Nazmul Ahasan

In less than five days after the candidates officially hit the campaign trail on December 11, a number of opposition candidates—including prominent figures such as Dr Kamal Hossain, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Mirza Abbas and Reza Kibria—came under attack from their opponents, a trend that has since continued unabated.

Among the reports of a record number of nomination papers being rejected by election officials, Reza Kibria's case is particularly intriguing.

It's barely a secret that even after the election schedule was announced, the police filed hundreds, if not thousands, of so-called political cases against leaders and activists linked to the opposition.

In a grand rally, Hefajat-e-Islam, a Qawmi Madrasa-based Islamist pressure group, has recently thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her government’s recognition of Dawrae Hadith (Takmil) Certificate in Qawmi Madrasa. Hefajat enjoys considerable support among the country’s conservative populace. Therefore, its endorsement of the current government can make a difference in the forthcoming elections.

It was unsurprising that the much-hyped dialogue between the ruling and opposition alliances didn't yield notable signs of progress.

After much deliberation, the government finally allowed the Oikyafront, the opposition alliance, to organise rallies in both Sylhet and Chittagong.

Just a week or so ago, Dr Kamal Hossain, Badruddoza Chowdhury and BNP seemed to be on the same side of the fence. They held grudges against one another, yet they were allies in opposing the incumbent.

The grisly attack on Awami League's rally in Dhaka on August 21, 2004 marks a watershed moment in Bangladesh's contemporary political history.

Regard-less of his distinguished credentials as a jurist and academic, Dr Kamal Hossain was once a formidable politician. He was the country's first law minister, leading the constitution drafting committee.

A recent report that says Bangladesh has had the highest rise in its ultra wealthy population, surpassing any other country in the world, may have taken many by surprise.

The way Mozammel Hoque, a road safety campaigner, was arrested was hardly normal. A complaint was filed with the police by “a transport labour leader” accusing him of demanding extortion. Understandably, such cases are common in Bangladesh, and many of them false, targeting journalists and human rights defenders.

The August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, targeting the-then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina and top party leaders, marked possibly the most devastating assault on our national security.

There's an increasing inclination, both globally and domestically, among those in power to impede the media.

Among all ruling party-backed candidates in the three-city elections, Khairuzzaman Liton, in Rajshahi,

Tajuddin Ahmad was the one who filled a crucial void in leadership during Bangladesh's most important nine months in 1971 after Bangabandhu had been taken prisoner by the Pakistani army.

Professor Shakhawat Ali Khan, a veteran journalism professor at Dhaka University, often invokes a Second World War-era story in his classes to make his students realise just how important international affairs is. When the war persisted, many Indians were faced with an increased price of some of their essential commodities.

From the human rights perspective, the treatment received by thousands of Bangladeshi female workers at the hands of their employers constitutes a grave violation of their rights. Can a human being work for 17–18 hours tirelessly without any day-off—that too at very low wages?

A politician for nearly four decades, Hasan Uddin Sarkar, the opposition candidate in the Gazipur mayoral election, is well aware of the odds against him.

The idea of the universal pension scheme is new, but it's just a good idea. With our bureaucratic inefficiency, it's highly unlikely that we would be able to make headway in this regard in the near future.

It is hardly a subject that is discussed in the public domain nowadays, but one recalls “Digital Bangladesh” being the centrepiece of the ruling party's electoral campaign in 2008 and onwards. The aim was to transform the bureaucracy-ridden system, making it faster, more efficient and of course less prone to graft. But such a grandiose mission, till now, remains largely unaccomplished.