Selina Mohsin

The writer is a former ambassador.

Why remove ‘except Israel’ from passports?

The outburst of violence between Palestine and Israel during the month of Ramadan led to Hamas firing rockets and Israel bombing Palestine.

Is the Commonwealth declining?

Bangladesh is one of the 54 members of the Commonwealth—but how many Bangladeshis are aware of this and that March 8 was Commonwealth Day?

Power play in the Indian Ocean

Sri Lanka and Maldives, by their mere locations, are of geostrategic significance in relation to east-west sea trade to and from South Asia. While Sri Lanka lies close to India’s south-east, Maldives is located 400km south-west of India. The latter has 26 atolls and over 1,000 islands covering a huge maritime area stretching 750km from north to south. They are significant for China, India and US, who are all jostling for strategic positions in the Indian Ocean.

The other side of social responsibility

Ever since I returned to Dhaka in 2011, I have seen how fast Dhaka has been growing. The GDP growth rate has been phenomenal but, with economic wealth, multifarious challenges have come to the fore: land- and river-grabbing, tree-felling, and endless construction changing the landscape of the city.

Maldives: Has the wheel turned full circle?

In an uncharacteristic move, President Abdullah Yameen of the Maldives accepted defeat on September 24, 2018 after an astonishing result where he lost the presidential election to Ibrahim Solih of the opposition coalition. Solih won 58 percent of the votes as opposed to 42 percent by Yameen.

In pursuit of 'Naya Pakistan'

Imran Khan's first speech to the nation after taking office as Pakistan's prime minister was impressive in its range of reforming ambition.

Widening cracks in Europe

There is an ancient Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times”—interesting as opposed to blessed periods of peace and tranquillity. In this sense, Europe is certainly interesting these days. Its cracks are beginning to multiply and widen ominously.

Where is Putin leading Russia?

When Vladimir Putin was inaugurated in 2000 as president for his first term in office, he inherited a Russia shrunken by the collapse of the Soviet Union with an economy left in disorder by President Yeltsin. State assets had been seized by a new class of oligarchs while ordinary Russians found pensions unpaid.

February 17, 2018

Can we take some pointers?

The annual budget of the central government of India is immediately preceded by an Economic Survey, designed to provide the background to the budget decisions.

November 17, 2017

America's grim reality of gun violence

On the night of October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, sprayed bullets at 22,000 concertgoers, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

October 8, 2017

How Bangladeshis are being exploited in Maldives

Discrimination is often the transference of moral degradation to others. The Maldives presents many examples of it in its treatment of migrant workers. Take Malé's old Sultan Park, now upgraded and renamed Rasrani Bageecha.

September 11, 2017

A failed saint

To promise peaceful reconciliation and then make it impossible makes violent extremism inevitable. These words come to mind as the Rohingyas flee from Myanmar to save their lives while Suu Kyi, state counsellor and NLD leader, first remains silent and now seems to endorse ethnic cleansing.

August 24, 2017