[Reader-list] Musee Guimet & The Candy Man

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

Shahidul Alam's report on today's Bangladesh government press
conference to address Musee Guimet protesters concern is below and
also linked here:
http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2007/12/01/tintin-bengal/

Also, courtesy of Shahidul, I have updated the documentation examples

Lack of documentation
a) set of coins catalogued as "coins", with no specifics
b) inconsistent numbers ("50 silver coins, and 8 gold coins" at Dec 3
Bangladesh government press conference, "50 punchmarked coins" in one
set of court records, "gold and silver coins" in another record, "93
punch marked coins" in the French inventory)
b) missing accession numbers (no accession number for large and
extremely rare bronze statue the Vajrasattva, insured at 200,000 Euro)
c) mismatch between number of pieces documented by the French
photographer who catalogued the show, the number given in French
embassy contract, and the number in Embassy's press release
d) incomplete descriptions, missing descriptions
e) insurance value of 4 million Euros, for a collection that dates
back to 4th century BC. An international archaeological expert has
since called this appraisal "financial fraud".
f) insurance value of 4 million Euro as per French press release of
25th September, 2.6 million Euro as per Dec 3 Bangladesh government
press conference
g) no response to protesters demand for name of artefact packer

#####################

The Candy Man
Shahidul Alam

He was charming, witty, and took blame upon himself. Adviser Ayub
Quadri, was the Minister of Education, Minister of Primary and Mass
Education and Minister of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People's
Republic of Bangladesh. He was the perfect guy to rely upon for damage
control. The public school background showed, as did the many years as
a top bureaucrat. He had been a member of the elite Civil Service of
Pakistan (CSP). An old boys network that still holds clout in the
subcontinent.

The Press Information Department (PID) auditorium on the 3rd floor of
Building 9, in the Bangladesh Secretariat was packed. Unlike many
other Bangladeshi events it started on time. Squeezing through the
footpaths, crossing fences, lifting my bicycle over rickshaws stuck in
traffic, I had panted my way to the secretariat. The police at gate 2
had been too perplexed by a bicycle going through the gate to even
stop me for papers. I arrived just as the first question was raised.
It was a packed hall, and while I thought I would stay at the back, I
realised that I needed to get up there to stand any chance of getting
a question in. I sat on the floor in between the video tripods.

The journalists had done their homework. And while there were a few
questions that were repetitive, by and large, they knew what they
wanted. In response to a question about the alleged corruption charges
against one of the government officials involved in the transaction,
the adviser joked. "Well I am the person in overall charge. The police
don't seem to be after me for corruption." Pretty answer. Pity it
didn't answer the question.

The large table with the adviser in the middle was imposing. The
Secretary of Culture on the left and another officer on the right
played a largely ornamental role. So did the entire row of officials
in the back. They did however lean forward to whisper in the adviser's
ear from time to time. The question came up of the alleged
transportation of the bronze casket in 1959 to France, which Mr.
Zakaria, the ex Secretary of Culture had mentioned in a press
conference on the 1st December. The adviser let the question slip,
saying he'd heard of such accusations and was looking into it. A
member of the back row broke ranks and retorted, "There is no such
record." Mr. Zakaria, also an ex director of the department of
archaeology, had mentioned a 49 year fight to get back this prized
possession, without success. A journalist mentioned the case of the 30
paintings of Mohammad Younus. They had been sent to Yugoslavia, on a
government to government exchange.  None had ever come back. Quadri
again said he didn't know. "Don't know" was quite a common response to
questions. Candid perhaps, but not particularly useful.

In answer to the questions about the irregularities regarding the loan
inventory, the adviser did provide figures, but no documents he could
back them up with. Questions from the floor pointed to the disjoint
between the figures he quoted and the ones given in the government
documents submitted to the court. That they didn't correspond to the
inventory produced by the French themselves. He promised to provide
updated documents this very evening. Tomorrow morning at the latest.
Why the government had provided documents to the court which did not
tally with the shipment, was a question that never got asked, and was
certainly not clarified. Neither was the mystery regarding calling a
press conference, but not having these documents at hand ever solved
by the guests.

"I have full confidence that the items will come back." He said,
taking the weight of the world on his shoulders. As to why
Bangladeshis should have confidence in him, was one that was never
clarified.

"The company that had packed the crates have been doing so for 300
years," he mentioned. The doubters have been asking for the packers to
be named ever since the beginning, but have not been given an answer.
Those who had thought the press conference would enlighten them were
disappointed.

Since only government members of the committee were present, there was
no one to question the claim that everything had done to please the
committee. That the committee had been fully satisfied with the
proceedings. The fact that the official letter by the committee, in
the hands of the press, said something entirely different was a mere
technicality.

The problem was the inconsistencies. We still don't know exactly how
many items are being sent. Neither do we know exactly what is being
sent. The few specifics the advisor provided, that there were "50
silver coins, and 8 gold coins," might have helped in purchasing
supplies for an Everest expedition, but didn't help much in evaluating
either the value, or the specifics of a museum item. Especially when
the court record states "50 punchmarked coins" in one entry and an
unspecified number of "gold and silver coins" in another. Assuming the
number of silver coins in the latter entry is non-zero, and that the
punchmarked coins are all silver, we still have a problem. The French
inventory specifies "93 punch marked coins." Are the "gold and silver
coins" non-punchmarked? Do they add up to the "8 gold coins" the
adviser was referring to? 50 + non-zero number = 50 and 50 + 8 = 93 in
Ayub Quadri's arithmetic.

There are bigger issues. He generally accepted that the insurance
value was low, but claimed that it was an academic issue in the case
of priceless items. Especially since he was confident that they were
all coming back. However the French press release, issued on the 25th
September 2007, stated that the insurance value was 4 million euro.
The adviser today clearly stated 2.6 million euro. So who are we to
believe? We are after all talking of the most prized possessions of a
nation. Consistent statements help remove doubt. The adviser's
"confidence" might work on a poker table, but does little to put a
worried population at ease.

He brushed off the accusation about whisking off the items in a hurry,
or that there was any question of impropriety or stealth in terms of
going against court directives. When asked why such an important
event, which was covered by all major independent media, was
completely unreported on state television, he smiled. The gentleman on
the right did speak up this time. He pointed out that the question was
"irrelevant."

Other questions remain. In the documents presented to the court by the
government, even one of the most valued items, the large (and
extremely rare) bronze statue the Vajrasattva does include an
insurance value (not always the case) of 200,000 euro. The item does
not have an accession number.

Quadri was unruffled throughout, never losing cool. Always extremely
pleasant. His only admission to some concern was in answer to a
question about when the items would come back. He said in no uncertain
terms, "April." He added, "Until then, I will stay worried, and
looking at the mood in the room, I can tell that you too will not
rest."

As a child, we would watch the candy floss man take a tiny spoonful of
sugar, a dollop of colouring and would watch with amazement as the
machine spun out a pink web, which he would twirl around a stick. One
portion was only dui poisha (two paisa). A figure which we could
realistically save up. The large pink fluff, folded on contact, and
melted in the mouth, but did give a sense of attainment. We called it
hawai mithai, sweet made of air. This candy floss press conference
too, had little substance but plenty of form.

Whether the media kids will feel they got value for their dui poisha
is something we'll see in tomorrow's headlines.

———

Previous governments have killed farmers when they demanded
fertilisers and seeds. Villagers have been killed when they had the
audacity to demand electricity, resist open pit mining. Yesterday 14
cyclone affected people were detained for trying to present a
memorandum in protest of irregularities in relief efforts. We wonder
what demands for saving our heritage will bring.