Surveillance capitalism and the right to privacy
“Surveillance is the business model of the internet”—Bruce Schneier, security expert and privacy specialist
8 September 2019, 18:00 PM
'Whether we win or lose, we are not going to be on their side'
"Ultimately, in the long run, whether we win or lose, we are not going to be on their side. So we might as well do what we have to do as well as we can."
6 March 2019, 18:00 PM
Rethinking our digital priorities
On April 14, 2016, the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with the aim of giving control to people over their personal data, recognising certain “digital” rights that individuals are entitled to regarding how their personal data is collected and used.
3 March 2019, 18:00 PM
The unexplored treasures of old Bengali manuscripts
Dr Md Shahjahan Mian, Professor of the Department of Bengali, Dhaka University talks to Shamsuddoza Sajen and Moyukh Mahtab about the importance of studying and preserving old Bengali manuscripts to write a comprehensive history of the Bengali speaking region.
24 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Recovering the stories of the Armenians of Asia
Liz Chater, a family history researcher based in the UK, has been working on the Armenian communities in South Asia since 2010. Currently, she is working with the Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection in Armanitola on the Bangladesh Armenian Heritage Project, which aims to "build the stories, starting from the ground up" of the Armenian communities of Bangladesh and India. In an interview over email with Moyukh Mahtab, she talks of her own heritage, which led her to her research interest, and of her past and present projects.
17 February 2019, 18:00 PM
The gaps in our laws we need to address
Sabrina Zarin, Barrister-at-Law, (Hon'ble Society or Lincoln's Inn, UK) and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Partner in FM Associates, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab about needed reforms in sexual violence and harassment laws in Bangladesh and the importance of raising awareness, especially among children.
6 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Is DMP's action plan enough to fix our roads?
Apparently “inspired” by last year's safe road movement, the DMP has come up with yet another action plan to deal with Dhaka's anarchic—to put it mildly— traffic situation.
16 January 2019, 18:00 PM
Punitive drug policies don't work
Naomi Burke-Shyne, Executive Director of Harm Reduction International, and international NGO “dedicated to reducing the negative health, social and legal impacts of drug use and drug policy”, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab (over e-mail) about the global failure of wars on drugs, and how a health-based approach to drug policy could save lives and promote the well-being of citizens.
18 December 2018, 18:00 PM
The irony of restricting access to internet in “Digital Bangladesh”
The questions the government should be asking is how the use of the internet can be made safer, the private data of the users be protected, and what infrastructural and policy reforms may be made to ensure that access to the internet can translate to its radical goals.
5 April 2017, 18:00 PM
Rethinking history education
It would be superfluous to repeat here the details of the mass killings and systematic sexual violence committed by the Pakistani military on Bangladeshis in 1971.
3 April 2017, 18:00 PM
The land of tales and tigers
I visited the Sundarbans about four years ago, with a touring company. We lived on the boat, anchored at safe places during the night...
9 March 2017, 18:00 PM
Untangling memory, taking a stand
Yesterday was the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. But what does it mean to remember the Holocaust? It cannot be only to speak of the details of the gruesome barbarity that engulfed a continent in the last century through voyeuristic descriptions of horror. Neither should one speak of the death of six million in the contextual realms of history; it cannot be a matter of numbers. Does one, as the student from Alan Bennet's History Boys, simply gloss over the matter with a pithy “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”?
27 January 2017, 18:00 PM
Attacks on journalists and activists – but why?
Police’s brutal assault on the activists and journalists begs the question, what called for this extreme use of force? From when does it take a group of fully armoured policemen to restrain one unarmed civilian?
27 January 2017, 10:06 AM
Disturbing deviations in children's books
Over the recent backlash of the erroneous content and apparently mysterious changes to the curriculum, the education minister on January 10 stated during a press briefing, “I'm not avoiding my responsibility, but I'm leaving the matter to you whether handing over such a volume of textbooks is a bigger thing than these errors,” to which, the answer is an obvious yes.
20 January 2017, 18:00 PM
Legal constraints give law enforcement free reign
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque’s statement that the commission is powerless to take action against human rights violations is an understatement.
13 January 2017, 10:14 AM
What has feminism ever done to you?
A couple of years ago, three female computer scientists from MIT decided to do a live Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the popular internet platform Reddit.
8 January 2017, 18:00 PM
Santal Community: Exploited throughout history
In 1855, tens of thousands of Santals, one of the oldest communities to make their home in Bengal, rose up in open rebellion. The Santal hool or revolution would mark one of the major milestones in the history of peasant rebellions against the British colonial administration. Choking under the pressure of practical serfdom due to the mahajani system, with no recourse to the law and administration, the Santals demanded autonomy.
18 December 2016, 18:00 PM
The Birangona beyond her wound
Merely days after the Liberation War ended in 1971, the government of the newly formed Bangladesh, in a historically unprecedented move, termed women who were victims of sexual violence during the nine months of the war as Birangonas (war heroines). This, along with the state efforts of rehabilitating these women, has meant that unlike the conventional attitude towards wartime sexual violence, the issue is not mired in silence within Bangladesh
15 December 2016, 18:00 PM
Community policing is not what’s missing in law enforcement
Militancy and drug abuse are, no questions asked, real problems that our society faces today. Without even going into the specifics of either, it is easy to see how critical a role law enforcement has to play in each.
2 December 2016, 07:12 AM
Violence spurred by greed for land
"What I want to say is that the way the government is behaving with indigenous people now is violating their human rights.What is the solution? The government must provide them with protection. They must prosecute and punish those who are committing such crimes."
23 November 2016, 18:00 PM
Handcuffing of Santal men barbaric and primitive
“We were told by police that we are terrorists and were accused in two cases… This is very unfortunate that the Santals who tried to save their belongings have now become terrorists,” said Choron Soren, undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, handcuffed. Terrorist! What a horrible, scary word, with all its connotations of suicide bombings and extremist attacks.
15 November 2016, 08:59 AM
Dissent and the price of freedom
"Sairachar nipat jak; Ganatantra mukti pak" (Down with autocracy; Let there be democracy). With these words painted on his chest and back, Noor Hossain took a stand against the autocracy of Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad as part of the the Dhaka Siege on November 10. The rally turned bloody, and Noor Hossain was killed under riot conditions, reportedly from police firing.
9 November 2016, 18:00 PM
Brahmanbaria Burning
The vicious attacks on Hindu homes, establishments and temples since October 30 indicates an increase in the level of bigotry among certain sections of the society. The question is how did these miscreants get the courage to carry out these crimes? The Daily Star talks to some individuals who have been directly affected or are speaking out against these hate crimes.
6 November 2016, 18:00 PM
Digital Security Act, 2016
The draft Digital Security Act 2016, intended to address the need for cyber-crime legislation, according to the authorities, was approved on August 22, 2016, by the Cabinet. But members of civil society, media and activists have already expressed their concerns over the draft law impinging upon people's freedom of expression.
28 October 2016, 18:00 PM
Taking care of our senior citizens
It is estimated that by 2050, about one in every four persons living in Bangladesh will be over the age of 60. That is a major
30 September 2016, 18:00 PM
Mother Nature's right to live
In 2008, Ecuador codified the principle of Rights of Nature in its Constitution, recognising that ecosystems have an inalienable right to exist and flourish.
6 September 2016, 18:00 PM
State's responsibility in ending violence against women
I saw a post on Facebook this week by a woman about how, while walking on the streets, she was subjected to repeated comments made about her physique by a man.
2 September 2016, 18:00 PM
Policing the 'moral police'
No punishment including physical violence and/or mental torture in any form, can be imposed or inflicted on anybody in pursuance of fatwa,” reads the Supreme Court verdict regarding fatwas.
21 August 2016, 18:00 PM