Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Akram Hosen Mandal


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Spartaz Humbug! 11:14, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Akram Hosen Mandal

 * – ( View AfD View log )

Non notable local politician who fails our notability guidelines. Article is poorly sourced and written from a fans point of view. Vinegarymass911 (talk) 08:59, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. Vinegarymass911 (talk) 08:59, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Bangladesh-related deletion discussions. Vinegarymass911 (talk) 08:59, 25 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Draftify. Per nom, also possible undeclared WP:COI. SailingInABathTub (talk) 12:52, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. Wikipedia is not an obituary portal. RationalPuff (talk) 16:24, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Comment-This article captures the life, and political contribution of recently passed Mr Akram Hosen Mandal, a political leader and a former union parishad chairman from Bangladesh’s Haluaghat who was elected repeatedly three times for his honesty, integrity and commitment for the people and the land. I strongly believe the world, especially the young generations of Bangladesh and the South Asia deserve knowledge and information about Mr Akram Hosen Mandal. Mr Akram Hosen Mandal’s contribution to organise refugee camps during Bangladesh’s liberation war, his strong active role in leading successful general strikes during military rule and many other aspects of his life should be part of public knowledge and the history. IT would possibly be an injustice if this article is deleted from the Wikipedia. As it is my first article draft for Wikipedia, I understand unintentional mistakes can happen during the article drafting or editing. I am happy to hear about, and address the mistakes, insufficiencies and inadequacies of this article. If you kindly inform me the problems or insufficiencies it will be a generosity and I will then try to address the identified issues as much as possible. I will eagerly wait to hear from you. Thank you all for your support, cooperation and generosity to allow me with opportunities to improve the quality of the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadimul Mandal (talk • contribs) 13:11, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * what evidence you have for any of the above? Just proving he was in the position of responsibility or taken part in something is not enough. The subject contribution need to be significant and it need to be supported by wide coverage. Your newness is not the problem. I will be glad to save an article from deletion by adding information, if sources exists and/or there are indication that the subject is notable. RationalPuff (talk) 09:05, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

The use of the phrase ‘non-notable local politician’ by a Wikipedia reviewer was a highly problematic comment. It devalued and marginalised the people with significance from rural, remote, non-urban areas and subaltern communities. The comment provided was very elitist in nature.

The article that I have been drafting is still in a very raw or work-in-progress stage and it is within my plan to gradually work towards it's completion with sufficient citation and referencing, with objective language and tone use and many other stages of academic and professional writing exercise. Identifying and levelling an article for deletion at an early stage of writing is not a good practice, I must say. You need to give time to people to build their content, to build their article first.

I initiated this write up neither from a fan's points of view, not I am writing an obituary. My subject has spent a life with significance and his legacies, his historical roles ( history is not only about kings, queens and urban intellectuals, politicians and celebrities history is also about people like my subject- making or changing processes and the nature of politics in the grassroots, in the machines, in the peripheries) to be documented for world’s future generations. You may argue that my subject person Mr Akram Hosen Mandal’s name or contribution not already available in a lot of media. In relation to this I must say you need to consider the context, the time, the area where and when Mr Akram Hosen Mandal made his significant political contributions- he worked in a prior to the Internet time, in a remote and rural area. You cannot expect available of a wide range of published materials in relation to a people like him. There are hundreds and thousands of people with significant contributions to public life and humanity in this world who are still not captured in the lenses of visual media or academic or media write-ups. That doesn't mean we don't have an evidence base or references to support the creation or completion of Wikipedia entries on these persons. We need to move beyond the conventional and narrow definition of evidence. To understand and document you just cannot rely merely on previously published write-ups. If you only look for previously available published work on a person or subject how public knowledge will be created and further expanded?

The point that I wish to make is straightforward: we need to provide sufficient time, direction, support and cooperation to me or other Wikipedia contributors before sudden levelling or stereotyping a work-in-progress or draft article for deletion. The article that I have been building will ultimately be a well researched, well-cited and objective Wikipedia entry. We need time for that. There should not be any unnecessary rush.

Thanks for your cooperation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadimul Mandal (talk • contribs) 11:13, 26 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Will you disclose any relationship you have with the subject per our policy. I am noting the fact that you share the same surname. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and not an indiscriminate list of people. As such we have guidelines and rules on who qualify for an article. His position does not give him a pass on notability guidelines so we have to see if there is adequate coverage in reliable sources, there isn't. Wikipedia job is not to represented underappreciated people; if you want to highlight his success than might I recommend writing a blog or a news article? Is the topic notable? The answer is not; it does not have the required sources. Just because someone is not notable per Wikipedia guidelines does not diminish them or their legacy. Please read Notability (people).Vinegarymass911 (talk) 20:45, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

As I said before, the article is at the draft or work-in-progress stage at this point.

Systematic research and writing processes will be undertaken and applied involving all the stakeholders and information sources to progressively improve the quality, content, accuracy, objectivity and referencing.

I am keen to contribute to the Wikipedia community. As an anthropologist and social scientist I will be very interest to make solid intellectual and professional contribution to the Wikipedia community.

I commenced writing this particular article as an anthropologist and social scientist. How local politics, local figures and local experiences contribute to shaping the global agenda is an exciting area to discuss and debate. Conventional understanding about ‘notable person’ is very problematic.

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadimul Mandal (talk • contribs) 05:25, 27 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete The topic has not been shown to be notable (to meet Wikipedia's inclusion criteria). Unless that circumstance changes within the next few days, the article will not be kept.
 * In principle, non-notable subjects could always be draftified/userfied in the hope that some day research will unearth adequate sources, or that more will be written about the subject, or that Wikipedia will radically loosen its inclusion criteria. But a union parishad chairman who did not go on to higher office has never been the subject of a stand alone Wikipedia biography, and long experience has taught that the odds of that changing are vanishingly small. It would be more unkind to give the author the false hope that this topic might ever be accepted than it would be to delete it. The author would be better advised to consider alternative outlets for what they want to write about Mandal.
 * If there were an article about Haluaghat Union, Mandal's name could be included in a list of chairpersons, and this title redirected there. The only other redirect target I can see would be his brother, Kudratullah Mandal. I don't think that's a good target, but others may disagree. There is no non-duplicative content worth merging anywhere. --Worldbruce (talk) 16:38, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi thanks all for sharing your perspectives and thoughts.

This article was written with the intention to capture the life and contributions of Mr Akram Hosen Mandal as a politician. His role as a union parishad chairman for three terms (you will see the union parishad website referred only two terms, in reality he served for three terms- this reflects limitations of conventional referencing based on electronically available references only) is only one aspect of his rewarding career. I was keen primarily to capture his solid political contributions in a wide range of areas that includes contributions during the Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, his contributions in mobilizing the protest in the border land areas after the killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and family in post 1975 political unrest, mr Akram Hosen Mandal’s solid contributions to oppose and challenge to the military regime of general Ershad through successful leading of hartals, strikes, protests and mass mobilisations in one of which he luckily escaped the sword by jumping into a waste water full pond while his sons and his pro democracy supporters were brutally tortured and arrested. The news was the main headline item of that day in the BBC Bangla. He donated his personal land for establishing a college which is now the largest college in Haluaghat and would possibly get a separate Wikipedia entry in the future. The greatest of all role Akram Mandal served in his life is the promotion, leading and maintenance of community harmony and peaceful inter-ethnic, inter-cultural, inter-faith relationships in a challenging context of rural, remote, regional borderland areas where hindu, muslims, christians and garo indigenous peoples live, and challenging time when Bengali settlers were dumped by military rule and also during the post babri mosque destruction. He was the person who constantly connected and acted as a bridge, as a glue between people of different communities, cultures and religions.

Narrowing a politician with a wide range of political and social contributions merely into a ‘union parishad chairman’ and then labeling or stereotyping as a ‘non-notable subject’ and then making sudden decision for deletion of a article which is in its initial drafting stage is a very immature, rigid, closed and problematic approach that doesn’t support ongoing progression and evolvement of public knowledge for our future generations. A union parishad chairman can’t be a notable subject or a union parishad chairman has limited opportunities to be a notable person are problematic assumptions with very elitist worldview and supports dominant representation of union parishad chairman’s in the conventional dominant media or discourse. The approach of directly linking an union parishad chairman with ‘non-notable’ subject is neither dynamic nor historical. This approach does not see the ways the importance of different professions, including union parishad chairman, changes over time and throughout the history.

Thank you for your ongoing considerations to support future improvement of this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadimul Mandal (talk • contribs) 09:13, 4 March 2021 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.