A Year Of Paradoxes by Ali Riaz
The most appropriate description of the year 2019, particularly of Bangladeshi politics, is perhaps a dialogue in Act 3, Scene 4, of the Twelfth Night of William Shakespeare: “If this were play’d upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.” But we are aware, they were not improbable fictions. The events […]
China’s Crimes Against Uyghur Muslims Call for Global Boycott by CJ Werleman
The “China Cables,” a trove of 400 pages worth of leaked internal Chinese government documents, have provided the international community the “smoking gun” evidence it needs to pressure or punish Beijing for its systematic efforts to erase and annihilate 12 million ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. China has used an array of repressive measures that […]
Can Bangladesh handle another refugee crisis? by Anupam Debashis Roy
The politics of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Registry of Citizenship (NRC) is eerily similar to the politics of Rohingya persecution in Myanmar. Both of them are, were, and will always be deeply related to the internal security, stability, and development of Bangladesh and the entire region. Both of them are built […]
The “Anti-Corruption Drive” in Bangladesh: Where is it Going? by Dr. Ali Riaz
Two months have passed since the ruling Awami League (AL) in Bangladesh started what it described as an anti-corruption drive. It began with raids on a few illegal casinos and clubs on September 18, 2019, netting a small number of leaders of the ruling AL’s youth wing for running these illicit casinos, engaging in extortion, conducting money laundering schemes, […]
India: Deadly Force Used Against Protesters Police Target Anti-Citizenship Law Demonstrators by Human Rights Report
The Indian authorities should cease using unnecessary lethal force against demonstrators protesting a law that discriminates against Muslims, Human Rights Watch said today. Since protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act began on December 12, 2019, at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds have been arrested. Police have used excessive force only against demonstrators protesting the law, including […]
How to help Syrian refugees return home
Displaced Syrians can only return home once regional stability has been restored The long-awaited safe zone, stretching from the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn in northeastern Syria, has finally become a reality. It may soon become home to around 2 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey. Yet, in order to house this number, […]
The government has made journalism impossible in Kashmir
The siege imposed by the government since August 5 – the day when the BJP-led government revoked Article 370 and subsequently completely shut down communications in the valley – also brought journalism to a halt in Kashmir. The communications shutdown did not spare mobile phones and broadband, ensuring that journalists in Kashmir could not function […]
‘They’re Rioting in Africa’
People across the world are protesting more than ever before. William Milam explains why oes anyone remember the song with the above title made famous by the Kingston Trio in the late 1950s? Does anyone, except a few antiques like me, remember the Kingston Trio? I think of that song these days every time I […]
The pressing question is how to avoid tyranny
In a recent article, “Is democracy a dying species?” American commentator Pat Buchanan took note of rioting in Hong Kong, Barcelona, Santiago and Paris, and questioned what it portends for democracy: “Yet one wonders: Why are these outbursts of violent protests and rioting taking place in stable, free, and prosperous societies? … If the beneficiaries […]
ASEAN can no longer turn a blind eye to Myanmar’s atrocities
ASEAN has a responsibility to help facilitate a repatriation process that prioritises the well-being of the Rohingya. After fighters attacked security targets in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state on August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military responded by killing and maiming thousands of Rohingya civilians, raping hundreds of women and girls, and burning entire villages to the ground. Almost […]