WOMEN from all walks of life gathered on May 16 in a solidarity march demanding equality, dignity and justice at a time when democratic transformation of the state and society is said to be the national priority. The rally was organised in the context of recurring attacks on women in public places, especially after the targeted attack on members of the women鈥檚 affairs reforms...
A BAWM young man, Lal Tleng Kim Bawm, a resident of Bethel Para of Ramu in Bandarban, arrested on April 8, 2024 on suspicion of having been involved in the Kuki-Chin National Front, died in prison custody in Chattogram on May 15. He was...
INDIA鈥橲 arbitrary water withdrawal from cross-border rivers, in blatant violation of international laws, has caused ecological degradation, agricultural disruption, economic hardship and severe freshwater scarcity in Bangladesh. At least six crore people...
THE death of eight people at the hands of law enforcement agencies in January鈥揗arch, as the first quarterly update of 2025 on the rights situation that the rights group Odhikar made public on May 14 says, is gravely worrying. The Odhikar report lists 20 people in all having been killed extrajudicially from August 2024, when the interim government was installed after the...
CHATTOGRAM Port, considered the lifeline of the national economy, requires immediate attention to address perennial mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption in its operation. The Comptroller and Auditor General earlier reported the state coffers were robbed of Tk 258 crore on 26 counts of irregularities by the Chattogram Port Authority in 2017鈥�20 and said that..
DISMANTLING battery-powered rickshaws to keep them off the main road should not be the way to deal with the threat and menace that the technically fragile vehicles pose. The Dhaka north city authorities on May 13 conducted a drive against battery-powered rickshaws and seized dozens from the main roads, declared off-limits to such vehicles, and destroyed...
THE government has dissolved the National Board of Revenue with the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance 2025, promulgated on May 13, to effect reforms in the revenue sector. The ordinance aimed at modernising tax administration and bolstering revenue collection has replaced the revenue board with two divisions, the Revenue Administration Division...
THE worsening traffic congestion in Dhaka owes much to the unchecked, illegal parking of vehicles which becomes acute in crowded neighbourhoods. Roads across the capital are routinely narrowed by vehicles that occupy lanes and crossings while authorities fail to provide for a sustainable solution. The photograph of human haulers haphazardly parked along the...
BANGLADESHIS coming to be shot, abducted or tortured in the frontiers has remained a prickly issue with India. India鈥檚 Border Security Force, as Human Rights Support Society said in a statement on March 10, has killed 305 Bangladeshis and wounded 282 more in the border in a decade. The statement says that Indian guards killed 26 Bangladeshis and wounded 25 in...
DOMESTIC workers, mostly women and children, continue to work without any legal and policy protection in Bangladesh. A 12-year-old who was allegedly raped by her employer and is currently being treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital brings to light the issue of a legally unprotected workplace for domestic workers. This is, however, not an isolated incident. In...
INDIA鈥橲 Border Security Force continuing to push people into Bangladesh is another instance of its blatant disregard for international laws and border protocols and bilateral agreements. On May 10 and 11, Indian border guards pushed at least 92 people into Bangladesh through border points in Satkhira and Chuadanga. Indian border guards pushed 78 people into...
THE issue of public service job reservation that initiated the July uprising has remained unattended since the uprising finally toppled the Awami League government. The students who took to the streets in July 2024, demanding a rational reform in the quota system, and the authorities have somewhat accepted the reform that the Awami League government announced days...
THE interim government on May 10 banned all activities of the Awami League keeping to the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 until the completion of the trial of the party leaders in the International Crimes Tribunal. The ban meant 鈥榯o protect national security and sovereignty, ensure the safety of July movement activists and safeguard plaintiffs and witnesses engaged in the trial鈥�...
THE reported irregularities in the Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project burden ordinary farmers already faced with other problems. Farmers in the north allege that they pay Tk 1,000 an acre for the project鈥檚 water supply for irrigation while the government...
THE demand for the trial of and a ban on the Awami League and its fronts for the mass killing of July 2024 has resurfaced with vigour. The demand has been around since the installation of the interim government in August that year, but it...