FW: Must we go back to square one?

Published On: 2007-08-28
Editorial, The Daily Star

Sense & Insensibility
Must we go back to square one?
Shahnoor Wahid


No, we cannot afford to go back to square one. For that matter, we cannot even go back to square five or square three! In fact, we cannot backtrack under any circumstances, because the stakes are too high.

It's a high-stake game and the opponents are sly and ruthless, and apparently they have some powerful cards up their sleeve. So, we have no option left but to outwit the opponents and win the game. We have to go forward on the perilous journey, like Odysseus, to reach the shore of Ithaca and end the mission.

It is common knowledge now that there are forces out there trying their best to push us back to square one, back to pre- 1/11, so that they may reinstate their rule of misrule throughout the country, once again. They want disorder to reign supreme because they thrive in a disorderly society. They suffocate in a society that is trying to bring order back in life.

Now, who are these people who do not want order, transparency, discipline, and stability in society?

They are the black marketers, gold smugglers, diesel smugglers, electricity thieves, rice hoarders, land grabbers, toll collectors, lake grabbers, forest grabbers, and relief thieves who have been crowding the corridors of state power for decades. And this time they have gotten together to play their own kind of game, waiting for an opportunity to strike back at everything that stands for goodness with all their might.

So, last week, they thought they had one such opportunity knocking on the door early in the morning. They watched in dismay the peaceful settlement of the altercation between students and army personnel at the Dhaka University playground.

They saw the opportunity vanishing in thin air. They were not ready to let it go to waste. It was an opportunity they had been waiting for. So, they got together in the dark depth of the night to connive and conspire to destabilise the government.

They quickly got into action, cooked up an "upsurge," and the nation witnessed wanton breaking of car windshields and windowpanes of office buildings. It was vandalism of the worst kind. They wanted to make it look like a student protest, but people saw only a few astray students and hundreds of hoodlums going berserk on the streets. As a result, people withdrew their support and sympathy and openly condemned the actions.



Student politics and student leaders
The recent student protest on various campuses brought forth the role of some of the student leaders who allegedly have worked from behind to fan the fire on behalf of the political parties for their individual and narrow political gain. The very mention of the term "student leaders" continues to intrigue us.

Who are these people? What actually do they do on the campuses across the country? Do they help the general students in improving their education standard? Do they bargain with the authorities to take examinations in time, take classes regularly, and assess performance of students impartially? Do they take steps to improve the infrastructure, laboratory facilities, hostel facilities, research facilities, and teaching/learning standard of the institution?

They do nothing of the above. We have information that they are the licensed gangs of toll collectors who send their cadres to collect weekly tolls from shop owners and contractors. They come with two trousers and two shirts from their villages and eat free breakfast, lunch, and dinner in student halls. Within three years on the campus, they drive tinted Pajeros and live in their own flats in Gulshan or Banani. Aladdin's lamp? No, blessing of madam or apa.

The present lot of student leaders is quick to cash in on the reputation of the past leaders, who had shown great valour in our fight against the Pakistani rulers. But this has to be added here that many of those past "heroes," at a later time, forgot all about their ideology. It's sad, people do not consider them heroes anymore.

Square one …
We had started with the warning of dark forces working together to push the country back to square one. The government has to be fully awake about the conspirators and take immediate actions against them. The reform agenda has to be fulfilled. Political arena must be cleansed of thugs and murderers. Democracy does not mean reinstating demons. The sacred precinct of our parliament must not be defiled once again by Lultoos, Faltoos and Biltoos.


Shahnoor Wahid is Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.

It would take courage to love the flag and its protector

Before I jump into any discussion, let’s just say I am a very believer of the saying “a nation gets a leader it deserves”. That’s the bottom line. So, no need to get over board. At the end of the day, it will all be fine. If not, at least it will be well justified, as that’s what we deserve any way.

No savior will fall from the sky to give us a golden country. “We the people” have to build one. For that we need to learn how to behave. No nation in today’s world became prosperous because their teenagers go to street and burned some cars. Not in the planet earth. Some other planet; may be, who knows. This is the curse we get from centuries of ruled by foreigners.

Burning down the system, just simply will not works. How many times we have to try it? It is like those smart folks in centuries ago, who were trying to build a divine machine that will give output of energy with out any input. They had no clue what’s they are up against. It’s the thermodynamics law that they had to break, and of course they were no match for it. Likewise, we are no match for law of physics and it’s no different for Bangladesh. The sooner we learn it the sooner we will be free.

We all get so excited talking about 52 and 71. Every thing we do, some how, some people, would like to link it to 52 and 71. That’s great. But that’s also very immature. Why is that? Shouldn’t we learn from our past? Shouldn’t we feel proud about our past heroes? Make no mistake; we should …… as long as we understand that they are “past”. Confused? Let me explain. The heroism in 52, 69 and 71 (you can even go back as early as 1757 and 1857) was for a freedom-less nation against their foreign masters. Just like any classic heroism. Those were to end slavery and to be free. If we can’t feel free, then all those heroes sacrifice will go in vain. Like I said, it’s hard to remove physical slavery. But it is even harder, if possible at all, to root out slavery form one’s mind. Bringing back 52 is not helping, because along comes slavery (in our mind). All the strategy of getting out of slavery just simply fails when we need to use them to build a nation. That’s why probably; the heroes of freedom movements are often a failed nation builder. A stunning example could be Gandhi vs Jinnah/Mujib. I am not a history analyst, but one could go back and analyze the success of “Gandhi to Nehru transition” vs. the failure of Jinnah & Mujib as a nation builder.

I saw some Bangladeshi columnist aka buddijibi getting so nostalgic. To them, so called jolpai rong is synonymous to Ayub khan. In fact every thing is about Ayub Khan to them, either for or against. This is so funny. But I don’t blame them. I feel very pity for them. What can you do? They have born as a slave. No matters how many independence our brave sons bring to them, their mind won’t be free. It’s a curse they can not get out of. They are still kept inside in the independence war. That makes sense. The 71-minus generation, who born as a Pakistani or Indian, are in constant battle inside their mind. The poor fellows feel like they have to prove that they belong to independent Bangladesh. That’s why every thing is about Pakistan-ponthi or India-ponthi to them. It’s like something inside ask them constantly, which side are you in? Who can blame them? I am like, dude, the war is over long ago. Now, just get over with it. I have born into independent Bangladesh. I got only one side. I don’t need no stupid question, stop making fool out of yourself. Freedom is a blessing, not everyone can feel it.

Comparing our brothers and sons who take the oath to protect us, for whom we can say that March 25th of 71 will not repeat, to those of enemy soldiers are not only silly, it’s also unethical. It’s like comparing your brother with the criminal who have just raped your sister-in-law. After all, both of them do the same. ARE THEY??

Just because you & I earned few degrees, does not necessarily make us better then the soldiers. While I headed to buet after HSC, few of my best friends take the oath. I always look up to them (not down) for their courage. My uncle/mama was a very brilliant student, one of the best that I have seen. He joined the force and now he is flying with a Bangladesh flag and bringing peace to world ahead. Trust me; you are not necessarily smarter than him, neither am I. If we judge our nation’s brave sons by few rotten apples aka dictators, we would be very wrong.

It may take a little brain to find pin holes and criticize. It may take an evil mind to push our teenagers in the street and encourage them on burning. But it would take courage to love the flag and its protector.


NB: It’s a great shame. We are setting up booths in different office campus to literally beg money from our foreign colleague for a sinking BD and show them the picture of flood victims. But the truth of the matter is BD is burning. Stupid GOOGLE have no sense of what to show and when. All my colleague have to do is go to google.com, click News, and search for the word “Bangladesh”. It’s like he took out the shoe from his foot and slap me in the face. And trust me, it hurts. But good thing is that we all collected some dollars yesterday, enough to replace one or two tire of one of those many cars that I saw burning in BD. We hope that will help.

-X86

Messing with gods…………GOD help us!!

If a Dhaka University student beaten by a soldier is so XYZ that whole country needs to be upside down, then GOD help us!!






I remember when I was a new graduate student in my school in US. One day, a policeman came to the next door. One of my classmates lives there with his wife. Being clueless we rush after the police left. His wife was crying with tears all over her. The poor girl was all alone just listening music. Well, may be little too loud according to one neighbor, that’s all. Apparently all it took is a phone call. Next thing you know, police was banging your door.

WOW, we said. Boy, are these students stupid or coward? In back home, police in our campus?? Ha ha ha. I remember all those “misil” in BUET campus. You know like “campus a police keno, kortipokhkho jobab chai”. Well, that was just the beginning, words gets ugly after a while and campus become kurukhetro.

I got my first lesson that US is no BD, this campus is not even close to buet or DU campus. Here the university have a police camp of it’s own. Can you believe that? What? Like you still ruled by “british benia”, or what? I came to know about the police camp after getting a parking ticket for apparently violating “front end parking only” sign. Well, that’s a long story, let’s not go there.

In Bangladesh however, DU students are some kind of god. And no one touch god, especially police. Because when you touch god, you are cursed. Who in the hell are brave enough to mess with god? A god beaten by a soldier, wow! By the way, gods doesn’t go to soldier's superior to complain. They don’t go to court to sue you. They don’t write in the news paper, saying Houston, we have a problem here. Are you kidding me?? Those are not god kind of work, are they? Instead, god will simply crash you. That’s what gods do.


NB: By the way if you are one those folks who haven’t done his undergrad in BD, you would probably not understand what I am talking about. For a start, just take this. Our 12th grade pass kids don’t go to university to learn business, law, engineering, medical. Aaa aaa, that’s a no no. They go there to become gods and save the nation. As if we are still in those era when anyone out side of the campus is just as good as a cow, dog or cat. As if, a nation of cow, dog and cats (often associated with the word “bloody” by Brits) is trying to be human in the classroom. As if we are still in the era, when parents don’t teach their kids, but kids come home to teach their parents.

-X86


In the news:
============
Breaking News
Protests break out across country: 1 killed, hundreds injured
Star Online Report

At least one person was killed and hundreds were injured as violence broke out across the country for the 3rd day today.
Students of different colleges and universities across the country came out on streets and fought pitched battles with police.

A rickshaw-puller was killed and more than 50 students were injured when around 2000 students marched through the Rajshahi University (RU) campus demanding withdrawal of law enforcers from the campus and protesting DU incident.


Several dozens of students of Jagannath University and DU were injured in sporadic clashes with police. A DU student also sustained bullet injuries in front of F Rahman Hall during the clashes.


Dhaka city streets virtually became void as violence spilt over into the third day. Several incidents of vandalism and arson were reported from Airport road, Mohakhali, Gulistan, Kamalapur Railway Station, Mouchak, Noyabazar, North-South road and Nawabpur areas. The protesters also vandalised the windowpanes of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ (CMM) Court, Dhaka.


Reports said students of Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), Eden University College, Jagannath University, Titumir College, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University and Tejgaon Polytechnic Institute also joined the demonstration.


The pitched battles across the country between police and students occurred when police tried to resist the demonstrating students.


UNB reports that students of Jagannath University staged violent protest and burned four vehicles including a Pajero jeep around the District Court in Old Dhaka at about 10:30am.


Students of Titumir College brought out a procession and moved towards Mohakhali crossing chanting anti-government slogans.


In Rajshahi, police lobbed innumerable rubber bullets and hurled around 600 tear gas shells in a bid to disperse the unruly students who were pelting policemen with brickbats, leaving the rickshaw-puller dead and over 50 students injured.


The road communications on the Rajshahi-Dhaka Highway came to a halt as the law enforcers were forced to retreat and took position on the highway. On information, additional contingent of police were deployed in the area and the RU premised virtually became a battleground.


Our RU correspondent reports that among the injured, the condition of one student is critical. Our RU correspondent and Rajshahi staff correspondent were also assaulted by the agitating students.


The angry students also ransacked the administrative building of the university. They set fire to the temporary police camp, three vehicles and residence of Vice-chancellor Prof Altaf Hossain. They also cut off the telephone, power, water and cable TV connections of the VC’s home.


On the other hand, Progotishil Chhatra Jote (PCJ), a combine of left-leaning student organisations, called for an indefinite strike at the university.


The student unrest erupted on Monday afternoon when some army men beat up three students and humiliated a teacher of the DU during a soccer match on the university central playground.

Drunken driving, unlicensed gun and Joy (Weekly Probe magazine)

Here is an article worth exploring. It is full of pointers that need some more work and supporting data. I am not necessarily agree on the conclusion though. At this moment, its all seems speculation that is not necessarily all false or true.

I can add one more point though. I went to the same school in US little later than him. His legacy did not look good. He was portrayed as an anti-Bangladeshi to Bangladeshi students there. I was told that he specifically blocked other Bangladeshi students from getting a job in the lab that he was working as a student worker. I was told that he never wanted to let people know that he is a Bangladeshi origin. He was always kept distance from any BD students and their activity. But again these are not necessarily all bad. He might have his reason and his own issue to deal with. I would like to give him the benefit of doubt.

Also if he is in fact a spoiled kid, who would we blame! Finger will probably can only points to us the people of Bangladesh. For we are the reason he was away from home. For we are the reason he was left without his parent’s love and affection. I can’t even imagine how it was like to be grow up knowing that you are the grandson of a nation’s founder which, by the way, killed most of your ancestors. (For what ever was the reason that is pointless to the kid). I feel like we woe an apology to Joy. It’s us, who took one of the greatest freedom movement leader of south Asia; and turn him into the greatest dictator of south Asia in mare 3 years or less. It was us who did not tell him to stop until it was too late. I wasn’t old enough, but I guess I could have been the little boy, jump up and ask “King, where is your dress, you are nude”. No one did. ====SORRY====

I may write about his visit to bay area some other time. Stay tuned :)

-X86


In The news:
=============
Article on Sajeeb Wazed Joy on Weekly Probe magazine

Drunken driving, unlicensed gun and Joy



Joy, son of Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, has been arrested for drunken driving on several occasions, was in possession on an unlicensed gun and guilty of a host of other misdeeds


A PROBE report


When Sajib Wazed Joy, son of Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, returned to Bangladesh after many years abroad, the massive reception organized for him at the airport reflected his mother’s wish that he be her successor in politics. But was he cut out for the tough task of a political career? It doesn’t seem so. He seems quite happy with his cushy life in the United States, notwithstanding his several scrapes with the law and other shady tales.



Going back



Joy has hardly much childhood association with Bangladesh. His mother lived a life in exile since August 1975, spending a long asylum in India under the patronage of the Indian government. She would live at Basant Bahar, the safe house run by the agencies there.

As a result, Joy had his early education in India where he spent much of his formative years. They may have returned to Bangladesh in 1981, but there was a sense of isolation from normal family life for Joy. This was only to be expected, given his boarding school years, the intense political activities of his mother, all compounded with the estrangement of his parents.

Persons who knew him then say he was a rather reckless youth. Even later, he reportedly met with an accident in Gulshan in the mid-nineties, totaling the Pajero jeep of a businessman of Narayanganj. Rather than keeping him in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina sent her son to the US for further studies. She perhaps felt that would give him some stability, a sense of responsibility.



Reckless driving



Life in the USA didn’t seem to change Joy much. That reckless trait in his character showed itself time and again. Records show several cases were filed against him. He has been charged on various occasions with drunken driving, speeding, reckless driving, unlawful use of radar detection device, and even carrying an unlicensed gun. He even had to spend time in jail for his misdemeanours, not to mention all the fines he had to pay too. If Hasina had political aspirations for him, she couldn’t have chosen a more unsuitable candidate.

As it is, he had a basically apolitical character. He disliked the gathering of poor people at home and expressed a distinct disinterest in politics. He often snubbed persons who, out of affection or simple curiousity, came to meet Sheikh Mujib’s grandson.

He continued his fast life in the US as he had no sense of belonging with Bangladesh, no affinity to his mother’s party and had no intention of living with his dysfunctional family at home. In was no secret that there was no love lost between Sheikh Hasina and husband Wazed Miah.



Clouds over love and marriage



During his mother’s tenure as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister (1996-2001), Joy reportedly got engaged with an old girlfriend from his school days. She was an Indian girl of Sikh religion. Hasina, taking cover of an official visit, went to London to formalize the marriage. Along with the barat of close friends and relations, she even took along cooks of Dhaka’s famous Fakhruddin bawarchi. Her one condition was that the girl convert to Islam. The girl refused. Hasina was more than upset. She reportedly cancelled all programmes on that day. She shut herself up in her hotel room the whole day, refusing to talk to any one. She immediately returned to Dhaka. The marriage reception never took place, and her entourage, cooks and all, returned home without the taste of biriyani in their mouths.

Joy is presently married to American citizen Kristine Ann Overmire a.k.a. Kristine Wazed. They were married in the US on October 26, 2002. Kristine may have been previously married to a certain Richard D Loomis. There were rumours that Joy and Kristine were on the verge of a divorce, but if there had been a separation, things have apparently been patched up, perhaps with the birth of their child.



Informal entry into politics



Joy’s arrival in Dhaka and grand reception by young cadres of the party at the airport, and the several subsequent meetings at Sudha Sadan, heralded his informal entry into politics. It is not clear how serious he actually was about politics. He may have just been out to impress his newly-wed American bride. Or he may have just been pacifying his mother who had big plans for her prodigal son.

It was clear that Sheikh Hasina wanted him to be her successor, but Sheikh Rehana had her reservations in this regard. This fact was brought home further by an article in the magazine Bichitra, owned by Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana. The article was vehemently opposed to the idea of Joy’s entrance into politics.

The matter of Joy’s political induction was made clear again by the visiting card he had printed. His designation was shown as Advisor to the Prime Minister. He would use the card in his meetings and dealings in the US.

Interestingly, after the grenade attack on August 21, 2004, Joy’s statement was published in the official Awami League website with special prominence. The website normally only carried news, analyses and statements of Sheikh Hasina. At times it would have statements of senior party leaders like Abdul Jalil or Zillur Rahman at the most. But then suddenly it began posting Joy’s statements prominently.



Power breeds money



When Awami League came to power and his mother became ruler of the country, Joy got involved in business. There was the Texas-based Infolink International (from November 1998 to March 2001) and Nova BD International, LLC (May 1998 to August 2000). He had links with the SEAMEWE-4 undersea cable project through Nova BD International. He was also involved with Tyco Communications (USA) along with a certain Mahboob Rahman.

He also founded two other companies, Wazed Consulting and Sim Global Services in March 2005. This was after Awami League was out of power. Interestingly, the annual sales of these two companies were only 61,000 dollars and 35,000 dollars respectively. Yet Joy, in his own name, bought a brand new house at 3817 Bell Manor Court, Falls Church, Virginia, on May 12, 2006, worth about one million dollars. His wife is not a co-owner of the house. He used a fixed-rate mortgage and paid only about 200 thousand dollars (20 percent of the value) in cash. This was a clever move as it hid the real value of the property in terms of cash.

Earlier, together with his wife, he brought another property at 4823 Martin Street, Alexandria, VA 22312. The property is worth 749,000 dollars.



Business, not as usual



Like Joy, his brother-in-law Khandkar M Hossain, husband of sister Saima Wazed Hossain (Putul), started a few businesses in the US when his mother-in-law Sheikh Hasina came to power, but dissolved them after a couple of years. These businesses included Bangladesh Metals and Pipes Trading Corporation; Shonali Inc; Doug’s Wholesale Inc; Afsana Inc; and Jampy Corporation.

Apparently business was not quite the cup of tea for either of them. However, despite none of the businesses seeming to make any money and most of them being shut down before long, no one has ever heard of them suffering from financial difficulties. Perhaps mother’s affection helped them in this regard.



A reluctant successor



It was more than apparent to senior and mid-level leaders of Awami League in the mid-nineties that Sheikh Hasina to all intentions and purposes was intent on grooming Joy as he successor. Sheikh Rehana, Sheikh Selim and other in the family were no comfortable with this.

The Awami League leaders were noting with alarm that the post-2001 scene witnesses a gradual infiltration of newcomers into the membership of Hasina’s kitchen cabinet. Kazi Zafrullah, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Abul Hossain, Salman F Rahman and a number of former bureaucrats were gradually entering the hallowed circle of Hasina’s favoured ones, pushing the old-timer “uncles” out of the way. Only Abdul Jalil and Zillur Rahman, together with half-baked politicians like Obaidul Kader, were allowed to come into prominence. Thanks to the pro-Awami League media who were friendly with the “uncles”, the seniors managed to maintain some semblance of political visibility.

Sheikh Hasina is going through critical times. In all likelihood she will have to relinquish her leadership of Awami League. At this juncture, given South Asian political trends, it would have only been natural for Joy to step into his mother’s shoes. Now, however, that does not seem likely. His background and records hardly present him as leadership material, particularly when reforms are the call of the day. The party leaders will not accept him. After all, his propensity for joy rides seems to outweigh his penchant for politics.



Arrests and criminal charges



Criminal court clerk records identify the following criminal charges and arrests of Sajib Wazed Joy:

On June 14 1998, Joy was arrested in Tarrant County, Texas. He was charged on two counts of carrying an unlicensed handgun and one count of driving while intoxicated. He was convicted for drunken driving and was imprisoned for 120 days, sentenced to 24 months of probation and fined $500.

On February 6, 2000, Joy was charged with reckless driving and having a radar detector in Hanover County, Virginia. He was fined and incarcerated for one day.

On March 19, 2000, he was arrested and charged with reckless driving in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was found guilty and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence and 12 months probation along with a $400 fine.

On April 29, 2001, Joy was charged with speeding in Rappahannock County, Virginia.

On May 20, 2004, Joy was charged with speeding in Arlington County, Virginia.





Putul’s property



Saima Wazed Hossain (Putul), Sheikh Hasina’s daughter and Joy’s younger sister, along with husband Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, own considerable property in the US. The houses they purchased there include:



456 North Bay Point Way, Jacksonville, Florida. This is a single family residence purchased by Saima and husband Hossain on November 1, 2005 for $245,000 from Merrill and Priscilla King.

845 York Way, Maitland, Florida. This is also a single family residence purchased by Saima and Hossain on October 16, 2004, for $311,000 from David and Elizabeth Cocchiarella. The property has an assessed value of $208,844.

2065 W 119th Avenue, Miramar, Florida. This single family residence was purchased by Saima and Hossain on October 28, 1998 for $154,300 from Pulte Home Corporation. On March 15, 2005, a non-purchase money loan of $197,000, was obtained from SunTrust Bank secured with this property. The property has an assessed value of $265,440.

Source:
http://www.probenewsmagazine.com/index.php?
index=2&contentId=2701&PHPSESSID=6cbb66180d90b402c6cff21c9a34d9e2

Professor Wins $1 Million Prize for Providing Clean Water, One Village at a Time

Professor Wins $1 Million Prize for Providing Clean Water, One Village at a Time

February 26, 2007

Professor Abul Hussam's water filtering system is improving health and saving lives in developing countries. Most of his $1 million Grainger Challenge Award will go toward ensuring that even more people can benefit from clean water.



By Tara Laskowski

In the United States, turning on the tap and getting clean drinking water is something most people take for granted. We have the luxury of multimillion-dollar filtration systems and deep wells that pump toxin-free water to our homes.

However, in developing countries such as Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, shallow water wells are the norm for villages. Arsenic, a poisonous element, is naturally occurring in these tube-wells, and in Bangladesh alone, more than 18 million people are daily drinking arsenic-contaminated water.

Arsenic poisoning is a slow, painful process that can cause skin cancer, tumors and ultimately death. Affected people can have difficulty working or even walking, and continued exposure can lead to liver failure, kidney failure and the need for amputation of arms or legs.


Abul Hussam

For Bangladesh native Abul Hussam, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Mason for more than 20 years, this threat hits close to home. About 10 years ago, his brother, a medical doctor in Bangladesh, started to see the frightening consequences of arsenic poisoning in his village. He asked Hussam to help develop a way of measuring the arsenic levels in wells.

Measuring the Problem
Hussam did his PhD work in analytical chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. Developing an instrument to measure arsenic levels in drinking water was a perfect match for his interests.

He started with his own family’s well in Bangladesh. To his shock, he learned his family had been drinking water with three times the toxicity level of arsenic for more than 20 years, and there was a possibility his own father had died from arsenic poisoning.

“Measurement is absolutely critical – it is my strength and what brought me to this project – but once you know what you have, now the question is, ‘What can we do about it?’” says Hussam.

That’s when Hussam started looking at ways to build a filter to help provide safe drinking water for his family and neighbors. The challenges required looking at issues such as economy, environment and efficiency. Because Bangladesh is a developing country, the filter had to be inexpensive. Hussam also had to ensure that the materials used were safe for the environment and easy to obtain and reproduce.

After years of research and testing, Hussam and his brothers developed the SONO filter. Simple, inexpensive and made with easily available materials, the filter involves a top bucket, which is filled with locally available coarse river sand and a composite iron matrix (CIM). The sand filters coarse particles and imparts mechanical stability, while the CIM removes inorganic arsenic. The water then flows into a second bucket where it again filters through coarse river sand, then wood charcoal to remove organics, and finally through fine river sand and wet brick chips to remove fine particles and stabilize water flow.

A Distinguished Recognition
When Hussam learned the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) was offering a $1 million Grainger Challenge Award for water filtration systems that removed arsenic from drinking water, he knew his work was perfect for the contest.

After all, the systems had to be affordable, reliable, easy to maintain, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly. They had to meet or exceed the local government guidelines for arsenic removal and require no electricity – everything he had been working on for years.

Last week, he was proven correct. On Feb. 20, Hussam was awarded the Grainger Prize at a gala dinner held in Washington, D.C.


Hussam's water filter is simple, inexpensive and made with easily available materials.
Photos by Evan Cantwell

Three prizes were awarded by the NAE, with the support of the Grainger Foundation, from a field of 70 entries. The Silver Award went to the nonprofit Water for People and the Bronze Award was given to the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program at Procter & Gamble Co. Hussam won the Gold Award.

Hussam’s $1 million prize will go to George Mason Intellectual Properties Inc., (GMIP) a separate nonprofit corporation established to facilitate the transfer of new discoveries made at George Mason University. GMIP will distribute the majority of the award to a Bangladeshi nonprofit organization that will use the funds to increase its production, quality control and training capacities so more SONO filter units can reach Bangladeshi households more quickly. Most of the remainder will fund Hussam’s continuing research in removing toxic cations and anions from drinking water sources. GMIP will keep a small portion of the prize and will pay back the Chemistry Department, which generously funded the tests needed last summer to enable Hussam to enter the contest.

GMIP is also handling potentially still patentable matter in the SONO filter.

Seeing the Difference Firsthand
In 2000, the Hussam family started distributing the SONO filter in Bangladesh. They started with their own village, and donated many of the filters to schools with high arsenic levels in their water.

“At first, the people were not sure if they should listen to us,” said Hussam. But after talking to them about the water and showing them the filter – which cost only $35 and lasts at least five years – people started to believe.

“Now, we hear of women who want to use the filtered water to shampoo their hair because it makes it softer,” says Hussam. “And people say their tea tastes different and their rice is a different color. It’s been very interesting.”

Today, there are more than 30,000 of these filters in homes, schools and businesses in Bangladesh. Hussam hopes that with the prize money they can distribute the filter even more widely and help even more people.

He and his brothers have also seen hospital patients improve dramatically from arsenic poisoning by drinking the clean, filtered water.

“The most satisfying aspect of working on this project is seeing people drinking clean water from the SONO filter and feeling better, and for some, the melanosis [poisoning] has been reversed,” says Hussam. “It is truly gratifying to see results of our scientific knowledge at work in the field for the betterment of human conditions.”

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