কিশোর (১০ বছর বা তদুর্দ্ধ)

On January 8th, 2015, the prominent human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement criticizing the Awami League government of Bangladesh for what it deemed as excessive use of force against the opposition as well as imposing censorship on the media. The release can be found here.

Static, stoic sunlight was streaming through the vast emptiness around and wreaking havoc in the endless Sahara. Wearing burning blisters like a raincoat, the traveler was running clueless in search of a drop of water in the barren land. But the cup was full of sand.

Disclaimer: As international journalistic integrity and practice dictates, this rebuttal to Mr. Zafar Sobhan’s (editor of the Dhaka Tribune) writing was first sent to the Dhaka Tribune for publication. Mr. Sobhan held onto it for almost a week and then informed upon inquiry that they had no intention of publishing it. It was then sent to BDNews24.

In our part of the world, where chubby children are considered cute and healthy, parents often fret over the physical appearances of their children. There are parents who routinely feed their children burgers, fries, pizzas, pastries, etc. from the belief that these will make their children appear healthy.

I was reading a write-up by a friend on Falgun (the Bengali month that marks the beginning of spring in Bangladesh) where he compared the season and the festivity around it with Vincent van Gogh's "Wheatfield with Crows." A prolific writer, my friend's writing carried me back to the Falguni days I left behind in Dhaka.

That eighteen hour long journey chocked me like death! Billions of nightmarish thoughts have been creeping across my heart for the last eighteen hours! Pursuing higher education in an alien country where I have NOBODY was an ignorant, douche-like decision. (Didn’t listen to Mom as I was adult enough to make all the horrible decisions I want).

Free and fierce as a nomad on the Sahara. Careless like a yogi who has chosen exile in the Himalayas. Like a banned bandit wondering in the Andes. Vigorous as the swirling sun in a Van Gogh painting. – That’s how I feel when I cross the line and enter the sanctuary where the universe is regained and aligned, free from frail & feeble beings, where every particle preaches LOVE.

Date: March 7, 2013
Translation of article released in the Daily Prothom Alo: http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2013-03-07/news/334498

While vetting out the site to execute a plan of murdering 10 Islamic Scholars of Jamia Ahmedia Madrassa (Islamic School) in the town of Sholoshohor, Chittagong a Shibir activist was apprehended. The culprit's name is Mahmudul Hasan who was caught with a list of those 10 Islamic scholars.

Le “Shahbag protest” ou encore le “Shahbag Projonmo Chottor” a débuté le 5 Février 2013 au coeur de la capitale, dans le quartier des universités de Dhaka.