Ali Riaz

Considering that there is no universally agreed definition of democracy, let alone an ideal democracy, any discussion on an ideal vision of democracy may well be deemed as a futile exercise.

Since the atrocious attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters on Wednesday, the Congress has formally certified the victory of Joe Biden, some Cabinet members of the Trump administration have resigned, and some are considering invoking the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution and removing Donald Trump from office.

If one must identify the fundamental premise of the founding of independent Bangladesh, it is democracy—we can claim that democracy was the raison d’etre for establishing the country.

School of Law, BRAC University in collaboration with the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh jointly organised the workshop titled ‘Legislative Research for Identification of Discriminatory Provisions in Existing Laws of Bangladesh’ held on 12 December, 2020 at BCDM Savar.

With the national conventions behind, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden and Republican candidate incumbent Donald Trump, are now on the campaign trail.

“Who will accept responsibility for the incident? Will the state take responsibility?” Asked the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on February 13 of this year to the lawyers representing the state of Bangladesh while addressing a review petition. The review petition was submitted by the state. These questions were about those who have disappeared and remained missing for years.

Although the US presidential election is less than 90 days away, it is—unlike any other election year before—not at the centre of public discourse or media coverage.

It’s mind-boggling to think of a situation where there is an urgency, poor people are in dire need, and money is in the hands of the government allocated to help those in need, but the money is not being distributed properly.

Mysterious events surrounding the ‘disappearance’ and ‘recovery’ of photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol are by now well known.

President Donald Trump’s decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the midst of a global pandemic is not only reckless

Little did we know on the night of December 31, 2019 that we were about to begin not only a new year but a new epoch which can only be compared to a century-old calamity.

Continued backsliding of democracy for more than a decade, globally and domestically, has raised the question—where are we heading?

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on Myanmar about taking emergency measures for the protection of the Rohingyas, delivered at The Hague on Thursday, is historic on many counts and provides a glimmer of hope for the persecuted community of Myanmar. The question is: where do we go from here?

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.”

The influx of people from India crossing the borders to Bangladesh in the past weeks warrants the attention of Bangladeshi policymakers. Unfortunately, the foreign minister’s recent statement that

As democratic backsliding has become a global phenomenon and hybrid regimes—a political system which has both democratic and authoritarian traits—have proliferated, freedom of the press has come under threat all around the world.

Violence in Bhola preceded with a familiar pattern of events, blaming a member of a religious minority for demeaning Islam, creating a frenzy and then mobilising the angry people to the street.

“Ban student politics” has become the rallying cry for the past few days, in both the social and mass media.

We are living in a time which can no longer be described as a democratic era. Almost 61 percent of the global population now live

The bizarre phenomenon called updating the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, completed under the auspices of the Indian central government with direct supervision of the Indian Supreme Court, which made 1.9 million people stateless citizens,