The atmosphere in Dhaka is strange after that another foreigner was murdered on Saturday. A Japanese man was gunned down by the same method as the Italian citizen five days earlier. The newest attacked happened in Rangpur, in the northern part of Bangladesh.
Once again, the Islamic State claimed that it was behind the murder. Once again, the police seems to be quite clueless. Once again, the Prime Minister blames the opposition. With this kind of guessing game, I could claim that Santa Claus might be the bad boy here.
The security for foreigners in Dhaka has been stepped up. The most visible sign are hoards of idle, heavily armed police officers in front of buildings with foreign interests or residents. Many embassies have urged their citizens to avoid hotels, restaurants and places where foreigners gather.
The violence targeted against foreigners has unfortunately immediate effects on the rest of the society, often the weakest suffer most. Rikshaw pullers have no customers, tour operators' order books have become cancel books, the garment industry is nervous for the consequences.
With all respect to security measures, I will continue to walk in Dhaka and not be afraid.
We heard about the second murder while we were visiting Dhamrai, a town famous for metal casting craftmanship.
The predominantly Hindu village is preparing to Durga Puja festival.
We were gently hickjacked by the Banik family who have been involved in the metal crafts business for more than 200 years.
They showed us the production methods and gave a speed lesson on casting techniques. All from sand to clay casting and some more. I remember lost wax best since I kind of got lost just there.
Not everything that looks copper is copper, raw material can also be old zippers.
The products were stunning: both beautiful and very heavy.
The little elephant on top wanted to move to Dhaka with us. Elephants are said to bring good luck - it's needed now.
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