tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:19:17 +0000Deshi PoliticsPardon my rantBangladeshi CultureMedia WatchDeshi BlogsCensorship WatchNorth-South relationsReligionKaldeener Kalo KothaSouth-South relationsFeminismCricketFoot in MouthSocial EntrepreneurshipBadrulianaBimanmarketsFertilizerShushil WatchmiscellanySearching for the meaning of "non-political government" since 1610http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)Blogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-5017947539374592930Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:22:00 +00002008-08-27T18:27:46.287+06:00Yes. The Recent Comments widget's umpteenth breakdown was the final straw. Therefore, I humbly ask my 16 readers to redirect their appetite for my sarcasm and rage to the new site.URL: http://dhakashohor.wordpress.comBlogger... we'll always have Dhaka.http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/08/you-say-goodbye-and-i-say-im-moving-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)372tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-1600151057422150603Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:36:00 +00002008-08-19T07:38:35.271+06:00Media WatchPardon my rant(This post is rated R for violence and strong language)If, like most Bangladeshis of all political hues, you are completely invested in the worldview of Indians and Pakistanis, you will not be able to follow the line I am about to draw. If you are too busy licking up the ideological crumbs from the tables at Delhi, Islamabad or Riyadh, then you will deplore my “tasteless comments”. On the other http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/08/killing-bangladeshis.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-3072996848402008945Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:38:00 +00002008-08-07T05:40:27.468+06:00Pardon my rantUnfortunately, as many of you have figured out, my internet access is very limited at the moment and my time to blog is very limited indeed. So posts like this will unfortunately be the norm rather than the exception, about items that are of interest to me, but that I don’t have time to deal with at length.Whither Central Bank Independence?If a democratic polity hinges on an independent judiciaryhttp://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/08/various-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-2575722559777416658Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:58:00 +00002008-08-01T14:05:41.652+06:00Pardon my rant[Unfortunately, as many of you have figured out, my internet access is very limited at the moment and my time to blog is very limited indeed. So posts like this will unfortunately be the norm rather than the exception, about items that are of interest to me, but that I don’t have time to deal with at length. ]A few months ago, you couldn’t visit a newspaper’s website or read a story without http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/08/wheres-waldo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-4113937465678218715Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:10:00 +00002008-07-07T07:11:58.668+06:00miscellanyThe logical end to unbridled power invested unquestioningly in a single individual. The Ershad of the North one might call him.So the obvious question to ask is this: are movie-critics in North Korea charged with “ruining the image of the Glorious country” by the nomenklatura or with “being counter-revolutionary” by Communist party apparatchiki, or with “disrespecting our Dear Leader who knows http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/07/logical-end-to-unbridled-power-invested.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-3883504685189223443Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:42:00 +00002008-06-30T11:44:21.455+06:00North-South relationsYup. “Middle East” was always a colonial term, forever changing with the demands of the powerful. Nope, not about to use Arabic terms like al-Jazeera or Mashriq either.1.O PalestineI am not sure how many people saw this, but Vanity Fair recently had an interesting article where it said it had obtained documents showing American plans to supply Fatah with weapons so that they could “take out” http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/06/southwest-asian-distractions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-4435177082842093957Mon, 26 May 2008 07:50:00 +00002008-05-26T13:52:14.283+06:00Media WatchApril was a bad month for the Daily Star as far as I was concerned. (Read about that here and here). I honestly thought that was the lowest point they had reached and would bounce back.Turns out I was wrong. They sunk even lower. The other day, as I scanned the Op-Ed page, I came across this gem of a piece on the state of press freedom in Bangladesh written by one Abdul Hannan, a freelance http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-stars-lowest-point-error-ridden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-7226899796250688703Mon, 19 May 2008 05:42:00 +00002008-05-19T11:43:50.890+06:00Pardon my rantI’m getting nostalgic this month because it has been slightly more than a year since I started blogging about Bangladeshi politics. A few days ago, I recalled my conversation about Ayub Khan last year with J@Shadakalo. We both agreed then that labeling Ayub a “Khan-ki Pola” – tempting as it was, and factual too, in both Bangla and Urdu – would be an insult to all children born into brothels http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/05/of-prostitutes-and-politicos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-6795107800514967591Wed, 14 May 2008 00:05:00 +00002008-05-14T06:06:45.704+06:00Media WatchPardon my rantThe week of April 20th-26th, 2008 will not be remembered as the Daily Star’s finest. Now, I know there are some of you who never thought much of this paper, and I am not just referring to fringe elements. But the truth is that the Daily Star once did its job, that of holding government accountable and creating a space where government actions could be debated. It gave up that job a few months http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-much-potato-does-daily-star-think.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-6412778164523977476Thu, 08 May 2008 03:38:00 +00002008-05-08T09:41:31.389+06:00Deshi PoliticsPardon my rantI appreciate those worries that we are becoming Pakistan and that “certain quarters” are trying to implement the Musharraf game-plan. Every time there is a rumble at the Baitul Mukarram, we hear ominous talks about the Lal Moshjid. I harbor these same fears to a certain extent. Comparative political analysis is something I enjoy a great deal, and my skeptical eye is certainly satisfied by the http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/05/so-how-come-no-ones-saying-we-are.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-7847742308025127969Thu, 01 May 2008 23:37:00 +00002008-05-02T05:53:13.787+06:00Deshi PoliticsThis article is not about Kamal Hossain’s digbaajis. He has proven himself a non-entity in our democracy and I am not about to waste time on his potential as a politician. No, this is an appeal to thinkers in BNP.This is Shameran Abed in New Age writing about Dr. Kamal Hossain in an unflattering way. LinkThis is Mahmudur Rahman in Naya Diganta writing about Dr. Kamal Hossain in an unflattering http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/05/bnp-bashing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-7519996602600333248Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:27:00 +00002008-04-29T08:33:52.455+06:00Pardon my rantLying there, half-immersed in curry sauce, ignored by those looking for meat, the aloo has been a much-neglected vegetable indeed. Until now that is. The Knight of the Order of the Aloo rode in on horseback, his armour - polished by the spittle of a thousand supporters - shining in the deltaic sun! All to save the aloo from the ignominy of being made bhorta. The aloo is indeed redeemed, for chefshttp://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/04/bangladesh-zeitgeist-watch-rise-of-aloo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-1658376666361594273Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:43:00 +00002008-04-11T12:44:00.804+06:00হয়ত সেই রাতেও পূর্ণিমা ছিলহয়ত রাস্তায় এক ফকির তার বাবাকে থামিয়ে বলেছিল যে তার কপালে এমন এক সন্তান আছে যার মতো লেখক বাংলা ভাষায় এর আগে দেখা যায়নি।হয়ত সেই কথা শুনে তার বাবা অবাক হয়ে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকার সময় ঘাট থেকে নৌকাটি ছেড়ে দিয়েছিল।হয়ত তার পরের নৌকায় উঠার সময় তার সাথে দেখা হয়েছিল তার ভবিষ্যত স্ত্রীর, তার ছেলের ভবিষ্যত মা।হয়ত সেই ছেলে ভুতের গলিতে সত্যিই ভুত দেখতে পেয়েছিল।হয়ত সে সত্যিই শুনেছিল গ্রামের http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/04/rip.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-7842935716406310678Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:59:00 +00002008-04-08T08:00:00.916+06:00Deshi PoliticsCall me old-fashioned. But there are some things about our tradition I cherish unquestioningly. To take a random example, as those who are even remotely familiar with worker revolts in tea-estates know, women, children and the elderly are never targets. The men, ie. the head of households, are. It’s considered bad form to attack those who cannot defend themselves. This might be a patriarchal http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/04/leave-them-alone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-6386091795398627883Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:52:00 +00002008-04-01T11:59:34.039+06:00Foot in MouthMedia WatchPardon my rantDo you pick a fight with a helpless beggar on the street for swearing at you because you didn’t give him/her any money?No? Then why pick one with Henry Kissinger?I was annoyed when some Bangladeshi journalist thought it worth his while to ask Kissinger about the “bottomless basket”/ “international basketcase” remark. But when I saw this article in March’s Forum, my annoyance turned to utter http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/04/forum-does-april-fool-piece-in-march.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)197tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-8035584821275139843Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:46:00 +00002008-03-25T08:49:44.396+06:00Deshi PoliticsMedia WatchBackground hereMr. Moudud is a snake no one likes but every politician wants on their team.Mr. Moudud is also incarcerated on ridiculously trivial charges.The “controversy” over at UV is starting to border on the Gulliverian debate of which side to break an egg on. It pretty much boils down to this: when advocating for due process in Bangladesh, should we or should we not note that some of the http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/pilger-moudud-controversy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-1195594053802145680Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:00:00 +00002008-03-21T05:14:05.409+06:00Bangladeshi CultureCensorship WatchDeshi BlogsKaldeener Kalo KothaMedia WatchReligionDrishtipat and E-Bangladesh are reporting that cartoonist Arif has been released from his six month incarceration. This blog promised to highlight his plight until justice was done. We now thank all those who helped Arif in his struggle: other bloggers, letter writers, petitioners, and most of all, Barrister Sara Hossain and her team. When the issue moved off the headlines, Sara and her team http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/arif-is-free.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-704415550157314045Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:29:00 +00002008-03-20T10:30:45.662+06:00Deshi PoliticsMedia WatchAs Jyoti bhai pointed out, Naya Diganta was one of the few papers to carry the news about the torture report issued by HRW. I have already discussed certain aspects of the interrogations transcripts. Yet another that obviously caught my attention was the almost exclusive focus on India throughout. I don’t know if this was a solely a scare-tactic or whether the intelligence agencies really believehttp://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/irony-of-being-naya-diganta.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-4004994247343663194Sat, 08 Mar 2008 06:58:00 +00002008-03-08T13:03:48.896+06:00Deshi PoliticsProfessor Muzaffer Ahmed was awarded the Ekushey Padak this year. This blog congratulates him on that.His work with TIB has managed to publicise more allegations, appearances and perceptions of corruption more effectively than opposition political parties sitting in the highest political body of the land or media dinosaurs sitting in their offices.Indeed, so damning are these allegations that http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/professor-muzaffer-ahmed-and-our-farce.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-8443886016135924452Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:45:00 +00002008-03-07T03:47:21.595+06:00Deshi Politics“কাদতে আসিনি, ফাসির দাবী নিয়ে এসেছি” – মাহবুব-উল-আলমApologies firstly for being MIA and secondly for playing a pop psychologist hack like Dr. Phil. But the recent HRW report really is too distressing to let pass by without some observations. First and foremost though, I lend my voice to those who find torture abhorrent on principle and absolutely useless on practical grounds. My deepest http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/tasneem-khalils-torture-pop.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-2573483744863239894Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:26:00 +00002008-03-05T04:28:24.464+06:00Deshi PoliticsYeats should have sailed to Bangladesh.For in Bangladesh, the old in one another’s arms dance on the bloodied corpses of the young.I speak not only of “cowardly liberals” such as our twin editors, who seem to have sacrificed a man each to save their own political hides. Whereas they should have been leaders, voices of experience and bulwarks of strength who sheltered the more adventurous of theirhttp://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/03/no-country-for-young-men.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-8775257971147554019Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:34:00 +00002008-01-11T12:41:09.600+06:00Deshi PoliticsAn entire generation has been lost thanks to the meaningless arguments they have had to witness in that most sacred of our political places, Jatiyo Shongshod Bhobon.Those arguments were petty, but dangerous.Petty because, when your country's highest decision-makers debate most passionately over "Who's the father of the nation/declarer of independence", you know there is something rotten in the http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2008/01/ramblings-on-111-anniversary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-6095511103389477105Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:56:00 +00002007-12-31T07:58:27.845+06:00marketsA video that everyone with an opinion on VoIP should watch.http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2007/12/creativity-innovation-and-law.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-4207520338078780716Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:46:00 +00002007-12-21T10:54:42.104+06:00marketsAn old TIME magazine article that I came across the other day has this to say:“The power of markets, it turns out, has something to say about practically everything. We see it at work on Wall Street, which absorbs the collected wisdom of millions of investors and expresses it as stock prices. Prediction markets now let people bet on everything from sports scores to election results to the http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2007/12/markets-as-solutions-for-everything.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Nogor Bangla)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28470104.post-4079695603572771061Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:23:00 +00002008-12-10T10:56:52.460+06:00Bangladeshi CultureOn the 37th anniversary of the birth of our Republic from the ashes of a badly-run Tyranny that had just committed Fratricide from which there is no return, we find it in pretty bad shape and as ever hope for the best.From the blogs:If you want to know the state of Bangladesh right now, read this.If you want to know the history of Bangladesh's bloody birth, read this.If you want to know our http://dhakashohor.blogspot.com/2007/12/blog-post_16.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0