An album on the poet of politics
My first impression of Bangabandhu dates back to around the mid-sixties. A helicopter service had been in operation between Dhaka
5y ago
An avoidable mayhem
Last Tuesday, from the northerly Himalayas, a blustery wind cascaded down to Haripur area of Thakurgaon leaving a patch of ruins in
5y ago
Uprooting corruption: We can do better
The seasonal discussion on corruption is back in full swing following the release of Berlin-based Transparency International's global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), 2018.
5y ago
Which way is pluralistic democracy headed?
We have known democratic pluralism, pluralistic democracy and multi-party system to be synonymous terminologies. But is it as simplistic as that? Conceptually and ideally, it is; but in practice and real-world situations, it may not be so!
5y ago
Change of style or substance?
With at least 27 new faces and only a few septuagenarians around, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was greeted on her re-election to a record fourth term at Gono Bhaban on Tuesday.
5y ago
Sheikh Hasina's fourth term
It is the huge gaps in the numbers of votes polled by the winners and the losers in the 11th national election that apparently unveiled a “controlled and patterned” nature of the process of polls.
5y ago
Wintry mist from a non-level playing field!
If almost every past election in Bangladesh had been a test case for democracy, the one the nation is going to in two days' time is a veritable litmus test for the country's democratic future.
5y ago
Nomination cauldron bubbling away, electioneering heat awaited
It was for the BNP leaders “a strategy” of filing multiple sets of nomination papers to cover the contingency of rejections. This came in the way of 141 party nominees out of 696 who had applied to the EC for a go-ahead.
5y ago
June 10, 2016
Muhammad Ali's 'true face of Islam' vs. terrorism
He wouldn't yield to pressures from sponsors, exerted twice before a heavyweight championship encounter to ostensibly distance himself from Islam. His association with Malcom X and hiring a Muslim woman cook for his camp miffed some potential sponsors threatening not to back Ali.
June 3, 2016
Iron Lady in the neighbourhood!
Belying speculations at the anti Trinamool camp for a 'vote for change' like the West Bengalees accounted for in 2011, Mamata has swept to a second term with a powerful mandate.
May 27, 2016
Mustafiz does Bangladesh proud
The debutant has proved to the world that much that he is a wily bowler, his stand-out simplicity has endeared him to people in IPL hosts India and elsewhere in the cricketing world.
May 20, 2016
Politics of power, politics of development
There is a serious point to be made about the opposition bashing with all its ramifications. But when the BNP had been in power, particularly in its last term, it acted heavy-handedly against the then opposition Awami League.
May 6, 2016
Media monitoring centre or self-regulation?
In an overarching sense, the matter by its very nature requires consultation with stakeholders, media representatives and experts before a set of best practice methods can be evolved in employing the media as a partner of democracy and protector of public weal.
April 29, 2016
Walk the talk …
We have an uncanny genius to state the obvious and the commonplace. The latest example of this trait is typified by a facile labeling of
April 23, 2016
Cold-blooded lechery and hushed silence!
In one of the human chains seeking justice to Tonu after a full month of simulated mystery surrounding her case, a placard read jarringly but insightfully “When alive we are a 'commodity' and when raped and murdered we become sisters”.
April 8, 2016
Treated like a poor relative!
DR. Mazharul Haque, provost of Salimullah Muslim Hall during my time at the Dhaka University, around the mid sixties, shared a personal anecdote with me.
April 1, 2016
An entertaining critique on our T-20 campaign
Given the high passion aroused by India-Pakistan matches, one might have expected a slice of that rivalry to radiate through some kind of a cheer for Bangladesh struggling through an uphill chase of a big Pakistani total. Again that was not to be!
March 25, 2016
Reflections on March 1971
Usually, the first hudred days of parliamentary election
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