Shakhawat Liton

An unusual secrecy shrouded Bangabandhu's departure aboard a special Pakistan International Airways flight on his release from captivity in West...

He was the jewel in the crown for the newly freed Bangladesh and the liberated, jubilant Bangalis.

It was a different day in our politics, imbued with hope that any flashpoint could be avoided with a democratic spirit. The ruling Awami League and its rival BNP deserve praise for making this difference on Tuesday.

The BNP deserves better than the way it was treated by police on Saturday when a group of people under the banner of a so-called "real BNP" marched towards the opposition party's central office with an ulterior motive to occupy it.

It is nothing but an air of optimism for the present and the future if the major development activities --both at planning stage and under implementation by the Awami League-led government are considered. But the state of democracy in the country tells of another tale, not so happy or bright.

There is no doubt that holding a fair and free election in a democratic manner brightens a ruling party's image. Why, then, do the parties in power seldom follow the path to take its image to new heights?

The Election Commissioner has sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's intervention to stop the electoral code of conduct violation by ruling Awami League MPs and leaders and thus Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz has made it apparent that the EC is helpless and unable to control the situation.

We have used Pakistani sources--books written by Pakistani military officers involved in the operations in East Pakistan in 1971 and the report of a chief justice of Pakistan--to compile these reports to show the extent and complicity of the Pakistan Government and its military in the genocide, destruction, and uprooting of tens of millions of Bangalis in 1971. The facts speak for themselves.

Pakistan not only lied by denying its atrocities in Bangladesh in 1971, it deliberately twisted facts to deny the genocide it committed on the Bangali people during the nine-month Liberation War.

The new electoral code of conduct makes no distinction between partisan and non-partisan municipality polls with regard to imposing restriction on electioneering by individuals enjoying government facilities.

How would our daily lives be if Dhaka city remained under water for more than a week after a heavy rainfall?

What Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta said about the TIB five years ago and what he is saying about it now are very significant.

People in Bihar have voted against politics of arrogance, intolerance and communalism causing a humiliating defeat for the ruling BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Indian media analyses.

By inviting Saarc leaders to his swearing-in ceremony one and a half years ago, Indian PM Narendra Modi had sent a message among neighbours that they would be treated with fairness and respect in his foreign policy.

An effective and meaningful separation of lower judiciary from the executive has not really worked out as expected even after eight years of an official separation of judiciary.

The claim that the brutal militant group IS has carried out the bomb attack at the Huseni Dalan in Old Dhaka on the eve of the Tazia parade early last Saturday does not stand to reason. If one looks at the history of the emergence of the Islamic State or IS as it is better known, and its current operations in some regions in the Mid-east, it does not seem that the militant group was behind the attack.

It has been a long settled principle across the globe that without upholding the independence of the judiciary, no country will be able to strengthen democracy. It is because independent courts are the hallmark of a strong democratic society.

Will the partisan elections to the local government bodies open a window for “nomination business” by the major political parties? Is it going to tighten the parties' grips over their grassroots level leaders?

President Abdul Hamid and Chief Justice SK Sinha, in their recent comments, have really spoken for the people while talking about the abnormal rise of businessmen in politics.

Twenty-four years back, the country switched over to parliamentary democracy from the presidential form of government. Yet, the local government bodies still function like in the presidential form of government.