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Shamiul Alim

Is this the real face of NGO activities?
Is this the real face of NGO activities?
Article

Is this the real face of NGO activities?

While top NGO officials, dressed in crisp, white, ironed panjabis, shout themselves hoarse about governance, human rights, and sustainable development inside air-conditioned seminar halls, a despicable example of the harsh reality faced by marginalized people sweating in the scorching heat outside has emerged in Tarash, Sirajganj. For the 'crime' of failing to pay a microcredit installment, a mother was sent to jail after her eighteen-month-old nursing infant was snatched from her arms. Yet, according to official records, the actual amount in dispute was a mere two hundred taka.

Has the state lost guardianship of its citizens?
Has the state lost guardianship of its citizens?
Law

Has the state lost guardianship of its citizens?

The measure of a state's strength is not determined by its GDP or large-scale projects, but rather by how well it safeguards its most vulnerable citizens during times of peril.

Measles disaster in Rajshahi: Bureaucratic stagnation or structural violence
Measles disaster in Rajshahi: Bureaucratic stagnation or structural violence
Article

Measles disaster in Rajshahi: Bureaucratic stagnation or structural violence

Measles — medically defined, it is a highly contagious virus that is entirely preventable. However, in the current context of Rajshahi, this term has transcended its clinical meaning — it has evolved into a testament to systematic administrative failure. Over the past month and a half, more than 53 children have succumbed to complications from the disease at Rajshahi Medical College (RMC) Hospital. Reports from the state-run news agency BSS and major media outlets indicate that 44 lives have been lost to measles within a mere two weeks. Furthermore, in the 48 hours leading up to the completion of this article, three more innocent children have tragically passed away while waiting in lengthy ICU queues.

44 small coffins and a locked file: Who is responsible for structural murder?
44 small coffins and a locked file: Who is responsible for structural murder?
Politics and Bureaucracy

44 small coffins and a locked file: Who is responsible for structural murder?

When two-and-a-half-year-old Nusayba from Chatmohar in Pabna passed away on March 12, her father received a call from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital exactly four days later. He was informed that a bed had been allocated for Nusayba. This ‘posthumous call’ regarding a bed for a deceased child is a significant indictment of our governance in the 21st century. The same unfortunate situation has occurred with Nahid from Terokhadia and 10-month-old Jihad from Durgapur, who have been denied access to a mechanical ventilator despite waiting endlessly. The disheartening admission from the medical team indicates that there have been 53 deaths in the past two and a half months; of these, 44 young lives were lost prematurely in the two weeks from March 10 to 24 due to insufficient intensive monitoring. The greatest irony of progress is that just a few kilometers away from where children are dying daily due to inadequate treatment, a modern specialized children's hospital with 200 beds, constructed at a cost of approximately Tk35 crore in the Ghora Chattar (Behrampur) area of the metropolis, has been fully operational since 2023. Despite having state-of-the-art facilities, including 56 intensive monitoring beds and a central oxygen system, the hospital is awaiting approval for its manpower structure (organogram) due to bureaucratic delays. This official inaction has become more significant than the lives of children today. It is particularly astonishing that the 12-bed child intensive monitoring center currently functioning in the main hospital lacks official approval; it is being operated under its own special management. Is a file concerning a manpower structure on the administrative desk of a state capable of executing large-scale projects worth thousands of crores of taka more important than the lives of 44 children?

Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 2
Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 2
Report

Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 2

After the deadly Bailey Road fire in the capital that claimed dozens of life, the issue of fire safety in different cities across the country has come to the fore. A thorough investigation by the Vies Bangladesh revealed that the divisional city of Rajshahi is also at risk of terrible fire incident at any moment.

Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 1
Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 1
Report

Rajshahi at risk of terrible fire anytime: Part 1

The city of Rajshahi is at risk of terrible fire incident at any moment as most the divisional city’s residential buildings, restaurants, shopping malls and other buildings do not have adequate fire safety measures.