Human Rights
Subarnachar rape: What NHRC said happened and what really happened
On the night of December 31, a day after the election, a mother of four was gang-raped in Subarnachar upazila of Noakhali. The rape is widely being acknowledged as election violence.
Human Rights / When teenagers are sent to adult jails
Hridoy Gazi is an inmate at Kashimpur Prison in Gazipur. He is also an eighth-grader according to his family, and a 13-year-old according to his birth certificate.
BURN THE WATCHTOWER / Only authoritarians love refugees
In a breathtakingly racist speech, he warned that Europe could turn “black”and have its culture and civilisation overwhelmed by the “barbarian invasions” of migrants from across the Mediterranean.
Human Rights / When digital rights become a human right
Private university student Sumon (not his real name) had already gone to bed when the police came to his bachelor pad, last month. The cops were on a “block raid”—a security exercise that Dhaka Metropolitan Police executed over several areas in the city in the aftermath of the Safe Roads movement waged by student protestors.
Migrants Rights / Held captive in one's own mind
The last two years have witnessed thousands of Bangladeshi female workers, who were tortured, abused or cheated, return home from the Middle East with painful memories.
A day in the police station
“Did you see my son Sadman? Please take a look at this photo. Did you see him being taken to the police station? Is he in this police station?” A woman, in her early fifties, was desperately appealing to the sentries stationed at the gate of Shahbagh police station at 1pm on August 6, 2018.
human rights / Trump is now targeting families
Deportation of undocumented Bangladeshis from the USA is nothing new. In the last 10 years, the country issued deportation orders for 7,364 Bangladeshis. The period during Bill Clinton's presidency particularly saw over a thousand Bangladeshis being marked for deportation each year.
human rights / Jailed and forgotten
Forty-year-old Azaher Ali is in a fix and isn't sure how he should react. He has just met his daughter and his grand-daughter for the first time in years. His daughter was just 11 months old, the last time he held her. Today, she's almost 20 and has a child of her own.
How effective will the anti-discrimination law be?
The right to equality and the principle of non-discrimination is recognised by the constitution of Bangladesh. While article 27 of the constitution states that the people of Bangladesh are equal in the eyes of the law, article 28 forbids any discrimination on the basis of race, caste, religion, sex or place of birth.
Leaving no one behind: “Hijra Lives in Bangladesh”
"When I was a volunteer for UNYSAB, a bunch of us were distributing sandals to rickshaw pullers who didn't have any. A group of hijras came along and took the sandals away, but a little while later, they returned and apologised for having done so. Assuming we were NGO workers, they said: 'Rickshaw pullers have parents, children, siblings, a family. We have nobody. Can't you do something for us too?'”
Seizing the opportunity?
Three years ago, a Bangladeshi woman, let's call her Nila, petitioned the High Court asking for protection of her fundamental right to equality. She had been living in a violent marriage. But as a Hindu in Bangladesh, she has no right to divorce, and no exit route from continuing abuse.
If Rohingyas were Hindu
A story by Reuters citing an Indian government spokesperson says that India is in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, arguably one of the world's most persecuted ethnic groups.
The never ending cycle
From January 2012 to June 2017, a total of 388 incidents of violence against domestic workers have taken place, and, of them, only 161 cases have been filed.
The deaths could have been prevented
The boiler explosion in a garments factory in Gazipur last Monday once again highlighted the government's inability to monitor the 5000-odd authorised boilers across the country.
Destruction of shops at Rath Mela and the ever-shrinking space for minorities
Last Saturday night, the 400-year-old Rath Mela in Dhamrai, a fair integral to the Hindu Rath Jatra Utsab and the biggest Rath Jatra festival of the country, was shut down by the police over what it called “security concerns”, the fair stalls forcibly dismantled, visibly destroyed, and their owners beaten up.
“We will be soldiers in a battlefield”
In 2001 Hill Women's Federation published a compilation of Kalpana Chakma's diary entries, letters to her comrades, news articles about her abduction and fact-finding reports by groups about the circumstances around her disappearance.
Cyclone Mora batters Rohingya homes
Flimsy huts and lack of early warning in the camps lead to considerable damage.
Guilty of what?
With the court dismissing all the other complaints, the narcotics claim is the main battleground now. However, when the case is analysed, what comes up is that the law enforcers found only 45 yaba tablets. Twenty-eight men were sent to jail for it. Breaking down, it is 1.6 tablets per person only