Kamal Ahmed

Two verdicts in two different countries, located thousands of miles apart, by their respective supreme courts last week have stoked a serious debate about the role of judges and politicisation of the judiciary.

Well-known civic rights activist Mizanur Rahman’s narration of his harrowing experience of being picked up by police and tortured under custody, published in this newspaper’s online version on June 15, gives us some disturbing snapshots of the unlawful actions of our law enforcement agencies.

When Bangladesh needs to show that it has been listening to the concerns about respecting human rights and upholding the rule of law, it has done quite the opposite.

The questions suggested by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen for the US ambassador to Bangladesh were a repetition of unverified claims made by some politicians in their public speeches.

Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist and the world’s richest man, is the new king of Twitterdom.

The recent publication of the drafts of two long-awaited legislations on regulating the usage of internet in Bangladesh have stoked some debate on their likely impact on both the citizens and businesses.

Writer Mushtaq Ahmed paid the ultimate price for his freedom of expression, and it’s a matter of shame for us all that it happened in the year of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence.

At the beginning of the current millennium, the world celebrated the visible empowerment of citizens through digital technology due to emergence of social media platforms and search engines.

The one issue dominating British politics for weeks is nothing other than the partying going on at the heart of the government, at 10 Downing Street, the office-cum-residence of the prime minister.

Can anyone remember such degradation of a constitutional body like what our Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has done?

The sudden approval of a draft Election Commission law by the cabinet certainly gives the government and the ruling party a powerful public relation tool, as they can claim they have done what no other party even attempted in the last 50 years.

The extraordinary assurance that no journalist will be arrested immediately under the Digital Security Act (DSA) without a summon seems to be an attractive solution to the concerns and fears created by its random abuse to suppress critical voices in the media.

It seems that some of us are quite intrigued by the results of the Union Parishad (UP) elections that show official nominees of the ruling party, Awami League, having lost in a big way.

Bangladesh’s elite law enforcement force, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), which has been subjected to a sanction by the US, has now been applauded by the same government for its role in tackling terrorism, according to some media reports.

Video footage and reports have been emerging daily on both traditional and social media exposing how violent and intimidating our elections have become.

When Indian-born Muslim cricketer Nasser Hussain captained the England team, no one could have imagined that after nearly two decades, the game would be facing a storm of this magnitude and compel the wider society to confront one of the most sensitive issues: racism.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has done something daring to tackle air pollution in his city. First, he experimented with an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), with an area designated as a congestion charging area about 25 years ago.

The takeover of Newcastle United, an ailing English club, by a consortium led by a Saudi-backed investment fund, has once again stoked a passionate debate on sportswashing.

Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their relentless struggle to protect freedom of expression.

It was 50 years ago today when hundreds of Londoners flocked to Sadler’s Wells theatre to show their support and donate to the cause of Bangladesh’s Liberation War.