report in Dhaka Tribune, May 15, 2018 at 11.14pm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged all to remain alert so the BNP-Jamaat clique cannot return to power sincethey were engaged in killings, militancy, andbomb blasts,she said,. “The power of the country must not be given to killers, oppressors and militants, especially those who blasted bombs at 500 placesacross the country in a single day, and killed two members of parliament,” she said. Hasina was…
Posts published in “Bangladesh”
(It’s called crazy medicine. Produced in Myanmar with military support, the dangerous drug very easily crosses the border and reaches cities, towns and villages of Bangladesh through various channels — sometimes in full knowledge of law enforcers. It now seems unstoppable and is poised to cripple the country’s biggest hope — the youth. Millions are now addicted to the pink pills. They take it as stimulant and end up with organ damage and mental derangement.…
report in The Daily Star, May 10, 2018 The Supreme Court hearing on the two appeals against Khaleda Zia’s HC bail order once again witnessed commotion from some lawyers yesterday. The apex court concluded the hearing and set May 15 for delivering a verdict on the pleas filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission and the government. The High Court on March 12 had granted bail to the BNP chairperson, now in jail, in the Zia Orphanage…
by Shakhawat Liton in The Daily Star, May 8, 2018 Some previous verdicts of the Supreme Court about disputes over elections now offer the Election Commission strong legal grounds to have the stay orders on Gazipur and Dhaka north city mayoral polls vacated. SC verdicts since 1988 did not allow writ petitions to halt an election after its schedule had been announced, unless there were gross irregularities in the electoral process. Just 10 days before…
by Diplomatic Correspondent in The Daily Star, May 8, 2018 Bangladesh has ruled out a serious allegation brought by Pakistan that Dhaka Declaration of the 45th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was issued without any discussion with participating states. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release from Islamabad on Sunday that read, “Just before the conclusion of the Conference, the host country circulated text of Dhaka Declaration. It only reflected the views…
report in The Daily Star, May 8, 2018 Dhaka: Though Bangladesh ‘successfully hosted’ the 45th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Pakistan raised some questions regarding the Dhaka Declaration. Bangladesh, however, ruled out Pakistan’s claim saying that nothing was done without consultation with the OIC secretariat. “Everything was done following directives and suggestions from the OIC Secretariat,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam told…
report in The Daily Star, May 6, 2018 at 06:35 PM As authorities put preparations on hold in Gazipur city, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda has said he is unaware of the reason behind High Court’s stay on its election. “I saw a news on television. It is a matter of the court. I will first know and understand the decision before commenting on the issue,” Huda said hours after the election was stayed.…
The conflicts among different political groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts over establishing supremacy have left an estimated 600 people killed since signing of the CHT Peace Accord in 1997. But no trial has taken place till date over those murders while the feuding groups keep pointing fingers at one another contributing to unrest in the hills and obstructing the peace process. Queried why the families of the victims did not see the light of…
The writer is a UN Dag Hammarskjold Fellow in journalism. Bewildered opposition party BNP, with two of its top leaders convicted on graft charges, has once again raised its infamous anti-India card as the general elections draw ever so closer. One cannot forget former BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s infamous remarks: “If Awami League comes to power, from Feni onwards, Bangladesh will become part of India.” Of course that never happened, as she herself visited Feni…
report in The Daily Star, May 6, 2018 BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today asked her lawyers to bring the matter of her “serious illnesses” to the notice of the Supreme Court during the hearing on her bail in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Tuesday. Khaleda’s lawyer Abdur Rezzak Khan came up with the information while talking to reporters after meeting Khaleda in the Old Dhaka Central jail at Nazimuddin Road. Rezzak along with four…
by Tarek Mahmud & Fazlur Rahman Raju in Dhaka Tribune, May 06, 2018 The bodies are piling up in the Chittagong Hill Tracts as four local political parties based in the region’s ethnic communities appear to be engaged in violent conflict with one another. For the peoples of the three hill districts, desired peace seems a far-off dream despite the signing of the CHT Peace Accord almost 20 years ago. The four organizations are Parbatya…