THERE is a slow violence unravelling in the capital 鈥� not through war or terrorism but through every breath that people take. Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, is gasping, literally, for air. The city鈥檚 sky, once merely hazy in winter, has become a year-round cloak of poison. The air is not just unhealthy. It is a weapon of mass disablement...
THE sudden death of an RMG worker protesting in front of the Shrom Bhaban on March 23 took the media by storm. The festivities of Ramadan came to a halt, even if for a second, as Dhaka鈥檚 urban middle class was confronted with the stark realities hidden beneath the surface of the country鈥檚 multi-million-dollar RMG industry. The deceased was identified as...
The Taliban government condemned on Tuesday the 鈥榲iolence鈥� used by Pakistan in its new campaign to expel Afghans from the country, accusing Islamabad of using the migrants for 鈥榩olitical goals鈥�...
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad in a statement on Sunday expressed concern over the social media smear campaign targeting the female journalist who was attacked and sexually assaulted on April 2 evening...
CLASHES in two places in Rangpur and in Shariatpur, one between followers of local Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and the other between followers of local Awami League leaders, over supremacy the same day are unfortunate. The clashes show that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is bent on power assumption in elections that could be forthcoming after...
A STUDENT-LED procession against violence and discrimination was making its way through the bazaar when it was suddenly ambushed by a violent mob. Chaos erupted as the crowd scattered in all directions. Anik Chakma, a 17-year-old higher secondary student, ran for his life, but there was nowhere to escape 鈥� they were surrounded. He tried to hide in a nearby...
THE root of violence is in the false sense of power that believes it can do anything because everything has been allowed in modern times and personal freedom has bordered on a sense of invincibility. This is the great illusion of our era, the belief that freedom is an unqualified licence rather than a structured privilege bound by moral and social obligations. We have to...
ON MARCH 12, 2006, five United States soldiers from the 101st airborne division drank whiskey, plotted a massacre and descended on the home of聽Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. They shot her father, mother and聽6-year-old sister聽execution-style. Then, as her baby sister鈥檚 body cooled on the floor, they took turns raping Abeer. When they were done...
The Rape Law Reform Coalition, a combine of 17 legal and rights organisations, on Wednesday suggested that amendments to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act-2000 should introduce a broader legal definition of rape to include all individuals to curb incidents of rape and violence against women...
Protests against rape and violence against women and children continued for the 11th consecutive day on Monday, calling for swift trial and people鈥檚 unity to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
The Transparency International Bangladesh on Sunday placed an 11-point charter of demands, including ensuring security for women in all educational institutions and workplaces, to prevent violence against women.
RAPE and other forms of sexual violence are weapons of domination and they increase in frequency when perpetrators and potential perpetrators realise that they would not be prosecuted. Who gives them this confidence? A dysfunctional criminal justice system, poor investigation, the inability of survivors to seek justice and social and political structures that...
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has formed a legal and health support cell across its 84 organisational political districts to document and address cases of violence against women and children, including torture, rape and murder.
DESPITE support and care from authorities, particularly the healthcare providers, the eight-year-old rape victim from Magura lost the battle for life in Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on March 13 while anti-rape protests raged. Four accused in this case are arrested and the law minister assured a speedy trial of the case but the movement against rape continued as the...
A case was filed against anti-rape protesters on Tuesday night as protests against rape and other forms of violence against women continued for the fifth day in a row on Wednesday in Dhaka and elsewhere across the country, demanding capital punishment for rapists...
THE way the police have relied on violence to disperse an anti-rape march towards the residence of the chief adviser demanding a more decisive role in ending violence against women is a shocking reminder of the role that the police played during the July uprising. The anti-rape march was one of many protests taking place over the rape of a child in Magura, fighting for life...
At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in a wave of violence that gripped Syria鈥檚 Mediterranean coast, a war monitor said Wednesday...
An anti-rape march in Dhaka was attacked by the police as countrywide protests against violence against women continued for the fourth day in a row on Tuesday to press for speedy trial and capital punishment for the perpetrators.
Bangladesh Police on Monday launched a hotline at the headquarters in Dhaka to promptly address incidents of violence against women...
Since the downfall of the former autocratic regime on August 5, 2024, law and order in Bangladesh have been in a state of decline, marked by increasing instability. In the months that followed, mob violence, extortion, and the rise of unruly factions became prevalent. The police force, once aligned with the...
Law adviser Asif Nazrul on Sunday said that the government took decision to amend concerned law to ensure quick trial in rape case...
Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday expressed serious concern over the alarming rise in harassment and violence against women, urging the government to take immediate action to prevent the rise of extremism...
The country has yet to see any let-up in the violence against women perpetuating in diverse forms through a culture of impunity, delayed justice dispensation and deeply embedded discriminatory social psyche, rights activists observe.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday expressed grave concern about the rising incidents of harassment and violence against women across the country.
University teachers under the banner of University Teachers鈥� Network, Bangladesh on Wednesday condemned the recent incidents of sexual harassment, hatred and violence against women across the country...
The remark made by an adviser that mob violence and moral policing will significantly decrease once law and order is fully restored and once people are aware is a redundant remark that only states the obvious. The environment, forest and climate change adviser made the remark at a briefing on March 4 after an advisory council meeting, which discussed the recent spate...
Leaders of Samajtantrik Mahila Forum at a protest rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday demanded arrest and trial of the persons involved in the recent incidents of rape and violence against women.
CONTINUED mob violence, with no apparent sign for an early let-up, is worrying, especially because of its implications for law and order. In the latest development, a man, suspected of being a mugger, was beaten to death by a mob at Tongi in Gazipur at night on February 25. The police, who could not identify the deceased until February 26, say that they took away the...
