ViewsWeek Views from around the world
Increasing militarization of South Asia’s conflict zones has led to severe human-rights violations. From the extraordinary denial of the universal right to life, to citizen security and justice, the empirical realities of South Asia point to a systemic crisis, in which a situation akin to martial law exists within these conflict zones, without the government-in-question needing to declare it as such.
November, 2014
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12 November
Bangladesh: Part-time Peacekeepers
The Bangladesh Army’s record in the Chittagong Hill Tracts belies its prominence in UN peacekeeping missions.
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9 November
Pakistan: Beyond Irking Bangladesh
Outsiders are perplexed over the rhetorical commitment of Pakistani leaders to ‘fight terrorism of all shades’ and lofty claims on strategies to deal with them. The country needs friends and supporters on world stage. But its interior minister is wasting no opportunity to offend others, the latest being Bangladesh.
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8 November
South Asia’s March Towards Ultra-populism
In each South Asian country, the no-go areas of discourse are proliferating rather than decreasing as the state establishments deploy ultra-populism. In response, the intelligentsia cowers, the “opinion-makers” are dehumanized as they take to weighing what to say and what to leave unsaid.
September, 2014
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18 September
Shrinking Population of South Asia’s Bengal Tigers
The present Bengal tiger population in the world is around 9,000. Only at the turn of the 20th century was their number about 100,000. Of them, 40,000 probably used to live in the South Asian subcontinent. The condition of the other subspecies of tigers, from the viewpoint of their numbers, is much more miserable.
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1 September
A View from Bangladesh: Crossing the Line
Some Bangladeshi analysts are criticizing Dhaka’s decision to let India transship essential goods to Indian state of Tripura, including food grains, via Bangladesh without duties under the river protocol between the two countries, but is getting nothing in return.
August, 2014
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15 August
On Pakistani Dramas and the Bangladeshi Mind
Pakistani television drama serial “Zindagi Gulzar Hai” became an instant hit amongst South Asian communities in North America. Never before had there been a TV series — South Asian in origin and made outside of India — so hugely popular amongst so many diverse South Asian communities. And yet, watching the serial making a mark on its viewers made me cynical, says one Bangladeshi analyst.
July, 2014
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20 July
India-Bangladesh Relations: The Agartala Doctrine
The Teesta river water sharing treaty that Manmohan Singh was ready to sign in 2010 still hangs in uncertainty. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinsa Wajid who had staked so much to deliver on India’s security and connectivity concerns, is left high and dry facing a hostile opposition accusing her of failing to protect national interests vis-a-vis India. Worse, India is left looking a less-than-effective nation-state, unable to honor its sovereign commitments to an obliging neighbor.
June, 2014
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26 June
What is Missing in India-Bangladesh Relations
Bangladesh’s government has reversed Indian public opinion by creating a favorable atmosphere -- making good on much of the promises it made with New Delhi. However, India’s own standing with its neighbor has suffered. It is time India does the same.
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22 June
British by Birth, Shackled by Custom
When the notion of arranged marriage is firmly embedded in the psyche of the Asian communities, how can outlooks be revamped? The fear which haunts the South Asian communities is that unless a young girl born in the UK is married to someone from back home, she will eventually leave the cultural confines and become “Westernized.”
