COVER STORY

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Will the next parliamentary election be held on time? Perhaps, this is the biggest question that has been thrown at the ordinary people of the country. And it is difficult, impossible almost, to give a certain answer to the question right now. If anybody attempts to answer this question s/he must use some ifs and buts and mention the role of some other "non-political players." It clearly indicates that the sky is clouded with the growing possibility of the country being hit by a political Tsunami again.

Shakhawat Liton

How have we landed in such an imbroglio? There is a vacuum in the legal system centring the next general election, and according to the Constitution, the 10th parliamentary election is supposed to be held anytime in between October 27…

Chintito

Last Words Before Independence

Chintito

“If they (Pakistan Army) think they can suppress people’s struggle by bullet and force, they simply live in a fool’s paradise. No power on earth can suppress the people when they are prepared to shed blood. The roads and lanes…

Straight Talk

Just a bit of ‘Comic Relief’

NADIA KABIR BARB

One thing I have learned over the years about the British public is that you just have to give them a worthwhile cause and almost without fail will they dig deep into their pockets to help out. Whether they are…

Neighbour

COURTING DANGER AT RED ZONE

If you want a walk on the wild side, I suggest visiting the Red Zone in Felda Sahabat near Lahad Datu town in Sabah. On a Tuesday, a few weeks ago, that’s what my colleagues – PK Katharason and Muguntan…

Theatre

Prachyanat’s on and off Stage Journey

Shahidul Mamun

Twenty-sixth March, 2013 saw the end of six-day Nattyamela (theatre carnival) organised by Prachyanat Theatre Troupe. The Nattyamela, inaugurated by mothers of threatre artistes, was dedicated to the memories of deceased President Zillur Rahman. Prachyanat, formed in February 1997, quickly…

Star Diary

CUSTOMER SERVICE: FAIL!

A few weeks back, I went to the Dhanmondi (Rd 2) branch of one of the most reputed international banks. As it was quite early in the morning, there were very few customers and most of them were at the…

Star Diary

Service Feedback DISGRACEFUL

A few weeks ago I went to a boutique in Gulshan 2 with my mother-in-law who happens to be a renowned singer. During that visit, the salesgirls fawned over us and claimed I could choose anything in the store and…

Write to Mita

Dear Mita, I had a love marriage about a year ago and I am quite happy with my husband. My problem however is with my mother-in-law. She is a very nice person, but she can be a bit controlling at…

voicebox

voicebox

“But if there was no peace in Bangladesh, foreigners would then say that the army is not capable of maintaining peace in other countries.” KHALEDA ZIA opposition leader and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson about Bangladesh’s army’s role in the…

Cartoon Strip

The Conspiracy

Sharier

Postscript

Smart Phones for Dummies

AASHA MEHREEN AMIN

According to the umpteen number of ads on TV your life is not worth living if you haven’t acquired the latest version of some smart phone or the other. The most fashionable acquisition for the upwardly mobile these days is…

Perceptions

The Gift of Sacred Thunder

Rebecca Haque

Friday morning, the twenty-second of March 2013. Dry, dusty hot hours of mourning and reflection. Days of anarchy and arson stilled by the impending burial of the elderly statesman. Sanity prevails in the soft studied eulogies. Polite, deferential unity in…

Letters

As Good As It Gets

It was nice to know that the Social Welfare ministry is running such a day-care service at the Dhaka Central Jail. Reading about it in ‘As Good As It Gets’, I was wondering whether all the jails in the country…

Writing the Wrong

Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

SHARBARI AHMED

I guess he had to go. He stayed away for five years.  He’s been in the neighbourhood before.  When he first started this job he went everywhere but there.  He was making a point.  The first of many I suppose. …

Reflections

Sublime to the Ridiculous …

Shah Husain Imam

When the economy creates a brighter image for Bangladesh, politics destroys it. In a world where primacy of economy is accepted and rooted for, politics usually takes a backseat. Even historically inimical countries do not piggyback on any past baggage,…

Impressions

Zero Point

Andrew Eagle

Continued from last week… Besides, just as the heart might be found inexplicably inhabiting some distant delta, the cogs of the brain might turn their first in a snowy land. In the free hours in those initial weeks in Norway,…

Crime

Auto Disaster Management 101

ANIKA HOSSAIN

On March 1 2013, at about 12:30 at night, Chowdhury Mohammad Jalal (not his real name) was returning to his home in Dhanmondi with his wife and daughter after attending a family wedding. As he drove onto his street, he…

Human Rights

IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

Zahir Hassan Nabil

Biswajit Das is known to us through the gruesome photographs showing him desperately trying to escape his attackers who would not stop hacking him with sharp weapons. Otherwise, he was known as Bisho to his peers; an ardent fan of…

HEADING TOWARDS A DEAD END

Law

SEVEN

M Rahman

Life here apparently has no value. Often no one is held accountable for killings in road accidents, in political clashes or during campus violence. Authorities concerned are reluctant about carrying out prompt probes to find out the facts especially in…

International

Shahbag Beyond Boundaries

Development professional and social activist Aziza Ahmed shares her experience of presenting the role of the social media in organising the Shahbag movement in India Today's conclave 2013 — “Reinventing Democracy”.

Tamanna Khan

These are not secret meetings but assemblies that have a considerable influence on the society and perhaps on the thoughts of policy-makers of the world’s largest democracy. India Today’s conclave has been organised every year since 2002 on topics that…