The importance of Apr 29

In Bangladesh, we remember the devastating cyclone of Apr 29, 1991 - Cyclone 2B - which devastated the coastline and off-shore islands of Chattogram, Julian Francis writes

There are a number of reasons that make Apr 29 a very special day, bringing both sadness and joy.

Apr 29 is International Dance Day, a day to “let your hair down” and enjoy yourself. Country dances around the world are celebrated with both the old and the young having an enjoyable time. I remember that the International Dance Day message author for 2014 was the French choreographer and dancer Mourad Merzouki and part of his message read:

“Culture, more than any discourse, unites. So have courage and take risks despite the obstacles and the hatred with which you will no doubt be confronted; the beauty of the world will always be by your side. Like dance has been for me. With its singular force to eliminate social and ethnic distinctions, leaving but the movement of bodies in their essence, of human beings returning to their pure expression, unique and shared.”

In Bangladesh, we remember the devastating cyclone of Apr 29, 1991 - Cyclone 2B - which devastated the coastline and off-shore islands of Chittagong, Chakoria and Cox’s Bazar.

Although the official death toll was 138,000, it is estimated that very many more perished on that fateful night. It took several weeks to recover the bodies of the victims. As many as 10 million people, by some accounts, were left homeless by Cyclone 2B. Additionally, a million head of cattle were lost. Because of this, and the heavy loss of crops, shortage of food supplies posed a critical danger to the survivors.

Apr 29 is also observed as “World No-Golf Day” because on this day in 1993 the Global Anti-Golf Movement (GAG’M) was launched at a meeting in Penang, Malaysia by some Asian environmental organisations.

At that time, the cost of playing golf in places like Japan had sky-rocketed and golf tourism started whereby Japanese businessmen would travel to countries like Thailand and Indonesia where new golf courses were being built. Small farmers were being pushed off their agricultural land which was gradually transformed. Exotic soil and grass, chemical fertilisers, fungicides and weedicides, as well as machinery were all imported to substitute for natural ecosystems. The environmental impacts included water depletion and toxic contamination of the soil, underground water, surface water and the air. This in turn led to health problems for local communities, populations downstream and even golfers, caddies and chemical sprayers in golf courses.

And lastly, Apr 29, 1945, was the day on which Adolf Hitler realised that he would soon be killed by the approaching Soviet Army. He had learnt that day how the Italian wartime leader Mussolini had been brutally killed and his body put on public display. Hitler was determined to avoid that sort of end. He and his longtime companion, Eva Braun, married that night and a few hours later took their own lives.

[This writer, born on Apr 29,1945, believes that Hitler, in fact, committed suicide on hearing of his (the writer’s) birth!]

[Julian Henry Francis is a British-born development and social worker who played a crucial role in helping refugees during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War]