2013

by Khandaker Muniruzzaman
Bangladesh has a long history of struggle for democracy. This started with the partition of the Indian subcontinent. At present what is known as the sovereign and independent Bangladesh, was a part of Pakistan; it was known as East Pakistan. In fact Pakistan, an artificial state curved out of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, was based only on religion and not on linguistic, cultural, social or any other consideration. The then East Pakistan, the esatern wing of (…)

by Syed Badrul Ahsan
One of the earliest decisions made by the Bangladesh Government-in-Exile—and that was within hours of the surrender of the Pakistani occupation forces in Dhaka on December 16, 1971—was clamping a ban on political parties based on religion. There were reasons behind the move. In the first place, the War of Liberation, that began on March 26, 1971, was a fully and unambiguously secular Bengali struggle for political sovereignty, meaning that Bengalis were finally turning (…)

Ever since the partition of India, the minorities in Pakistan, especially in East Pakistan, had never been allowed to freely exercise their franchise during elections. Things did not change much after emergence of Bangladesh. Except in the 1973 and 2008 parlaimentary elections when they could cast their votes without fear or favour, minorities in Bangladesh have always been attacked by the Islamic parties so that they could not vote for secular parties like the Awami League or parties of the (…)

The following is an interview Veena Sikri, India’s former High Commissioner in Dhaka, gave to the Mainstream editor. She was till recently a Professor at the Acadamy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. Currently she is the Vice-Chairperson, South Asia Foundation (India Chapter).
Ques: What is your assessment of the present situation in Bangladesh?
Ans: Bangladesh is facing a very serious challenge once again. It has faced many challenges over the last 42 (…)

The literal meaning of the Arabic word ‘Islam’ is peace. Islam is a religion of peace. Unfortunately the word Islam has become synonymous with terrorism. A deeper analysis and examination is required to understand these tragic phenomena. Global politics has led to the birth of certain issues which have always been witnessing the volcanic eruption of terrorism pretentiously described as Islamist Terrorism.
The trouble did not originate from preaching religion. Let us cite the example of (…)

by Anindita Ghoshal
Since the partition of 1947, the tradition of emergence of the ‘nationalism-borne state system’, rather, the concept of the independence movement, ushered in different geographical territories of South Asia. Hence, it altered the society, culture, religion, economy, nature of politics, indeed the issues of development, by a shift from the colonial framework to a self-directed or a self-governing state-system. Bangladesh was born through the process of a civil war (…)

EDITORIAL
Polling for the five State Assembly elections being over yesterday, attention has now shifted to the counting of votes on Sunday (December 8). One should not give too much importance to exit polls even though these do provide an idea of electoral trends, that is, which way the wind is blowing. However, there is always a question-mark on their accuracy. But if one is to believe those polls, it is bad news for the Congress which “faces a blank-out in four States”, as The Times of (…)

In his lifetime Rajendra Yadav, one of the most complex of Hindi writers, editors and literary critics, appeared to outsiders a deceptively ageless two dimensional black and white figure from Hindi literature of the late 20th Century. The last I saw him, he was a frail old 84-year-old in a wheelchair scowling behind his tinted glasses, eyeing the women in the auditorium at the India International Centre with interest. He cackled as I approached him and held my hand before trying to crack a (…)

India, China and Japan have been treading lightly while doomsday scenarios abounded barely a week ago. Japan’s discovery of India (tenjiku, the divine land) via China following Buddhism’s passage to East Asia between the sixth and eighth centuries sounds remote today but the memory has not been entirely lost in the mists of time. Even contemporary Chinese scholars insist that the quest for harmony, (rather than uniformity) is their civilisational inheritance. In the hour of need agreement (…)

by Sangeeta Thapliyal
Amidst high drama, the Constituent Assembly elections took place in Nepal on November 19, 2013. There were many who had apprehended the possibility of postponement of elections due to boycott by 33 political parties led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), a breakaway faction from the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [UCPN(M)]. The boycotting parties wanted the elections to be conducted by a national government rather by a Supreme Court judge, Khil Raj (…)