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?
Blueprint for extermination of Bengalis under guise of duck hunting
The prosperous Indus civilization was founded around the Sindhu River. Larkana in Pakistan is one of the cities that have developed on the banks of this river that stretches across India and Pakistan. It is one of the most prosperous and important cities in the country's Sindh province. This important chapter of the independence movement of the Bengali nation is associated with this city, thousands of miles away. Because it was in this city that the blueprint for the Bengali genocide was finalized instead of handing over power to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The day was February 22, 1971. On the day that President Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and top Pakistani army officers finalized the plan to teach the Bengali nation a bloody lesson with heavy feasts, colorful drinks and intoxication with power.
People's verdict and a new horizon: Service must become the mantra of politics
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is moving towards forming the government by securing an absolute majority with the people's overwhelming votes in the 13th National Parliamentary Election. This victory is not merely the success of a political party; it is the deep trust, confidence and dream of a new tomorrow for millions of people. The people have placed their hopes and aspirations in BNP's hands with immense expectations.
Election hopes turn into disappointment, fear for women in Bangladesh
Hopes surrounding the election have turned into disappointment and fear for many women in Bangladesh, including those who were at the forefront of the July mass uprising, according to a report by the British national daily The Guardian.
The ‘Covert Politics’ debate and…
As the 13th National Parliamentary Election draws closer, political discourse in Bangladesh is becoming increasingly sharp—marked by heightened rhetoric, strategic wordplay, and intensified efforts to politically weaken opponents. A recent and notable example of this trend is the public war of words between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami over the use of the term “ Guptho (covert).”
Political implications of Tarique Rahman's secondcoming
Depicting a political leader, let alone any ordinary person, taking off his shoes and socks and walking barefoot on the ground, smelling the earth, when he returns to the beloved homeland after almost a decade and a half seems not to be unusual. In that sense, the sight of Tarique Rahman walking barefoot on the ground at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on December 25, after spending 17 years in exile in London, did not impress people. But what caught more attention was that he replaced the special chairs on the reception stage in the 300-foot highway area with ordinary chairs, made no negative comments about his political opponents, made no slanderous remarks, showed no egoism, and did not show people lofty dreams. Also, the political foresight and economy of words and phrases that Tarique Rahman displayed in his speech by saying 'I have a plan' in imitation of Martin Luther King, the famous civil rights leader, priest, and symbol of non-violent movement in the United States, may help understand the dynamics of his future politics.
Bangladesh's December dilemma: Rising fundamentalism or spirit of '71
Every December, a strange light ignites in the heart of Bangladesh— victory, grief and pride blend into an overwhelming emotion. The victory of 1971 was not just the end of a war, but the triumph of a nation fighting for existence, the liberation of a civilisation. Every year, December reminds us of the sacrifices of the freedom fighters and the pride of a red-green flag born through immense struggle. Yet the question arises; 53 years after victory, are we still holding on to that spirit? Or is that light fading amid political instability, social division and the currents of time? Several recent incidents have intensified this question.
Who would hold the political power in the future?
'Those who control Bangladesh's politics are inherently undemocratic and the standard of education and training of the ruling class here is very low.' New Age Editor Nurul Kabir came up with the observation on November 18, a day after ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in a case of crimes against humanity, the first such case in Bangladesh's history in which a former prime minister has been sentenced to death. At the unveiling of a book by the late politician Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Nurul Kabir said, 'From the first day of the Bangladesh state to today, democracy has never existed.'
From hope to uncertainty: Path of interim govt
Fourteen months ago, a mass uprising had raised a wave of hope across the nation. The arrival of the interim government under Dr Muhammad Yunus had inspired dreams of a new dawn. Many described it as a “government of morality” or a “bridge of change”.
What to do to overcome political doubts over ‘July Charter’
The present state of Bangladesh’s political structure after the people’s uprising of 2024 can be called an exceptional arrangement.