It was a good call of duty the Prime Minister intended to redeem entirely out of her own volition. She dashed to grieving BNP chief Khaleda Zia's office on Saturday night to personally condole the premature death of her younger son Arafat in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the PM's spirit in that very humane circumstance went unrequited as the two could not see each other. One realises how the BNP chief could not predictably be in a mental or physical condition, having...

REPORTEDLY, in the last two years 150 families of several adivasi communities in Rajshahi left their hearths and homes for India. It is undesirable that a section of the minority community should feel compelled to seek sanctuary across the border. The plight of the adivasis community in the Rajshahi Division may be fairly representative of the condition of the indigenous communities elsewhere in the country. Obviously land and landed property of this weak section of the society is the main cause...

For government ministers to say that there is no political crisis is like burying one's head in the sand. If there is no crisis then why the 30 dead and more than 900 injured since January 5?  The country has suffered three weeks of violence and one sees no end to it. And while it is well and good that the government should take all necessary measures to stem the spate of violence it must also address the fundamental issue,...

We join with the rest of the world in mourning the sad demise of King Abdullah. We shall remember him for his efforts to further strengthen the long fraternal relations between our two countries.  The late King will also be remembered for ushering in reforms in various sectors, his advocating the cause of religious tolerance, and for women's rights, albeit in a limited way, in spite of strong opposition from religious conservatives from within. He is credited with opening the...

Mindless directives are being issued curbing public freedom, interest and convenience in a blanket fashion. Bafflingly, authorities have indefinitely banned motor cyclists from carrying passengers on the back seat or front and that launch passengers will be issued tickets for cabins only after checking their national identity cards. Typically for the 11 lakh owners of motor cycles and their middle class families, the directive comes as a ruthless denial of a convenient, multi-purpose and relatively affordable mode of personal conveyance....

Political violence has been responsible for the untimely deaths of at least 324 passengers and transport workers in two years alone, according to a report by the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh. In addition, over 4.42 lakh passengers and transport workers suffered injuries, with 13,200 of them permanently maimed, while over 30,000 vehicles were vandalised. These statistics are, no doubt, alarming and highlight the severity of people's hardships imposed by wanton political conflict. Given the indefinite nature of the blockade,...

While we strongly believe that appropriate measures should be taken to stop the onslaught of political violence that has killed at least 28 people, we are concerned that the latest drive against terrorism might be giving law enforcement agencies unrestricted power to act at their own discretion, enabling them to indiscriminately arrest, assault and even shoot people. At least four opposition activists have been killed in a span of only four days in 'cross-fires' by law enforcers, highlighting a dangerous...

Amid allegations of anomalies in the recruitment process, Saudi Arabia (KSA), one of the largest expatriate labour markets for Bangladeshis closed its doors seven years ago. Thanks to the diplomatic flurry between the two countries, KSA has agreed to give out labour visas to Bangladeshis once again. Prior to the ban in 2008, an estimated 100,000 Bangladeshis used to obtain jobs in the Kingdom on an annual basis. The lift of the ban across the board enables expatriate workers...

With a significant portion of electricity generated today coming from oil-fired power plants and the international price of oil plummeting to new a low, we find the arguments of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) for increasing power tariff for both bulk and retail customers not particularly convincing. Indeed that was the general feeling of various stakeholders across the board at an ongoing hearing organised by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Authority (BERC). (BPDB) has proposed an 18 per cent price hike...

BTRC has established a disquieting example by shutting down free-internet based messaging services, that too without any prior notice. On January 17, the telecom authority banned Viber and Tango for two days. Later they extended the ban upto 11.59 pm of January 21. Meanwhile, the telecom authority has shut down another popular app, WhatsApp, on Monday. According to BTRC, the decision was taken on directives from an intelligence agency and the home ministry, apparently in an attempt to prevent...