We must keep the focus on the plight of char people alive and draw attention of the current interim government to address the problem with new approaches, policies, and institutions.
The Rohingya crisis continues to mystify everyone with its uncertainties.
There are plentiful cases of land-grabbing and violence for control over new char or khas land in the country.
International support for the Rohingya people is diminishing by the day.
Displacement due to river erosion is an entirely different story.
China's latest move to advance repatriation still falls short of addressing the Rohingya citizenship issue which is central to the crisis.
It is neither possible nor desirable to eliminate flooding completely, for floods are intricately linked to the very survival of people in this delta country.
The improved transport network has now reduced the hauling time of vehicles and enhanced economic activity, boosting the national GDP, according to one estimate, to roughly one percent annually.
For all of us around the world, the last two years have been rough because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Climate crisis aside, 2021 will be remembered with anguish and misery around the world due to the Covid-19 storms.
Bangladesh is a surprising success story. Emerging out of war and destruction in 1971, few in the world had any optimism about the country’s future.
On November 17, 2021, a resolution titled “The Situation of Human Rights of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar” was adopted at the United Nations with unanimous support—a first for a Rohingya-related resolution since the crisis began in 2017.
The month of February is a prized and sacred one for Bengalis. It reminds us of the sacrifices made for our beloved Bangla language and the rewards it ultimately brought in for Bengalis as a nation.
My recent op-ed for The Daily Star about the controversial drive for citizenship screening in India’s Assam, involving the “illegal” Bengali-origin Muslims, drew considerable attention from the readers, with a particular curiosity about the Miya (also spelled Miyah) poetry used to assert the identity and rights of the people as settlers and citizens of India.
Ecent developments surrounding the controversial National Registry of Citizens (NRC) in Assam have made many extremely worried across borders in Bangladesh and India regarding the future of Bengali Muslim settlers and Hindus alike.
In the last two weeks, the world has witnessed a renewed interest in the Rohingya’s struggles for justice and persecution of Myanmar officials for the Rohingya genocide.
In recent weeks, there have been a flurry of diplomatic activities in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, starting with the high-level visit of Myanmar delegation led by Myint Thu, Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Cox’s Bazar.
There is no dearth of opinion on the Rohingya repatriation issue with political leaders, scholars, and even ordinary people all weighing in with their own views.
