Mohammad Badrul Ahsan

CROSS TALK

Editor, First News and opinion writer for The Daily Star badrul151@yahoo.com

Iron grip of persecution, hunger and discrimination

Experts tell us that it should take another 150 to 170 years to close the gender pay gap around the world. Bad news for the mothers,

7y ago

How can India win if Bangladesh does not?

Which between the two countries has gained more from Bangladesh prime minister's visit to India this month? The question appears no less intriguing than the long-standing debate over which came first between chicken and egg.

7y ago

Who's going to save politics from money?

Bees make honey, but it's easier said than done. They have to fly 55,000 miles and visit roughly 2 million flowers to produce a pound of honey.

7y ago

Cowards strung together in a daisy chain

Shame is thus the flipside of honour, and one can't exist without the other. Shameless people can't be honourable, and honourable people can't be shameless.

7y ago

Terrorism was never in the DNA

The skein of yarn spun out of the Palestinian struggle, and then got twisted in the relentless Western maneuvering in the Middle East to defend Israel.

7y ago

Great ideals are ghost lights at night

An increase in elevation lowers air pressure, which makes breathing difficult for a climber. The underwater world becomes increasingly blue and eventually black as a diver goes deeper.

7y ago

Presidential humour and the irony of education

The President of the Republic went public with his academic records, while addressing the 50th convocation of Dhaka University on March 4.

7y ago

Lies make us blind in full sight

If an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, what does a lie for a lie do to us?

7y ago
February 26, 2016
February 26, 2016

The giants and the pygmies amongst us

One thing constant in the varying nature of killing children is how ruthlessly a life is nipped in the bud. Be it infanticide, prolicide or paedocide, that nipping is shocking no matter who does it and how it's done.

February 19, 2016
February 19, 2016

The multiplier effect of an editor's admission

Sixty-nine lawsuits to date have been filed against one man that makes this great country look like a giant incubator for witch hunters. All the war criminals are being tried by two tribunals, whereas courts after courts are being engaged to drag a decent man from pillar to post.

February 12, 2016
February 12, 2016

The abiding confusion of law abiding citizens

We need to understand who is right and who is wrong as well as how to go about it in the future. Law can't be an ad hoc thing, and it shouldn't be a coat one has to cut according to one's cloth.

February 6, 2016
February 6, 2016

Elected autocrats and the decline of democracy

If the dawn of democracy arrived in Athens 2,500 years ago, how has its day progressed in as many years?

January 29, 2016
January 29, 2016

Can Ershad's brother be his brother's keeper?

Hussain Muhammad Ershad never retired from politics because he never got tired of it.

January 22, 2016
January 22, 2016

Homeopath's guide to police brutality in Bangladesh

From the look of things, it appears that the policemen in Bangladesh are drawing inspiration from the homeopath's guide to potency and dosage.

January 15, 2016
January 15, 2016

Bridging the gap between preaching and practicing

Scientists have claimed that in next five to ten years they are going to invent the cloak of invisibility.

January 8, 2016
January 8, 2016

Taking self shots in front of foreign mirrors

In his farewell address in 1796, the first US president George Washington warned against the influence of attachment of one nation for another.

January 1, 2016
January 1, 2016

Khaleda Zia's numeracy and the 1971 genocide

God knows why BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia chose to make her case at this point in time. Whether it was some divine revelation or a

December 25, 2015
December 25, 2015

A departing diplomat's parting comments

During the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ruling oligarchy in Japan set out to "gather wisdom from all over the world". It sent "learning