wodin)
: Thursday      Jupiter (Thor)
: Friday                Venus (Freya)

        Isn't it Frigga, the wife of Odin, and the goddes of married
        love? I recall reading that the Romans later associated Friday
        with Venus, because the link of the day to love making was
        already long established.

: Saturday Saturn

R. "The slings and arrows of outrageous nit picking...." A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Subject:      Re: Food prepared on the streets vs. food prepared at
home
From:         rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Date:         1996/07/18
Message-Id:   <4smf9s$igg@tom.amherst.edu>
References:   <4sgcga$8tv@dfw-Ixnews8.ix.netcom.com>
<31ECC801.4E09@skypoint.com> <4sjjeu$g76@dewey.udel.edu>
Organization: Amherst-Er chipa goli
Newsgroups:   soc.culture.bangladesh

Arup Sohel Khan (akhan@stimpy.eecis.udel.edu) wrote:

: Theory one states that it is the airborne dust (pother dhula) in BD.
It
: enhances the taste of everything from tea to chotpoti to jhal muri.
Some
: of us have even considered packaging it (the dhula) and selling it as
a
: spice; but were laughed out of the idea.

        And I always thought it was the combination of perspiration,
        nasal secretions, and gutter-water that made all the
        difference. Silly me.

: - Arup.

R. "To say nothing of the gratuitous droppings of various beings." A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Article: 55304
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Subject: Re: NBC Olympic Broadcast
Date: 22 Jul 1996 18:48:08 GMT

R. "But compared to Barcelona, kothai Agartola, kothai chowkirtola...."
A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Article: 55452
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Subject: Re: Definition of Razakar!
Date: 24 Jul 1996 13:28:28 GMT

        I am certain my questions and responses to Mr. Rahman will
        be nothing but an exercise in futility, but there's only
        so much ostrich-like argumentation that one can take.

Masud Rahman (masud@dvorak.amd.com) wrote:
: Sumon Shahed wrote:

[deletions]

: Pakistan Army did those killings. You can only accuse JI for being
silent.

        I wonder if Naeem is anywhere near done with "Shobak." If not,
        would it be possible to quote relevant excerpts from Mofaxxal
        Haider Chowdhury's diary?

: >
: > 2) Since Jamaat was a political party at that time, does not imply
crimes commited
: > by it, are eventually political.

: Jamaat's stand was political, i.e., to keep Pakistan united.

[deletions]

: We all don't know their leaders committed the crime, may be you know
from your
: bias sources. May be they didn't apologize.. in my judgment I also
wish JI
: apologize for not taking into consideration for the overwhelming
support for
: the independence..that should be the apology for political
mistake...but how
: can they apologize for the war crimes, which they didn't committed?

        You seem to be operating from faith here: "I believe Jamaat
        committed no war crimes, therefore they committed no war crimes."
        Comes handy as a vigorous defense, but hardly a rational or a
        valid defense.

[deletions]

: Mr. Shimant did you ever thought the same about Jamaat?
: They had been suffering even more (for more than 25 years).

What about the Nazis that are still alive? They have been
suffering for over 50 years now. My heart bleeds....

        That would possibly be because there has never been a war-crimes
        trial. Doesn't mean that all the people that are accused of
        war-crimes are truly innocent; just that their guilt/innocence
        has not been tested on judicial grounds. Why not? Political
        expediency for the most part. But a few corrupt politicians
        and opportunistic political machinations do not automatically
        acquit Jamaat of their involvement in the war-crimes of '71.

        The question of muktijoddhas joining Jamaat has already been
        raised by Naeem, and I would like to emphasize it. Can you
        please cite the name of just _one_ person who was a freedom
        fighter -- that is, someone who actively participated in the
        Liberation War -- who has joined Jamaat since '71?

        The other issue is this: just because a political party has
        mass support, doesn't say anything about its past activities
        other than that certain number of people may support those
        activities. The Nazi party ideology is gaining mass support
        in different parts of the world: doesn't mean the Nazi Party
        never did anything criminal. The Khmer Rouge still has grass
        root support in Cambodia: doesn't mean it did not actually
        go and kill millions of Cambodians while they were in power.

        Jamaat's support base only means some people in Bangladesh
        still support it as a political party; doesn't say anything
        about whether its actions in the Liberation War was legal,
        moral or even plain human.

R."Kane angul diye 'ami shunbo na' kore chitkar korlei shob thik hoye
jaina."A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Article: 55572
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Subject: Re: Definition of Razakar!!
Date: 25 Jul 1996 14:34:54 GMT

Masud Rahman (masud@dvorak.amd.com) wrote:

[long post eulogizing Golam Azam]

: He carefully
: studied the JI's agenda and being a devout muslim now supports JI.

        What exactly is this supposed to mean? Haven't we had enough
        of this "if you are a devout muslim, you support JI" and the
        implicit corollary, "if you do not support JI, you are not a
        devout muslim" reasoning already? Sorry if I break in through
        your delusions of divine representation of "devout muslimhood,"
        but the JI is a political party dressed in Islamic garb, and
        nothing else. Yes, its rhetoric is couched in Islamic terms,
        but that does not mean that what the JI says is the true
        representation of Islam, and that if anyone truly believes in
        Islam, he/she must follow the JI as well. Contrary to your
        convictions, the JI and Islam are _not_ one and the same.

        It simply amazes me that some people take the Islam-JI
        relationship seriously enough that election slogans like
        "Vote dile pallai, khushi hobe allah-ai"[1] cease to be mere
        electioneering instruments and become real reflections of
        their beliefs.

: Cheers,

: Masud Rahman

[1]     For those fortunate ones who have not had to deal with JI
        election rhetoric, translated, it means, "If you cast your vote
        on the balance, Allah will be happy." The balance (dari-palla)
        is the election symbol of the JI.

R. "What next? Does the messiah have to be a member of the JI as well?"
A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick

Message: 111
To: tahsin@cs.brandeis.edu (Tahsin I. Alam)
Cc: tahsin@cs.brandeis.edu
From: asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: [RAFI] -- Some old articles
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 11:27:30 -0400 (EDT)
FARSHED MAHMUD (fmahmud@unix.amherst.edu) wrote:
[banglai bishal jhari bochon]

shala a(n)tel. Tomake petano dorkar: Bata-r more aga-pacha-
tola be(n)dhe, jhatar bari. =)

        But in all seriousness (shoyong atlmai alert), amra jara
        e-deshe, tader odhikangshoi edehshe pora shonar khatire.
        Ar kichu na hok, SCB ar dorshok, srota, bokta ebong
obhineta-der
        nobboi bhag to botei. Ader onekei e-deshe karon shoja bhashai
        deshe pora shonar eder konoi upayantor chilo na. Bhebe dekho,
        deshe engineering porte hole BUET chara upai nei, ar BUET-e
        dhukte para choddo jonom-er shoubhaggo. Kintu ekbar Buet-e
        dhukle pura puri gotbadha, nirmom goddalika probahe onek-ei
        hariye jai. Ar ekbar BS (naki BE ba BSE) pash korle tader
        gyaner poridhi briddhir jaiga kothai? Kajei pari jomate hoi
        bidesh bibhui-e.

        Onno dik-e jara amrikan bhashai "liberal arts" porte icchuk,
        tader ki goti? DU-te je bhalo shikkhok nei, e-kotha bolar
        moto gobet asha kori ekhono jonmai ni. Kintu bhalo shikkhok,
        ar bhalo chhatro thaklei porashona hoina, porashonar poribesh
        dorkar, gyan ahoroner spriha thaka proyojon. DU-te je kono
        karonei hok na keno (karon shomuho proshong-e montobbo
        nishproyojon) du-tar ekta-o nei. Kajei, bidesh.

        Ekhon, jodi upayantor na peye bidesh-e ashtei hoi, shekhetre
        bidesh-e thaka kalin shomoye amader ki kora kammo? Tomar
        mot-e SCB-e ei je torko bitorko, e nehat-i nishfol ashfalon,
        kajei obantor. Kintu ei je ekhane oneke diner por din
        computer-er screen bhore d(n)at chibiye, kirmir kore tader
        boktobbo pesh koren, ta-te ar kichu hok na hok, ontoto
        desher choyach kichuta holeo pawa jai. Dui bhabe: ek, ei
        torko shudhui torker khatire holeo, desh shonkrato, kajei
        desher kotha mone pore; ar dui, amra bangali-ra chara
        duniya-r kono jati shudhu torker khatire eto torko kore bole
        jani na, kajei SCB porle bar bar mone hoi, h(n)a amio
        bangali (palaram-er moto chobbish inchi buker chhati fule
        prai chabbish hoi hoi).

        Tumi-i bolo, kotha bole kichu hobe na bole chup kore bhule
        gele-i ba ki labh? Ar bangali kobei ba labh nei jene torko
        na kore chup kore boshe royeche?

Arekta kotha: hortal petition, kobi farhad, ittadi ar nai ba
tullam.

R. "Amra shobai a(n)tel amader ei .... Naeem kothai?" A.
--

Zeeshan Hasan (zeeshan@ksg1.harvard.edu) wrote:
: hmm. i, on the other hand, spent the weekend
: watching Pocahontas. twice =)

Oh Dear! What next? Waiting to Exhale? =)

: farewell,
: zeeshan

R. "and I had such high hopes for you ... =)" A.

----------

Ikram (ikram@aol.com) wrote:
[nostalgic Josephite '84 related post, parts deleted]

Re: Josephite's 1984

: (for possible narcotics usage or delayed brain damage from
Moinuddin's
: slap in the head)

Or Sarkar's gear. (Eeegh. Matha'r ordhek chul uthai falaisilo,
to say nothing of matha'r ghilur obostha. =)

: Hoja-mal-ho
: Hoja-mal, Hoja-mal
: Hoja-mal-ho

Ajkal lokjon shob chicken hearted: lead dileo hoja dei na.
(Mustie bhai koi? =)

: Ikram

R. "Oi _______-re danda diya.... =)" A.

Subject: IN MEMORY OF RAFI 7: Condolences
From: naeem.mohaiemen@homebox.com
Date: 1997/07/28
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali

Article: 56040
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Dipen Bhattacharya <dipen@tigre.ucr.edu>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 11:18:27 -0700

Internet binds hearts where faces are not seen. I always
wondered about the nickname Pati Mastan. Just the simple
use of an unusual nickname possibly shows a man with humor.
In this sterile world of faceless communication you still
cannot run away from tragedies.

I am deeply saddened, my sympathy goes to his close ones.

Dipen Bhattacharjya
Article: 56047
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: zmhasan@db.toronto.edu ("Masum Z. Hasan")
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 30 Jul 96 19:13:36 GMT

In article <4tjts0$1ppk@chnews.ch.intel.com>,
axhasan <axhasan@ccm.hf.intel.com> wrote:
|:
|: It is with great regret and sadness I am writing this that Rafi
Ahmed, a
|: frequent contributor in scb (with net name Pati Mastan), drowned in
a
NJ
|: bay on 7/28 6 pm Eastern time. He has not been traced ever since.
After
|: an all out rescue mission, the chance of his survival has been
described
|: as slim, and we are faced with a grim consequence of his life.
|:

   Very sad indeed. I used to enjoy his posts on SCB. He sounded a
   man with great sense of humor. Just last month I had email exchanges
   with him. FYI, he was in the process of putting up a great web page
   on our Liberation war
   (http://www.amherst.edu/~rahmed/geography/sectors.html).

|: Everyone is requested to offer prayer for him, his well being where
ever
|: he may be now. Let's pray to Allaah that there is still hope for a
|: miracle that he is alive somewhere. If the worst fear comes true,
let's
|: pray for the eternal peace and salvation of his soul. Let's also
pray
for
|: his family who are totally devastated at this tragedy.
|:

Let's hope for the best and pray.

|:
|: -axhasan
|:

later,
Masum
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Masum Z. Hasan
e-mail: zmhasan@db.toronto.edu, zmhasan@neumann.uwaterloo.ca
WWW: http://www.db.toronto.edu:8020/people/hasan/hasan.html
_____________________________________________________________________

Article: 56051
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: mharunuz@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mohammad Harunuzzaman)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 30 Jul 1996 19:59:39 GMT

I am still praying to Allah for his safe return.

M. Harun uz Zaman
The Ohio State University

Article: 56053
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Jalal_Alamgir@brown.edu (Jalal Alamgir)
Subject: rafi
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 20:24:14 GMT

As of 4:30pm, status unchanged.
The search is still going on.

Hopes & prayers,
Jalal

Article: 56056
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: nns3321@maxwell.tamu.edu (Nripendra Nath Sarker)
Subject: Rafi
Date: 30 Jul 1996 21:18:14 GMT

I cann't believe I will not see Rafi's posting
any more. I wish some miracle will bring him back.
It is very sad thing to believe.

Meanwhile, can anybody please post his
life sketch in the net?

--
N N Sarker

Manush Enechhe Grantho, Grantho Aneni Manush Kono -- Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Religion is the worst device ever created by human being.

Article: 56058
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Dasgupta <TXD111@psuvm.psu.edu>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 17:04:19 EDT

I enjoyed many of Rafis' (Pati-mastan) posts. I am sad to know this.

For interested nettors who are curious to go back to some of his posts,
please
try Dejanews. All you need to do is search in Altavista the word Deja
News and
go to their news search engine. Then type Rafi's name or Pati mastan or
any
other related keyword and this serach engine will give you all his
posts
for
the past year. E-mail me if you have difficulties.

Regards,

Shoumyo.

Article: 56098
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Asif Saleh <asaleh@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Remembering Rafi
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 21:33:15 -0400

I saw a lot of posts today about Rafi. Thank you all who are
praying for him. Rafi has a lot of friends and wellwishers.
Many of us today who would like to be by the side of his family
won't be able to do so becasue of the distance and other reservations.

I am going to NY on Thursday and I will meet his parents there.
I would like to let them know what a precious soul their son had.
Please share your feelings and your memories with Rafi
in this little web page I put together. Just like
I was so happy to hear about Rafi's last meeting with Naeem
today, I am sure they would love to hear about how special their son
was to us -- those came to know him personally or thru his writing.

I will collect them all and take it for Mr. and Mrs. Nurul Huda - his
parents.

Asif Saleh

http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html
Article: 56101
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: axhasan <altaf_x_hasan@ccm.hf.intel.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 31 Jul 1996 06:40:46 GMT

Rafi Ahmed has not been traced yet after 56 hours after he drowned in
Sandy Hook Bay (NJ). Rescue/search opeartion will continue. His parents

are at the site along with other relatives in the NY/NJ area.

If anybody wishes to give any message to his immediate family members,
he/she can send that to my e-mail address, and I will arrange that to
be
delivered.

-axhasan

axhasan <axhasan@ccm.hf.intel.com> wrote:
>
>It is with great regret and sadness I am writing this that Rafi Ahmed,
a
>frequent contributor in scb (with net name Pati Mastan), drowned in a
NJ
>bay on 7/28 6 pm Eastern time. He has not been traced ever since.
After
>an all out rescue mission, the chance of his survival has been
described
>as slim, and we are faced with a grim consequence of his life.
>
>Everyone is requested to offer prayer for him, his well being where
ever
>he may be now. Let's pray to Allaah that there is still hope for a
>miracle that he is alive somewhere. If the worst fear comes true,
let's
>pray for the eternal peace and salvation of his soul. Let's also pray
for
>his family who are totally devastated at this tragedy.
>
>May Allaah help us all. Amin.
>
>
>-axhasan
>
>'posting not related to official business'
Article: 56111
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: ahmed@hqpdt20.ms (Shakil Ahmed)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 31 Jul 1996 13:12:25 GMT

Can someone please post what the circumstances of his disappearance
were and how we could assist in perhaps locating him or otherwise
helping his family overcome their grief?

-- Shakil
--
=======================================================================
Dr. Shakil Ahmed
Process Driven Trading, Morgan Stanley & Co.
ahmed@ms.com
http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/ahmed-shakil.html
=======================================================================
Article: 56115
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: "Shabbir A. Bashar" <S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 31 Jul 1996 13:35:09 GMT

My deep and sincere condolences to Rafi's family, friends & close ones.

This tragic news has been very hard to swallow. It seems only last
week I read his post on SCB (in response to Denis's Dhaka diary, posted
on 26th July).

I will miss the implicit humour in his self satiring alias "Pati
Mastan"
and his ability to reason.

naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen) wrote:
>NJ Coast Guard resumed search this morning at 7 am.
>Status unchanged. Search has moved out of 911 status.
>
>Rafi's parents are arriving this morning 10:30 from Dhaka
>and going to Sandy Hook.
>
>Please pray for Rafi and family. Please pray for a miracle to happen.
>Naeem

--
Shabbir A. Bashar
Centre for Optics & Electronics, King's College London
E-mail : S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk
http://coe1.eee.kcl.ac.uk/usr/shabbir/banglads.htm

Article: 56117
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Mahmood Hassan <hassan@kenroku.ipc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 19:39:51 +0000

It was first such news that I came accross in SCB. I have no words
perfect
enough to express sympathy to those who suffer directly for such sudden
demise.
May Allah help them and I do pray for the miracle.
We would like to know more about him if possible.

Ameen.

M.H.

axhasan wrote:
>
> It is with great regret and sadness I am writing this that Rafi
Ahmed, a
> frequent contributor in scb (with net name Pati Mastan), drowned in a
NJ
> bay on 7/28 6 pm Eastern time. He has not been traced ever since.
After
> an all out rescue mission, the chance of his survival has been
described
> as slim, and we are faced with a grim consequence of his life.
>
> Everyone is requested to offer prayer for him, his well being where
ever
> he may be now. Let's pray to Allaah that there is still hope for a
> miracle that he is alive somewhere. If the worst fear comes true,
let's
> pray for the eternal peace and salvation of his soul. Let's also pray
for
> his family who are totally devastated at this tragedy.
>
> May Allaah help us all. Amin.
>
> -axhasan

____________________________________________________
Mahmood Hassan
Department of Neurosurgery
Kanazawa University School of Medicine
13-1 Takara machi, Kanazawa 920, Japan
Tel: +81-762-62-8151/ 3678 (Off.)
+81-762-22-9788 (Res.)
Fax: +81-762-34-4262
E.mail: hassan@kenroku.ipc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
HRL:
http://kipcwww.ipc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp:8080/~med2/28/hassan.html

"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the
equivalent of what he takes out of it." - Albert Einstein
Article: 56122
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Sharif Islam <ssislam@mds.qmw.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 31 Jul 1996 14:32:32 GMT

Last Friday(26/7/96) I received a long posting from him, which was
extremely
scholarly and witty. This morning I was trying to cook up a smart
sounding and
pompous answer when this news caught up my eyes. I can't believe it. I
really
worrying for a person whom I have never seen. I wish it was one of
practical
jokes and I wish he reappered on the SCB like a magician with a loud
bang.
Let's hope for the best and pray.

Sharif

Article: 56131
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: kabir@Eng.Sun.COM (Ihtisham Kabir)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 31 Jul 1996 15:38:20 GMT

Sorry to hear this and praying for him...

- I.

Article: 56143
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: mbhossain@aardvark.uoknor.edu
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 31 Jul 96 12:34:42 CDT

> axhasan wrote:
>>
>> It is with great regret and sadness I am writing this that Rafi
Ahmed, a
>> frequent contributor in scb (with net name Pati Mastan), drowned in
a NJ
>> bay on 7/28 6 pm Eastern time. He has not been traced ever since.
After
>> an all out rescue mission, the chance of his survival has been
described
>> as slim, and we are faced with a grim consequence of his life.
>>
>> Everyone is requested to offer prayer for him, his well being where
ever
>> he may be now. Let's pray to Allaah that there is still hope for a
>> miracle that he is alive somewhere. If the worst fear comes true,
let's
>> pray for the eternal peace and salvation of his soul. Let's also
pray for
>> his family who are totally devastated at this tragedy.
>>
>> May Allaah help us all. Amin.
>>
>> -axhasan

   I cannot find proper words to express my concern. Please
   keep us updated ---whoever gets any further news. Meanwhile
   let us hope against hope that he is safe.

Bilayet Hossain
Oklahoma University.

>
> ____________________________________________________

> Department of Neurosurgery
> Kanazawa University School of Medicine
> 13-1 Takara machi, Kanazawa 920, Japan
> Tel: +81-762-62-8151/ 3678 (Off.)
> +81-762-22-9788 (Res.)

> Fax: +81-762-34-4262
> E.mail: hassan@kenroku.ipc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
> HRL:
> http://kipcwww.ipc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp:8080/~med2/28/hassan.html
>
> "It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the

> equivalent of what he takes out of it." - Albert Einstein
Article: 56149
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Mariam Ispahani <mariam@skypoint.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 14:10:30 -0500

Mahmood Hassan wrote:
>
> It was first such news that I came accross in SCB. I have no words
perfect
> enough to express sympathy to those who suffer directly for such
sudden demise.
> May Allah help them and I do pray for the miracle.
> We would like to know more about him if possible.
>
> Ameen.
>
> M.H.

Greetings - Yes, this is indeed very sad news and I hope the family are

strong in coping with this sudden loss! I remember Rafi's posts on SCB

and I am sure we will all miss them.

Mariam...(*_*)
--
Cyberspace Park: http://www.skypoint.com/~mariam
Article: 56150
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Mariam Ispahani <mariam@skypoint.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 14:26:56 -0500

Greetings - This recent post by Rafi Ahmed was one I REALLY enjoyed.
After reading about his sad news, I just thought maybe we should check
out the wonderful messages in his post again...

Mariam...(*_*)
---------------------------
Subject: Re: Dhaka Diary, March 1996, Part 1
Date: 26 Jul 1996 00:09:22 GMT
From: rahmed@unix.amherst.edu (Pati Mastan)
Organization: Amherst-er chipa goli
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
References: 1 , 2

Sharif Islam (ssislam@mds.qmw.ac.uk) wrote: [DELETED]

through
        someone like him. Such bowdlerizing as you suggest really
        achieves nothing, since:
        a. It removes the opportunity for the rest of us to share the
           raw first impression, and realizing how someone really
feels;
        b. Whatever emotion or sentiment that you object to still
           remains, as only the literal representation of that feeling
           has been curtailed/censored;
        c. It only heightens racial/religious intolerance amongst us
           since it implicitly states that certain references are
           categorically non-kosher, however harmless they might be.

R."so I'm not the only one who thinks Baby Taxis are a menace to
society...."A.
--
rafi ahmed                 :
rahmed@amherst.edu         :    " ... to write the rites to right my
wrongs"
rahmed@unix.amherst.edu    :                    -- Derek William Dick
-------------------------------
Article: 56152
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: rahman@chem.ubc.ca (Mahbubur Rahman)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 12:52:40 -0700

In article <1996Jul31.123442.1@ucsvax>, mbhossain@aardvark.uoknor.edu
wrote:

> > axhasan wrote:
> >>
> >> It is with great regret and sadness I am writing this that Rafi
Ahmed, a
> >> frequent contributor in scb (with net name Pati Mastan), drowned
in a NJ
> >> bay on 7/28 6 pm Eastern time. He has not been traced ever since.
After
> >> an all out rescue mission, the chance of his survival has been
described
> >> as slim, and we are faced with a grim consequence of his life.
> >>
> >> Everyone is requested to offer prayer for him, his well being
where ever
> >> he may be now. Let's pray to Allaah that there is still hope for a
> >> miracle that he is alive somewhere. If the worst fear comes true,
let's
> >> pray for the eternal peace and salvation of his soul. Let's also
pray for
> >> his family who are totally devastated at this tragedy.
> >>
> >> May Allaah help us all. Amin.
> >>
> >> -axhasan

I am sorry and shocked to hear such sad news. I remember rafi's post
on this SCB. I pray to Allah to give the strength to his parents to
handle
such shock. I am sure all of us will miss him.

Mahbub
Article: 56153
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: kabir Islam <Kabir@asu.edu>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 13:27:07 -0700

Only one prayer:

May Allah bless his departed soul. Amin.

==
Kabir.
Article: 56164
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: hossain@mwk.com (Akhtar Hossain)
Subject: Re: rafi
Date: 31 Jul 96 15:44:36 CST

In article <4tlr8l$a8@cocoa.brown.edu>, Jalal_Alamgir@brown.edu (Jalal
Alamgir) writes:
> As of 4:30pm, status unchanged.
> The search is still going on.
>
> Hopes & prayers,
> Jalal

I join his family and all those who love him to pray to Allah for his
safe
return. May Allah protect him no matter where he is.

akhtar

>
Article: 56192
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Syed Haque <sye@nortel.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 14:52:11 -0500

Very shocking story. Definitely praying for him.
My prayer also goes for his family.

Pappu.

After we heard the news of Rafi's sudden death, one of the things
we thought: was there anything we could have done. Doesn't
help, but we are human, the question comes up.

I had spoken to Rafi on e-mail for couple of years now. I was also
his prefect at St Joseph very briefly. For a long time he was
colunteering to help me with some work I was doing on 1971 war.
We kept trying to meet and playing phone tag. Even though we
chatted on phone few times, we kept missing each other.
This Friday, only two days before his tragic accident, we finally
met face to face.

Rafi spent this Fri night at my house. He was supposed to go to Dhaka
on Tuesday. I wanted him to meet Kamal Quadir, my classmate from
Oberlin College, who was struggling with decision of going home
or staying in US. Since Rafi had decided to go to Dhaka for graphic
design work, I thought it would be great for them to meet [Kamal
is an art major].

So they met, they chatted all night, Rafi crashed at my place. The
understanding was, we would call him again Sat night or Sun. For
various personal reasons Kamal & I were very stressed, we never called.

When we got the news on Monday, that Rafi had the accident Sunday,
one of the thoughts we kept having was: if we had called him
on Sunday would he have come with us to Manhattan, and would
he not have gone to the fishing trip, and therefore would
he be alive today?

It is a terrible line of thinking, but we could not help it.

If we had not seen Rafi on Fri, perhaps it would be much better.
At the same time we also had sweet memories. We only met face to
face for very brief time, but he made a big impact.
I kept thinking: chele'tar etho uthsahho, etho josh. Cheleta
onek kichu korbe jibon-e.

Couple of people talked to us about it. They were very sensible.
In particular Asif Saleh and my cousin Hassan Alam. My father
wrote by e-mail: "you have to believe in destiny".

Kamal & I have made peace with the situation. There is no point
in analyzing what happened. We must grieve quietly and move on.
And appreciate life more. And stop complaining about all the little
things we do not have. Because life is very precious.

I wrote a couple of letters to Farshed, Rafi's classmate @ Amherst,
who is now in Dhaka.

This last one I saved. I thought I might share it with SCB people.
Perhaps it might help others as well.

We have some wonderful memories of all
--Naeem

To: Farshed Mahmud <fmahmud@citechco.net>
From: naeem@ix.netcom.com (Naeem Mohaiemen)
Subject: rafi
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 1996 06:14:04 -0700

Thanks for mail.

Kamal and me are doing much better now. We decided that we accept
the fact that Rafi is dead and now we have to go on living. We will
grieve quietly and move on. We will also appreciate life more.

One thing that helped, couple of friends [I think including Raquib]
went out to the site. They said the water was incredibly choppy
and dangerous. It is not any mild stream, but rather wild sea
area. Now last we heard [and this version has changed many times],
he was up to his neck in water and fishing. You have to say, in
such dangerous water, to be up to your neck-- it is not a freak
accident. Rafi took an incredible risk. So I feel now that it was
just destiny.

Rafi being the person he was [his trying to go home to
Queens from my house on Fri night at 2 am- something I a NY native
would not do-- just confirms this], this was destiny.

Short life, but he did live every moment of it. And I believe
he enjoyed it.

Naeem

Article: 56229
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: zahid@rajshahi.demon.co.uk (Dr Zahid Hussain)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 16:55:16 GMT

I would like to offer my deep and sincere condolences to Rafi's family
and friends.

Although I did not know him as well as many on this net, i have always
enjoyed his well reasoned discussions and i will miss them.
It is deeply sad and loss is great when we have so tragically lost a
net friend.

In sympathy,
yours truly,
Zahid

Article: 56235
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: mermmzh@engvms
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed-a sad tragedy
Date: 1 Aug 96 11:26:26 CST

It is very hard to swallow. May Allah help
him. Is there anything we can do to
comfort his family?

---Zakir

M. Zakirul Haque
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Article: 56250
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: anisuzzaman.1@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu (Rinku Anisuzzaman)
Subject: Re: Thoughts on Rafi
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 1996 22:02:31 GMT

Thank you Naeem for this very personal and moving posting. Life is
precious as
you say, count your blessings, and live your life to the fullest. My
prayers
and condolences go out to the family of the deceased. Rest in Peace,
Rafi.

RINKU ANISUZZAMAN,columbus,ohio

Article: 56252
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: alauddim@valinor.commerce.uq.edu.au (Mohummad Alauddin)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 96 08:23:30 PST

My deepest sympathy to family of Rafi Ahmed. May his soul rest in
peace.
M Alauddin

Article: 56256
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen)
Subject: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: 1 Aug 1996 22:49:37 GMT

It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].

Formalities have to be completed Friday morning and body will
be brought back to NY inshallah Friday afternoon.

Janaja will be held either Friday afternoon or Saturday
morning.

Asif Saleh will be at my place Friday evening. Please call
my number to get final information on janaja location
Fri night.

(212) 866 5846

To send condolences to family , please visit Asif Saleh's Web-site:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html

Our prayers for Rafi's soul and his family.

Naeem

I am shocked to hear this sad trajedy. I still remember that I talked
to Rafi
first in IRC. A friend of mine used to go to the same university as
his. So, i
wanted to know my friend's (school friend from Bonani Bidya Niketan
High
School)address, phone number, etc; We chat for quite long time.
After that day I have seen his postings in this news group. We have
also met another day in IRC. I am deeply shocked at his sudden death.

I have heard about other trajedies of fellow Bangladeshis in the US.
After going through all the hard work it is really a misfortune to not
to be able to enjoythe outcome.

Mithu
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M. Mahbubul Haq
mohammad@ponder.csci.unt.edu
mithu@jove.acs.unt.edu
*************************

Article: 56291
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: "Shabbir A. Bashar" <S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: 2 Aug 1996 11:53:10 GMT

naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen) wrote:
>It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
>3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
>Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].

There's no more anxious waiting - only a strange numbness and the
acceptance of the worst fear.
"Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illaihi Rajiun."

It feels so very odd to be grieving for someone I never met, yet
the words "Pati Mastan" often prompted me to select that one article
in many bobbling in the sea of SCB, made it that little bit more
interesting to read the notes from "Amherst-er Chipa Goli". Pati
Mastan, your untimely death will be a loss to all of us. Having
read about your last moments (from Naeem's posting), I know you led
a free and joyful life - I thank you for sharing part of it with us
on the net.

Like the way I met you, so I shall say goodbye. May Allaah grant you
heaven. Rest in peace, friend.

>Naeem

--
Shabbir A. Bashar
Centre for Optics & Electronics, King's College London
E-mail : S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk
http://coe1.eee.kcl.ac.uk/usr/shabbir/banglads.htm

Article: 56306
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: kazi@stimpy.eecis.udel.edu (Zunaid Kazi)
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: 2 Aug 1996 15:56:48 GMT

I am grieving for someone I had never met face to face, but I knew him
well. I first knew Rafi from his postings here on SCB and from then on
we developed an email friendship over the last few years. His
intelligence
and dry wit were beyond comparison. Rafi, you will be sorely missed.

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Zunaid Kazi                  kazi@asel.udel.edu (or @cis or @strauss)
CompSci & Robotics                    http://www.asel.udel.edu/~kazi/
ASEL                        http://www.asel.udel.edu/~kazi/bangladesh/

Article: 56315
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: marifin@hp-159.cae.wisc.edu (Mostafa Riad Arifin)
Subject: Rafi Ebong Kichu kotha
Date: 2 Aug 1996 17:20:51 GMT

        Mritto shobdo ta kemon jani...dhoreo dhora jay na ...bujhey o
        bujha jay na...shey jonno hoyto ba mritto onekta kothin..onekta
        shokto...

        Mritto er kachey manush borabori porajito hoyechey..kichu kichu
        manush oboshsho er betikrom..tader modhdhey beshir vagi gani-guni..
        mohapurush...jemon robi thakur...kobi nozrul..r o onekey..
        ei mritto talikao ami ekti nam jurey ditey chai..Shey hochchey
        Rafi...

        Rafi er sathey amer prothom alap SSC er por Zaman Sir er bashay
        portey giye..binomro, marjito ekta cheley..prothom ber dekhlei
        chokhey porer moto...ter upor royechey ter bektitto ebong
        ter chehara..shob miliye jeno nikhut...

        Ter por thekei ter sathey amer besh jogajog...SSC tey Stand
        korlo..kintu oma...cheleter ek fota gorbo nei...shey
        ter upon money choley juchchey ..kuz korey juchchey ..porashuna
        korey juchcey ...rajniti niye besh alap korchey..
        Terpor Talukder Sir er bashay eki batchey pora..Talukder Sir
        onekta ragi prokiritir manush ( jara Dhaka Colleger chutro
        tara chara ei jinishti temon keo dhortey purben na )..
        ter shumney kotha bola day ...kintu dekha jeto rafi er kothay
        umra ebong sir na heshey purtum na...sir kono ekta technical
        proshno korley dekha jeto ter beshir bhug uttor esheychey rafi
        er mukh thekey...ami shuntum r tonmoy hoye vubtum..cheley
        botey ekta..

        Terpor onek din goralo...onek sir er bashay ek sathey pora..
        kotha bola ...ebong tari mujhey hoye gelo shey r o numkora..
        kom beshi shobai takey ek namey chinto ..hoy to ba ter bektitter
        jonno hoyto ba ter chehara/drishtivongi er jonno...

        Ter por elo Test porikhkher pala...Dhaka Colleger chelera
        shadharonot Test porikhkha diten na...cheleyder mukhey eki
        kotha porikhkah hobey na..shober mukhey oi eki kotha ..
        amader dabio tai ...Rafio amader sathey ek mot...rafi
        oboshsho ei beparey besh ogragmi chilo..shey oboshshoi
        amader jonno...kintu dekha gelo j rafi had one of the best
        preparations...shob kichu shumliye j shey kivabey
        choltey parey ami vebey obak hoi......

        Ekhaney r o ekti cheler num na boley purchina ..
        Shey holo Asif Saleh ...r ek opurbo cheley..
        Shotti kotha boltey ki Ami Rafi ebong Asif Saleh
        thekey onek kichu shikhechei..kotha bola..choltey shikha..
        kototukun onukoron kortey perechi janina..tobey shey kotha
        boltey amer etto tuku lojja nei...Shotti chomotker ei dui
        cheley..

        Ter por HSC porikhkha eshey gelo....Amer jottu dharona
        HSC tey ter position chilo...besh bhalo ekta position..
        cheley ekta botey ...

        Terpor majhey majhey kotha burta hoto ...America usher
        beparey ami rafi er kachey onekbar shahajjjo chitey giyechi..
        ebong shey binadhidhay amakey shajjo koryechey...karponno
        korey ni...terpor shey eikhaney choley elo...ter sathey
        kaley vodrey joogajog hoto ..shey amakey besh kober
        email diyechey..debo debo korey dea hoini..
        ter sathey amer shesh kotha..shoptaho dui ek ugey irc tey
        kintu kono din vabini j otai hobey shesh kotha..
        r o vubteo pari ni j ter sriti romonthon kortey
        amakey ekdin ei SCB tey likhtey hobey...

        Vubchilum SCB tey kichu likhbona ei beparey..kintu
        porey vublum..or shomporkey kichu bola dorker...upnara
        hoyto rafi k SCB er pathok/likhon hishebei dekheyechen..
        keo keo hoyto bektigoto vabey chinechen...jara chinechen
        tara amer sathey ekmotey hoben nishshondehey ..emon
        chomotker cheley shohojey dekha jay na ..Ami beshi kichu bolini,,
        r o onek kichu likhtey purtum....kintu shey amari thuk...

        Bidhatar kachey uj chotto ekti jiggasha ....emon ti to
        hober kotha chilona..kintu keno emon holo ?? Ter uttor
        kobey pabo janina..tober EKtai kamona ...shey jonno
        jannatbashi hoy...emonki amer konno punnno kormer binimoye holeo..

Allah ter ruher magferat korun...

--
Mostafa Arifin                          Sys Admin, ERC
608/238.7619                            608/263.9870
                "...I am / I can..."
Article: 56324
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: zxr@holditch.com (Zillur Rahim)
Subject: Rafi Ahmed and Us
Date: 2 Aug 1996 19:44:25 GMT

As the blessed prophet has mentioned "There are three things that a
person
leaves behind when he dies:

1. Sadaqa Jariya: continuous charity. Example of it are plenty.
Anyone who
has contributed for a Mosque, a School, a Hospital, an Orphanage, or
for
any good cause, keeping the intention of pleasing Allah, from which
people are
continuously getting benifit.

2. Beneficial Knowledge by which people after him derive benefit from.

A
person who has taught others Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic knowledge,
Science,
Technology, medicine, etc.

3. Righteous children: who will remember the parent in their prayers
and
supplications and will ask Allah to shower His mercy upon him or her.

Item 3 can be, of-course, extended to any person who will make
supplication to
Allah for the deceased. It is a highly recommended sunnah of the
blessed
prophet to supplicate for the Muslims who have died. As we know, any
such
supplication accepted by Allah, inshahAllah, will help making the path
of
paradise easy for him.

As we know, it is only by the compassion and mercy of Allah that people
will
enter Janna. This is true even in the case of the prophet, who was
sinless,
and Allah forgave his past, present, and future. Hence, how about us,
who do
sins day in and out, voluntarily and involuntarily?

I encourage every Muslim to pray for our brother Rafi Ahmed and that
Allah
makes accounting quick and easy for him.

Death is an inevitable fact for everyone. Islam focuses on it so
greatly that
you will find the occurrence of the word "death" in more than 200
places
in the
Qur'an. Rafi's death should make us remember the verse of Qur'an, the
meaning
of which is paraphrased as: Every soul shall taste death. The one
victorious
is that person whom Allah has pushed away from the hellfire (Zhuziha
a'nin nar)
and made him enter Janna.

Let us ask Allah to make all Muslims victorious in this life and in the

hereafter.

Zillur Rahim

Article: 56329
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Mariam Ispahani <mariam@skypoint.com>
Subject: Thoughts on S-C-B
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 1996 16:34:42 -0500

Greetings - The news about Rafi's death makes me sad and to think that
I
did not actually know this person - strange isn't it? Yet, so real!
On
SCB we are e-mail tags who debate, argue, laugh, cry, smile, tease,
etc...
but we are real people with real names! To lose one suddenly is kind
of
like losing a friend or an internet buddy. Some months ago, when two
SCB
people told me they were getting married, I was so happy for them -
them
whom I have never spoken to nor met. When another SCB person told me
he
was dying, I felt a sudden closeness and wanted to ease his pain, and
when
another SCB person told me she finally got a good job, I was delighted
for
her! I don't even want to stop and think WHY I feel happy or sad, for
people I don't know, I just feel that way and no matter how strange it
seems to others, I will absorb life as an interesting experience!!!

Mariam...(*_*)
--
Cyberspace Park: http://www.skypoint.com/~mariam
Article: 56336
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Saker Ghani <sghani@apple.com>
Subject: Rafi's body found
Date: 1 Aug 1996 21:26:05 GMT

Today, around 2 pm est, Rafi Ahmed's body was found, submerged in the
waters of a New Jersey bay. Please, everybody, pray for his departed
soul.

Article: 56363
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: Syed Haque <sye@nortel.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 1996 07:42:02 -0500

My deepest condolences to his family.

May ALLAH rest his soul in peace.

Syed.

Article: 56512
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: Mak Kalam <makn@msg.ti.com>
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 1996 11:33:08 -0500

Naeem Mohaiemen wrote:
>
> It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
> 3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
> Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].
> NaeemNo words can describe this type of unexpected reality. It simply
reminds us that we are all mortals. During our brief encounter in
SCB I found Marhum Rafi to be a sincere and dedicated human being.
Indeed, I would remember him for ever. May Allah bless his soul
and grant him paradise!
Article: 56556
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: PSAHA@SIRIUS.WRIGHT.EDU (PSAHA)
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 5 Aug 1996 18:29:40 GMT

My deepest sympathy for Mr. Rafi's family. Sorry for his sudden death.
Nobody should die this way.

Article: 56594
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Kamal Uddin Ahmed <g9581253@wlv.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 6 Aug 1996 11:09:46 GMT

I express my deep regret at the tragic death of Rofi. I pray to the
almighty for salvation of his departed soul and to provide strength to
his family members to bear the grief and great loss.

Article: 56611
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: srahman@osf1.gmu.edu (Shah Rahman)
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 13:00:25 GMT

naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen) wrote:

>It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
>3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
>Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].

>Formalities have to be completed Friday morning and body will
>be brought back to NY inshallah Friday afternoon.

>Janaja will be held either Friday afternoon or Saturday
>morning.

>Asif Saleh will be at my place Friday evening. Please call
>my number to get final information on janaja location
>Fri night.

>(212) 866 5846

>To send condolences to family , please visit Asif Saleh's Web-site:

>http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html

>Our prayers for Rafi's soul and his family.

>Naeem

It's a very sad news for the family and for us the netters. I pray for
his departed soul. I never met Rafi but his posting in SCB made me
closer to him. He used to be my Nephew's friend. My nephew used talk
about him very highly.

Shah Rahman

Article: 56938
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh,soc.culture.bengali
From: harun@rses.vuw.ac.nz (Harun Ar Rashid)
Subject: Re: Rafi's body has been located (inna lillahe oa inna ilaihe
rajeun)
Date: 10 Aug 1996 04:36:15 GMT

In article <4u7fi4$2k3@portal.gmu.edu>, srahman@osf1.gmu.edu (Shah
Rahman) writes:
> naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen) wrote:
>
> >It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
> >3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
> >Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].
>
> >Formalities have to be completed Friday morning and body will
> >be brought back to NY inshallah Friday afternoon.
>
> >Janaja will be held either Friday afternoon or Saturday
> >morning.
>
> >Asif Saleh will be at my place Friday evening. Please call
> >my number to get final information on janaja location
> >Fri night.
>
> >(212) 866 5846
>
> >To send condolences to family , please visit Asif Saleh's Web-site:
>
> >http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html
>
> >Our prayers for Rafi's soul and his family.
>
> >Naeem
>

It is indeed a very sad news. I am one of those who used to enjoy
Rafi's
thoughtful postings on SCB. My condolence to Rafi's family for his
untimely
death. May Allah rest his departed soul in peace.

-----
Harun Ar Rashid
Institute of Geophysics
Victoria University
Wellington, New Zealand

my number to get final information on janaja location
Fri night.

(212) 866 5846

To send condolences to family , please visit Asif Saleh's Web-site:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html

Our prayers for Rafi's soul and his family.

Naeem

I have heard about other trajedies of fellow Bangladeshis in the US.
After going through all the hard work it is really a misfortune to not
to be able to enjoythe outcome.

Mithu
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M. Mahbubul Haq
mohammad@ponder.csci.unt.edu
mithu@jove.acs.unt.edu
*************************

There's no more anxious waiting - only a strange numbness and the
acceptance of the worst fear.
"Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illaihi Rajiun."

Like the way I met you, so I shall say goodbye. May Allaah grant you
heaven. Rest in peace, friend.

>Naeem

--
Shabbir A. Bashar
Centre for Optics & Electronics, King's College London
E-mail : S.Bashar@kcl.ac.uk
http://coe1.eee.kcl.ac.uk/usr/shabbir/banglads.htm

Article: 56315
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: marifin@hp-159.cae.wisc.edu (Mostafa Riad Arifin)
Subject: Rafi Ebong Kichu kotha
Date: 2 Aug 1996 17:20:51 GMT

        Mritto shobdo ta kemon jani...dhoreo dhora jay na ...bujhey o
        bujha jay na...shey jonno hoyto ba mritto onekta kothin..onekta
        shokto...

        Ter por HSC porikhkha eshey gelo....Amer jottu dharona
        HSC tey ter position chilo...besh bhalo ekta position..
        cheley ekta botey ...

Allah ter ruher magferat korun...

As the blessed prophet has mentioned "There are three things that a
person
leaves behind when he dies:

2. Beneficial Knowledge by which people after him derive benefit from.

A
person who has taught others Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic knowledge,
Science,
Technology, medicine, etc.

3. Righteous children: who will remember the parent in their prayers
and
supplications and will ask Allah to shower His mercy upon him or her.

I encourage every Muslim to pray for our brother Rafi Ahmed and that
Allah
makes accounting quick and easy for him.

Let us ask Allah to make all Muslims victorious in this life and in the

hereafter.

Zillur Rahim

Article: 56329
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Mariam Ispahani <mariam@skypoint.com>
Subject: Thoughts on S-C-B
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 1996 16:34:42 -0500

Today, around 2 pm est, Rafi Ahmed's body was found, submerged in the
waters of a New Jersey bay. Please, everybody, pray for his departed
soul.

My deepest condolences to his family.

May ALLAH rest his soul in peace.

Syed.

My deepest sympathy for Mr. Rafi's family. Sorry for his sudden death.
Nobody should die this way.

Article: 56594
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh
From: Kamal Uddin Ahmed <g9581253@wlv.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Rafi Ahmed
Date: 6 Aug 1996 11:09:46 GMT

I express my deep regret at the tragic death of Rofi. I pray to the
almighty for salvation of his departed soul and to provide strength to
his family members to bear the grief and great loss.

naeem@ix.netcom.com(Naeem Mohaiemen) wrote:

>It is with deep regret that I inform everyone that at approx
>3 PM today [Thursday] NJ CoastGuard located the body of
>Rafi Ahmed [inna lillahi oa inna ilaihi rajeun].

>Formalities have to be completed Friday morning and body will
>be brought back to NY inshallah Friday afternoon.

>Janaja will be held either Friday afternoon or Saturday
>morning.

>Asif Saleh will be at my place Friday evening. Please call
>my number to get final information on janaja location
>Fri night.

>(212) 866 5846

>To send condolences to family , please visit Asif Saleh's Web-site:

>http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/a/asaleh/WWW/guest/rafi2.html

>Our prayers for Rafi's soul and his family.

>Naeem

Shah Rahman

It is indeed a very sad news. I am one of those who used to enjoy
Rafi's
thoughtful postings on SCB. My condolence to Rafi's family for his
untimely
death. May Allah rest his departed soul in peace.

-----
Harun Ar Rashid
Institute of Geophysics
Victoria University
Wellington, New Zealand