Editorial

MNA Editorial Desk: Bangladesh is a land of diversity and equality. Constitutionally secular, it is diverse in terms of religion, ethnicity and language of its citizens. In spite of that, communal harmony does prevail in every aspect of our country. There are people from different religions and groups which constitute the 160 million population of Bangladesh. Muslims being the largest with over 90 percent of the total population, here also live the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and also some people from other faiths. Underlying difference exists in terms of ethnicity and language but that does not impede peaceful cohabitation. The tribal ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Throughout the world, we find brutal pictures of communal violence for decades. Wars are going on at different parts of the earth with loads of hatred and ill feelings towards the people representing different communities, religion or ethnicity. The root cause of all wars being fought around the world is caused by either economic interest or communal difference. In recent times, we have seen Myanmar to get engaged in ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Rohingyas of its Rakhine state. Thousands of innocent men, women and children are being killed; women are getting raped; houses are being burnt and all ...

MNA Feature Desk: Today is the 71st birthday of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She was born on September 28, 1947. Eldest daughter of the greatest Bengali of all times, nation’s father Bangabondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina is the three time’s Prime Minister of Bangladesh today. Due to her tireless and relentless efforts, Bangladesh is at the door of becoming a middle income country after overcoming so many obstacles. With grief of losing her family from inhuman and barbaric killings, she returned to Bangladesh from deportation ignoring dictator’s bloody-eyes on May 17, 1981. Beside adverse political, social and economic ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Today (Thursday), 28 September, marks the 71st birthday of prime minister and Bangladesh Awami League president Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina, the eldest of the five children of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Begum Fazilatunnesa, was born at Tungipara of Gopalganj in the then Faridpur district on this day in 1947. Awami League and its affiliated organizations are scheduled to be celebrating the day through organising various humanitarian events and activities and discussions on the life and achievements of Sheikh Hasina. There will also be cultural events and milad and doa mahfils in the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar’s State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, previously known as democracy leader in the years of oppressive military rule in her country, and winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has now become assn icon of hatred due to her approval and pursuance of one of history’s worst genocides against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, bordering Bangladesh. Since August 25 this year around half a million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to save their lives from atrocities of Myanmar military and fundamentalist Buddhists who killed thousands of men, raped scores of women, beheaded ...

MNA Editorial Desk: As the Rohingya crisis escalates into an unfolding tragedy, the United Nations appealed to the global community to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts for the refugees “regardless of politics”. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, nearly 90,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh in last 11 days. Besides, many people drowned in Naf River while crossing the border. But this is very pathetic that, there is no visible protest in international arena over the ongoing brutal incidents in Myanmar. Giving only statements, the international community ended their tasks in this regard. About 55 dead ...

MNA Editorial Desk: In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that it wished “to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means”. 26 years later, the Rohingyas as well as many people around the world would disagree with the trusting assessment of the committee. Expectations from Suu Kyi to take a firm stand on the Rohingya situation increased when on October 9, 2016, in an attack ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar is carrying out genocide against its 1.3 million Rohingya Muslim population – one that is being ignored, in the most part, by the international community, despite acknowledgement by the United Nations that mass killings, torture, gang rapes and forced deportations are occurring. The Rohingya are the world’s largest stateless community and of one of its most victimized minorities. Using a dialect similar to that spoken in Chittagong in southeast Bangladesh, the Sunni Muslims are loathed by many in majority-Buddhist Myanmar who see them as illegal immigrants and call them ‘Bengali’ – even though many have lived ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Since early sixties of the last century Bangladesh has accepted different kinds of measures for flood management with mixed practices. Rapid population growth generates extra pressure on the land of already congested Bangladesh.  Agricultural lands give way to housing growths and roads. This rapid improvement and urbanization must have serious the flooding problem in Bangladesh. Though forewarnings for the floods had been made well in advance this year, but the government hasn’t been adequately prepared to tackle the disaster. According to government data, so far the number of flood-affected persons is 5.7 million. But even after tripling ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Undoubtedly, Bangladesh has achieved a massive revolution in political and economic sectors and the government has also taken several initiatives to be a developed country by 2041. The present government of Sheikh Hasina under the ruling of Awami League has able to build a better diplomatic relation with other countries around the world. The acceptance of this government to the international arena is, unquestionably, better than any other time. But it’s a matter of great regret that the government has failed to execute death sentence of all the murders of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Pakistan’s democracy may be at danger following the last week’s removal of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Last Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed the PM on a failure to announce income in disclosure papers for 2013’s general election that leaves a huge political vacuum in the country. The judicial body based its decision on Article 62 of the Constitution and Section 99 of the Representation of the People Act — little-used legislation that requires truthfulness and honesty from elected officials. While Friday’s decision was hailed as a rare example of accountability in a graft-stricken nation, the fact ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Domestic workers provide a vital service in our society but little do we care about the rights of our domestic workers. They work day and night performing daily household chores. Domestic work is one of the world’s oldest occupations. Historically there are some socio-economic and cultural factors that encourage or compel children and women to search domestic jobs where there is no clear term of employment and registration. According to a report of International Labour Organization (ILO) all over the world there are 50 million domestic workers where most of them are children and women. In Bangladesh ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Around 51 per cent migrants experienced fraudulence and humiliation during the process of migration and at the destination countries. The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), an affiliated organization of Dhaka University, revealed its primary findings at a consultation on fraudulence in processing migration. RMMRU under the Prokas project of British Council is conducting research on the role of middlemen (locally called dalals) in the migration process. However, Bangladesh is one of the key labour-sending countries of the world. Each year a large number of people migrate overseas for both long and short-term employment from Bangladesh. ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Women trafficking are at present a big global issue. This trade results in unimaginable mental and physical abuse, loss of human dignity, violation of countless human rights. It is a modern form of slavery, violates national and international laws against rape, torture, abduction and murder. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in trafficking of women in Bangladesh.  Very little work has been done to understand the local dynamics of the Problem meaningfully. Trafficking in women features prominently on the global agenda both from human rights perspective as well as broader safe migration viewpoint. According ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Lake Terrace, an upscale rooftop restaurant on the Lake Drive Road of capital’s Uttara, has put up a sign banning foreigners at the entrance of the five-storey building and near the elevator. “Due to Holey Artisan incident and after receiving a notice from our landlord; we are not allowing any foreigners in our restaurant. We are ashamed and pitiful from our soul for this message. Please accept our apologies and wait till farther notice,” it reads. The restaurant, established in 2012, overlooking the Uttara Lake, offering seafood and steak used to attract a trendy crowd including many ...

MNA Editorial Desk: With hard followings of the teaching of the Islam, Ramadan is completed and it is time to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with Muslims around the world. Millions of Bangladeshi Muslims begin to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr on Monday, the festive celebration marking the end of Ramadan, which is the month of fasting and abstinence from worldly pleasures. Eid-ul-Fitr starts when the new moon is spotted in the sky, making the Eid holiday different around the world. Around the world, Muslims gather on the first day of Shawwal–the month following Ramadan on the Islamic calendar–for the Eid prayer to worship and ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The prices of all varieties of rice are increasing at a rate that even the sellers call ‘unusual’, without any good reason in the markets. The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh reportedly recorded a 47 per cent hike in the prices of coarse rice this month compared to the same period last year. Rising prices of food items is a key concern for the government as nearly 31.5 per cent of its around 160 million people still live below the national poverty line. As the domestic market has again become volatile in the wake of reports that ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir celebrated Pakistan’s victory over arch-rivals India in the Champions Trophy final with defiant pro-Pakistan chants and fireworks as shocked silence reverberated across Delhi following the historic upset. One spectator at the Oval in London was spotted wearing a T-shirt saying: “Winner takes Kashmir”. Joy was palpable in both old and uptown areas of Srinagar as youths came out of their homes to celebrate the victory of Pakistan. Kashmiris, who traditionally support Pakistan in cricket, especially against India, took to the streets after the win waving Pakistani flags and chanting “Jive Jive Pakistan ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The next General Election of Bangladesh will be held at the end of the current government’s term in 2019 and the top political parties have already got busy with developing and implementing the roadmap for the election, The –Awami League regime is going through their second term as the government and they have worked with two broad plans till now — Vision 2021 and Vision 2041. Vision 2021 basically focused on development of the ICT sector of Bangladesh which was referred on the popular term of achieving the goals to make a ‘Digital Bangladesh’. Vision 2041 on ...

MNA Editorial Desk: It would not be wrong if we say that, England is now a prime target for terrorists as recently the country has witnessed several bloody terrorist attacks. Though we are concerned about the recent terrorist attacks in London, we will focus more on comparing the statement of Australian Cricket Board about security concerns in London while it was again rocked by terror on Saturday with fatal attacks on London Bridge and nearby Borough Market. This latest attack on London is the third terrorist incident in England since March. On March 22, 2017 a police officer was fatally ...

MNA Editorial Desk: With a massive influx of natural disasters, warming and cooling periods, different types of weather patterns and much more, people need to be aware of what types of environmental changes our planet is facing. All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging environmental problems every day. Some of them are small and only affect a few ecosystems, but others are drastically changing the landscape of what we already know. Our planet is poised at the brink of a severe environmental crisis. Current environmental problems make us vulnerable to disasters and tragedies, now ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the dream project of 80km Cox’s Bazar – Teknaf Marine Drive on May 6, 2017. This project was much in the news due to its implication in transforming the whole zone into a tourist attraction. It has significantly improved the communication from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf and will create several small tourist spots alongside this road. Cox’s Bazar, being the longest sea beach of the world, has already been one of the greatest tourist spots of the world. This marine drive will drastically change the lives around this new road in the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: International Mother’s Day is being observed across the country as elsewhere in the world, with much affection and we all should show the utmost respect to all women. The International Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May every year paying tributes and gratitude to mothers around the world. The day is celebrated in Bangladesh through different programmes in electronic media and according grand reception to mothers of jewels recognizing their contributions to the family, society and nation. However, the origin of Mother’s Day goes back to the era of ancient Greek and Romans. But ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Marketing has become more of a necessity rather than a supporting function during the last two decades. The corporate world in every sector and industry now seems to be obsessed with inventing different marketing techniques to reach the heart, mind and pocket of their target audience. We have seen different marketing approaches like above the line (ATL), below the line (BTL) and through the line (TTL) etc and multiple modes of implementing these strategic approaches and in today’s world, the most trending marketing concept is ‘Digital Marketing’. During the last decade, in USA and other European countries, ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Over the last 10 years, the population of Dhaka has more than doubled and the Awami League government is committed to providing better living conditions for the most populous city of the country with a proper transport service. The latest transportation crisis over ‘seating service’ in the capital forces us to write on the thorny matter. After negotiations between the government and trade unions, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), decided to stop its drive against buses overcharging in the name of “seating service” for 15 days, but these buses would comply with BRTA fare charts. The ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Bangladesh has been hit by several terrorist attacks in recent months including multiple suicide blasts which killed over a dozen people including two police officers and an intelligence wing chief of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). But can anyone see any benefits the attackers really derive from their horrific actions? Some say that these attacks are deeming the achievements of the government. Others allege militancy is prompted by the “opposition” to destabilize the government. Some also claim that the attacks have been intended to establish Islamic rule and lifestyle in Bangladesh. But no one knows for sure really ...

Written By Mir Mosharref Hossain MNA Editorial Desk: Another year has passed and the Bengali New Year is knocking at our door as the whole country has been decorated in festive mood to welcome 1424 with PM Sheikh Hasina’s achievements. The last year was full of events with so many achievements of Bangladesh as a nation has taken us to a new height. The world has recognized us a country with lots of prospect in spite of our very large population and so many obstacles to development works. In these achievements, one name came up again and again as the ...