Editorial | The Daily Star

  • More than just cogs in the machine

    With a de facto lockdown in place across the country, the vulnerability of garment workers in Bangladesh has come to the fore like no other time before.

  • New stimulus package to absorb economic shocks

    The Prime Minister’s announcement of four new stimulus packages of TK 67,750 crore, along with the previous TK 5,000 crore package, is a bold and reassuring step for the entire country, which is in a state of extreme uncertainty.

  • Covid-19 lockdown affects daily wage-earners the most

    We, and indeed the rest of the world, are going through unprecedented times pulverised by the onslaught of Covid-19.

  • Workers came in droves due to confusing signals

    The reports and visuals of thousands of garment workers coming back to Dhaka from their villages all over the country, cramming into ferries, pickups, trucks or walking on foot, are extremely concerning as such an influx and crowding of people are the perfect recipe for a rapid spread of the coronavirus.

  • The kids are not alright

    With educational institutions closed for the foreseeable future to curb the spread of coronavirus, children are increasingly becoming restless in their homes, cut off from the outside world, their friends, physical activities and instructions from teachers.

  • PM’s 31 directives

    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a set of very comprehensive directives. But, as we know, with all directives, there are three phases to it—its issuance, its speedy, efficient and systemic implementation and finally, its strict monitoring.

  • Editorial: Let journalists perform their duties without fear

    We are outraged at the news of a journalist being assaulted for reporting irregularities in relief distribution in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj last Wednesday.

  • Covid-19 crisis warrants a comprehensive, strategic rescue plan

    While the PM’s Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package for export-oriented industries and government efforts to address the wage and food insecurity of people have been reassuring, especially with the entire country under partial lockdown, we are realising all too well that the present crisis and the measures taken to combat it will have far-reaching effects on practically every sector of the country.

  • Patients shouldn’t suffer during shutdown

    The lead photograph published in The Daily Star on Thursday reveals a grim situation faced by many who are dependent on the public transport system for essential services such as medical treatment.

  • Allow perishable goods to leave Ctg port

    The storage space in Chattogram Port is quickly running out as reefer containers used to transport perishable goods have piled up because of limited delivery in the past few days amid the current countrywide lockdown enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

  • Limited testing may propel pandemic

    Even though the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) says that there has been community transmission of the coronavirus on a limited scale, approximately only 1,606 individuals have been tested so far—and when that number is compared to the projected population of 164,283,529 in Bangladesh, such an evaluation by the IEDCR seems grossly inadequate, to say the least.

  • Editorial: Extension of shutdown a good decision

    The decision of the authorities to extend the country-wide shutdown for another week is a commendable one, and we express our full support for this timely pronouncement.

  • Launch anti-Covid campaign in Rohingya camps

    It is surprising that the Rohingyas have so far been left out of the ambit of effective campaigns against coronavirus.

  • Averting ventilator crisis could be a game-changer

    The New York governor has rightly said that ventilators are to the coronavirus fight what “missiles were to WWII”.

  • Humanity is not dead yet

    In these dark and depressing times, when we are bombarded with news of death, hardship and mismanagement of scarce resources, it is truly heartening to see that individuals and small organisations are stepping up and reaching out to those most in need of support.

  • Widespread testing will give the real picture

    As we have said time and again in this column, echoing the directives of WHO and experts within the country and outside—we must speed up the testing process on an urgent basis, now that we are entering the fourth week since Bangladesh reported its first official Covid-19 case.

  • Implement shutdown with empathy

    The countrywide shutdown was a timely step by the administration. It was a necessary inconvenience to stem the spread of COVID-19 and ward off the likelihood of the kind of situation that was and is being faced in many countries.

  • Withdrawing the Barguna OC not enough

    We are outraged at the death of Shanu Hawlader, a 55-year-old farmer, in police custody in Barguna.

  • Stop hiking prices of medicines

    It is truly disappointing that, at a time when we need citizens of this country to be more selfless, compassionate and altruistic than ever, some unscrupulous businessmen and pharmacists are arbitrarily hiking prices of essential medications.

  • A Sylhet hospital fully prepared to fight Covid-19

    At a time when most of our government and private hospitals are struggling to get personal protective equipment (PPE) for their doctors, nurses and medical staff and sufficient resources for the infected Covid-19 patients,

  • Scarcity of testing kits daunting for Barishal doctors

    Patients with fever are thronging hospitals and diagnostic centres on a daily basis, especially as fear has gripped the nation while more and more people continue to show symptoms of Covid-19.

  • Don’t miss the second window of opportunity

    As the coronavirus pandemic rages across the globe with increasing ferocity, it has become evident that many countries missed the first window of opportunity to contain the spread of the virus by taking timely measures.

  • Khaleda Zia’s release from prison

    We welcome the government’s decision to release Khaleda Zia from prison on humanitarian grounds. The government through an

  • Urgent govt assistance essential for the economy

    With the coronavirus forcing more shutdowns across the country as well as the world, businesses and the economy, which have already been negatively affected, are bound to be hampered further.

  • Declaration of a general holiday gave people the wrong message

    We are worried at the way hundreds of people left the capital after the government announced a ten-day general holiday starting

  • Revisiting the ethos of equality on this Independence Day

    In the 49 years since independence, Bangladesh has lived through and tackled many natural and man-made disasters—from famines to floods, from industrial disasters to autocratic dictatorships—but this is the first time in our history that we are facing a crisis of such disastrous proportions.

  • It’s not a PR war—it’s a war for survival

    There’s been a crisis of leadership in Bangladesh ever since the threat of an outbreak of the coronavirus loomed large on our horizon.

  • Deployment of the military to assist Covid-19 fight

    The government’s decision to deploy the military to assist the civil administration in combatting the onslaught of the virus has come not a day too soon.

  • Food prices can be kept stable

    A senior member of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned that a worldwide food inflation could happen if the coronavirus pandemic leads to lockdowns and panic food buying.

  • We need more tests

    We are baffled at the claim of the authorities that there is no community transmission (when the source of infection is not known) of Covid-19 in the country on the basis of only a handful of tests that can hardly give any conclusive picture for a population as large as ours.

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