Muhammad Nurul Huda

Media reports have it that the Supreme Court has issued a 19 point guideline for police, magistrates and judges to stop arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing arrestees on remand.

Even the greatest cynic would agree that the attacks on the minority Hindu population and their properties and places of worship, though intermittent, have been a blight on the democratic and secular credentials of Bangladeshi polity.

The macabre assassination of four national leaders, revered as the founding fathers of our democratic republic, on November 3, 1975 shall continue to haunt the nation for a painfully long time.

While the prevalent wisdom seems to lay all the blame at the door of the politicians for most of our ills, if not all, this writer does not know how our discerning citizens have reacted to the indiscreet behaviour of a prime public servant of a prominent district who, on the eve of his departure on transfer, reportedly, attended 33 farewell receptions and accepted quite unabashedly expensive gifts including gold jewellery.

Readers may have read an introspective piece on 19th September under the caption 'The hanging of Mir Quasem Ali'. It was indeed

ISIS, Islamic Caliphate

The mode of operation and determination of the terrorist executors coupled with the savagery that surfaced during the recent

In view of the unprecedented deadly extremist violence affecting the body politic, concerned citizens might be wondering how a significant number of otherwise suave and liberal educated young men could have been motivated to commit such ghoulish actions.

As the nation observes the 12th anniversary of the ghastly grenade assault that was carried out at an Awami League rally in Dhaka city on August 21, 2004, discerning observers have to agree that the horrendous crimes committed on that day has left an indelible impact on the course and character of constitutional politics of Bangladesh.

For the uninformed multitudes, remembering Bangabandhu on August 15 is perhaps a ritualistic observance when the mind does not delve deep to grasp the historical significance of the tragedy.

Since the community has to be involved in the rooting out strategy, residents have to know about the doable on their part. Therefore, the visibility of men, women, and children in their usual course of activities, especially the recreational ones would be a definite indicator of normalcy.

Commenting on the sorry state of prosecution of criminal offenses, a lead report of this newspaper on July 19 stated that “the long-standing demand for reforming the prosecution system with professional lawyers remains unmet” and “loyalty to the party in power

International cooperation has to be sought discreetly from countries like the USA, UK, France, and Turkey, wherein there is a pool of information about the strategy and tactics of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Closer to home, in Indonesia, there are admirable educational and rehabilitative programmes that have proved successful in weaning away people from the violent path.

Arrest under Section 54 for prosecution under preventive detention cannot be entertained.

The murders of bloggers, intellectuals, priests, academicians, rights activists, and also persons of ordinary vocations committed by allegedly extremist groups...

Public confidence increases when the police complaints system provides for an external body to supervise an investigation, or review the evidence and conclusions drawn by the police investigation

Excessive use of force is decidedly more complex and multidimensional than the few bad apples' theory would imply.

A concerned commentator feels uneasy at the modus operandi of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in laying down conditions for holding...

Believers know full well that patriotism is an inseparable part of faith. That being so, persons accused of crimes against humanity in 1971 have quite manifestly defied and defiled their own faith.

One may wonder if our politico-bureaucratic elite suffer from a lack of tradition on strategic thought. Such a worry arises in the...