NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Why did Abdullah have to die?
How many of those injured during the July-August uprising, like Abdullah, are still fighting for their lives?
Opinion / Are we trying to get ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’?
The euphoria of August 5, and the momentous days leading up to it, especially since July 15, are now being overshadowed by a cloud of uncertainty.
Cox’s Bazar attacks reflect a sickness far from being cured
By giving their opinions a religious tag, groups or individuals have managed to get away with vicious assaults on women
One month after the new beginning
From that pivotal moment on August 5, the subsequent events in the next 30 days have been just as dramatic
Saluting the spirit of our young people
There is no shame in admitting that in the last few days many of us have cried helplessly, over the senseless deaths of students—teenagers or in their early twenties—the same age or close to the ages of our children.
Is it possible to escape from the seduction of smartphones?
The bug of relentless connectivity to some world or the other has infected us, and there seems to be no cure.
World leaders are disconnected from the youth
Student protestors are calling out the double standards of Western powers
Kindness gives life its biggest dividends
The history of civilisation has shown that humans survive when they are part of a community.
Surviving in a narrowing space
It is hardly a new phenomenon to see how governments, especially in South Asia, claiming to be democratic to suit their convenience, become anything but that when it comes to dissenting views. Curbing press freedom, in particular, will always become the target for governments that have succumbed to insecurities of their own creation. Corruption of leaders or their cronies seems to be the topmost reason for state paranoia of the media which is seen as a thorn in the flesh rather than an essential component of democratic maturity.
Celebrating a Braveheart
A tribute to artist and freedom fighter Ferdousi Priyabhashini on a day we celebrate women could not be more befitting except for the fact that it should have been a tribute to a living legend not a eulogy for a hero who is no more. She passed away on March 6. When one looks at the life of this incredibly brave and beautiful woman one cannot help but feel that we as a nation have failed miserably to pay our dues to this freedom fighter.
The tragedy of losing a champion
The tragedy of Asma Jahangir's sudden passing away at only 66 years of age, on February 11, is that she has left the world at a time when it needed her most.
Ivy's Poison
The pictures on the front page of practically every major newspaper on Wednesday, January 17, conjure an ugly image of Bangladesh's political scene.
Facebook for escapists or escapees?
It makes one wonder why married couples must declare their unquestionable adoration for each other on Facebook. Do they not see each other every single day of their lives?
Waiting for a miracle
The best thing about the building I come to work to six days a week is that it has reasonably clean (as in dry), separate toilets for women in each floor. It is a luxury that few women in this city can claim. I say “luxury” for what is a basic necessity because in Dhaka city (forget the rest of Bangladesh) having access to a reasonably useable toilet for women is a rarity. Sometimes it is a miracle.
For the love of the camera!
Cameras have always had a strange effect on people. While there is a group of people who are called camera shy, who will shun any attempts of anyone trying to photograph them, who will grimace uncomfortably when the camera...
Say no to the right to wrong passage
I don't know about you but when I read about traffic law enforcers stopping VIP cars going on the wrong side of the road and giving them tickets, for some reason I feel like jumping with joy. Forgive me for being gleeful at another individual's inconvenience.
Can we make the world colour-blind?
Yet there it is—an inescapable, undesirable truth. And it goes far beyond the silly jibes of how you didn't get your mother's buttery complexion or the delicate hints by the parlour assistant that a “fair polish” is in order to “brighten” your dark, dull skin.
Lessons from Aduri's ordeal
Tuesday's verdict by a special court in Dhaka, which sentenced Nawrin Jahan Nodi to life imprisonment for torturing an 11-year-old domestic help, Aduri, and dumping her into a dustbin assuming she was dead, should give us immense satisfaction.