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Nation at crossroads
Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley
Nearly two years after the dramatic events of the 11th January 2007 Bangladesh is again at crossroads. The nation is now poised for the parliamentary elections scheduled for the 29th of December. An elected government is expected to step in and resume representative democracy in the country. 1/11 as it is popularly known created in Bangladesh an unprecedented interim government that outlived the constitutionally stipulated tenure of 90 days. Though called a Caretaker Government it substantially assumed the character of a transitional government with a difference. Its promises were varied and many. It assigned to itself the role of a reformist government. It was avowedly determined to cleanse politics, reduce corruption, overhaul public administration, democratize political parties and governmental system, streamline electoral laws, rules and practices and put the economy on an even keel. Now, at the fag end of its tenure one finds that though some of the objectives have been achieved in part or in full others remain unaccomplished... [ FULL STORY ]
Democratic use of military power
Emajuddin Ahamed
How should the military power be used in a democratic society? What should be the optimal uses of military power in a free society? Should the military play a political role? What should be the nature of civi1~military relations in a country like Bangladesh? These are some of the questions that are analyzed very briefly in this write-up... [ FULL STORY ]
Edward Said: Profile of an intellectual
Sayeed Ahmad
A boy was born in Jerusalem among four sisters, to a well-known Christian business family, in November 1935. His father’s name was Wadi Ibrahim who was a great admirer of America and had a keen desire to be citizen of that country. He had joined the US Army and served during World War I. Edward Said was born when his father was 40 years old and his mother Hilda was 20. His early education was in Jerusalem and Egypt, but his father sent him to America’s Mount Hermon College before he completed high school. There he took time to adjust, always remembering his happy days at Victoria College in Cairo... [ FULL STORY ]
‘MUMBAI WAS NOT OUR 9/11’
Look at the monster to contain terrorism
Arundhati Roy
We’ve forfeited the rights to our own tragedies. As the carnage in Mumbai raged on, day after horrible day, our 24-hour news channels informed us that we were watching “India’s 9/11”. Like actors in a Bollywood rip-off of an old Hollywood film, we’re expected to play our parts and say our lines, even though we know it’s all been said and done before... [ FULL STORY ]
Boom, gloom and doom: The story of yesterday, today and tomorrow
Share Shah
The ramification of the 1996 stock market crash may remain in our ethos for long time. But the question is none has really tried to understand the anatomy of those years or really tried to learn a lesson from it. It is shocking to note that in the history of many crashes that have taken place across the globe, ours remains unsung. None has written about the many factors leading to the rise of the market except detailing that there was a manipulation. The facts remain unknown and may never be officially published or determined. The history and the facts of those years have been pushed back into the Pandora’s Box of official convenience. Was this a conspiracy or a cover up is more than a certainty. It was a failure of a person in power and an institution which was kept hostage in order to subvert the truth. Thus not much can be said about it except the facts of recorded history in the stock exchanges... [ FULL STORY ]
The truth about the Doha Round
John Madeley
Despite being billed as “Bretton Woods 2” the G20 leaders meeting in Washington in November came up with little of substance. World leaders agree to instruct their trade ministers to try to conclude the Doha Round by the end of the year, as they believe this would help to stimulate the global economy... [ FULL STORY ]
Prerequisites for community policing and its successful implementation
Razzak Raza
The concept of community policing spread worldwide during the last quarter of the last century. The limitations of police’s ability to combat crime and the rapid generalization of police duties made the policing approach impending that it involved the whole community to solve the whole gamut of community problems... [ FULL STORY ]
Fighting an obdurate mountain gorge
A.U.M. Fakhruddin
Except a handful of ideologue journalists, such as rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam who in the early 1920s shot to prominence and was imprisoned for his scathing editorial comments against British imperialism including other writings, newsmen have hardly ever been newsmakers. But the Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi did make news as no other media person ever did before. Zaidi, a young correspondent for Al Baghdadia, an independent Iraqi television station, stood up about 12 feet from Mr. Bush and shouted in Arabic: “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!” He then threw a shoe at Mr. Bush, who ducked and narrowly avoided it. As stunned security agents and guards, officials and journalists watched, Mr. Zaidi then threw his other shoe, shouting in Arabic, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!” That shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime Minister Maliki stuck a hand in front of the president’s face to help shield him... [ FULL STORY ]
Enayetullah Khan: An icon of journalism
Md. Shaheduzzaman
My father used to subscribe and read the then Pakistan Observer (later The Bangladesh Observer), the weekly Holiday and the Reader’s Digest in particular. On his insistence I started reading newspapers in my High School days. And by the time I was in the 9th Grade of High School, I developed a passion for the weekly Holiday, though most of the words used in the write-ups of Mr. A.Z.M. Enayetullah Khan were not familiar to me at that age. I used to take almost the whole week looking up his words in the dictionary and trying to comprehend his write-ups by reading repeatedly. I felt an urge to enrich my knowledge in English language and was inspired to match Mr. Enayetullah Khan’s vocabulary which I am yet to do. His writings also inspired me to be a journalist... [ FULL STORY ]
Higher education–revisiting the priorities
Dr. Hafiz G. A. Siddiqi
The importance of education can hardly be exaggerated. Low level of literacy and inadequacy in higher education are two main causes of underdevelopment. Historically, illiteracy has been reduced and promotion of higher education made by both public and private initiatives. But it is the state or government that have to take the main responsibility. Like food, clothing, housing and healthcare services education is also a basic need. Therefore, the state has the primary responsibility to raise and maintain the literacy level to that minimum without which the development of a nation cannot be sustained. But literacy is not enough. The state must institutionalize an educational system that will produce a minimum number of highly educated people without whom sustainable development is not possible. It is a matter of common sense that all levels of education—primary, secondary and tertiary—are public goods but not necessarily free good... [ FULL STORY ]
Media’s role and impact in Bangladesh
Faruque Alamgir
The broadcast or the electronic media, both audio and visual, thanks to their easy access to satellite and Internet, have created a new set of challenges that are sought to be addressed in the developed world under a governmental regulatory framework. But it is never done disregarding the constitutional principles and press freedom... [ FULL STORY ]
Addressing education agenda through rights-based approach
Shazzad Khan
Education has been regarded in all societies and throughout human history both as an end in itself and as a means for the individual and society to grow. Its recognition as a human right is derived from the indispensability of education to the preservation and enhancement of the inherent dignity of the human person... [ FULL STORY ]
THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
Victory hasn’t been achieved yet
Ripan Kumar Biswas
How do we define victory? The dictionary defines it as defeating an enemy or an opponent. Victory in war is defined as causing the other side to surrender or by having fewer casualties than the other side. Victory simply doesn’t mean a “win-win” situation or the conclusion of the conflict, it means more than a celebration, more than a treaty, or more than even surrender... [ FULL STORY ]
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