55 years ago today, Pakistan as it existed then came to end as the Mujibnagar Government was formally formed. Two generations on, the peoples of the two countries share a common yearning for democracy. On both wings of the erstwhile Pakistan then, a prayer for democracy.
It is striking that nearly two years after a youth led uprising that was triggered by protests about jobs, the economy is largely absent from public discourse. This may be the ultimate July betrayal of them all.
Join Jyoti Rahman, a macroeconomist, and Md Rubaiyath Sarwar, a development economist, as they discuss their observations from their recent travels
Keeping interest rates artificially low is a recipe for disaster. We have been here before -- not even too long ago -- and we know how this story ends. It won't be pleasant for anyone, least of all the newly-elected government.
As Bangladesh enters into its first real general election since 2008, we will finally be given a snapshot of where the country stands electorally. Have the polls and the pundits called it correctly, or are we in for a February surprise? Only Election Day will tell.
Jamaat has emerged as one of the two main parties in the current dispensation. Its student wing has won student council elections in five universities. Its online activists dominate the cyberspace. It has consistently polled sufficiently well to emerge as the main opposition in the next parliament if not outright win the election.
Where does the Awami League stand today, 18 months after the July Uprising, and is there any way back for the party post-February 12?
In a riverine land such as ours, mainstream might be a more evocative term -- BNP represents the confluence of various cultural, historical, social milieus that continue to flow through us. As Mrs Zia has memorably put it, BNP situates itself to the left of the right, and to the right of the left.
The axes of Bangladeshi politics have shifted dramatically. Where do the political parties line up in the new dynamic?
Khaleda Zia’s moral authority came not just from her political positions, but also from her very persona. She was the epitome of dignity and grace. Authenticity is a virtue in politics, something she exhibited all her political life.
Every Muslim knows the phrase Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim -- the most Beneficent, the most Compassionate. Can we reorient our moral compass towards the politics of responsibility and compassion?
