Election 2008: Minorities, Competition, Mobiles

Election 2008: Defenders of the minority vote

Naeem Mohaiemen

Published by the Daily Star on 16 Dec 2008.

Citizens, not enemies

Naeem Mohaiemen

Published in the Daily Star on 12 Dec 2008.

DEBATES around religious minorities, in election season and otherwise, focus on anecdotes and analogies — positive and negative. What is largely missing in this discussion is quantitative analysis of the religious minorities status in Bangladesh.

The one variation is Professor Abul Barkat, of the Dhaka University Department of Economics. Since the 1990s, Barkat along with his large team of researchers have been applying the methods of economic, statistics and survey research to compile a comprehensive picture of Hindu community status since independence of Bangladesh, especially as it has been impacted by the black law known as Enemy (Vested) Property Act.