Corporation and news media – uncovered relation in bangladesh

"Prothom Alo" censored my intervew

Shaheen Dill-Riaz

Few days ago, the bengali daily news paper "Prothom Alo" in Bangladesh requested me for an interview regarding my film "Ironeaters" (Eisenfresser). They want to print it on their isue of 16th January 2010. After I agreed for the interview they sent me a couple of questions via e-Mail which I also answered in written form. Two days later, one of my friend sent me a scanned-copy of the printed version of that interview. To my utter surprise, I saw that: they distorted my name completely and thrown out more then eighty percent, the main content of the interview. I mentioned here in the (( )) the text the news-paper censored. It is in deed very interesting to see which part of the interview was not printed by this news paper. Take a careful look!
------------
Q: How the idea of "Ironeaters" came to your mind for the first time?

When I was a young boy, by father used to work in the Kashem Jute Mill, near Shitakunda (Chittagong) as a sivil-engineer. Since the Shipbreaking Industry was very near to that place we heard a lot aobut it. Though the entry of outsiders were strictly forbidden, stories could fly over the boundery and spread among the villagers. After a long time, as I was shooting my first feature-length documentary "Sand and Water", I mate a lot of farmers in North-Bangladesh who used to go to Chittagong as seasonal workers and stayed in the Shipbreaking Yard for months. They told me their horrific experience of this hard work. As I was listening to their stories I was wondering, how these symple-minded farmers, who are living from cultivation in the soft soil on the bank of Brahmaputra since a couple of centuries, can survive the hadrship of a lobour-life in such an industry? In fact this curiosity was motivation the journey of my film "Ironeaters". It was the begining of 1999. With the support of numerous people at home and abroad we could at last start the shooting of the film in January 2005 and the final editing of the film has been completed in 2007.


Q: 'Shipbreaking in Bangladesh' means( according to your own perception) what?

When we started the shooting in the PHP-Yard, one of the owner told me: " You know, this industry is a kind of gurbage dumping. The work with the gurbage is always very durty. But we ourselves decidd to do this job and earn money from that. Still there are other people who are in fact earning a huge profit from this work we are doing indirectly for them. You will find me very easily but you won't find them at all." (( This gentleman described the Sipbreaking Industry in it's proper context. The shipbreaking started in the west but to do it in a chieper way and to make maximum profit out of it and to avaoid environmental polution the so called developed countries exported this industry to our sub-continent. Because of the same reason the garments industry, lot of chemical industries, medicin industries etc. are exported to this part of the world. As long as the western world let the people here do these durty jobs without paying the proper price, the fate of the workers of these industries will never change. We have shown the film "Ironeaters" in the European Parliament. Among many others Mr. Sravros Dimas, the Environmental Commissioner of the EU, came to see the film. He wanted to see just 20 minutes but at the end seen the complete film and hold a emotional speech after that. But later I heard from the many frustrated NGO-Representatives that they are listening to this kind of speeches since for last tweenty years. The demand of several NGOs, who are working to change the situation in the Shipbreaking Industries, is that EU should put presure on all the international business organizations who are involved with the shipping business, specially IMO (International Maritime Organization), who are indirectly controling the Sipbreaking Industries arround the world. But EU is not willing to put any pressure on them. I think the reason why IMO is not interested to take any step to change the situation of the Shipbreaking Industry is exactly the same why WORLD BANK or IMF often don't give any importence on our national interest in the deeds and contracts they sign with our goventent. IMO will never want a reduction of profit that are been made by the western shipowners. Because the main job of IMO is to protect the interest of this business community. The fact that EU will not enterfare in this matter is not a surprise. If the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh is a gurbage dumping then the people who are woking there are just insects. Death of some of these insects are not really important in the context of world economy. In terms of evironmental polution or in terms of violation of labor-rights, our behaviour everywhere in this country is more or less same. I don't see any difference between the death of a worker in an oil-tanker while breaking this ship and the death of another worker in a construction-spot while breaking a mulit-stored building. These accidents mainly happen because of our basic inhuman attitued towards the workers. Our western business-partners know it very well. If our workers have to clean the garbage of western civilization, then these workers are also THEIR workers. ))

Q: How was your experience with the labors at ship yard?

(( The workers and also the owners of P.H.P-Shhipbreaking Yard (PHP is for "Peace Happyness and Prosperity") has supported us during the shooting much more then we expected. We wouldn't be able to make such a film without their active help. We had observed the workers in the yard with the camera everyhwhere and almost all the time... during their work, in their free-time even while they were sleeping. But they never expressed their slightest annoyance because of the disturbance we caused through our presence. The people of this Ganges-Delta are basically extremely polite and freindly - I have experienced this phenomenon once again during the shooting of this film. ))


Q: Any interesting or memorable event while shooting the Documentary?

(( Once, while shooting in an Oil-Tanker, a fire broke-out all on a sudden. We heardly managed to save our life at the last moment. But while we were running for our life the Gas-Cutters burst into laughter and looking at our embarracing faces. We asked them: What appeared so funny to them in this situation? They told us that they have never seen anybody got so scared before. Nonetheless, to let us feel secured, they mentioned that the danger during their work is no more life-thretening as it was before. Even if the fire breaks out now and then, it is not really life-thretening. They have learned a lot through all these years. Then I asked: "Why the hell some people die almost every second month in one of these yards ?" A young Gas-Cutter came closer to me with a smile in his face and saide: " We die intentionaly, just to let you know that we are still living! You journalists would never come to see us unless couple of workers die in an accident. You are always interested to know how we died, but you are not at all interested to know how we are living here." This illiterate young man quoted the Bengali Poet Tagore in his statement. I would never forget that accident.. I would never forget the face of that young man and his words. We should make sure that these people don't have to die again and again to prove that they are still living there. ))

source: facebook