Old habits die hard
২৮ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ দুপুর ১:২৬
Mir Ashfaquzzaman
Old habits die hard, so they say. Look at our government, political leaders and civil society stalwarts, you will know why. On December 20, the Indian television channel CNN-IBN ran a story titled ‘6-member team out to kill ex-Bangladesh PM Hasina’. The interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed was quick...
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Wanted: Lawmakers
২৮ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ দুপুর ১:২৫
Shameran Abed
In our country, we seem not to understand the difference between the responsibilities of a member of parliament and those of local government institutions. Parliamentarians, and candidates for parliamentary seats, themselves are often confused. Ask any candidate for the upcoming general elections what they will do if elected and...
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Elections and excuses
২৬ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ ভোর ৪:১৫
Tanim Ahmed
Be it the US-led invasion of Iraq or the military-controlled interim government in Bangladesh, a viable exit or escape route seems to be eluding the actors of both theatres. As the election day draws near, the interim government has visibly stepped up its effort to secure assurance that, whoever...
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Catch-all promises on education
২৩ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ২:২৫
Sonia Kristy
The political parties have come up with their manifestos all colourful and bright promising us the golden Bengal — shonar bangla. The education sector understandably features prominently in the party pledges. Attaining 100 per cent literacy, encouraging free education, giving lucrative stipends, setting up schools, colleges, university madrassahs —...
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To err is superhuman?
২২ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ দুপুর ১:৪৩
Shameran Abed
A couple of days ago, the chief election commissioner was seen telling a scrum of reporters that the election commissioners are ‘super-humans’ and have ‘supernatural powers’. He was trying to look serious while saying it as well. Of course, he was not actually serious and thankfully so. He was...
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The invisible undercurrents
২১ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ২:১০
Rubayat Khan
Most political parties have released their election manifestos already, individually. If each of the parties were contesting elections on their own, it would have been easy to compare and contrast and eventually pick favourites. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these parties are riding in one of two, immense, wagons....
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‘My son’s killer will be president?’
২০ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ১:৪৫
Mahtab Haider
Suddenly, there’s a good deal of talk among Dhaka’s chattering classes about whether former military strongman Ershad really was that bad. ‘Were we really worse off under Ershad’s dictatorship compared to the democracy that the two women gave us?’ the chatterers are saying. With Ershad further legitimised by borrowed...
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Sellers’ market for boats and paddy
১৯ শে ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ৩:৪২
Tanim Ahmed
So all the parties have pledged to ensure food security. Emerging from an especially difficult year that saw low food grain production due to natural calamities, worsened by the global financial and food crises, no surprises there. To that end the parties have promised to ensure availability of cheap...
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Declaration from New Age
১৮ ই ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ৮:০০
The best posts in English might be picked for publication in the New Age print edition, with your permission.
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Vote ‘no’, or no vote?
১৮ ই ডিসেম্বর, ২০০৮ রাত ২:৪৬
Shameran Abed
So, it turns out that we have a ‘no’ vote option in these elections. Don’t like a candidate, you can go into the polling booth and vote for none of the above. How is that different from simply not turning up to vote at all you ask? It is...
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