Senior reporter
Even before public outrage could subside over the incident of a woman being stripped and tortured on video in Cumilla’s Muradnagar, yet another horrific event has shaken the nation. In the same upazila, a mother, her son, and daughter were brutally beaten to death by a mob in broad daylight. Shockingly, more than 24 hours after the murders, no case has been filed with the police.
Locally influencial Fazor Ali reportedly raped a woman in Muradnagar upazila of Cumilla on June 26. As the incident unfolded, some local men not only assaulted Fazor but also brutally beat the victim up. Eventually, they stripped and filmed the incident, later circulating the video on Facebook.
The name Atulprasad Sen shines brightly in the history of Bengali culture, music, and poetry. A legendary composer and lyricist of Bengali songs, Atulprasad was born in the village of Magur in the Bijhari Union of Naria Upazila, Shariatpur district. The iconic song “Moder Gorob Moder Asha, A-Mori Bangla Bhasha” — which inspired the Language Movement of 1952 — was written by him. But the very house in which he was born, where he spent his childhood and adolescence, is no longer known by his name. Today, it is known as ‘Munshi Bari’.
“Mayday… Mayday… Mayday…” “No power… No thrust… Going down…”
For the fourth day in a row, the Secretariat has been flooded with protesting government employees. The atmosphere echoes with slogans like “We want job security, we want empathetic laws” and “We reject oppressive laws.” The uproar, both inside and outside the administrative complex, is sending shockwaves through the state machinery. The unrest stems from the recently passed Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, and has prompted the government to form a review committee headed by Law and Justice Division Secretary Sheikh Abu Taher amid the employees’ persistent protests demanding its repeal.
Dhaka’s administrative zone is witnessing a wave of unrest. Protests are ongoing simultaneously at three key institutions: the Secretariat, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). From civil service officials across 25 cadres to employees of the Rural Electrification Board, various groups are staging work stoppages over different demands.