Life can change at any moment. On July 1, 2016, life changed for us Bangladeshis. Security has become an even higher priority for the country.

Nepal has set a record in changing prime ministers; in the past 26 years the country had 23 prime ministers. Sticking to the tradition, the nine-month old incumbent government resigned on July 23, 2016 to make way for a new administration.

Capitalism prioritses policies that promote efficiency in resource allocation, while democracy espouses ideas of equality and fairness.

I thought I was on a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka. But turns out there are two stops – the baggage claim area at Dhaka Airport and Azampur, Uttara.

It is baffling that physical courage is so common in the world and moral courage so rare. It is hard to find people whose manner is infused with kindness, humility and integrity, in other words, character. The issue is relevant because it is timeless.

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

As expected, billionaire Donald Trump was formally nominated as the Republican Party presidential candidate at the Republican Party Convention held from July 18-21, 2016 at Cleveland, Ohio.

Despite all the ramifications of progressiveness that civilisation has experimented with, the preoccupation with the female members of the population has never been on the wane.

More than three weeks have elapsed since the carnage at the Holey Café and Bakery in Dhaka. Despite assurances by the government to combat terror and assertions by the police about strengthening surveillance, the city remains in a state of deep shock and partial paralysis.

To wake up the already woken up silent majority, let us start with us parents. The Holey Artisan Bakery tragedy is another reminder of the fact that it is not money that our kids seek, but it is our love, attention and most importantly, our time and friendship (yes, that's right, friendship) that they crave for when they're young.

I believe that the police had taken measures that they deemed necessary after getting the wind of something impending, but the point illustrated by the course of events of July 1 is that no contingency plan is ever adequate enough or completely foolproof unless put to test.

“Patriotism” and “national unity” trumped truth. The line between propaganda and journalism was forgotten.

To understand the violent world in which we live today, it is important to understand that with neoliberal policies came rapid globalisation (that fostered international trade, privatisation of national institutions, deregulation, and competition) and that includes, as we can see, globalisation of terror and acts of terror.

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.

On its part, Bangladesh has to work hard in bringing back the confidence of investors, development partners and the foreign community. The damage has already been done through worldwide media coverage. Now Bangladesh needs to reassure foreigners working here about their safety.

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at its 7th Conference of Parties (COP7) held in Marrakech, Morocco in 2001, adaptation to climate change was recognised for the first time through the mandate to support the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in carrying out National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA).

As one pores over the newspapers reading endlessly reports and commentaries and personal recollections of people who were associated one way or the other with some of the unfortunate victims of the Holey Artisan massacre one is inundated by multiple thoughts agitated by comments of friends and family members living far away in body but enmeshed in spirit with this land and deeply distressed by what has been happening in their beloved country of late.

That is what happens every time we turn the other way and decide to be indifferent. This is how we are losing the proud flag of secularism at our end. This is how this year Brussels Airport was struck in March, how Istanbul got hit in June, how we were blown over on July 1, and that is how three Saudi cities got rocked in less than 24 hours.

There are two kinds of virtues, the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues. The former are the skills that one brings to a job interview.

We're not new to disproportionate experiences based on class. So when class dynamics unfolded in the aftermath of the attacks, we yet again remained silent.