One of the principal reasons that Bangladesh’s economic development has been so slow in coming and so meager upon arrival is that information hasn’t reached the poorer, farther flung, places in Bangladesh. Villages that do not have easy transport access (and therefore do not have information, publicly or privately bundled) do not enjoy their fair […]
In another mutual advantage move, Bangladesh and Nepal have signed a deal that will very likely increase bilateral trade between the two countries. A transit deal, including a transport route worked out in Dhaka–and finalized in early 2011– will increase transport and tourism between the two countries. The deal initially made in 1976 will finally […]
The government has stumbled upon the opportunity to move against all its enemies on the religious right. International partners are asking the Awami League government to take its next steps carefully. The BNP is backing down from its high pitched rhetoric on the ruling party’s moves against the right. With that confluence of events, the […]
The government of Bangladesh has placed severe penalties against burning the national flag. The cabinet approved the move and the parliament will debate the prospect of 2 year prison terms and a 10,000 Taka fine levied against all such acts. This smacks of nationalism run amok. It is nearly incontestable that any instance in […]
I’ve not attended to Bangladesh’s climate change derived water crisis in some time. Whether I’ve been right or wrong, I’ve principally attended only to the political bearings that have supported the two main opposing parties. Happily, Sebastian Strangio a journalist writing for Foreign Policy Magazine has written up an excellent piece about climate change in […]
As I wrote recently the High Court in Bangladesh has deemed fatwas and other extrajudicial punishment illegal. Indeed, it has ruled that those who issue fatwas are now subject to punishment. This is good news. But the results that the ruling might seem to promise may be a long time coming. In the first instance […]
The High Court of Bangladesh recently declared all forms of extrajudicial punishment illegal. Fatwas, or religious judgments fall under the domain of the ruling. Therefore, fatwas, as a form of extrajudicial punishment have been deemed illegal in Bangladesh. The Daily Star reports; “Anyone involved, present or taking part in or assisting any such conviction or […]
Al Jazeera English’s 101 East series has put together another astounding, heart breaking piece on Bangladeshi culture, its sociology. This time around, film makers sponsored by Al Jazeera have examined the wide spread phenomenon of violence that so often churns along with the covert exchange of property rights that is tagged euphemistically in cities and […]
Can the BNP stand behind former allies who might be prosecuted for committing war crimes against their own people? This question must now float high on the list of questions BNP leadership is asking while strategizing a fecund and energized return to power. The BNP has recently struck out in support of the three top leaders […]
It is instructive to think about the international political economic implications of the easily disparaged, late in coming War Crimes Trial in Bangladesh. The local media have for long written up tomes on the domestic fight in setting up that trial; less attention has been paid to the international dimensions of that fight. A quick summary […]
Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamist political party that entered into coalition with the BNP during its previous turn in power, has seen better days. The three top leaders of the party were arrested this week on charges of hurting the sentiments of Muslims. This has all come about because another Bangladeshi religious group filed charges against Jamaat […]
The current government of Bangladesh should be congratulated for maintaining some modicum of restraint and dignity, relative to its predecessor governments. It has managed macro-economic policy to the extent that over the last year a series of macro-economic reports for different sectors have trended positive. The central government’s plan to take over recruitment and management […]
The former dictator and President of Bangladesh, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, pledged his loyalty to the ruling Awami League, the very party that once stood in opposition to his rule. His Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), though a member of the left leaning AL Grand Coalition has been something of a flighty beast. Once the clearing house […]
The AP reported over the weekend past that more than 200 supporters of the BNP were arrested during a day long protest strike that the BNP had called to speak out against political moves it has challenged as Awami League misrule. As the AP piece observes, the return of hte hartaal (protest strike) is a […]
The World’s South Asia blog had recent post on the background facts behind my recent piece on the central government’s takeover of migrant recruitment and management. Zahid Hussain’s post fills in the numbers gap between the latest news on international migrant workers and the government’s latest move to own a larger share of the remittances […]