Repeated instances of mob beatings of political detainees expose govt's failure to provide their safety
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report has detailed the damning state of immigration detention centres in Malaysia that house thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, listing claims of human rights violations and abuse
Human-Kind is under attack. People of all races, colours, countries, religions and social classes stand on a common platform to face the massive onslaught of the coronavirus.
In a situation where the covid-19 virus has overwhelmed some of the world’s best resourced healthcare systems, Bangladesh—like other developing countries—must brace for the worst.
Does anyone know what had happened to Utpal Das? If you cannot remember who Utpal is, no one would blame you.
The Covid-19 pandemic has opened our eyes to many vulnerabilities. With home quarantine proving to be a successful strategy, we are finally catching up and practicing it. Bangladeshi narratives about home quarantine now discuss how home is the safest place to ensure sanitisation, hygiene and disinfection.
The tea workers of Shamshernagar Tea Garden in Kamalganj upazila, Moulvibazar, took matters into their own hands in defiance of the garden management and stopped work from March 27.
All around the world, the numbers are climbing. Each day registers thousands of new cases and lives lost. In Europe, now the epicenter of the pandemic, governments know that the worst is yet to come and are implementing increasingly restrictive measures to enforce social distancing and isolation.
It is sickening how rape is becoming a regular occurrence in our society and there is a report of an incident of sexual violence every day from various parts of the country, each more vicious and more heinous than the one before. The victim profile is so diverse indicating that no girl, no woman is safe. When I started writing this article, the number of rape cases reported in 2017 was 93. By the time this article was ready for publication, that figure had risen to 138. This was within a matter of 4 weeks. I cannot help asking myself, what is happening? Why the rise in sexual violence? Why have the men in our country become so cruel?
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” These were the words of Mahatma Gandhi who was jailed 13 times for his non-violent and peaceful resistance against British colonial rule in India. Torture was also a common practice at the Robben Island prison camp where the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his life. One would assume that this shameful practice would belong to the past.
Jharna (not her real name), a 14-year-old girl living in Rayerbazar slum in Dhaka, fears that all her dreams may be dashed because of early marriage as she is from a community that expects girls to be married off and bear children even before they reach adulthood. Jharna, who is a child, doesn't want that.
On June 12, Bangladesh, along with other countries, observed World Day Against Child Labour, with elaborate programmes.
In 1988, being extremely poor and thanks to the poor state of the health sector in the country, my mother died due to maternal health related complication.
Sometimes I wonder how the future generations will view our time. For example, what will be their reaction when they come to know of the child labour situation in our society?
On May 5, 2017, an employer poured boiling water over an eight-year-old domestic help – a child – for breaking a glass by mistake.
Cyber security and the threat by hackers have been in the news headlines in the recent past. Two of the most recent incidents are well known: the Bangladesh Bank cyber theft in February 2016 and the recent WannaCry attacks for ransom in May 2017.
If the recent Banani rape case has brought anything to light, it is that a sizable portion of our population suffers from a severe victim-
From the outdated legal concepts under which cases of rape are tried in court, the “medical” tests that are required for proving rape, to the institutions which are supposed to stand by the survivor, it is not surprising that many women are scared or traumatised to even report incidents of sexual violence.
