Here at Conn, as at most colleges, the administration loves to throw exciting phrases and terminology at students—both current and prospective—that enhance the apparent connection between our sheltered campus and the real world. In order to promote this ideal and a “global focus” within the student body, we have a number of designated Traveling Research and Immersion Program (TRIP) courses that, for a short period of time (one to three weeks), take students from campus and send them to a country or region they have studied in that class.
Unfortunately, one of this semester’s TRIP courses will not embark over spring break as planned. A Global Islamic Studies class taught by Professor Sufia Uddin was slated to go to Bangladesh over spring break, but due to recent political unrest in the country, the trip has been cancelled.
Understandably, the students of the class are extremely frustrated. Students had to apply with a proposal and interview in order to enroll in the course and they feel rightfully scorned by the trip’s failure to proceed. One student, Lamiya Khandaker, told me that she was “deeply saddened” by the news, but she “can’t blame the the college either for an unfortunate condition.” Professor Uddin told me that her students were “terribly disappointed,” but she believes the trip’s cancellation was a necessary measure.
When I spoke with Professor Uddin about this issue, she expressed her regrets and personal disappointment about the trip’s cancellation. She explained to me that the call was not easy to make, and ultimately high-ranking members of the administration—Dean of the Faculty Abby Van Slyck and Interim Dean of the College Marc Zimmer—decided that cancelling was necessary. What this shows us, then, is that considerable thought and administrative action went into voiding the plans, and this was not a personal call made by Professor Uddin.
Professor Uddin gave me some background to help justify why the trip had to be cancelled. She informed me that violence in Bangladesh began on Jan. 5 of this year, and that the date marks the anniversary of some Bangladeshi elective decisions that were de emed undemocratic by the opposition alliance, which therefore sparked outrage. The country has been experiencing hartals, a term which means “strike action” in several South Asian languages, defined by the Overseas Security Advisement Council (OSAC), as “a mass protest and recognized political method for articulating a political demand.”
Because of these hartals, OSAC has issued a security message for U.S. citizens considering travel to Bangladesh. Additionally, OSAC warns U.S. travelers and embassy employees that “unpredictable violence, such as the use of homemade explosive or incendiary devices, can occur” during a hartal. Therefore, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security recommends that all U.S. citizens in Bangladesh—and particularly those in Dhaka, the capital city—keep themselves safe and take cautionary measures. Lamiya added that “Political opposition protesters are known to throw petroleum bombs at cars and moving vehicles, so [the students’] transportation within the country would’ve been extremely limited and dangerous.”
Situations like this often illicit reactions of shock, sympathy, and then quick dismissal by uninvolved recipients of the information. Of course, the students who enrolled in the TRIP course have a right to be disappointed, and on the College’s part, the students’ safety must take precedence when considering the stakes of an excursion. That being said, we must note what this situation really tells us.
On Friday, Feb. 27, BBC World reported that American writer and blogger Avijit Roy was assassinated in Dhaka in response to his self-identified atheism. While this story is tragic and no person should be killed over religious beliefs, why is it only Roy that we hear about? According to Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Observer, 85 people had already died because of the hartals as of Feb. 10. I could not find a single report of the death toll from a U.S. or international newspaper. It appears as if Avijit Roy’s death was the first one that counted.
Not all people get an embassy-issued warning against traveling to a dangerous place. For some, violence is simply a reality; they cannot elect to avoid it because it takes place in their backyard. The option to travel or to remain in place is itself a mark of our privilege, and we should keep in mind that we are, in fact, lucky to sit in classrooms and learn about these situations rather than suffer them ourselves.
I am not saying that people should keep themselves isolated and appreciate their safety at a distance from the rest of the world. In fact, I think everyone should travel and experience the lives of people less privileged than themselves. That being said, sometimes when we study difficult situations, we get so busy marveling at others’ hardship that we forget to consider what it would be like if such problems were simply an element of our daily lives. Issues like oppression, violence and poverty are not badges to be sought after, but plagues that should be taken seriously and eliminated.
This issue also begs a question of interest: where did this TRIP’s funding go? •
