The grand jury indictment of Mohammed Ali in August on multiple charges of predatory sexual assault is causing turmoil in Hudson's Bangladeshi community that is spilling out into the political arena. On September 11, JAAGO Hudson held a rally in Hudson in support of the victims of Ali's alleged abuse. The group assembled at Promenade Hill and then marched to Ali's house. Among the speakers who addressed the crowd there was one of Ali's accusers, who told for her experiences.
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| Photo: Facebook |
Despite how fearless I felt in that moment I could not get over the disappointment and heartbreak I felt when I saw there was very little representation from the brown community. The Bengali community representatives (Abdus Miah, Shershah Mizan, Dewan Sarowar) voted into city positions did not show up, nor did they reach out to show their support. Our current representatives may wear the same skin, speak the same tongue and face the same battles but their values and stance on social issues do not mirror the needs of the Bangladeshi community or Hudson in general. They hold office positions for power and fame. It's as simple as that.
The elected officials from the Bangladeshi community are taking the position that the issue is now a matter for the court to decide. In the article that appeared in the Register-Star, Third Ward alderman Shershah Mizan is quoted as saying, "I respect the law. The case is in the court." The article also quotes Second Ward alderman Dewan Sarowar: "Both of them [the accusers and the accused] are in my community. I can't make either of them happy or unhappy." Both men said they had not attended the rally because they knew nothing about it.
Speaking with Gossips on Friday, Abdus Miah, who represents the Second Ward on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, talked about due process. He said he had been advised by legal counsel to remain neutral and stressed that the presumption of innocence was a fundamental principle of the law. "No elected official can convict," he asserted. "It would be taking the law into my own hands. If we do that, we don't need a justice system." Miah also expressed regret that none of the victims ever came to the leaders of the Bangladeshi community. He said he had no knowledge of the situation until he read about Ali's arrest last November in the newspaper.
The expressed desire of these elected officials not to interfere in the judicial process is not being well received. At the Common Council meeting last week, Quintin Cross, who has allied himself with the JAAGO Hudson cause, demanded to know "where the aldermen stand on the incident of abuse in the Bengali community." When Sarowar and Mizan did not speak, someone who was not identified declared, "Their silence is complacency." Although the speaker said complacency, she may have meant complicity. Alderman Tiffany Garriga, who had called out Sarowar and Mizan, then expressed her contempt for "any man who thinks he can get away with this or any man who helps them," adding, "I won't stand for it!"
In a Facebook post, Jarin Ahmed, another of the organizers of JAAGO Hudson, wrote: "There is a fine line between showing support and making a judgment. No one is being asked to be the judge/jury/executioner. Simple support would be enough. . . . The only thing at stake for these officials is losing votes/support from misogynists."
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The protestations of the elected Bangladeshi men ring hollow, particularly in light of the community's unity on this issue. The 3rd ward aldermen have distinguished themselves throughout their respective tenures doing and saying absolutely nothing of any value to the ward or the city. One or the other seem to abstain half the time a vote is called and most of those are on nonbonding resolutions. It seems high time these two do-nothings made way for those willing to do the job.
ReplyDeleteOne of the 3rd Ward Aldermen mentioned above, whom I personally like, has erected a sign outside his house which rates among the most misinformed statements I’ve ever seen in Hudson: “Get the Gravel Trucks Off City’s Streets.”
ReplyDeleteOn the face of it, to newcomers for instance, it sounds like a good message. If there’s an alternative, then why aren’t the gravel trucks using it?
The real answer to that question is that the gravel company won’t entertain the prospect until it can extract every advantage it desires from the city.
But had the Alderman any idea of the history of this issue - never mind the actual percentage of bothersome trucks on his street involved with the gravel industry – he’d know that in doing Linda Mussman’s bidding the subtext of his message deliberately incites racial tensions on behalf of Ms. Mussman’s political goals.
By simplifying the issue for simple minds, Superintendent Mussman cultivates division by prioritizing a single privation, albeit an unpleasant one, to the exclusion of every other consideration impacting Hudson’s future.
Essentially, the subtext of the Alderman’s sign tells us that if you’re not in the business of giving the company what it wants, i.e. every advantage, then you don’t care about Environmental Justice along those city streets which, in reality, the company can stop using as soon as holding the city hostage is no longer advantageous.
(The obvious alternative route, already worked out with the Common Council and adopted into Local Law in 2011, was nearly complete in 2015 and remains that way today. But that alternative is not what Ms. Mussman or the Alderman’s sign are urging.)
Mr. Alderman, please help us solve the actual problem by removing your ugly and divisive sign. You yourself are being misused, and that is not helping the overall situation.
As abhorrent as the alleged behavior may be, these elected officials are right. This is a criminal matter, and the defendants are entitled to a fair trial. It is totally inappropriate for anyone, especially public officials, to try to influence the outcome of a criminal proceeding. How can responsible public figures not understand this?
ReplyDelete