Even if the much-anticipated meeting between Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the BNP, the leading political party in Bangladesh, fails to fulfil the high expectations of bridging differences over the recently unveiled election roadmap, London has nonetheless emerged as the place where the interim government's strategy gained much-needed clarity. This was largely due to the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, hosting Prof Yunus for a discussion and Q&A session focused on Bangladesh's future trajectory. The conversation addressed both domestic issues, such as elections, democracy, and institutional reforms, and foreign policy concerns, particularly relations with India and the Rohingya refugee crisis. This context underscores a glaring issue: the Chief Adviser's Office still lacks an effective communication strategy. Had similar interactive press sessions been held in Dhaka over the past 10 mo...

  The Awami League regime, which sought global recognition as a model of governance, has ironically left behind a legacy marred by unprecedented brutality against its own citizens. The scale of state violence and repression under Sheikh Hasina’s rule rivals some of the worst autocracies in the world, like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Bangladesh is also a unique example, where a military dictator Gen HM Ershad, succeeded in resettling him in a democratic political framework, but a popular leader who jointly led movement for restoration of democracy, degraded herself turning into a worse dictator.  The recent student led uprising, evolving into a broader civilian insurrection, has been dubbed by some as the "Gen Z Revolution." However, lacking a coherent revolutionary agenda or a well defined path for enacting fundamental change, this movement remains more of a chaotic and prolonged transition towards democracy than a fully fledged revolution. Consequently, the pursuit of justice for...

The Gambia’s case against Myanmar under the international Genocide Convention, for the alleged genocide committed against the ethnic Rohingyas, is now all set to be heard and judged by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) following its rejection of Myanmar’s preliminary objections on the grounds of courts jurisdiction and the Gambia’s legal standing. Besides rejecting Myanmar’s objections, the ICJ also ruled that the Gambia’s application filed on November 11, 2019 was admissible, thereby allowing the case to proceed on the merits. The Rohingya victims of genocide, as well as all peace-loving people who believe in rule of law, can be certain now that we are one step closer to justice.  The ICJ decision, really is  a huge step towards an overdue reckoning with the Myanmar military’s atrocities against the Rohingyas. It is well-known that the international justice system is a long-drawn complex process, which may take years to conclude. But at least the world court’s decision...