Editor's Note

Let freedom speak. Let different voices be heard from all strata of society. Let repression be driven away from our land and let economic disparity be a thing of the past. But for all that to happen, we need informed public opinion with a deep understanding of the forces that are driving our country.

For a long time we have felt the need for a "think" magazine for our readers. As the world gets closer to us and we become more and more integrated with the world, there is need for a more in-depth analytical magazine that explains the world to our readers and Bangladesh to the world. Just as we need to hear the world so does the world need to hear us.

While the high quality daily newspapers, of which there are a few in the country today, do a creditable job of informing us, they do not do a satisfactory job of explaining the complex events and their implications that affect every aspect of our lives in today's globalized world.

To fill that vacuum we have decided to publish the monthly Forum. We follow on the great tradition of the Forum of the late sixties brought out by Rehman Sobhan and Hameeda Hossain, which fought for the political and economic rights of the Bengalis of East Pakistan.

Today Forum will fight for a democratic secular Bangladesh that will guarantee fundamental rights to all its citizens. It will be for a Bangladesh of creativity and dignity. It will be based on its very own ethos tailored to match the best of the modern world.

Forum will try and bring to its readers renowned international writers (Tariq Ali, Ahmed Rashid, and Martin Woollacott, among others, write in our first issue) with their perspective of the latest in global trends and events. We will bring the best of Bangladeshi writers for a deeper understanding of the challenges that face us.

We hope the readers of The Daily Star will find this latest presentation from your favourite newspaper worthy of your patronization. We begin a new journey today, which will hopefully help to create an enlightened and well informed citizenry that will work to build a democratic and exploitation-free Bangladesh.