A. Mannan The road map of our democracy, must encompass our demography be interwoven with its characteristics and diversities and enshrined with the spirit of our Constitution, any other inferences and references shall be a futile exercise. Due to constitutional impasse, by now everybody has turned out to be a free styled constitutional expert, emanated from tea shops to workshops, of different transport modes to dialogue held in political abodes, of civil society dialogue to leaflets and catalogues. I as...
Doyle McManusPeace negotiations, a wise U.S. diplomat once said, are like riding a bicycle: No matter how slow you’re moving, it’s best to keep going – because if you try to stand still, you’ll fall.Secretary of State John F. Kerry is putting that principle to the test in his dogged work on three of the world’s most tangled problems: Iran’s nuclear program, Syria’s civil war and Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Kerry hasn’t quite arrived anywhere yet on any of...
A sharp contradiction When I compare January of 1972 with January of 2014, the difference is so vast that I feel deep anguish. At that time people were celebrating winning the liberation war, eyes sparkling with joy and happiness, hearts filled with hopes for a prosperous and peaceful country. But now everything has changed, the eyes have become dark and empty, the hearts have become filled with great fear and uncertainty, they feel that the freedom has been snatched away...
The electoral drill, conducted by the Election Commission (EC) that enabled 292 candidates to become members of the parliament has now come to an end. The chief and other members of the EC would be congratulated for arranging an election that the country has never experienced before. In 153 constituencies there was no electoral activities, thus 48.08 million voters were robbed of their right of franchise. The Prime Minister, the President, the Speaker and the Chief Election Commissioner were amongst...
Egypt hasn’t made international headlines for a while, but Egyptians themselves have still been making news. The crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood that began after a coup toppled embattled President Mohammed Morsy in July has extended through the end of 2013, and will likely continue. At the same time, a low-level insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula has occasionally reached into major cities like Ismailiyya and Cairo. The government’s approach to the violence seems to be based solely around bringing as...
Communal attack must end Last parliamentary elections are marked with waves of violence, particularly against minority communities. Some villagers especially in Jessore district were attacked and forced to flee home. The political blame game continues centering the issue. One of the major opposition party denied the allegations and demanded neutral investigation and exemplary punishment for those who were involved in the heinous crime. Blame game to clear hands by political parties has been encouraged as communal crimes have not always...
THE present Syrian civil war had its roots in the Arab Spring of 2011-a series of disparate events which resulted in regime changes in several Arab states, notably Tunisia and Egypt. The Syrian opposition coalition has been recognised as the “sole representative of the Syrian people” by several nations including the United States, the United Kingdom and France-all permanent members of the UN. Syrian rebels did not want regime change at the beginning. They desired democratization of the Assad regime....
GROWTH of fresh bank deposits dropped to 16.80 per cent in the January-November (2013) period against a 20 per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2012 – reported a local English Daily on Tuesday. Bankers and analysts however have attributed the fall to a slowdown in trade and business activities due to non-economic and mostly political reasons. Huge amounts of idle money have accumulated in banks and bankers mostly have focused on low-cost and no-cost deposits to reduce their...
LEGENDARY Bengali cine-idol and super actress Suchitra Sen is no more and we mourn her death with the people of the Indian sub-continent and especially in Bangladesh. She died at the age of 83 at a Kolkata hospital suffering heart stroke on Friday morning where she was undergoing treatment for old age. Her death came as a big shock to the cultural life of the sub-continent leaving a spell of gloom everywhere. Her films were widely viewed in Bangladesh and...
NEWS reports on Thursday in some national dailies said that the government of Saudi Arabia is applying some non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to several Bangladeshi export items, mainly in the food categories which are in high demand among expatriate Bangladeshi nationals working in the kingdom. The report said that the government is going to request the Saudi government to harmonize the tariffs rules so that Bangladesh’s exports can enter the Saudi market without impediments. The problem is that Saudi customs officials...
Ibne SirajDespite intense efforts at both diplomatic and summit levels, Sheikh Hasina’s 2009-2013 regime could not have its two important pledges fulfilled with India. The longstanding Land Boundary Agreement and the Teesta Waters Sharing Agreement could not be signed between Bangladesh and India due mainly to the lack of diplomatic efforts from Dhaka. The good news is that the Indian authorities are up with their intension to settle these two hitherto unsettled issues at the soonest possible time. It was...
Harold MeyersonWhen President Obama delivers his State of the Union address this month, he will surely highlight the issue of growing economic inequality and argue for such remedies as raising the minimum wage. He may also put in a plug for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement his administration is negotiating with 11 Pacific Rim nations and for fast-track legislation that would limit congressional input in the accord to facilitate its ratification.If he does both – bemoan rising inequality...