Glimpses

Major Shafayat Ahmed (Retired) I have always considered myself a strong individual; both mentally and physically. Hailing from a military family, I have grown up seeing my father and his colleagues dealing with hardships. I have grown up hearing stories of battles, of bloodshed and of death. I have seen my bereaved friend or classmate […]

Shakespeare was a big part of my schooling. My otherwise affable English Literature teacher was quite irate when I wrote an entire essay misspelling the Bard’s name (I omitted the last “e”). We struggled through Hamlet in Class 5 without worrying too much about poor Ophelia’s torment or the indecisions of the Prince of Denmark. […]

The party’s undisputed supremo has given an unequivocal ultimatum to the all powerful government, while an ironclad commitment has been made to the party rank and file that victory is imminent. Political temper is reaching an unprecedented level. Resistance has spread to even the remotest village, and the government repression is just as oppressive and […]

On the eve of the third consecutive one-sided election, there is some chatter about whether the democratic opposition —the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies —should have participated. For many, criticising BNP for the ‘dummy election’ is just the continuation of their lifelong habit of blaming the party for whatever ails Bangladesh. Blaming BNP is, […]

The last time I spoke with Manik, he had just gotten out of jail. He called me and we chatted about his time in prison. I asked, “Have you suffered a lot in jail?” Manik was silent for a while. He replied, “Bhai, I was in a very bad condition. There were more prisoners than […]

In Shame, the 1983 novel on not-quite-Pakistan, Salman Rushdie calls the country Peccavistan. Peccavi in Latin means I have sinned. That was the message Sind’s English conqueror sent back to the John Company after he took the country by ‘deception and rascality’. Pakistan used to be, still is, governed by deception and rascality, hence the […]

Fifty-two years after 1971, as Bangladesh stumbles towards a future where a legitimate government that reflects the mandate of the people seems like an unachievable dream, everything around us seems a little faded and dim. The festivities are lackluster. The celebratory music is muted. The tributes to Bangladesh’s finest, who gave their lives to bring […]

A general election is expected in Bangladesh this winter, but if it is anything like the last two elections, most Bangladeshis are not expected to vote. The election in January 2014 was boycotted by the main opposition, who feared widespread rigging. The ruling Awami League attained a majority before the election day as 153 of […]

Bangladesh garment industry wage fight shakes core economic pillar Government alleges link between protests by opposition and inflation-weary workers Nikkei Asia FAISAL MAHMUD,  November 14, 2023 12:03 JST Nikkei Asia media has published a news article illustrating how the ruling regime in Bangladesh is cracking down on both Garments workers demanding livable wages in an […]

The defining picture of this current stage of the pro-democratic movement being waged by BNP and like-minded parties was seen on November 1, 2023. The old adage goes, “history repeats itself, first as a tragedy, then a farce”, but for the current Election Commission (EC) led by CEC Habibul Awal, farce is the starting point. […]

29th October, 2023. The current Awami League government does not care about the lives and livelihoods of the general people because it is not elected by popular votes. As a result of the most severe inflation in recent memory, with prices of all essentials including rice, lentil, oil, salt, onion and vegetables on the up, […]

Context of BNP’s Mass Mobilization for Democracy: On 28 October 2023, during the grand rally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP, certain individuals from the authoritarian Awami League government’s heavily politicized law enforcement agencies and the ruling party’s terrorists orchestrated violent attacks, leading to chaos and damage to public lives and properties. BNP, as a political […]

Sherlock Holmes famously said that it is a capital mistake to theorise before one has sufficient data. The movement for democracy in Bangladesh has entered a new phase in the past couple of days, and it’s an understatement to say that things are in a flux. However, as this piece is being written (evening of […]

The police set up check posts in every entry point to Dhaka city and checked everyone’s phone to find any connection to BNP. The day before the rally, 416 BNP activists were arrested.   12:30 AM: The police arrested 200 BNP activists from Kakrail in the dark of the night on the early hours of […]

BNP has consistently demonstrated its commitment to pursuing a peaceful movement for restoring democracy. Despite enduring continuous torture and oppression, BNP has organized peaceful protests, adhering to the democratic principles. Our party has continuously shown its belief in a movement that is of the people and for the people. Even with years of continued hostility […]

Sometimes images speak for themselves, and no commentary is needed. If there was ever any doubt, it should now be clear that no democratic prospect is possible under Bangladesh’s current prime minister. [First draft of history. The Daily Star describes how the police suddenly attacked the peaceful opposition rally from two flanks] [This is not […]

Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP Seminar keynote paper, 2023 Over the last 17 years, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP has endured unprecedented human rights violation and injustice in the hands of an authoritarian regime. This is a testament to BNP’s commitment to upholding democratic principles. As the main opposition party in Bangladesh, we see it as our duty […]

Facing an economic slow-down, Chinese young adults are increasingly moving back home with their parents and becoming “full-time children.” For some of them, this may be a temporary reprieve before they jump back into the job market. Others may make it more a long-term life choice, accepting an allowance from their parents and focusing their […]

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister spent a fortnight in Washington DC and New York recently. She is currently in UK in a similarly lengthy sojourn. The undisguised reason for such a lengthy stay in USA and UK just a couple of months before the crucial national election is that she wanted to drum up western support for […]

It is 1979 —during the administration of President Ziaur Rahman. ASM Abdur Rab is the in prison, convicted of being part of a treasonous coup. He is diagnosed with liver and gallbladder complicacies. After being treated at the convict cell of the Dhaka Medical College, physicians suggest that he is sent overseas for treatment. The […]

I was trying to explain Khaleda Zia’s career to an American, and her moniker of “Aposh-hin netri” came up. I paused a little bit when wondering how to translate that to English. The literal translation is uncompromising leader, but in the US political system, those who can compromise and work with the other side are […]

  In an interview with a local TV station on 23rd September, Peter Haas, the United Stated Ambassador to Bangladesh, said that he fears for the physical security of his embassy staff and the embassy itself. A clip of the interview section where he expressed such apprehension is embedded below.   The Ambassador has genuine […]

The Digital Security Act is one of the world’s worst laws for journalists, said a US Department of State official during a briefing on April 10 in Washington. The Digital Security Act, according to Vedant Patel, State Department principal deputy spokesperson, was one of the main reasons Bangladesh slid 10 places to 162 out of […]

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adviser for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the US State Department is full of hypocrites. Previously, he told Reuters on the eve of the 2018 national election of Bangladesh that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina considers being called authoritarian by the Western media a “badge […]

Sheikh Hasina claimed that Washington was attempting to install an anti-democratic party in power in Bangladesh in the upcoming elections, weeks after the U.S. President Joe Biden sent a letter emphasizing the need of organizing a free and fair election in Bangladesh. “[America] has the power to topple the government in any country and the […]

Sultana Jasmine, a union land office employee of Naogaon passed away in a hospital after she fell seriously sick while in the custody of RAB-5. RAB was acting on the direction of Enamul Haque, the local government director of the Rajshahi divisional commissioner’s office. Her autopsy report states that she suffered an injury to her […]

Bangladesh officially recorded a 2,506 MW electricity shortage at the peak load-shedding hour at 5:00 pm on April 15, with 58 per cent of the country’s power plants remaining partially or fully unused because of a fuel shortage or engine problems. Official data released by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh showed the generation of […]

Bangladesh has been paying a high amount of ‘capacity charge’ to the power plants that are lying idle throughout the year without producing electricity. The high-capacity charge payments, along with the rising fuel price, created budgetary pressure. To clear off the pressure, the government has been raising the price of electricity and fuel. Since 2023, […]

For the second time, the Biden administration declined to invite Bangladesh to its Summit for Democracy. Bangladesh’s South Asian neighbours — India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan — were invited to the summit. In 2021, Bangladesh was not invited to the first democracy summit hosted by the Biden administration. Instead, the ruling regime was slapped […]

As a result of the U.S. sanctions on RAB and senior officials of the death squad force of Bangladesh, a shift has been observed in the nature of human rights abuses. Instead of RAB, the Detective Branch (DB) of the Police has taken the lead and become involved in enforced disappearances and torture. This has […]

Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council shared concerns about 40 countries across the globe with serious human rights issues. Bangladesh was one of them. Regarding Bangladesh, the UN human rights chief said, “In Bangladesh, I regret the increasing incidence of political violence, […]

In the last month, Police filed several false cases based on fictitious events against BNP men across the country. The party’s internal documentation suggests eight false cases were filed against BNP leaders and activists after attacking them and looting their houses before and after the February 25 mass march programme. The local media usually cite […]

Time and again, Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies have attacked violently on the peaceful rallies organized by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the last decade. In December 2022, ahead of a political gathering, Police killed a BNP activist inside the party’s central office. The brutal treatment of pro-democracy BNP activists continued in the last month as […]

BNP’s ongoing movement for the restoration of democracy has been gaining new momentum as the pro-democracy alliance is expanded, and mass people are joining in the protests along with its large activist base. Most recently, the party announced a union-level pro-democracy campaign on 11 February 2023. The core demand of these protests will be; to […]

With the increasing number of imports, the decreasing trend in remittances and export receipts, and a continuous debt build-up, Bangladesh’s balance of payments (BoP) deficit situation is expected to worsen significantly in the current fiscal year compared to what the central bank had earlier predicted. Several banks in the country refused to open Letter-of-Credit for […]

In Bangladesh as a whole, the government raised the retail price of energy by an average of 5% per unit in early January. Within three weeks, the government hiked retail electricity prices by 5% again in early February. The government also hiked Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is now the main household fuel, by a […]

Bangla Academy barred a top publishing house, Adarsha, from setting up a stall at the national book fair of the country, which takes place every year in February to commemorate the sacrifice of the martyrs who were shot down on February 21, 1952, by the then government of East Pakistan when they asked for their […]

Bangladesh’s telecommunication regulator in mid-January issued a letter to the companies that produce, manufacture, and import mobile phones asking them to use a specific Bengali-language keyboard to retain their permits. The keyboard is owned by a firm founded by the minister of telecommunications, Mustafa Jabbar. The minister’s firm would be financially benefited if the decision […]

Donald Lu, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, visited Bangladesh from January 12 to January 15. During his short stay in Dhaka, he met the Prime Minister’s advisor Salman F Rahman, foreign minister, and home minister of the country. He also joined discussions with labour rights activists and some […]