Mahfuz Anam

Bangladesh and Bangalees have many heroes. But Bangabandhu shines far above all. While our other heroes may be matchless examples of excellence in their own respective fields, or a multiple of them, Bangabandhu’s achievement is that he led us to having a country that we could call our own.

If the section of the government dealing with the overall management of the Covid situation continuously flip-flops on its decisions, then doesn’t the image of the government suffer?

As the country scrambles to curb the spread of Covid-19, we will be entering yet another lockdown. The current infection rate stands at 23.86 percent, with specific regions crumbling under surmounting pressure to contain the disease.

Simplistically put, it is a “procedure vs patient” issue—meaning a “bureaucracy vs ultimate beneficiary” tussle. We, of course, need procedures to work within, otherwise systems would collapse.

Expatriate workers are our goose of Aesop’s Fables that lays the golden eggs.

It is not often that the government spends public money (does it have the right to do so?) to vilify a senior journalist who has established her credentials as a bold, effective and highly competent investigative journalist.

For what crime Rozina Islam, a senior correspondent of Prothom Alo, a renowned journalist, highly respected among her peers and known for her bold and insightful reporting, is going to be in jail till tomorrow when hearing of her bail petition will be held?

About the just-concluded West Bengal assembly elections, there are three things to celebrate and one to be worried about.

When Bangladesh was first hit by Covid-19 in March/April last year, we all thought that we would be seeing the end of it soon, at most by the year’s end.

In this column and through our reports, commentaries and editorials, we have repeatedly stressed the need for accountability of all public institutions run by taxpayers’ money. Of them, the accountability of law enforcement agencies is most important.

I remember the first time when, in utter horror, we heard the news of the assassination of Bangabandhu along with his whole family, save the two daughters.

As we approach yet another Pahela Baishakh celebration, the world around us is still reeling from the effects of a pandemic — a struggling health sector, a weakened economy,

Here we were, sailing quite smoothly after the first wave of the pandemic and congratulating ourselves for having “handled” it well. Even the WHO paid us compliments. But suddenly, within a few weeks, we seem to have gone right back where we started.

Myanmar is our only other neighbour, with India being the overwhelming first. To the credit of our policymakers, we have tried our best to maintain good relations with Myanmar notwithstanding their treatment of Rohingyas, forcing nearly 300,000 of them upon us thirty years ago, in the early nineties.

The ostensible reason for the recent protests was Indian PM Narendra Modi’s latest visit. The real reason was to signal that Hefajat-e-Islam (HI) under its new leadership was not the same party as it was under its former chief Shah Ahmad Shafi and his immediate followers and to announce that HI was ready to emerge as a new political force under the guise of protecting the majority faith.

It was extremely bold as a vision, highly ambitious as a project, without parallel in scope, crucial in terms of fulfilling a need, exemplary in its execution and unprecedented as a private project in which people’s participation was the main driving force.

My generation and others close to it formed the bulk of the Mukti Bahini in 1971. The majority of Dhaka University students of the time were an integral part of it, as it was my distinct privilege.

At 50, it’s time we acted in a manner that reflects a confident country, not one that is nervous and insecure fearing that the slightest criticism will cause us harm.

In Bangladesh, when we think, talk and seek justice, we think of the courts. And that is how it should be. Among the courts, the higher we go -- meaning the High Court, the Appellate Division -- the more important they become as symbols of justice.

Isn’t personal freedom one of the most cherished and universally celebrated principles of our civilisation? Isn’t guaranteeing this freedom the most sacred task of a modern state?