Unfortunately, political unrest, natural disasters and a media report entitled: "Beware of Bangladesh" delayed the professor's visit to Bangladesh. Nevertheless, Izumida did finally visit the country earlier this year, accompanied by a Bangladeshi researcher and colleague at Tokyo University.

During his visit, he observed how a Muslim country like Bangladesh has mobilised women in various socio-economic development programs with due respect to their religious values; how Hindu and Muslim women assembled together at group meetings of a microcredit program; how a Muslim woman improves her life gradually with her husband's support through microcredit and, through a new role of entrepreneurship, enables her household to flourish.

Izumida was astonished to witness the confidence and resilience of Bangladeshis to cope with natural disasters given limited resources; whereas his country, Japan, spends million of dollars to evacuate and rehabilitate disaster-affected people. Upon completion of his visit, Izumida remarked that Bangladesh is not accurately represented in the international media.

The very same day, my Managing Director, (present Governor of Bangladesh Bank) met with the newly appointed French Ambassador to Bangladesh. The ambassador informed him that the media was not portraying the socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh as per the actual realities. He also remarked that Bangladesh exhibited far greater potential than his previous working place and that communal harmony and women's social participation in all walks of life are exceptional. He also committed to bring a group of French journalists to Bangladesh to share the real picture of Bangladesh with the people of France.

Mr. H.B. Disanayaka, Chairman of National Development Trust Fund (NDTF) and one of the financial advisors of the late president Mr. Premadesha of Sri Lanka also visited Bangladesh a couple of months ago. He was charmed by the absence of discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, or religion in Bangladesh. He observed how a woman entrepreneur operated two big poultry farms and dealt with male wholesalers. He also opined that microcredit programs with the participation of a large number of women should remain integral to the poverty reduction strategy of Bangladesh.

Few week back, the First Lady of Uganda, Her Excellency Mrs. Janet Musevini, visited microcredit, healthcare and child education programs for the poor in Bangladesh. The President and the First Lady of Uganda have promoted child education and played a key role in HIV/Aids awareness in Africa.

The First Lady, along with her entourage, was delighted to observe the progression of a microcredit program, how targeted members are receiving secondary health care services from a clinic that was set up by the organisation with their own fund and service charge earnings from microcredit and providing child education without the support of donors. Upon returning from a field trip, Al-Karim Hudda, a member of the First Lady's entourage, commented on the impressive degree of women's participation in the development programs he had observed. He was impressed to see that women maintained Islamic values were roaming and chattering at will and a large number of girls were going to school. In this context, he was bewildered to see inflammatory headlines about Bangladesh, such as: "Beware of Bangladesh" and "Bangladesh a fundamentalist country" in the print media.

I responded to my guest: "Fundamentalism is not a bad quality." In the course of our discussion, I remarked that Socrates was a fundamentalist, and so were Karl Max and all who believe in any social, political, or religious dogma. Fundamentalism that is imposed on others is harmful and breeds extremism and, as history reveals, may create chaos, confusion, anarchy, and even bloodshed. Unfortunately, some media use fundamentalism and extremism synonymously, especially when they use these jargons about Islam and Muslims.

As a Bangladeshi, I would like to say, without crossing the boundary of politeness, that not only Muslim religious groups but also Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist alliances are also very much active in this country. They all very freely express their thoughts without any obstruction, particularly from the government mechanism.

During a function at Unicef, the First Lady of Uganda also commented that the potential of Bangladesh is not fairly portrayed by the media. Similarly, sharing his experiences with journalists at Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency, the French Ambassador said: "I feel ease while moving in most parts of Bangladesh. What I saw in my own eyes in the countryside is magnificent and picturesque. People here are happy and hardworking in good social bondage and maintaining a remarkable religious harmony."

The above remarks by international dignitaries about Bangladesh and the social and religious harmony of this country provide a valuable lesson: Don't be wary of Bangladesh; rather beware of partial media.

Md. Hasan Khaled is Assistant General Manager of PKSF.