Bloodshed in Brussels and Angst of Muslims of the West
Terrorists struck again within six months of the carnage in Paris, this time in Brussels, the city that serves as headquarters of both NATO and European Union. Brussels is not unknown to terrorism; the city saw acts of terror no less than six times in the past few years, but none with the ferocity and violence
Who guards the guardhouse?
In a surreal digital theft that befits a high octane movie thriller, we were recently informed of the daring heist at
Donald Trump- using democracy to an autocratic future?
The avalanche of Donald Trump's presidential campaign success reached new levels this Tuesday...
Nepal's plight: Land locked or India-locked?
After months of a chill in Indo-Nepal relationship, there is new sign of things warming up and India's loosening of the vise on Nepal. The Prime Minister of Nepal signed several treaties with India in his latest visit to Delhi early February, but only after his country had agreed to amend the recently adopted Nepalese Constitution that apparently had caused the Indian resentment, and put Nepal in the wrong end of the stick.
Law enforcement and accountability
In the last one year, the news that mostly occupied headlines in the US concerned police excesses.
A runaway bureaucracy
In 1972, shortly after liberation, I used to work in the Prime Minister's secretariat in a small cubbyhole of a room that was hardly big enough for one desk and two chairs.
From a winter of discontent to a spring of hope
A year ago from today not even a savvy soothsayer would have dared to predict the change in our political climate that we are witnessing now.
Of turmoil and complacency
THE year 2015 began with a perilous journey of confrontation between the main opposition and the government. On the anniversary of the 2014...
Numbers game, here we go again
What such statements ignore is that crimes against humanity are not judged simply by numbers, these are judged by their viciousness and enormity. By questioning and debating the number of deaths, we cannot deny the enormity of civilian massacre in 1971 and the damage it caused.
Happy endings to a troubled year?
The year 2015 began with firebombs thrown at people, but if everything goes well it may end with people throwing firecrackers into the
Looking back into the mirror
In the apocalyptic days of early December of 1971, when Dhaka was a beleaguered city, there were very few shops
Donald Trump's America
Donald Trump, the blustering billionaire who made a name for himself by proclaiming President Obama as a foreign born citizen...
Collaterals of Terrorism
The suspicion and hatred that Muslims face today cannot simply be removed by condemnation of the terror acts and dissociation from these acts by calling them un-Islamic.
CARNAGE IN PARIS: What will follow?
Once again we are face to face with another bloodbath -- senseless and brutal killing of innocent people in Paris by a robotic gang that is recruited ...
Long road to democracy
Suu Kyi has reportedly said that she would control the future government even though she cannot be President, but she did not elaborate how she would square that circle.
Hiding head in the sands - Our inept pursuit of the killing hands
In our 45 years of history, we have never been able to establish a clear platform of governance structure that upholds rule of law, transparency in governance, or equality.
Assurances of safety and security
Our assurances will continue to sound empty unless the killers of the four bloggers and the two innocent foreign citizens are apprehended and demonstrably punished.
WHEN THE TAIL WAGS THE DOG - MODI'S RSS CHALLENGE
The news of a mob in Dadri, a UP village in India of beating to death an individual suspected of cow slaughter would have been normally viewed just as another communal incident.
Russia joins the fray
At last Russia has decided that it will not be in the sidelines any more. After much speculation among western powers about its role in the four-year long Syrian war, Russia has come out full force to defend its long time regional ally, President Assad.
An accident or a man-made disaster?
Experts on crowd control explain that such stampedes occur when massive crowds of people, in a tightly packed space, attempt to press forward when there is no way to divert or turn back. Saudi authorities have explained the stampede as a fault of the pilgrims not heeding instructions.
When enough is enough
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
The lure of extremism
Muslim Bangladeshis living in the UK recently became a focus of interest to all Bangladeshis living home and abroad when the news of some young Muslims of Bangladeshi origin joining the so-called Islamic State in Syria/Iraq struck the front page.
Playing Solitaire In A Parliamentary Democracy
Democracy in a one-party state may sound like an oxymoron, but such a thing does exist in our known world. In a single-party state
A crowded bandwagon of hopefuls
In another fifteen months, the world's eyes will be riveted on the United States to see who the next US President will be.
The season of manmade disasters
That time is upon us again. Not just to witness people hitting markets for shopping, but also to see them leaving in droves for homes to see their dear ones.
Managing fan behaviour and exuberance
The series victory in cricket against India has taken our people on a joy ride that the country does not witness very often.
Modi is no Gandhi
The agony and ecstasy over Prime Minister Modi's visit to Bangladesh is now gone. Dust is settling over the commotion and hype
Questions never answered
Recalling a nightmare is never a pleasant experience, yet every year this time my mind is thrown back to the eerie morning of May 30,
Boatloads of human misery
For full two weeks or thereabouts in April the media in the west, particularly the US, were ablaze with news of hundreds of migrants
The blurring of distinction between law enforcement and law breaking
This is not common in countries where the law enforcement machinery is handicapped by a serious gap in training and education in professionalism, human rights, and behaviour.
Witnessing another ELECTION CHARADE
STUFFING of ballot boxes whether in national or local elections is nothing new in Bangladesh.
Losing a battle to win a war?
The rather undramatic end to the three plus months of blockade punctuated by strikes has elicited a sigh of relief from hartal stricken people of Bangladesh.
The stalled war against Islamic militants
THE war against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) is about to observe its first anniversary.
March 7: An eye witness account
THE speech by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib given at the Race Course (now Suhrawardy Uddyan) forty-four years ago on March 7...
A murder most foul
It seems there is no end to sensational news from Bangladesh. Smack on the face of the dramatic revelation of the phone conversations of a civil society stalwart that shook the society, came the horrific news of a most brutal killing of an activist writer in public view. His offense was seemingly his writings that advocated tolerance, freedom from bigotry of all kinds, love and respect for all humans, and above all a just society.
Hype over Mamata Banerjee visit
Mamata Banerjee came, saw, but did not quite conquer the Bangladeshi heart. But then, the last may not have been her plan.
Pondering the imponderable
A few days ago, in a news interview in Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) radio here in the US, a journalist covering events in Afghanistan provided a grim view of the prospects of democracy in that country.
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