Golam Mortoza

A fighter till the end

Despite his failing health, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury was more active and hard-working than many healthy persons. Death had knocked on his door several times before. But he kept death away and survived miraculously.

An attempt to impede free journalism

Even if the state has an objection against a citizen’s activity, can they legally pick up that person?

SCBA Election: ‘We don’t even consider it an election’

TDS: Why did so many incidents happen during the Supreme Court Bar Association polls this year?

SCBA Election: Happy with outcome of the polls

TDS: Senior lawyer Munsurul Hoque Chowdhury is known to be an important and reliable person. He participated in the previous SCBA polls from the pro-AL lawyers’ panel. Why did he have to step down?

A model election?

Seeing what happened during the SCBA election, one cannot help but wonder about what might happen in the upcoming general election.

'Never saw police enter SC and attack people, not even during military rule'

Noted Supreme Court Lawyer ZI Khan Panna today said he was ashamed of the scenes that unfolded during the Supreme Court Bar Association elections yesterday, when police assaulted journalists and pro-BNP lawyers inside the premises of the country's apex judicial body.

Where are the hajj pilgrims?

What’s causing the slow enrolment into hajj packages this year?

President Abdul Hamid's inaction as chancellor

Could the President have done more during his tenure?

Despite his limited authority, President Hamid had the opportunities to do certain things and say certain things, but he did not.

Ministers making conflicting remarks on Khaleda to divert focus: Fakhrul

The main purpose of various ministers’ conflicting statements about whether BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia could engage in politics was to divert attention from BNP’s ongoing movement, the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today.

Did the IU authorities take BCL assaulters’ side?

When will BCL’s torture of common students stop?

‘Don’t you dare name any names’

A mere “questioning” sent two of those students to the ICU. The ordeal didn’t end there. BCL leaders and activists forcibly entered the ICU and threatened the two ailing students. They said, “You are comfortable here [in the ICU]. We didn’t beat you much, and yet you are creating drama out of it. Don’t you dare name any names”

‘We are doing well’

This shouldn’t have been a mere political statement; it should have been the reality. But the current government policies are not in line with that goal.

Awami League to get special train for rally attendees in Rajshahi

‘Special train’ for Awami League, ‘transport strike’ for BNP

Why should two political parties of the same nation receive polar opposite treatments?

Money or no money, crisis persists

We are told that taka is available, and then it’s not there anymore.

Islami Bank’s loan scams were not unknown to policymakers

Information about S Alam Group has bought a bank with money from another lender and taken controlling stakes in other banks is surfacing now, but people in the banking sector and involved in economic policy-making knew about the developments, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.

Narrow USD rate gap between formal and informal channels

The government should narrow the gap between informal and formal rates of the US dollar against the taka with a view to attracting remittances through official channels and augmenting foreign currency reserves, a noted economist said recently.

Eden College principal believes solutions to students’ 'mistakes' is in 'counselling'

Tamanna Jasmine Riva and Razia Sultana, president and general secretary of the BCL's Eden Mohila College unit, were accused of hall seat trading, extortion, "blackmailing students into carrying out unethical activities," and torture. There were also issues regarding the other faction of BCL.

If opinions can be changed, who says the poll results won’t be?

ECs in Bangladesh have historically faced controversies

‘Expatriate Diplomacy’ and ‘Mercenary Columnists’

Government decision to engage in expatriate diplomacy to tackle negative propaganda raises a lot of questions.

Mahbub Talukdar: A Lonely Sherpa

When Mahbub joined the Election Commission, he knew his days were numbered.

During an event in Chattogram on the occasion of Janmashtami 2022, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said he had requested India to do whatever necessary in order to keep Sheikh Hasina in power. Now the Bangladesh government does not want to take

Who is responsible for Abdul Momen?

The government does not want to take responsibility for his public statements. Nor does the ruling party.

"Should’ve been done in phases", say experts on fuel price hike

The record fuel price hike yesterday would put Bangladesh in a favourable position as the country enters into negotiations next month with the International Monetary Fund for financial assistance to ease the pressure on the precarious balance of payment and foreign currency reserves.

“Went for fuel price hike as I don’t want to exhaust funds”

In the wake of fuel price hike in the country, The Daily Star spoke to Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, to discuss the situation.

Violence against teachers: A sickness caused by deterioration of values

They were never part of the political elite. Neither were they among the wealthy. Yet they were always considered the most revered and respected members of society because they were teachers -- high school teachers in particular.

Fully profitable, but with govt subsidies

Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) operates with the government’s “alms”, said its managing director Taqsem A Khan while talking about the price hike of water.

Fining journos: ‘No record of press council members disapproving it’

The Press Council Act-1974 was being amended with a provision to fine a journalist up to Tk 10 lakh for offences under the law. Bangladesh Press Council Chairman Justice Nizamul Huq Nasim said the council’s senior journalist-representatives had been consulted with, and they gave their blessings.

Will money laundering continue to haunt us?

PK Halder, the former MD of a bank and a notorious embezzler, siphoned off and laundered about Tk 10,000-11,000 crore out of Bangladesh. That’s equivalent to the combined yearly budget of 51 public universities of the country, which is Tk 10,515.71 crore.

Sri Lankan Crisis: A cautionary tale for Bangladesh

Sri Lanka is going through a period of political unrest amid its ongoing economic crisis.

The tale of one TTE, a minister’s wife and her relatives

TTE Shafiqul Islam fined three passengers who were travelling without tickets. This action prompted the Pakshey Division of Bangladesh Railways (BR) to temporarily suspend him. The punishment was delivered swiftly. So swiftly that Shafiqul had to be informed through a telephone call.

Helmet cannot hide identity

We have become so heartless that we can now watch video of Nahid Mia getting beaten to death – without any hesitation. Once, we identify the "Helmet Gang" as killers, we reach the decision that nothing will happen to them.

Brac’s lesser-known gift to Bangladesh: Vaccination push

If one was to list the work Brac, the organisation Sir Fazle Hasan Abed built, has done or how it has contributed to Bangladesh’s development, the task would be next to impossible.

Brac’s lesser-known gift to Bangladesh: Vaccination push

If one were to explain what work the organisation he built has done or how it has contributed to Bangladesh’s development, the task would be next to impossible; the list is endless. Instead, if we were to ask what hasn’t this organisation done, the answer would be brief though it would take quite a lot of research to find it.

On train to Lviv

Now that he was alive and heading towards Lviv, the Ukrainian city near the border with Poland, it was some sort of a miracle for Rubaiyat Habib.

Why Ukraine will end up in ruins

Before Ukraine was invaded, it received strong assurances from the US and the UK that they would stand beside the country if it’s attacked. Europe in its entirety, too, had vowed to stand with Ukraine.

Did nothing to undermine ACC image

Sharif Uddin, who was sacked by the Anti-Corruption Commission last week, said he had always tried to unmask the corrupt and confiscate illegal wealth during his time at the commission.

Let the promises made to SUST students be fruitful

On January 26, Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal reached the campus of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) at 3am to meet the demonstrating students.

'Need administrative support to free Narayanganj from godfathers, terrorism'

Dr Selina Hayat Ivy has made a name for herself as an energetic, courageous and people-friendly leader.

The subtle and not-so-subtle logic behind fuel price hikes

On the evening of November 3, the government increased the per litre price of diesel and kerosene oil by Tk 15.

The road to development begins with education

We are the biggest applauders of our own successes. Sometimes, regional and international arenas, too, portray our positive growth through development indicators.

Why be ashamed, why not protest?

Till 1990, we lived mostly under military ruling, apart from a brief period of three and a half years at the beginning.

Where logic ends, our electricity policy begins

Over a decade ago, power supply in Bangladesh was inadequate and production was virtually nonexistent. Increasing power production was a dire necessity then. The last caretaker government initiated efforts to that end; those efforts gained momentum when the Awami League government took office in 2009.

The never-ending charade of vaccine calculations

Let us begin with three news highlights related to our vaccine procurement scenario—No one can show an accurate breakdown of how many doses of vaccines have been procured by Bangladesh;

Vaccines Under Covax: Helping homeland in hour of need

When Bangladesh was struggling to get Covid-19 vaccines amid surging infections and deaths, the arrival of 26 lakh vaccine doses over the last one month under the Covax facility offered it a ray of hope.

An ‘earnest appeal’ from health ministry and some serious allegations

There have been many allegations of mismanagement, irregularities and corruption against the health ministry.

‘I have nothing more to ask for’

Not just for Awami League, Tofail Ahmed is one of the most important personalities in Bangladesh politics. He was an elected vice president of

‘Moddhorater Ossharohi’ vice chancellors

The subject matter of this write-up is the ranking of the world’s best universities. But I would like to start on a different note, quoting from legendary journalist Foyez Ahmad’s book “Moddhorater Ossharohi” (roughly translated as “Midnight Horseman”).

If UNO can assume all kinds of credits, why not the blames, too?

The owner of a four storied building and a hosiery factory mischievously asked for government aid meant for the poor, which prompted the UNO Arifa Zahura to take prompt action against him. He was given the choice of feeding 100 helpless people or getting jailed for three months. Initially, the news was just like that.

Fazle Hasan Abed’s Bangladesh

He was born on April 27, 1936 in a famous zamindar family of Baniachang, Sylhet. He passed away on December 20, 2019. He left behind his work and his organisation BRAC. He is still alive in the hearts of people. I am talking about none other than Fazle Hasan Abed. Thanks to a book writing opportunity, I had the good fortune of getting close to him for a few consecutive years. Together, we visited many places of Bangladesh. I saw and I learned about various activities of BRAC. I also came to know about different aspects of his personality.

April 13, 2023