Post Tagged with: "Bangladesh"

Dead Man Walking: One Poet’s Struggle for Freedom of Speech in Bangladesh

Dead Man Walking: One Poet’s Struggle for Freedom of Speech in Bangladesh

On the 26th of April 2023, Mohammad Mofijul Islam, the officer in charge of the Jatrabari police station of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Bangladesh, recorded a general diary alleging that I, William Gomes, a freelance journalist and Bangladeshi living in the UK, committed a crime under Section 21 of the DSA. The general diary accused me of engaging in propaganda[Read More…]

by 04/05/2023 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
 Is a US-Sponsored “Regime Change” in the Offing in Bangladesh?

 Is a US-Sponsored “Regime Change” in the Offing in Bangladesh?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdul Momen in Washington on Monday, April 10th (Blinken had asked Momen to meet him) to discuss the current state of affairs in Bangladesh; in particular, the modus vivendi for the next parliamentary elections, as well as violence against and intimidation of the media and civil society, especially under the[Read More…]

by 14/04/2023 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Thousands of Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec. 10, 2022, to demand the Hasina government resign and hold early elections. [AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu]

Mass protests in Bangladesh against brutal cost of living increases

Tens of thousands of people protested in Dhaka on December 10 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led government and to call for new elections over rising inflation, fuel increases and violent police attacks. The next general election is not officially due until the end of 2023. The demonstrations—part of a national series of “restore democracy”[Read More…]

by 18/12/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Graduate Unemployment and Skill Mismatch in Bangladesh: A Broader Context

Graduate Unemployment and Skill Mismatch in Bangladesh: A Broader Context

The staggering rate of unemployment among university graduates in Bangladesh, and the difficulty faced by employers in securing a skilled workforce, pose a conundrum for the country’s development journey, with implications regarding productivity, growth, social welfare and integration in the global value chain. A World Bank study found that, more than a third of university graduates remain unemployed for one[Read More…]

by 14/07/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bangladesh people’s struggles in 1947-1971: The dynamics

Bangladesh people’s struggles in 1947-1971: The dynamics

Life, of individual and of class, doesn’t move without contradictions. And, people’s life doesn’t sit immobile. Life and contradiction, thus, is inseparable. Dynamics in people’s struggle moving on the matrix of class contradictions is complex. Individual ideology and culture, economy, fairy tales and musical instruments and life within home and in production places and markets cannot escape contradictions with respective[Read More…]

by 06/05/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Two leaflets of February 1952 in Bangladesh

Two leaflets of February 1952 in Bangladesh

Immemorial February 21 produced significant political literature. The literature is evidence of political, and to be definite, class position of concerned parties; be it a group or political party, a faction or a political trend or establishment. The communist party in this land, brutally assaulted by the neo-colonial state of Pakistan, had not forsaken its fundamental position – a society[Read More…]

by 29/04/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bangladesh’s Response to the US Sanctions: Matured or Imprudent?

Bangladesh’s Response to the US Sanctions: Matured or Imprudent?

On December 10, 2021, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Bangladesh’s elite paramilitary force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven of its current and former officials accusing of human rights abuses and abductions. Even though US-Bangladesh has been enjoying a cozy relationship since the birth of Bangladesh, this sudden human-rights related sanctions have raised concern in the South Asian[Read More…]

by 28/02/2022 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Should Bangladesh Lease Land from South Sudan?

Should Bangladesh Lease Land from South Sudan?

For a long period of time, Bangladesh has been striving to ensure food security at home by planning to shop farmland abroad. Recently, South Sudan, an African country, has expressed interest in leasing a vast area of its fallow land to Bangladesh in order to collaborate in agricultural production, processing, and marketing in the central African countries. This is not[Read More…]

by 11/02/2022 1 comment World
 U.S. hounds Bangladesh to join military pact

 U.S. hounds Bangladesh to join military pact

With its latest steps, America runs the risk of being branded as a nation genetically predisposed to harming the homeland of 165 million Bengalis, many of whom still vividly remember how President Richard Nixon aided their enemy, Pakistan, in pursuit of his secret ping pong diplomacy via Islamabad. The United States has stepped up efforts to push Bangladesh to join[Read More…]

by 28/12/2021 Comments are Disabled World
American Sanctions on Human Rights Violators in Bangladesh: A Backlash to Bangladesh or China?

American Sanctions on Human Rights Violators in Bangladesh: A Backlash to Bangladesh or China?

The frustration of those who lost hope of any retaliatory action against human rights violators in Bangladesh has finally been eased, at least partially, by the recent US Treasury Department’s action against a few law-enforcers in the country, well-known for gross human rights violations. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury has designated[Read More…]

by 16/12/2021 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Bangladesh: Two Million Lives That Could Have Been Saved, but Were Not

Bangladesh: Two Million Lives That Could Have Been Saved, but Were Not

How Nixon and Kissinger failed to respond to urgent need for course-correction from their own senior diplomats This year events relating to the liberation of Bangladesh have been recalled time and again as Bangladesh has completed 50 years as a nation. On March 26 Bangladesh celebrated its 50th freedom day as the first announcement of its freedom was made on[Read More…]

by 16/12/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bangladesh @50 — Why Hide So Many Things?

Bangladesh @50 — Why Hide So Many Things?

Some facts for some ‘secular protestors’ Bangladesh is so near and so far, and the border, though we hear it is very porous, is also very opaque or even illusive or hallucinating, thanks to the almighty media, especially the ‘social’ media like Meta-FB, WhatsApp-University, etc. If asked what happened there most will perhaps reply attack on Hindus, on Durga Puja[Read More…]

by 15/12/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bangladesh – A victory and questions unresolved

Bangladesh – A victory and questions unresolved

Within hours, Bangladesh will begin celebrating that hour of victory – December 16, 1971 – that marks one of the glorious moments in the Bangladesh people’s history of bravery, struggle, sacrifice, setbacks, torment and triumphs. Half a century has passed since that victory of defeating a neo-colonial state – Pakistan. On December 16, 1971, The Bangladesh people heroically compelled the[Read More…]

by 15/12/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Prime Minister Modi and Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina

India-Bangladesh ties at inflection point

In the life of a nation, perhaps, the first fifty years ought to be regarded as marking the rites of passage through adolescence. India can congratulate itself for helping navigate Bangladesh through a difficult childhood. Parentage of a precocious child isn’t easy and Bangladesh can be opinionated, while figuring out its own pathway. India hasn’t always been an indulgent guardian,[Read More…]

by 05/12/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Courage, Caution and the Spirit of 1971

Courage, Caution and the Spirit of 1971

Most wars are not justified. However 50 years ago, as India prepared for war during the greater part of 1971, these preparations were well justified, and were in fact necessary to prevent a higher loss of human lives. Pakistan under Yahya Khan had chosen to suppress the democratic aspiarations of the people of its eastern wing in a most cruel[Read More…]

by 05/12/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
China’s Policy Towards Liberation of Bangladesh

China’s Policy Towards Liberation of Bangladesh

During about 8 to 9 months of 1971, the Pakistani Army and its local collaborators killed nearly 2.5 million people , raped over 3 lakh women and uprooted nearly 10 million from their  homes in Bangladesh ( then known to the world as East Pakistan) in a genocidal crackdown. This was not hidden from the world at all. There was[Read More…]

by 08/04/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bangladesh Liberation: Modi’s Claims: A peep into the past

Bangladesh Liberation: Modi’s Claims: A peep into the past

Bangledesh has completed 50 years of its liberation from the grip of West Pakistan, now Pakistan. It organized a grand program in which among others India’s Prime minster Narendra Modi was also invited. Modi claimed in his speech there that he had participated in the Satyagrah for Bangladesh’s freedom and was jailed for that. Many have pounced on him, as[Read More…]

by 05/04/2021 1 comment South Asia
How Crucial USA Interests Were Harmed by the Foreign Policy of Kissinger

How Crucial USA Interests Were Harmed by the Foreign Policy of Kissinger

Whenever it is recognized that foreign policy distortions of one or more superpowers have led to serious human rights violations and humanitarian crisis in developing countries, the focus has been on studying  how the people in developing countries suffered. This is as it should be , as this is clearly the most important issue. However from the point of view[Read More…]

by 04/04/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Follow-Up Actions Needed to Further Strengthen India-Bangladesh Ties

Follow-Up Actions Needed to Further Strengthen India-Bangladesh Ties

It is good that recently initiatives have been taken by both India and Bangladesh to repair damage and prepare the ground for again strengthening close relationship. The geographical  conditions of the two countries are such that the case for close cooperation and working and planning together is really very obvious and strong. These factors were strengthened by the unique and[Read More…]

by 02/04/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Why the Full Story of Mujibur Rehman’s Killing Cannot be Told Officially

Why the Full Story of Mujibur Rehman’s Killing Cannot be Told Officially

When Banglabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman , the first President of Bangladesh, also called the Father of the Nation and revered by millions as such, was assassinated on August 15, 1975 as a part of the wider efforts to overthrow his popular government, there were some additional aspects of this murder most foul which  shocked the world. All the family members[Read More…]

by 30/03/2021 1 comment South Asia
50th Independence Day of  Bangladesh is a Time to Remember Contributions of Great Courage

50th Independence Day of  Bangladesh is a Time to Remember Contributions of Great Courage

On its 50th  Independence Day ( March 26)  Bangladesh can take well-deserved pride in the advancement in terms of several important development indicators achieved in the middle of many-sided difficulties. It is in addition also a time to recall many courageous contributions of  recent decades, as courage has been much in need in several troubled phases of this land and[Read More…]

by 26/03/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Who Was Behind the Killing of Banglabandhu Mujibur Rehman?

Who Was Behind the Killing of Banglabandhu Mujibur Rehman?

Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was not just the first President of  Bangladesh. Called Banglabandhu and Father of the Nation, he had played  a very  courageous role in resisting domination and repression of his people, leading the Awami League to victory in 167 out of 169 seats parliamentary  seats contested n 1970-71, then being imprisoned, and returning to his beloved people only[Read More…]

by 26/03/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Bengal Muslims: History of Betrayals

Bengal Muslims: History of Betrayals

Scottish historian Sir William Hunter (1840-1900) wrote in 1871 that “a hundred and seventy years ago (In 1700), it was almost impossible for a well-born Musalman in Bengal to become poor; at present it is almost impossible for him to continue rich.” (Ref: Iftekhar Iqbal, World Congress of Economic History, Helsinki August 2006). If Sir Hunter were to make the[Read More…]

by 20/03/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Cartoon image of Bangladesh Army Chief, General Aziz Ahmed’s bandit brother, Harris Ahmed. Source: Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s Tele-documentary, the Bandit Brothers and Bangladesh’s Dossier of Abuse

On February 1, 2021 the Qatar based TV outlet, Al Jazeera aired a tele documentary, “All the Prime Minister’s Men.” The tele documentary that included several sting operations involving convicted fugitive brothers of the Bangladesh Army Chief, General Aziz Ahmed depicted multiple layers of abuse and corruption – money laundering, extortion, bribery, extra judicial killing, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests of[Read More…]

by 13/02/2021 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Conversation around controversies: a quest for objectivity and maturity in Bangladesh

Conversation around controversies: a quest for objectivity and maturity in Bangladesh

Top Left: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman giving his penultimate speech on 7th of March 1971 at Racecourse Maidan, Dhaka, (then East Pakistan) Bangladesh); Top Right. Major (then) Ziaur Rahan announcing independence of Bangladesh at Kalurghat make-shift radio station in Chittagong, Bangladesh on 27th March, 1971; Bottom: Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, Prime Minister of Government-in-Exile of Bangladesh formally proclaiming independence of Bangladesh on[Read More…]

by 21/12/2020 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Is there any alternative to anti-government outburst in Bangladesh?

Is there any alternative to anti-government outburst in Bangladesh?

  In the politics of Bangladesh, opposition parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party frequently say that massive movement will be carried out to oust the government, whereas the ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League, repeatedly responds that oppositions’ anti-government movement will be tackled with full strength. Even if no massive anti-government movement was carried out as said and political situation[Read More…]

by 23/11/2020 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Pandemic, recovery efforts and significance of good governance in Bangladesh

Pandemic, recovery efforts and significance of good governance in Bangladesh

Good governance, a much talked–about concept in political and development discourse in the contemporary world and closely related to the concept of ‘governance’ that usually indicates the process of decision–making and the process by which decisions are implemented, is obviously crucial to successfully deal with catastrophic situations caused by the COVID–19. But there is a clear paucity of good governance[Read More…]

by 13/11/2020 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Of national visions and international status of Bangladesh

Of national visions and international status of Bangladesh

National vision, which usually reflects long-term goals of progression, is crucial for planned development of any country including Bangladesh. A well-developed national vision provides overall development targets to be achieved within a specified time in planned manner, while ill-formulated vision or lack of national vision may result in haphazard or distorted development. Of course, many countries in different regions have[Read More…]

by 30/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
The Begumganj (Bangladesh) Gang-rape and the Big Picture

The Begumganj (Bangladesh) Gang-rape and the Big Picture

I don’t know who drew this this rape-map of Bangladesh, but this is a telling geography of rape epidemic which as can be see here, has spread widely and reached every nook and corner of the country. The scrolls on each district which are in vernacular are appeals to the predators from the rape victims – desperate pleas to dissuade[Read More…]

by 08/10/2020 Comments are Disabled South Asia
 The Bangladesh Crisis: Growth Without Development, Youth Bulge, and Degeneration 

 The Bangladesh Crisis: Growth Without Development, Youth Bulge, and Degeneration 

In view of the prevalent political deadlock, growth-oriented economic development, or growth-without-development – which is simultaneously stagnating and misleading due to inflated GDP growth estimate by the Government – and the absence of the rule of law and accountability of the government, especially since 2007, Bangladesh finds itself in a political cul-de-sac. Why so? The prevalent stalemate under a one-party[Read More…]

by 16/08/2020 1 comment South Asia
 The Top Brass is Shattered in Bangladesh: Aftermath of a Retired General’s Interview

 The Top Brass is Shattered in Bangladesh: Aftermath of a Retired General’s Interview

Although neither the puppet and illegitimate government of Sheikh Hasina nor the pro-Indian Deep State, which has been running Bangladesh for the last twelve years, gathered enough courage to broadcast or publish the transcript of the video interview of Lt General (ret) Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy with a US-based journalist, Kanak Sarwar, on 14th July, yet the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department[Read More…]

by 21/07/2020 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Hasn’t Hasina’s Gambit Backfired? Isn’t Bangladesh Today a Battlefield of Sino-Indian Proxy War?

Hasn’t Hasina’s Gambit Backfired? Isn’t Bangladesh Today a Battlefield of Sino-Indian Proxy War?

Bangladesh since its birth has gone through too many intra-military and intra-civilian conflicts to mention in one breath. As on 14th July, Bangladeshi Lt General (ret) Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy revealed in a bold and candid video interview from Dhaka with Kanak Sarwar, a Bangladeshi American journalist in New York (who fled the country of his birth and now lives in[Read More…]

by 19/07/2020 1 comment South Asia
While Mandarins Run Amok in Bangladesh

While Mandarins Run Amok in Bangladesh

As late as the 16th century, the Chinese indigenised “mandarin”, a variant of Sanskrit “mantri”, Malay “mantiri” via Portuguese “mandarim”, which stands for minister, counsellor, or a very high government official. Chinese mandarins were highly educated, well-groomed, powerful, and influential people having sharp intellect and immaculate mannerism. Their attire, mannerism, and language represented the mainstream of Chinese high culture encompassing[Read More…]

by 27/12/2019 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Victory 1971: The traverse of Bangladesh

Victory 1971: The traverse of Bangladesh

Class struggle defined traverse of the Baangaalee people’s victory-1971 in Bangladesh. The people’s War for Liberation achieved the victory by defeating Pakistan in 1971. Dynamics of class struggle also determined pace and forms of the political and other struggles the Baangaalee people were waging since August 14, 1947, the day the British colonial rulers transferred the bifurcated sub-continent to their[Read More…]

by 16/12/2018 1 comment South Asia
Akramul Haque

 Disorderly Bangladesh: Is Anarchy Lurking Behind Extrajudicial Killings? 

Extrajudicial killings of dissidents and outlaws by states is as old as civilization. The recent world history is replete with such killings. As Hitler had his Waffen-SS and Gestapo, so had Mussolini his Blackshirts to do the job. In the recent past, the last Shah of Iran had his Savak, and the Pakistani occupation Army in Bangladesh had its al-Badr,[Read More…]

by 05/06/2018 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee with  Lt Governor of A & N Islands, Prof Jagdish Mukhi at a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.PTI Photo/RB(PTI8_31_2016_000279A)

Pranab Mukherjee Tells It All!

  India’s immediate past President Pranab Mukherjee (82) in his The Coalition Years, 1996-2012 – his twelfth book – tells his own tale about the last 16 years of his experience in active politics until 2012, when he became the President of the Republic. He was in active politics for 43 years (1969-2012), holding important positions as MP; Leader of[Read More…]

by 01/11/2017 3 comments South Asia
Wake Up Bangladesh, It’s Time For A Foreign Policy!

Wake Up Bangladesh, It’s Time For A Foreign Policy!

  To some, the title of my column today might be utterly ridiculous, as it suggests it’s time for Bangladesh to have a foreign policy. They might raise eyebrows at my suggestion that, Bangladesh is going without any foreign policy, since 2009. To them, Bangladesh has a sound foreign policy under a seasoned career diplomat as Foreign Minister, and an[Read More…]

by 02/10/2017 1 comment South Asia
Bangladesh’s Governance Decay: A Case Of Leadership Betrayal?

Bangladesh’s Governance Decay: A Case Of Leadership Betrayal?

  The sad thing about democracy is that every time you vote, a politician wins and for Bangladesh its tryst with ‘democracy’ its politicians have been anything but happy. Most Bangladeshis feel that they have been betrayed by their politicians especially by their leaderships. They have witnessed how their leaders that sought votes and got themselves elected through democratic frameworks[Read More…]

by 05/08/2017 5 comments South Asia
 What’s So “Interesting” In Bangladesh Today?

 What’s So “Interesting” In Bangladesh Today?

Interestingly, “interesting” is an English expression, which may hide one’s actual opinion about something one considers “interesting”. What I read in Bangladesh media in the last one month is very “interesting” to me. Stories that I read are absurd, bizarre, entertaining, frightful, and sickening. I learnt from media reports and articles that there’s  nothing immoral, or impossible in Bangladesh today.[Read More…]

by 09/05/2017 2 comments South Asia
Bangladesh, Social Media And Longings In A Bizarro World

Bangladesh, Social Media And Longings In A Bizarro World

  It definitely looks like law enforcement in Bangladesh–as also apparently in many other countries, e.g. reference: the British Home Minister’s recent opinions regarding social media, not forgetting similar persistent efforts in the US–is going through a phase that maybe described as mid-life crisis. That’s the time when people—especially men, we’re told, but lots of women too though theirs are[Read More…]

by 01/04/2017 1 comment South Asia
Bangladesh-March-1971: Not The Theater Of The Absurd

Bangladesh-March-1971: Not The Theater Of The Absurd

“Portraying the current crisis [the political development in 1971-Pakistan] as something from the theater of the absurd, he [Bhutto] observed that framing a constitution for Pakistan without the participation of the PPP [Pakistan People’s Party] would be ‘like staging Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark’.” (Richard Sisson and Leo E Rose, War and Secession, Pakistan, India and the Creation of[Read More…]

by 28/03/2017 Comments are Disabled South Asia
ISIS Attacks Bangladesh: Denial, Deceptions, And Delusions

ISIS Attacks Bangladesh: Denial, Deceptions, And Delusions

It has happened again! In the wake of the latest rounds of ISIS terror attacks in Bangladesh, authorities in the country have again started denying the existence of any ISIS terror network there. Rejecting any ISIS involvement in terror attacks in Bangladesh as “propaganda”, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal poses the question: “Why will the ISIS come here?” One wonders if[Read More…]

by 28/03/2017 1 comment South Asia
Modus Operandi And Modus Vivendi In Bangladesh

Modus Operandi And Modus Vivendi In Bangladesh

As government leaders sashay between paltering and prevarication—as they’re wont to do around the world—the people get bombarded, often everyday, with a substantive number of stunners. Just like Mr. President in the United States is doing right now and hogging all the klieg lights. But of course it isn’t only the politicians who are adept—or irresistibly tempted—in taking recourse to[Read More…]

by 31/01/2017 1 comment Human Rights, South Asia
Between And Betwixt Freedom And Fear In Bangladesh

Between And Betwixt Freedom And Fear In Bangladesh

  Since women and men don’t live by bread alone it obviously follows that they can’t live only by economics either. And even that is coming under pressure for any number of causes in recent times. Humans, by nature and as has been repeatedly proven over historical time, seek after a point certain intangibles and perhaps even the metaphysical, verging[Read More…]

by 14/01/2017 2 comments South Asia
Bangladesh: The Truth Is Right Here

Bangladesh: The Truth Is Right Here

Apparently, and especially as gleaned from the verbal declarations of the leaders of myriad types and various ranks, the government in Bangladesh has assumed a schizophrenic tendency. It wants its political adversaries to participate in electoral processes yet, simultaneously, they keep up a persistent drumbeat of negative proclamations. And more often than not the edicts are unadulterated confections of the[Read More…]

by 27/12/2016 1 comment South Asia
Bangladesh: Rekindling The Spirit Of independence

Bangladesh: Rekindling The Spirit Of independence

  The Battle Cry: Independence is humanity’s yearning. Independence is humanity’s lifeline. Independence is bud for humanity’s blooming. Rangalal Bandyopadhyay, a poet from Bengal under British boot, affirmed the position with two questions: Shaadheenataa-heenataay ke baacheete chay …? Daashatta-sreenkhal balo ke pareebe pay …, is there anyone liking a life without independence? is there anyone willing to have a shackled[Read More…]

by 16/12/2016 1 comment South Asia
Understanding Indigenous People’s Issues In Bangladesh

Understanding Indigenous People’s Issues In Bangladesh

  Vidya Bhushan Rawat In Conversation with Chakma MK from CHT, Bangladesh Chakma MK is a Human Rights activist working with indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh since 1980s. He has been working with Human Rights organizations on the issue of Indigenous People. He has spoken at various national and international forums on the issue of[Read More…]

by 12/11/2016 2 comments Annihilate Caste
The Role Of The UN And The Western World During Bangladeshi  Military Coup In 2007: An Empirical Research

The Role Of The UN And The Western World During Bangladeshi Military Coup In 2007: An Empirical Research

Shuttle and excessive diplomacy of western world especially the ‘Tuesday Group’s activities deteriorated 2006-2007 political situation in Bangladesh. Additionally, it was possible to declare the State of Emergency by Army Chief Lt. General Moeen U. Ahmed with the help of Military Secretary to the President (MSP) Major General Aminul Katim using the letter of UN Resident coordinator in Dhaka Renata Lok Dessallien, which[Read More…]

Bangladeshi garment workers participate in a protest against the collapse of an eight-storey building that housed several garment factories and poor safety standards, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013.  The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of the building splintered into a pile of concrete. (AP Photo)

Is Popular Support For Suicide Terrorism Growing In Bangladesh?

  It’s absurd! It’s preposterous to suggest that around 40 per cent of Bangladeshis favour suicide terrorism. Yet this is what some American think tanks and “expert analysts” have recently come up with in their reports, to the detriment of Bangladesh’s reputation. Muslims in Bangladesh – around 90 per cent of the population – are peaceful, liberal, devotional, and even[Read More…]

by 03/11/2016 5 comments South Asia
The Present Dire State Of Bangladesh

The Present Dire State Of Bangladesh

  It was a classic instance of bolting the barn door after the horse had made its getaway… But wait, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s begin at the beginning. Without any sliver of doubt it can be unequivocally declared that almost the entire fault for the enhanced mayhem—with its concomitant loss of precious lives—in Bangladesh should justifiably be[Read More…]

by 27/07/2016 1 comment South Asia
Political Responses And Interventions To Dhaka café Terror attack: A critical perspective

Political Responses And Interventions To Dhaka café Terror attack: A critical perspective

  The article will critically examine and explore the recent Dhaka café terror attack. It will specifically examine the role of the law enforcement agencies in handling the crisis and will question the effectiveness and appropriateness of law enforcers’ interventions. In addressing this issue, the key focus will remain whether the human rights of victims and perpetrators were respected (Masferrer[Read More…]

by 12/07/2016 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Three Killed In Terrorist Attack In Bangladesh

Three Killed In Terrorist Attack In Bangladesh

In a terrorist attack near a mass Eid prayer gathering in Kishoreganj in Bangladesh two policeman and a woman were killed and 13 people were wounded. One attacker had been shot dead. Three terrorists were arrested, one of them injured. A group of terrorists reportedly attacked one of the policemen with a knife and threw homemade bombs at a school[Read More…]

by 08/07/2016 1 comment South Asia
A portrait of Tarishi Jain, a victim of the attack on Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery, is laid out for people to pay respect during a memorial service before her cremation in Gurgaon on Monday. Express photo by Oinam Anand. 04 July 2016

Carnage In Istanbul, Dhaka And Baghdad

The month of Ramadan witnessed unspeakable carnage in three Muslim cities in three different countries. On 28 June 2016, 41 people, both locals and foreigners were killed in shootings and suicide bombings at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport. On 2nd July, 20 people taken hostage by militants in an upmarket restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh were shot andmurdered. On the 3rd of[Read More…]

by 05/07/2016 2 comments World
Terrorism Gains Foothold In Bangladesh: What’s The Way Out?

Terrorism Gains Foothold In Bangladesh: What’s The Way Out?

Bangladeshi politicians, analysts, intellectuals, and media should do the following three things for the sake of durable peace and order in the country: a) stop denying the existence of terrorism, as there is hardly any country without terrorists or terrorist sympathisers, in the post-9/11 world; b) fight terrorism not only with force but also through education and mass motivation; and c) do not think of gaining political leverage by falsely implicating political rivals or personal adversaries as terrorist agents. Terrorists gain most in divided and fractured countries. Examples abound.

by 04/07/2016 1 comment South Asia
Avijit Roy - Blogger brutally murdered in Dhaka Bangladesh

Who’re Killing Freethinkers In Bangladesh? Some Unresolved Issues

Of late, terrorists or unknown assailants have killed freethinking writers and bloggers, a couple of foreign nationals, and two LGBT activists in Bangladesh, around 36 people since February 2015. And almost ritualistically, killers have been bragging about their acts, and proclaiming to be al Qaeda, ISIS, Ansar al-Islam, or Ansarullah Bangla Team affiliates. Interestingly, some Bangladeshi politicians claim (a) various[Read More…]

by 18/06/2016 Comments are Disabled South Asia
A Bangladeshi MP Plays Judge-Jury-Prosecutor!

A Bangladeshi MP Plays Judge-Jury-Prosecutor!

A Bangladeshi MP – who paradoxically represents the ruling coalition as well as its opposition in the parliament – recently played the proverbial role of the judge, jury and prosecutor. He and his associates publicly tortured and humiliated a headmaster of a local school at Narayanganj, for his “blasphemous” comments against Islam. I don’t want to discuss the alleged blasphemy[Read More…]

by 18/06/2016 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Defiance Of Law And Impunity In Bangladesh

Defiance Of Law And Impunity In Bangladesh

Karl Marx, among other critics of imperialism, had some kind words for British colonial rule in India, especially in regard to the prevalent rule of law in the colony. The civil and criminal laws, as evolved in Bangladesh – as in all the former British colonies, worldwide – are based on the British Common Law. However, barring a handful of[Read More…]

by 17/06/2016 Comments are Disabled South Asia