Stories about Bangladesh from January, 2007
South Asia: Forced marriages in the UK
A House of Lords discussion in the UK on forced marriages covered at Pickled Politics. “Lord Lester said that on the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery, it was scandalous that we were turning a blind eye to the sexual and domestic slavery of women; he said is was fully...
Bangladesh: God and Friendship
Sadiq M.Alam on God, friendship and Islam. “the mainstream islam often come in clash with sufi stream of islam which interestedly emphasize a lot on the inner dimension whereas the orthodox school in most of the cases moves around the periphery of rituals, religious laws etc.”
Bangladesh: Drugs, Sex Education, Freedom of Press, Winter Fruits and Vegetables and Man-Eating Tigers
There seems to be no stopping drug frenzy once it takes hold of a nation. Drishtipat Group Blog tells how Yabba, a speed/amphetamine derivative from Thailand is taking on Bangladesh. It started a few years ago as experiments of the upper class. It has penetrated deeply into the working class...
Bangladesh: Demolition Drive
Adda on cleaning up the mess in Bangladesh. “For almost a week Bangladesh is undergoing a huge demolition drive. Bangladesh Police, the Army, and the Municipal Authorities across the country are working very diligently to demolish all illegal structures erected inside the cities and along the highways.”
Bangladesh: The globalization of the internet
The 3rd World View on the globalization of the internet. “Now Bangladesh is under a state of emergency with limited rights (writing against the govt. is prosecutable) but we can see bloggers using irony and satire or even bold languages to say things about the government.”
Bangladesh: ULFA and Assam
A separatist armed outfit in India causes trouble for Bangladesh. Rezwan on how the government needs to make it's position clear. “With their involvement in the terrorist attacks in Bangladesh or the killing of the poor Biharis in Assam, ULFA is proving that they are just a mercenary group quite...
Bangladesh: The Bubble
Salam Dhaka on the gaps observed in Bangladesh. “There is a huge gap between what the political circles, elites and “intellectuals” want to talk about and what the middle and lower middle class care about. If you talk to people in the lower middle class then the disconnect gets worse.”
South Asia: Human rights, blogosphere, traditions, democracy, discrimination, travel and festivals
Picks from different blogs from the following South Asian Countries: Bangladesh: After 5 years detention in Guantanamo, one Bangladeshi (Mobarak) was recently released by the US authorities. However he was arrested again by Bangladesh Airport police for interrogation as soon as he arrived in Dhaka. Naeem of Drishtipat blog is...
Bangladesh: End to end solution for religious events
Salam Dhaka on glimpses of life in Bangladesh, like meeting Huzur. “You want an end to end solution for all your religious events? Hanif is your man. In 2 hours notice he will buy a goat, bring in a professional butcher and get it all done. If you want the...
Bangladesh: The racist subcontinent
Reacting to the Big Brother Racism controversy, Mezba says “The whole subcontinent. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. We discriminate daily based on caste, skin fairness, gender, religion (or inter-religion as in Sunni/Shia so on). Yet we are always the first ones to criticize.”
Bangladesh: Proud to be Muslim
Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on being Muslim and being proud of it. “This image of Muslims claiming their “moderate”ness and the incessant Muslim bashing that comes from the wingnuts is poisoning the well. It has led to the notion that unless Muslims jump every time some Muslim...
Bangladesh: On the swastika
An ancient symbol appears to forever lose its meaning because of the Nazi connection. Inspirations and Creative Thoughts on the Swastika. “European Union is planning to ban the symbol of Swastika, infamously used by the Nazi. But hindus are opposing the move because despite its being adopted as symbol of...
Bangladesh: Eviction of street vendors
Drishtipat on street vendors being evicted and if the government had given any thought to their livelihood. “Should the authority have thought of some alternative for these people with day to day incomes?”
Bangladesh: Diaspora returing home
Drishtipat points to a report on diaspora returning to Bangladesh, and an interesting conversation in the comments space follows.
Bangladesh: Update on politics
With events unfolding by the day, Rezwan has an update on Bangladeshi internal affairs. “There have been some positive developments in Bangladesh. People are finally finding peace at home with the actions of the new caretaker government.”
Bangladesh: Political Crisis
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying on the political crisis in Bangladesh. “Bangladesh has, by a quirk in its Constitution, been legally transformed into a dictatorship. A democracy of 125 million people is now at the mercy of a handful of unelected rulers and the military.”
Bangladesh: Cross Culture Marriages
a Bengali in TO on cross culture marriages and racism. “I am not going to debate whether marrying outside your ethnic group is right or wrong. That's like debating whether liquid soap is better than a bar of soap. There is no right answer.”
Bangladesh: State of emergency, bloggers as information source
Bangladesh witnessed some dramatic changes recently. Last Thursday night president Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency and resigned as the chief of the caretaker government, the prime demand of the opposition grand alliance. He also postponed the January 22nd election, the process of which was alleged as being engineered....
Bangladesh: The Political Turmoil
Amardeep Singh sums up the issues in Bangladesh. “The central issue seems to be the accuracy of the country's voter rolls, which has on it the names of 13 million people who shouldn't be there — out of a total population of 150 million.
Bangladesh: Separation of judiciary
Rezwan comments that separation of judiciary is a prime requirement in Bangladesh. “From the latest whirlwind dismantling of the status quo in Bangladesh politics, one this has become certain that there is an international pressure and no one is ready to accept any illegitimate government taking power.”
Bangla blogs debate: Saddam or Bush – who is more guilty?
The year 2006 ended with the big news of Saddam Hussein’s execution in Iraq. Footage of his hanging was leaked on the Internet leaving many aghast at the manhandling he was subjected to in his dying hours. The blog world has been abuzz with outpourings of feelings towards the event...