Know your enemy

It has been more than one week since cyclone Sidr devastated Bangladesh's Southern coastal region. The official death toll is still at 3199 but the unofficial death toll crossed 6000. Millions of families are displaced and are homeless now. Economists predict US$ 65 billion will be the loss of the nation.

The UN said in a report:

Cyclone Sidr has affected about 4.7 million people in worst-hit districts and a further 2.6 million people, most of them the "poorest of the poor", are in need of immediate help,. (BDNews24)

These people have to be fed up to three months and many still haven't been reached to hand over the aids available. There have been overwhelming response from the local and international community in monetary aid.

However the call of this hour is to reach these aid to the people in remote areas. The armed forces of Bangladesh are so far doing the best they can with their limited resources like helicopters and boats. As I mentioned earlier, Bangladesh needs more helicopters, water purifiers, volunteers, medical helps. I hope the international community keeps these in mind too. One country (name withheld) pledged 5000 Euro for the victims. I don't want to undermine anyone's good wish but really they would do better if they could send a medical teal or lend some helicopters that would be something effective for the aid of the victims.

Two US ships USS Essex and USS Kearsarge are in Bangladesh waters to help in the relief efforts. The US embassy in Dhaka said that each of the ships are carrying 23 helicopters and six small planes which will be used for medical evacuations and surveying the affected areas by approx 1500 US marines. They are also equipped with water purifiers and purified water is of urgent need of many survivors.

While this is happening we see that Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh, a Branch of Hizbut Tahrir is protesting the arrival of US navy ships in Bangladesh. Hizbut Tahrir is an international, Sunni, pan-Islamist vanguard political party whose goal is to unite all Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and headed by an elected head of state.

While the Bangladeshis in the country and abroad are doing their best to help these victims from own resources with innovative ideas like sms aid campaigns and pledging to the international community for more donations you can check the Hizbut Tahrir site that they are silent about the issue. Their priority is to build a caliphate at the expense of all these victims and they don't like the US marine to help save lives. It can be lauded that the police forces have taken action against its spokesman. But it will be befitting to expose their intentions to the common public.

I guess even a dumb person can recognize who is the enemy of the people. Down with political Islam. Hizbut Tahrir should read Abdul Kargbo's post "Compassion Does Not Recognize State Boundaries" for a change:

"At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that people—regardless of who they are or where they’re from—are capable of feeling compassion for others, even if they are geographically distant. That’s something to celebrate, not question."

Kathy has more updates on the post cyclone relief.