Aasha Mehreen Amin

It is perhaps the greatest environmental love story of all. Saalumarada Thimmakka, a day labourer and Bekal Chikkayya, a cattle herder, both from Hulikal village in Bangalore district, defying all the taunts from society for being childless, decided to plant trees and treat them like their children.

It is a mindboggling mystery how, after such a hue and cry over the vicious attacks on homes, property and temples of Hindus in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar, unknown miscreants have had the audacity to carry out another arson attack – this time the target was on Nasirnagar’s Upazila Parishad’s Vice Chairman who is Hindu and who protested against the October 30 mayhem.

No matter how apathetic the larger part of our society is about violence against women, very few citizens of this country (except of course pedophiles who commit the crimes) will not be disgusted and horrified when little children are sexually abused and tortured.

It may be prohibited by law (Dowry prohibition Act, 1980) but demanding dowry for deigning to marry a girl from a less fortunate family is considered a normal entitlement of males in society.

While cracking my spine as casually as a game of 'bursting the bubble wrap', my physiotherapist tells me that the future looks really bright for members of his profession. Intrigued, I ask why.

Remember Suraiya Akter Risha? The eighth grader of an English medium school in Dhaka, who was stabbed by her stalker, a man who

Despite all the ramifications of progressiveness that civilisation has experimented with, the preoccupation with the female members of the population has never been on the wane.

In a larger context, friendships actually allow societies to function and this includes countries that may turn them into formal unions or agreements. Hence the disastrous effects when friendships sour – you get Brexit, you get hostile neighbours, ruthless aggressors and worst of all, you get wars.

Sometimes shock treatment is the only answer to keep our memory alive. The picture of a smiling Tonu in an orange headscarf has become a familiar sight for us ordinary folks. It is a haunting reminder of how people with influence can hide the most blatant truth – that Tonu was raped and murdered before being dumped into the bushes. Now after more than three months her murder is shrouded in more mystery than ever and all we are left with is the heartrending testimony of Tonu’s mother Anwara Begum.

It is easy to miss stories about child domestic workers being tortured and killed. Easy because stories of children being killed have become eerily regular.

The name suddenly made me stop reading the lead story of DS's May 18 issue. Shamim Reza Rubel. He was an IUB student

When all the paraphernalia linked with power and status fail to get lowly commoners to show respect – say they forget to salam or shower you with petals when you enter the vicinity of the primary school you are to visit – there is only one thing to do.

Finally, someone is doing something about the preposterous level of highhandedness displayed by people who are either truly very important or think they are very important.

It’s hard not to punch your fist in the air and say ‘Yes!!’ when you read something like ‘HC move to stop wrong side driving in Dhaka’. Finally, someone is doing something about this preposterous level of highhandedness displayed by people who are either truly very important or think they are very important.

Meeting Kamla Bhasin is like getting a booster shot of energy and optimism. Her vivacity and enthusiasm will catch you unawares and force you out of whatever cynicism is afflicting you.

The cries for justice all over the country have fallen on deaf ears. Nobody knows who killed Sohagi Jahan Tonu, the second year history student of Comilla Victoria Government College.

Dear iPhone 5, I am writing to you knowing full well that you or your girlfriend Siri will never even look at this, because honestly...

All over the country people are protesting – students, parents, cultural activists. They are calling for justice for Tonu.

It is hardly a topic we like to talk about -- a 'dirty', 'shameful' 'necessary evil' -- but something that its consumers are not willing to

It is perhaps a primal instinct in all animals, to exercise control and power over the weak and the helpless. It is pretty much how the world has worked in the last few thousand years. Even among the earliest humans, it was the stronger group or tribe that dominated the physically less able, sometimes even