Mahfuz Anam

Religious tolerance is the most important value which a modern society must instil within itself, and Bangladesh is no exception.

The fact that Latifur Rahman, Shamim Bhai to us all, is no longer among us still feels unreal.

Borrowing from the title of the second volume of Winston Churchill’s six-part history of the Second World War, I would like to term the completion of the Padma Bridge as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s “finest hour”.

There is a new assault on the freedom of the press. This time, sadly, it comes from another section of the mass media itself – the television.

There was a time when the US government left no stone unturned to oust the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

There is a peculiar trend in Bangladesh. When someone starts something innovative, then hundreds of copycats spoil it.

With the numerous laws that already exist to regulate—or better still, suppress—the media, and the diligence with which new ones are being prepared, one would think that of all the areas that need fixing, our government expects the journalists to be “fixed” first. But why?

Yesterday, Wednesday, 18th May, during her speech marking her homecoming from exile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a reference to me.

Our foreign minister announced on Tuesday that he sought India’s assistance in lifting the sanctions against Rab.

Recently, the chief election commissioner (CEC) urged all political parties to participate in the national election so that “democracy can flourish.”

Pahela Baishakh is back, so is the promise of a new year that it never fails to bring. After a two-year gap forced by the pandemic precautions, we are once again set to celebrate this very Bengali festival with all the fervour and gaiety it demands.

Two important members of our South Asian community stand as examples of how not to run a country.

While the world was already passing through various challenges including Covid-19 pandemic, climate change that affected food production and supply chains, Ukraine war has further complicated the global situation in the food sector.

Today marks 51 years of Bangladesh as an independent nation. Fifty-one years ago, in the face of a brutal massacre by the Pakistani junta, the Bangladesh Revolution was sparked.

Russia felt insecure, or should we say President Putin, and so Ukraine had to be invaded, population from major parts of the country had to leave their homes, millions had to become refugees, thousands had to die -- including Russian soldiers, many foreigners and  a Bangladeshi sailor -- a nation needed to be terrorised and the world thrown into turmoil.

As announced, the Search Committee for the Election Commission will submit its recommendations to the president today, February 24, 2022.

Tomorrow (February 24, 2022), the Search Committee will submit its recommendations to the President. Regrettably it will be done as before – in secrecy. We will never know (unless the President decides otherwise and sets a new precedent, and we hope he does) the ten names they recommended and only learn about the five the President will choose in consultation with the Prime Minister.

In 1970, a young Rabindra Sangeet singer caused a sensation, when his rendition of “Jani Jani Go” made its way to number one rank on the country’s best-selling chart. This feat shattered the general assumption that Rabindra Sangeet was not “commercially viable”. Only a year later, he was imprisoned and tortured by the Pakistani Army, formally accused of “inciting the people with nationalistic and revolutionary songs”.

Seventy years ago, on this day, an act of bravery and defiance against the oppressive state machinery of Pakistan paved the way for what later cemented the Bengali identity before the world.

In the last two years, we were forced to accept a new way of living. The world as we knew it will possibly never be the same, but as “change is the only constant in life,” we have learned to adapt to this new reality.