STRANGER THAN FICTION
Removal of Nawaz Sharif and the future of Pakistan
We know, since the assassination of the first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, no Pakistani Prime Minister has been able to complete his or her full term in office. However, someone's stating this becomes clichéd or worn-out unless one discerns the different circumstances leading to each removal and dismissal.
Two disasters, two countries, two peoples
Surprisingly, “baby boomers” (born between 1946 and 1960)—the generation that took part in the Liberation War—and “millennials” (born between mid-1980s and early 2000s) of Bangladesh (both supposed to be articulated, brave, and liberal), to put it mildly, also seem to be apathetic and opportunistic, even during times of national emergencies.
Trump's Riyadh rendezvous
Although there's no reason to take Donald Trump's erratic behaviour, and his ambivalent and unsavoury assertions seriously, we can't ignore what he staged in Riyadh in the name of defeating Islamist terrorism on May 21.
STRANGER THAN FICTION / What's so “interesting” in Bangladesh today?
Interest-ingly, “interesting” is an English expression, which may hide one's actual opinion about something one considers “interesting”.
Trump hits Syria / A gambit and a war crime
There are contrad-ictory opinions about who on April 4 used chemical weapons, which killed more than 80 civilians, including children in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Syria.
ISIS threats in Bangladesh - Denials and Delusions
It has happened again! In the wake of the latest round of terror attacks in Bangladesh, with ISIS claiming credit for it, authorities in the...
CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT 2017 / Another regression therapy for Bangladesh?
A recent move by the Government to allow child marriage under special circumstances is tantamount to excluding many Bangladeshis from the benefits of growth and development.
STRANGER THAN FICTION / Corruption in Bangladesh: Perceptions vs. reality
The country has already become a lower middle-income country. So far so good! However, these indexes don't always tell us the whole truth about the states of governance, corruption, poverty, inequality, and most importantly, frequent violations of human rights across the country.
Obama's legacy, racism, and Trump's victory in America
As there are multiple causes and factors behind most events, so is Donald Trump's election victory not attributable to any single factor.
Attacks on minorities in Bangladesh: No longer a “communal issue”
Recently, Muslim mob attacks on Hindu houses and temples in Nasirnagar (Brahmanbaria) and elsewhere in Gopalganj, Chittagong, and Sunamganj districts in Bangladesh have drawn wide media attention, within and outside the country.
Foreign Policy article on Bangladesh: A Most Unfortunate Conclusion
It’s absurd! It's preposterous to suggest that around 40 percent of Bangladeshis favour suicide terrorism. Yet this is what some American think tanks and “expert analysts” have recently come up with in their reports, to the detriment of Bangladesh's reputation.
Should America intervene in Yemen?
While Americans are engrossed in Donald Trump's vulgar and offensive comments on women, and allegations about his sexual misconduct with multiple women in the past, seemingly the US Administration is busy teaching the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels a lesson.
Suing Saudi Arabia for 9/11: Another American obsession
Americans since the founding of the United States seem to be in a perennial state of narcissist obsession.
Fifteen Years after 9/11: Is America any safer?
Is America Any Safer” is the cover story of this September's Atlantic magazine. CNN and other media outlets are also commemorating
Terrorists in Bangladesh
The poor, marginalised, and uninformed madrasa students in Bangladesh are too weak and disorganised to spearhead any violent or revolutionary movement. This explains why urban, rich, and secular-educated – not rural, poor, and madrasa-educated – youths appear so far to be the main foot soldiers of Islamist terror.
Countering terrorism in Bangladesh
Politicians and law-enforcers in Bangladesh, from time to time, hype up both panic and complacency by publicizing the following: “terrorists everywhere” or “no terrorists anywhere”, in the country. The ambivalence is counterproductive to counterterrorism (CT) operation.
Is Kemalism on its way out in Turkey?
The enigmatic coup-attempt in Turkey on the night of July 15 and 16 signals something ominous about the future of Turkey, NATO, and the entire region.
When terrorism isn’t terrorism, to America
I find my White American students – even the very bright ones – totally confused, the moment I ask them if White police brutality against Black people in America amounts to terrorism. Most White students attribute the killings of black people by