It’s a sad story of a multi-billion dollar Padma Multipurpose Bridge. Already some lives have been lost for believing in Chinese superstition of giving animal blood for their success in finishing the project. Though it is showing such success.
More than four years have elapsed in the meantime; the news of bridge’s test piling day still remains alive in the people’s mind. The project works had began on March 9, 2015 with the project officials sacrificing animals as per Chinese ritual.
For this, we can give reference of the Daily Star report. It said: “Officials of the China Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd sacrificed two black bulls, two goats and two chickens on the occasion of the test piling and let the blood flow in the water on the Mawa side of the project in Munshiganj.”
“To ward off any bad or evil influence that may come in the way of implementing the job successfully, the front legs of the bulls were floated in the water as per the Chinese ritual. The Chinese officials kept the rest of the meat for a feast to be held later in the capital for their employees.”
The project site wore a festive look with crackers being blasted around the piling site. This is how the Chinese start any major work as per their rituals, said Padma Bridge project officials. The Chinese builders were repeatedly requesting the Bangladeshi engineers to start the test piling through sacrificing animals. “We told them not to do so. But they did not listen to us,” said a senior official,” preferring anonymity.
“Finally, we had to allow them, but we also ensured that the animals were slaughtered according to Islamic laws,” the official said, adding that no Bangladeshi senior officials of the project joined the programme on “religious” ground.
Why this old story is again remembered here? The answer is simple. The old incident again evoked in people’s mind when recently the law enforcers have arrested over a dozen of people on charges of spreading rumours on Facebook that “human heads and blood are required to complete the Padma Bridge”. Besides the arrests, police have also rescued many others from mobs while beating them on suspicion of child lifters and abductors.
Why this old story is again remembered here? The answer is simple. The old incident again evoked in people’s mind when recently the law enforcers have arrested over a dozen of people on charges of spreading rumours on Facebook that “human heads and blood are required to complete the Padma Bridge”. Besides the arrests, police have also rescued many others from mobs while beating them on suspicion of child lifters and abductors.
The rumour of child abduction and beheading them for the purpose of Padma Bridge construction was so ripe that many innocent people fell victims of mob beating in different parts of the country. However, the situation is now apparently under control as law enforcement agencies have taken several measures to stop spreading of the rumour.
We know every culture has its own unique superstitions, and China is no different. Like many Asian and African countries, China is also a superstitious nation. Chinese culture is rich in beliefs, customs, and superstitions that vary greatly from those in the West. That’s the difference.
It was a dangerous practice or superstition, whatever the term may be used, to borrow from another country a practice which could be abused to make some simple minded people to believe that if blood of living beings are necessary for successful completion of a very important project like Padma Bridge children blood might also be required by that country’s superstition.
We fail to understand why we had followed China’s brutal superstition for the good of our project just because they have been given contract to finish the job and not being able finish in time. Delays are regular and costs of the project are jumping high at a very cost to us.
In our view, in which way the Chinese superstition was practiced, it is not acceptable. The government should have explained it clearly for stopping the fear generated among the people who misunderstood or abused the Chinese superstition for creating panic of kidnapping children. Police cases and police arrest may be the full answer.
Still we find it unbelievable why our way of praying for the bridge was found not enough. It is our bridge and our way of making it successful should have been followed.
