STRANGER THAN FICTION
Removal of Nawaz Sharif and the future of Pakistan
We know, since the assassination of the first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, no Pakistani Prime Minister has been able to complete his or her full term in office. However, someone's stating this becomes clichéd or worn-out unless one discerns the different circumstances leading to each removal and dismissal.
Two disasters, two countries, two peoples
Surprisingly, “baby boomers” (born between 1946 and 1960)—the generation that took part in the Liberation War—and “millennials” (born between mid-1980s and early 2000s) of Bangladesh (both supposed to be articulated, brave, and liberal), to put it mildly, also seem to be apathetic and opportunistic, even during times of national emergencies.
Trump's Riyadh rendezvous
Although there's no reason to take Donald Trump's erratic behaviour, and his ambivalent and unsavoury assertions seriously, we can't ignore what he staged in Riyadh in the name of defeating Islamist terrorism on May 21.
STRANGER THAN FICTION / What's so “interesting” in Bangladesh today?
Interest-ingly, “interesting” is an English expression, which may hide one's actual opinion about something one considers “interesting”.
Trump hits Syria / A gambit and a war crime
There are contrad-ictory opinions about who on April 4 used chemical weapons, which killed more than 80 civilians, including children in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Syria.
ISIS threats in Bangladesh - Denials and Delusions
It has happened again! In the wake of the latest round of terror attacks in Bangladesh, with ISIS claiming credit for it, authorities in the...
CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT 2017 / Another regression therapy for Bangladesh?
A recent move by the Government to allow child marriage under special circumstances is tantamount to excluding many Bangladeshis from the benefits of growth and development.
STRANGER THAN FICTION / Corruption in Bangladesh: Perceptions vs. reality
The country has already become a lower middle-income country. So far so good! However, these indexes don't always tell us the whole truth about the states of governance, corruption, poverty, inequality, and most importantly, frequent violations of human rights across the country.
A debacle in Pakistan
Am I an alarmist for believing elements of the Pakistani “debacle” might eventually trickle down to Bangladesh? I hope that it turns out so. But I don't think so.
Political violence, “rational ignorance”, and “political illiteracy” in Bangladesh
THERE was yet another shocking headline in this daily (February 22): “Priest killed, devotee shot”. Some “unknown” assailants raided a
The witch-hunt against Mahfuz Anam
Ever since this ridiculous debate cropped up – soon after Mahfuz Anam's TV interview with Munni Saha on February 3 – on The Daily
It's not a debatable proposition
IT'S unbelievable but true. Some people still believe Bangladesh needs “development” first, before its transition to democracy!
From Cairo to Cologne, and Damascus to Dhaka
Men not only molest uncovered/Westernised women at home, but also molest hijab- and even burqa-clad women in various Arab countries.
Politics, terrorism, and the state of denial
While Islamist terrorists have re-emerged recently, killing bloggers, writers, foreign nationals and Shias, and attacking an Ahmadiyya mosque, with impunity, one wonders how leaders, intellectuals, and ordinary people in Bangladesh can afford to waste time and energy in partisan politics!