Editorial

GROTESQUE DEATH OF NUSRAT RAFI OC was also at fault, admin was negligent: NHRC Given that nothing is more fear-provoking than death per se when tears of near and dear ones fill the ambiance together with mourning laments; indeed the idea of eternal void scares even the irreligious. The grotesque death of Nusrat Jahan Rafi […]

Tharanga Yakupitiyage UNITED NATIONS: More than 200 civil society leaders and human rights activists from some 100 countries took to the streets of Belgrade, Serbia in solidarity with those whose basic freedoms are at risk. They participated in the International Civil Society Week (ICSW), sponsored by CIVICUS, which took place in Belgradefrom April 8-12. Counterterrorism […]

IN THE LAND OF MAGNA CARTA The Assange arrest is a warning from history JOHN PILGER THE glimpse of Julian Assange being dragged from the Ecuadorean embassy in London is an emblem of the times. Might against right. Muscle against the law. Indecency against courage. Six policemen manhandled a sick journalist, his eyes wincing against […]

Despite all efforts to treat teenager girl Nusrat Jahan Rafi for severe burn injuries in consequence of arson attack on her on 06 April that triggered indignation all over the country, she passed away on the night of 10 April at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The 18-year-old female Alim examinee (equivalent to HSC) Rafi was […]

Herve Verhoosel THE BELL rings and the halls erupt with the sounds of chatter and excitement as hundreds of children run to the dusty courtyard for recess. I joined them to play football but the game instead turned into a round of questions. “What is your name? Do you speak Arabic? Where are you from? […]

Jean Shaoul ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his intention of extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, if he is re-elected prime minister in last week’s general election. In so doing, he has effectively repudiated the entire post-World War II international order and signalled that wars of […]

Towering inferno at Banani: Message from Nayeem’s resolute eyes Assumedly there are amply conversant and well-informed persons among the owners and occupants of the high-rise F R Tower where some one thousand people worked in the posh upmarket locality at Banani in the capital; be that as it may it cannot but defy common sense […]

Human rights defenders have to be defended as much as they defend people’s rights Michel Forst THEY are ordinary people – mothers, fathers, sisters, sons, daughters, brothers, friends. But for me they are extraordinary people – the ones who have the courage to stand up for everyone else’s rights. They are the human rights defenders. […]

“NO DEAL” BREXIT THREATENED May’s EU withdrawal agreement rejected again Robert Stevens NEEDING the support of 318 MPs, British Prime Minister Theresa May secured just 286 votes on her proposed European Union withdrawal agreement on 30 March. With 344 MPs against, a majority of 58, the margin of defeat was narrower than the two previous […]

ROAD ACCIDENT DEATHS 1.8 million licensed drivers for 3.3 million vehicles! Given that unassailable inescapability of eternal rest is preordained therefore no sane person questions a natural death; but when discernibly avoidable and not inevitable death befalls absolutely innocent people—consequent on driving in rowdily unrestrained manner— it is, to say the least, outrageously unacceptable. While […]