Drishtipat
Drishtipat (Bengali: দৃষ্টিপাত) is a non-profit, expatriate Bangladeshi organisation that works on human rights in Bangladesh.[1]
The mission of Drishtipat is to empower and enable the underprivileged and marginalised segments of society and individuals living in social and economic poverty so that they can exercise their most basic human rights with dignity, opportunity, and hope. Drishtipat is committed to safeguarding individuals' basic democratic rights, including freedom of expression. It is opposed to any and all kinds of human rights abuses in Bangladesh.[2] Drishtipat tries to leverage technology to unite expatriate Bangladeshis from all over the world to work on specific issues related to social justice in Bangladesh. It also highlights tales of inspiration from the rural parts of Bangladesh. From its inception in 2001, Drishtipat has worked on various projects related to journalists' rights, minority issues, women's rights, and child abuse. Drishtipat's website also hosts a popular Bangladeshi group blog.
Diaspora philanthropy
Drishtipat raises funds for various philanthropic projects focused on marginalised people in Bangladesh. Drishtipat also works to empower and enable the underprivileged and marginalised segments of society and individuals living in social and economic poverty so that they can exercise their most basic human rights with dignity, opportunity, and hope. Established in 2001, Drishtipat has quickly managed to establish itself as the biggest secular philanthropic organisation in the Bangladeshi diaspora.[citation needed] Started from a single website and one man's effort, Drishtipat has mobilised quickly over the years and has grown to have nine chapters in five countries with more than 5000 members and donors. Since its inception, Drishtipat has so far successfully completed numerous campaigns, many petitions, and appeals. Its notable campaigns include the Women of 1971 Campaign, Arsenic Project Campaign, the Tipu Sultan Campaign, Campaign for Survivors of Acid Violence, Ushnota, and the Cheye Dekho Campaign. Drishtipat recently completed, via the United Bangladesh Appeal, one of the biggest [citation needed] fundraising projects for the victims of Cyclone Sidr through a compensation fund for the victims.
Advocacy
Advocacy and policy research is a key part of Drishtipat.[citation needed] Drishtipat describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer organisation dedicated to equal rights for all Bangladeshis. Based in the United States, it claims a worldwide membership among the Bangladeshi diaspora.[3] It mobilises the younger segment of society and collectively serves as advocates for the poor and the discriminated, and launches awareness campaigns and educational projects to help leaders make informed decisions that eradicate poverty, injustice, and discrimination. It assesses and develops action plans in areas of concern that need activism for the protection of the affected or improvement of the quality of life. Areas of advocacy and action include natural disasters, violations of human rights, cultural freedom, the right to civil liberties, access to justice against crimes against a group of people or individuals by any agency, poverty, the environment, or any form of violation of foundational and contingent human rights.
Drishtipat works towards building human and economic rights for all citizens of Bangladesh. Drishtipat uses digital technology, including blogging, podcasting, vlogging, online chat, electronic publications, etc., to organise and network between the global Diaspora and those living and working in Bangladesh. Drishtipat members have written numerous opinion essays for publications as diverse as the Daily Star, New Age, Prothom Alo, Shamokal, Forum, Foreign Policy (US), Guardian (UK), etc. Drishtipat members have also appeared on RTV, ATN, CNN, and BBC to discuss matters of human rights. Its forthcoming book will be a compendium of all Drishtipat essays written in the run-up to Election 2008.
Recently, Drishtipat Writers' Collective covered the electoral process extensively and produced over 20 op-eds leading up to the election arguing for a fair election for all. Some of the analytical reports generated front-page headlines. [citation needed] Post-election, Drishtipat members got wide national and international coverage. Analysing the election results, Executive Director Asif Saleh stated that the victory of the winning Awami League party was a victory 'for a party that believes in secularism' and that the Bangladeshi people 'have abandoned the parties that ran a fear-mongering campaign, used religion in politics'.[4]
Political controversy
In 2005, the then Bangladeshi Minister of Law Moudud Ahmed of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who was later convicted for corruption under the military regime,[5] accused 'a New York-based expatriate organisation' of partisanship and propaganda against Bangladesh[6] regarding an Action Alert sent following the assassination of former Awami League minister Shah AMS Kibria. The Minister accused unnamed parties defeated in the 2001 general elections, in which the Bangladesh Nationalist Party emerged victorious, of trying to 'destroy the country's image through malicious propaganda in a planned and motivated way'.[7] The Bangladeshi government found this organisation's actions to be 'alarming' and 'mysterious'. Drishtipat responded to this allegation by stating that sending an appeal for action on human rights abuse cases is part of the practice of all human rights organisations and that Drishtipat has done that under both AL and BNP administrations. It also again stated that the organisation was not affiliated with any party. A Drishtipat blog article described Mr. Ahmed as a 'shameless political chameleon'.[8]
References
- ↑ Moser, Kate (6 April 2006). "A place for young achievers to connect". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 16.
- ↑ Ahmed, Hana Shams (16 June 2006). "A Voice for the Violated". Star Weekend Magazine. The Daily Star.
- ↑ "Drishtipat Mission Statement". Drishtipat. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.
- ↑ Saleh, Asif (30 December 2008). "Daring to dream". The Guardian (Opinion).
- ↑ "Moudud sued for hiding wealth". The Daily Star. 17 September 2007.
- ↑ Dristipat. "Drishtipat speaks out". The Daily Star (Editorial).
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddr14Mar2008" - ↑ Saleh, Asif. "Lost: John Pilger's eye-glasses". Drishtipat. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008.
External links
This article "Drishtipat" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Drishtipat. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
