BANGLADESH is now in the grip of a crisis, one whose magnitude and dimension surpasses anything of the kind in the history of the country. Both the ruling party and the opposition are adamant and unbending. Nearly 100 innocent people have been killed in petrol bomb attacks and street violence since the indefinite blockade and hartal was imposed by the BNP. Dozens have died in “crossfire” and “encounter”. Both sides have crossed their limits. But as the saying goes: Climb not too high.

ON the 2nd of February 2015, India's Border Security Forces killed Nazrul, a farmer who was sowing paddy in his own area along the Ochintopur border of Birampur upazila. Ironically, "Ochintonpur" means an area of the incredible and "Birampur" means the land of the tireless. Nazrul, a resident of that area took an Indian bullet for no fault of his own. The same incident was reported a week back when Amin and Khoijul were shot in Kashipur village in North 24 Parganas, while returning to Bangladesh with their cattle. As a nation, we grieve every time Phelani, Nazrul, Amin or Khoijul are killed by the 'others', but what do we do when we kill our own with 300 taka worth of petrol bomb and earn, perhaps, not even 2000 Taka in exchange?

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeks all-out cooperation from all in rooting out militancy, terrorism from the country

Police continue the curb on food supplies to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office in Dhaka for the seventh consecutive day

POLITICAL violence has plunged the nation into a vortex of uncertainty. As the BNP-JI led 20-party alliance's agitation continues, there is widespread despair in the minds of the ordinary citizen. We never saw the kind of senseless violence that we are witnessing now. A new element introduced this time is petrol bomb.

THE United Nations has voiced its concern over continuing political violence and fatalities in Bangladesh for more than a month. The former UN Assistant Secretary General, Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez Taranco has been reportedly assigned to coordinate with Bangladesh government in matters of persuading the contending parties to resolve their differences.

ENOUGH has already been written, discussed and debated on the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh, especially with regard to the usefulness of a meaningful dialogue between Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to resolve the crisis, albeit in the short term. However, all the unsolicited advice seems to have gone down the Buriganga, which is also as polluted as Bangladesh politics.

IN a spectacular and dramatic turn of events little known Aam Admi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal has trounced formidable Narendra Modi's BJP. In the 70-seat Delhi Assembly election, AAP secured 67 seats. BJP managed only 3 seats. Congress which had ruled Delhi for 15 years scored a duck. Delhi is a Union territory, with the status of a state. It has its own government.

ONE may wonder if the principal political parties of Bangladesh have embarked upon an ominous battle of wearing down the opponent. The astounding actions of our major political actors would perhaps testify to the substance of such a premonition. Extreme rigidity in a democratic dispensation is not at all desirable. It also needs to be said that the present stalemate is not the first instance when political actors have ventured to act their own way, come what may.

It has been more than a month since the anti-government blockade started. With it came continuous spells of hartal, and while Molotov cocktails have become part-and-parcel of the 20-party alliance strategy, it appears that firearms are about to join the fray. The police have recently unearthed an illegal racket of arms whereby dealers are using children as arms carriers.

POLITICS seems to have gone mad! It has ruthlessly been harming future nation-builders by shattering their academic life alongside killing innocent people and destroying the country's economic backbone.

LET me start this piece today with a joke that fits in here so perfectly. God created this subcontinent as a wealthy, fertile and prosperous land. The other nations protested about this favouritism. So, God in His infinite wisdom willed the type of governments we have had in this region to balance matters. We have been cursed since then.

THE civil society members have done the most civilised thing. They have made an appeal to the president, prime minister and the BNP chairperson for a dialogue to save this country.

A few years after World War II, when the North Atlantic Treaty was ratified in the United States and our relationship with Europe was cemented, President Harry Truman said simply: “The more closely the nations of the Atlantic community can work together for peace, the better for all people, everywhere.”

THE beauty of ballot is there's always another day for the loser, or a quitter as in the case of Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

THE astounding victory of Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly election has again brought to focus the importance of regional parties and their ability to focus on local issues.

SO, how was the weekend?” That's the first thing we say on manic Friday, as we finally sync up with the rest of the world on this day, squeezing in meetings, work, school, kids, office, overseas correspondences, Jumma, groceries, visits to hospital burn units, four weddings and a funeral.

STATISTICS do not necessarily tell it all. But just to put the matter in perspective, statistics of the damage done in the last five weeks as a consequence of the oborodhs and hartals imposed by BNP may help to justify the point I want to flag.

EVERY day we see in the media graphic images and horror stories of innocent civilians -- victims of the ongoing political unrest. Who is to blame?

AMIDST the continuing deadly violence in the country unleashed by BNP-Jamaat to unseat the present government, a significant news seems to have lost its importance.